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| Monday,
June 17, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Cong leader booked on fraud charge Muktsar, June 16 Dr Pruthi, who runs Pruthi Nursing Home, and his wife Nirmala Pruthi, Mangat Ram, Babita Kumari, Anu Mittal, Ajay Juneja and Madan Gopal have been booked under Sections 379, 420, 467, 468, 471, 506 and 120-B IPC on the directions of the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate here. Sources said the complainant, Dr Amarjit Pasricha, and Dr Pruthi had been running two colleges namely Mai Bhago Ayurvedic College and Mai Bhago Computer Institute. Dr Pasricha, who was chairman of Mai Bhago Ayurvedic College, was removed from the post by Dr Pruthi by allegedly fabricating documents. In the complaint, he alleged that Dr Pruthi had stolen some documents and other articles from the college. Dr Pruthi had also fabricated certain documents to remove him from the chairmanship of the college. |
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BKU(E) faction gives clean chit to Jethuke Bathinda, June 16 It may be recalled that a faction of the union had alleged that Mr Jethuke had misappropriated Rs 4 lakh given by the authorities for the family members of those killed and injured at Jethuke village during an agitation of the union. The other faction had alleged that Mr Jethuke did not keep an account of the many received from the authorities and that given to the aggrieved families. The BKU (E) was divided into two groups when allegations were levelled against some of the district-level office-bearers of the union, including Mr Jethuke. Mr Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Mr Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan were appointed president and general secretary of a faction, respectively, which was later joined by Mr Jethuke. The other faction was led by Mr Pishora Singh Sidhupur and Mr Gurmeet Singh Dittupur. Mr Ugrahan and Mr Kokri Kalan at a meeting of the union said here today that there was no need of keeping an account of any amount received from the authorities as compensation as it was not an income of the union. Mr Ugrahan said that whenever some amount was received as compensation it was directly given to the beneficiaries. He said that some of the former office-bearers of the union were levelling baseless allegations against them. He alleged that the aim of the other faction was to weaken the agitation of the farmers. Mr Kokri Kalan said the allegations that the expenses of leaders of the other unions, who participated in the Jethuke agitation, were met out of the funds of the union were baseless. He said that when many of the BKU leaders were arrested the office-bearers of the other unions were asked to look after the injured workers and the family members of those arrested and killed during the agitation. He added that for the purpose some funds were set aside. |
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PUNJAB BUDGET-3 Chandigarh, June 16 The state has failed to provide a social security net to people, particularly the economically deprived. The successive governments, despite best intentions, have failed to provide satisfactory services at the social and economic levels, not even in the primary education and primary health sectors. Therefore, the government is once again seeking to introduce user charges for better services and facilities. The returns from the present user charges are a mere 10 per cent (economic) and 2 per cent (social). this aspect will be toned up by the government. If this is not done, would lead to a
iniquitous situation, resulting in further decline of services. Even the maintenance and operational costs would hardly be covered. The debt burden and repayment of interest would, however, continue to increase. The debt burden is 44 per cent of the GDP and interest repayments alone accounts for Rs 3,000 crore every year. Therefore, the era of freebies is over. Rationalisation of charges for power, water, sewerage etc in the rural and urban areas is on the cards, as is empowerment, both financial and administrative, of democratic institutions at the grass roots, municipalities and panchayati raj institutions, as per the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments. The second State Finance Commission’s recommendations in this respect have been accepted to a large extent. The aim of the Budget is to provide as social security net to the have-nots, sources say. When the Cabinet sub-Committee on Fiscal Management meets at the residence of the Chief Minister here on Monday, shall discuss tax restructuring proposals. The Council of Ministers has already approved several “corrective” measures to put the finances and economy on the track. The same are being included in the Budget. The Budget, the sources say, will bring about parity in basic
amenities to the urban ad rural areas. Redundant staff has been identified and administrative restructuring is nearing completion. This staff alone costs upward of Rs 110 crore per year. There has to be a freeze in recruitment and vacancies falling due to retiring staff have to be left uncovered. Another worrisome feature, which the Budget will take care of is unemployment. The state has 2 lakh unemployed youth. Punjab has already missed the IT revolution and would not like to miss the biotechnology revolution. the Budget will unfold this as well and make policy-makers realise that slogans like second push to agriculture or diversification alone will not help. Concrete steps to make agriculture for small farmers remunerative and sustainable on the anvil. In a nutshell, the Budget aims at an “image makeover” from a “beggar”
state. (Concluded) |
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Bhagat Singh’s kin resents distortions Ferozepore, June 16 His nephew, Mr Baber Singh Sandhu, who is chairman of the All-India Bhagat Singh Memorial Trust, has threatened to sue the makers of “The Legend of Bhagat Singh” for tampering with facts. Mr Baber Singh told The Tribune on the telephone that Bhagat Singh never got engaged to any girl and his marriage had not been planned. He said a girl had been wrongly projected as his fiancee in the film. He said a song in the film, “Pagri Sambhal Jatta,” was based on western music, thereby making a mockery of the sanctity of the song. He said the song was based on a movement started by Ajit Singh, uncle of Bhagat Singh. He lamented that such distortions were incorporated in the film despite the objections raised by Kultar Singh, brother of Bhagat Singh. He said a communication to this effect has been sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the makers of the film to debate the distorted parts in the film, failing which he would sue the parties concerned. |
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PCOs to be treated as
ordinary connections Abohar, June 16 Sources said the allotment of the PCOs had attracted sharp criticism. People also levelled allegations against officials who had sanctioned such connections. The allotment of local PCOs allegedly involved underhand deals as the applicants were generally those who could not get ordinary connections due to the long waiting list. The expenses on the installation of such phones were lesser and the calls were charged at lesser rates. Some members of the now defunct telephone advisory committees and consumer activists had lodged complaints alleging that none of the local PCO owner had displayed any signboard or plate of the department indicating the existence of the PCO. Those who were already having another telephone connection at their commercial establishments had got the PCOs sanctioned, allegedly in connivance with DoT officials. The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had directed the PCO owners to attach a coin box with the phone so that calls could be made using Re 1 coins. However, there were complaints that none of the owners put any coin box and continued to charge Rs 2 per call in violation of the agreement. The department had been charging 60 paise per call from the owners. Many such connections had been reportedly sold illegally and were got shifted to new premises giving wrong information to the DoT. Actually, the original allottees had never shifted their residence or office to new premises. The phone numbers were being illegally used by the present holders as their personal phones. The owners of local PCOs have criticised the BSNL for taking action against them and threatened to take the matter to court. They will now have to pay a bimonthly rent as applicable to other consumers. |
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Changed
university rule
worries students Bathinda, June 16 Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that the date of Punjab PMT, to be conducted by Baba Farid University of Health and Medical Sciences, Faridkot, was earlier postponed from June 23 to July 21 and this led to trouble for the students. The university authorities also imposed a condition that the students who had got admission under the CBSE quota or who had got admission to any other college outside Punjab would not be selected unless they left the seat secured in other college by the date of PMT interview or before the date of the second counselling for the CBSE, whichever was earlier. The students alleged that due to this change in the rule students who could clear entrance exams conducted by universities other than Baba Farid University would have to opt for medical colleges outside Punjab. Nitika Garg (name changed), who cleared the all India premedical entrance test conducted by the CBSE and secured a rank among the first 1,000 students, said that now she would not be able to take admission to a medical college in Punjab under the CBSE quota. She said while the Punjab PMT would be held on July 21 the second counselling for the CBSE would end on July 25. This would create problems for students like her who could get admission under the CBSE quota. While Dr J.S. Gujral, Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Medical and Health Sciences, could not be contacted the Registrar, Dr A.S. Sandhu, admitted that the new rule would favour the mediocre students. However, he said as more students from the state would take admission to medical colleges in other states, the overall representation of Punjab in various medical colleges of the country would increase, benefiting the students from Punjab. Clarifying that there would be no negative marking in PMT this time as was mentioned in the prospectus, he claimed that the university would declare the result in time to prevent inconvenience to the students. |
BJP putting up ‘secular face’ Ropar, June 16 In a
press note issued here yesterday Mr V.P. Saini, national secretary of the AIFB said the BJP after mercilessly and inhumanly “massacring” Muslims in Gujarat was trying to put up a secular face by nominating Dr Abdul Kalam as the presidential candidate, for whom the AIFB had the greatest regard as a scientist and as a person but it was opposed to his election as the President of India. Mr Saini added that Dr Kalam had been selected for this post not just as a great scientist but as a Muslim scientist. He said in this era of coalition governments, the
President of India was expected to play a crucial and decisive role, for which long political experience and maturity was a practical necessity. He said the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had damaged the nation in two ways: first by depriving the nation of the services of a great scientist and secondly by giving a communal colouring to the august office of the President of India. Mr Vajpayee had also selected a candidate who had no practical knowledge and experience of politics. Justifying the decision of the Left parties to put up a candidate in the presidential election, he stated that it was essential to counter the communal, casteist and divisive forces in the country. He welcomed the selection of Capt Laxmi Sehgal of Rani Jhansi Regiment of the INA as a candidate for the post of President by the Left parties, adding that it was a tribute to the legendry revolutionary Neta Ji Subhas Chandra
Bose. |
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Assess ex-ministers’
property, NDA team urged Hoshiarpur, June 16 In a press note issued here today, Dr Nanda stated that instead of finding fault with the style of functioning of Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr Parkash Singh Badal should apologise to the people of Punjab for not taking appropriate action against corrupt ministers and bureaucrats during his regime. Commenting on the statement of Mr Badal that a reign of terror had been unleashed by the Congress government, Mr Nanda said these feelings were not of the people of Punjab but of those who were apprehending raids on them for accumulating assets disproportionate to their known sources of income during the regime of the SAD-BJP government. |
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Murder victim’s kin cane-charged Jalandhar, June 16 Hoping to get justice, a few relatives and neighbours of the deceased, Jiwan Sharma, had gone to the office of the local SSP to demand action against the suspected killers of Sharma. It is learnt that senior police officials allegedly refused to listen to their pleas and ordered police officials on duty to cane-charge them. As they were beaten up mercilessly by these officials, about six of them, including Amarnath, Kamal Devi, Brahm Dass, Vijay Gupta, Amritpal and Madan Lal, sustained injuries. At this, residents of Santoshi Nagar, who had gone to the SSP’s office to demand arrest of the culprits, shouted slogans against the police. Relatives of the deceased alleged that the police was trying to shield the culprits. |
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Rly union members block traffic Jalandhar, June 16 The union members, who put up flags and other obstacles on the railway track this afternoon to disrupt the traffic, alleged that at least 12 persons had attacked Assistant Station Master Gurdeep Singh and a pointsman, Rajwinder Singh, at the railway station. Both employees sustained severe injuries. Though a case was registered by the GRP authorities in this regard, none of the culprits, later identified by the victims, have been arrested. The passengers were seen requesting the railway authorities to clear the track but to no avail. “The railway employees should settle their disputes with the authorities concerned rather than involving themselves in such acts. Passengers should not be put to inconvenience, Mr Kamal Sharma, a passenger, said. Army personnel, who were on their way to Jammu, said they would submit their complaint in this regard to the railway authorities at Jammu. Meanwhile, the vice-president of Northern Railwaymen Union, Mr Gurdial Dass, said if the culprits were not arrested within 48 hours, the union would launch a stir in the entire northern region. Mr Surinder Singh Sodhi, SP (GRP), said three persons had been arrested in this connection and efforts were on to nab the remaining suspects. |
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Breach
in Doab canal Pathankot, June 16 According to sources, about a 150-foot wide breach in the canal has inundated four villages and about 1,600 acres of land on Friday morning. The sources said the breach was caused soon after the Irrigation Department released water into the canal after the completion of repair work on, which it had spent huge amount. Villagers reported the matter to the authorities and the inflow of water was stopped from Madhopur headworks within a few hours. |
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Bathinda
wakes up to fashion Bathinda, June 16 Many people are investing huge sums of money in the business concerned. About 12 showrooms, parlours, boutiques, departmental stores, health and slimming centres have opened in the city in the recent past and are doing good business. Jain brothers took the franchisee of a shoe company and opened a showroom on the Mall Road in the city in June, last year. The proprietor of the showroom said he was hopeful of achieving success. Now it is attracting huge crowds from the city and nearby towns, he added. He further said the concept of “looking smarter than others” had given an impetus to the fashion market. Another entrepreneur, who owns a franchisee of an international garment company, opened the first showroom of the city having garments of one brand. Mr Gupta, who is from a business family dealing in hotels, said the rapidly changing fashion trends and craze towards new trends attracted his attention towards the business. He started it in May and got overwhelming response. The success motivated him so much that he plans to open more showrooms in the city dealing in garments only. Ms Anita, owner of a beauty parlour, claims to have one of the most beautiful, spacious and modern beauty parlours in the city. She had spent lavishly on the interior decoration of the parlour. She said, “I was in the business for the past 15 years. Although there is beauty parlour in every nook and corner but the owners are not willing to spend on the parlour and prefer to run the same from the rented room only.” She added that now customers have become very conscious about their appearance. She added, “The awareness among people has made my business flourish.” One could see the mushrooming of boutiques for women in the main markets of the city. Although, the designer clothes are costlier than the stitched ones but still they are in demand as these have become a sort of status symbol for the residents. One could see four to five boutiques adjacent to each other at many places in the city. Mr Mukesh Gupta, who opened the first departmental store in the city in October, last year, said his store was doing well and he was planning to open a furniture house on the third floor of the store. A few gymnasiums and slimming centres have also come into existence in the past few months. After visiting these centres, it was found that people were spending thousands of rupees at the slimming centres. With new showrooms opening up owners of old showrooms are also renovating their business establishments. |
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Minister
hurt in mishap Abohar, June 16 His son, Mr Virender Rajpal, President, Sri Ganganagar Club, told this correspondent on phone that his father, who is the patron of the Northern India Arobans Sabha also, was returning to his home town from Jaipur when the car
collide with a truck near Doongergarh. The minister received
injuries on the neck, nose and shoulder. His private secretary Hemant Kumar, security guard Sunil Kumar and driver Durga Dass received fracture injuries. They were provided first aid at the Civil Hospital, Doongergarh. Later they were shifted to Bikaner. Though none of them was stated to be in serious condition but Mr Radhey Shyam was kept in the ICU as he had by-pass heart surgery a few months ago. |
Closure of lift pumps hits farmers Muktsar, June 16 In 1997, when Mr Badal became the Chief Minister, he launched a war against waterlogging by pumping in hundreds of crores. The result was that a majority of the farmers started growing wheat and paddy in their fields. A major section of the farmers has been irrigating the fields through lift pumps installed on the banks of the Sirhind feeder for the past three decades. Some farmers were given water for irrigating their lands through lift pumps during the rule of the SAD-BJP combine government in Punjab from 1997 to 2002. However, a section of farmers of Chunnu, Tharajwala, Midhu Khera, Manawala, Lambi, Lal Bai, Khudian, Sikhwala, Panjaba, Mudhir, Banwala and Husnar villages in Gidderbaha and Malout subdivisions of this district, who toiled hard to make their lands fertile again, suffered a major setback when the Irrigation Department authorities abruptly closed about 150 lift pumps, thus rendering the ongoing paddy transplantation impossible for them. “First waterlogging left us poor as our fields became uncultivable. Now, the closing of lift pumps, the only source of irrigation, will doom our future,” said Mr Harraj Singh, a leading farmer of Chunnu village. He added that due to the closing of lift pumps, 1 lakh acres would be deprived of irrigation water. Another farmer, Mr Rupinder Singh of the same village, said paddy, which had been transplanted so far, had started drying up as there was no water to keep it under water for the required time. The farmers pointed out that a majority of the lift pumps were sanctioned in 1972 and had been used since then for irrigation purposes. They alleged that Irrigation Department officials suddenly removed the gate valve of each lift pump to make these non-functional. The affected farmers were not given any notice by the authorities before closing the lift pumps. The authorities also directed the police stations concerned not to allow the farmers to operate the lift pumps. They alleged that the authorities had closed the lift pumps on the pretext that farmers had not deposited the annual renewal fee of Rs 40 per acre for the past many years as water charges. However, the Irrigation Department itself stopped taking the water charges when the SAD-BJP alliance came into power in Punjab. Farmers of the affected villages will meet at Abohar to discuss the issue with the Irrigation Department and to work out the path of an agitation in case they do not get justice. No official of the Irrigation Department could be contacted despite repeated efforts.
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PSEB engineers call for non-cooperation
movement Patiala, June 16 The general secretary of the association, Mr Rajinder Sarao, informed that the PSEB, in a recent order, had reduced the quantum of generation incentive by 50 to 80 per cent at the Ropar, Lehra Mohabbat and Bathinda thermal plants and had “drastically” reduced the engineers’ incentives in spite of the fact that the Union Minister of Power, Mr Suresh Prabhu, had given awards to the Ropar and Lehara Mohabbat thermal plants for their performance. The association members also alleged that the PSEB had taken some steps, including grid maintenance and withdrawal of vehicles from several senior officials, consequently restricting the mobility of field officers. Alleging that the PSEB had been ignoring the huge losses occurring due to thefts and line losses, Mr Sarao said that the enforcement wing of the board had virtually been sidelined and the energy conservation wing dismantled even as the board was incurring losses to the tune of crores per day. The executive committee of the engineers’ association also directed all the engineers working at different power plants in the state not to man any location in thermal plants which was to be maintained by the technical workers. Calling upon the board officials, the executive committee said that the board must realise its folly of “negatively” rewarding the power board personnel whose performance had been acknowledged at the national level by the Ministry of Power. The general secretary said that the board was ignoring the engineers and had failed to take them into confidence and this may have a negative impact on the smooth functioning of the thermal power stations. |
Sex scandal: 12 arrested Mansa, June 16 Jasbir Kaur, a local resident who was allegedly running a brothel, was apprehended by the police along with one minor Dalit girl, Paramjit Kaur, of Ralla village in the district. Paramjit Kaur, in a statement before the local SDM, alleged that Jasbir Kaur introduced her in this profession. She said Jasbir Kaur used to send her to several persons belonging to well-to-do families. The arrests have been made during investigation of the case. |
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Gang of narcotics smugglers busted Patiala, June 16 The three arrested accused, Bhura Singh, Surinder Kumar and Mangat Singh, were travelling by a stolen Indica car (HR 26-Q 0040), when following a tip-off, they were apprehended at the ‘naka’. The SSP, Mr P.S. Umranangal, said the kingpin of the gang was woman, Poonam, alias Kanchan. She operated from Panchkula. The police was yet to arrest her. She was the main dealer and had ‘appointed’ several dealers and sub-dealers in Dera Bassi and Zirakpur areas for supplying the drug to people of surrounding villages. Mr Umranangal said a high-ranking Panchkula-based official was also involved in the case. The SSP claimed this was the biggest cache of narcotics seized ever since he took over as the district police Chief in February. “Till now, 100 kg of poppy husk and 75 kg of opium have been seized from various parts of the district,” he said. |
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2 held with 40 kg poppy husk Bathinda, June 16 Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, said in a press note issued here today that Rama Singh, a resident of Chand Bhan under the Jaito police station in Muktsar district, was arrested while he was carrying 20 kg of poppy husk. In another incident, Chhinder Singh of Babiha Bhai in Moga district, was arrested for possessing 20 kg of poppy husk. They have been booked under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. Meanwhile, Joginder Singh of Chauke village in the district was arrested for allegedly distilling liquor illegally and 150 kg of lahan was seized from his possession. In another incident, the owner of a video parlour and his employee were arrested for showing pornographic movies at their shop situated on the local Mall Road. A colour TV, a CD player and 35 cassettes of pornographic movies were seized. |
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Cop arrested Moga, June 16 |
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Poppy seized Moga, June 16 |
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Man ends life Moga, June 16 In a note left behind by him, he said he was committing suicide as he had received threats from the finance company that he would be eliminated if he failed to repay the loan. |
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M. Tech test results Amritsar, June 16 |
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Graduation
results Amritsar, June 16 |
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Homoeopathic
college Amritsar, June 16 |
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Students
to go on relay fast Amritsar, June 16 College students union president Bhanu Puri said despite their strike entering the 66 day today, the stalemate between the college management and the students continued. |
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