Khanna
charges CM with witch-hunt
Ludhiana, August 18
“The Union Government
will consider the imposition of President’s rule in Punjab if
the NDA’s fact-finding team visiting Punjab recommends it,”
says Union Tourism Minister Vinod Khanna.
Union Ministers Vinod Khanna and Shahnawaj Hussain along with senior state BJP leaders during a rally against the Punjab Government in Ludhiana on Sunday.
— Tribune photo Pradeep Tiwari |
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Tohra
woos kin of Sant Longowal
Amritsar, August 18
The Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali
Dal, led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, has been trying to woo the kin
of the late Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, former president of the
Shiromani Akali Dal, who have been feeling dejected due to the
“apathy” of the SAD.
Kribhco
may bid for NFL
Ropar, August 18
Kribhco will bid for the NFL if
the initial bidders fail to pay the price fixed by the government.
Highly-placed sources told The Tribune that the cooperative, which has
financial reserves worth about Rs 1,500 crores, could not bid directly
for the second largest nitrogenous fertiliser company of the country
despite the best efforts of the Union Chemical and Fertilisers
Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, due to opposition from the
Disinvestment Ministry.
PSEB
offer to defaulting consumers
Patiala, August 18
The Punjab State Electricity
Board has declared one-time settlement offer for all categories of
permanently disconnected defaulting consumers whose outstanding dues
are subject of litigation. The board has Rs 99 crore tied up in
litigation and the offer allows consumers one-time settlement with the
Board by paying up half of the disputed amount.
Mann
stands by EC, flays BJP remarks
Phagwara, August 18
Commenting upon the BJP’s
outburst against the Election Commission for “creating a
constitutional crisis”, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) today
openly came out in support of the stand taken by the Election
Commission regarding Gujarat poll. It lambasted the BJP or pursuing a
politics of stridency.
A colourful insect atop a freshly-blossomed flower
enjoys the late monsoon in Amritsar on Sunday.
— PTI |
Red
Cross Society leaves donor high and dry
Bathinda, August 18
Mr Sher Singh repents the day he
donated 10.5 acres, worth about Rs 25 lakh, to the District Red Cross
Society. At the time of accepting the land as donation in 1999 from
him the then Deputy Commissioner-cum- Chairman of the society had
agreed in writing that he would be paid Rs 5,000 per month as
honorarium.
Risks
in marriage palaces
Amritsar
Even as the Punjab Government
cries foul over emptied coffers by the previous government, little
thought has been given to recoveries of taxes on swelling number of
marriage palaces (MPs) in the state.
Dalits
allege ostracism
Bathinda, August 18
Even as residents of Burj
village, about 40 km from here, have banned the entry of strangers, a
section of the Dalits belonging to Aur caste have been allegedly
facing undeclared ostracism.
Girls participate in a festival held in memory of noted Punjabi poet Hasham
Shahat at Jagdev Kalan village in Amritsar on Sunday.
— Photo Rajiv Sharma |
Tangri
overflows as boon
Budhmore (Patiala),
August 18
After having faced an acute
drought for a month and a half the farmers of the Dakala-Ghanaur
Shutrana belt now are facing a deluge with Tangri river overflowing
the situation seems to be grim but it may not spell much loss as the
land submerged largely is a paddy-growing area and the flood water
standing in the fields may turn out to be a boon for the farmers.
Sick
animals wander in state
Jalandhar, August 18
More than one lakh animals like
cows, bulls, calves and heifers wander as stray cattle in Punjab,
causing accidents on roads, loss to crops and nuisance in rural and
urban areas. Most of these stray animals are either old, sick and
disabled or abandoned by owners.
Centre
to give Rs 8 cr for CETP
Jalandhar, August 18
To deal with the problem of
excessive discharge of untreated water released by about 48 tanneries
and to encourage more tanners to set up their tannery units in the
local Leather Complex the Central Government has come to the rescue of
the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation by deciding to bear
half of the cost of the second Rs 16-crore common effluent treatment
plant to be set up within the complex within one year.
Kitoo
remanded in judicial custody
Moga, August 18
Judicial Magistrate Tarsem Mangla
today declined to extend one-day police remand of SAD MLA Malkiat
Singh Kitoo and sent him in judicial custody till August 31. The court
also gave a notice to the prosecution on his bail application which
will come up for hearing on August 23.
Gramin
bank staff allege double standards
Mansa, August 18
Resentment has been brewing among
employees of the Faridkot-Bathinda Kshetriya Gramin Bank against the
bank management allegedly for adopting double-standards while dealing
with cases of alleged fraud committed by employees.
Sikhs
‘must have say’ in foreign policy
Chandigarh, August 18
The President of the Akali Dal
(Amritsar) and MP, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, yesterday demanded that
Sikhs must have a say in the country’s foreign policy. Decrying the
plight of 30,000-odd “stateless Sikhs” who migrated from Pakistan
occupied Kashmir to Jammu & Kashmir, he said neither the Jammu
& Kashmir Government nor the Union Government had done anything
for them.
Talks
between Jathedars, Khalsa Panchayat not held
Amritsar, August 18
A secret meeting proposed to be
held between Sikh high priests, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar
Akal Takht, Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar Kesgarh Sahib, and members of
the Khalsa Panchayat, who had levelled charges of corruption against
the Sikh clergy, could not be held, according to information leaked to
The Tribune.
SGPC
election likely in March
Ludhiana, August 18
The general elections to the
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee are likely to be held in
March next. The Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner, Justice J. S.
Sekhon, hopes to complete the electoral rolls of the SGPC by January
31.
Ambulance
used for private trips
Talwandi Sabo, August 18
A team of the Vigilance Bureau,
led by Inspector Kahan Singh, today seized the log book of an
ambulance of the family planning wing of the Civil Hospital while it
was allegedly being used for making private trips by an employee.
Labourers
allege police torture
Khanna, August 18
The Khanna police has allegedly
tortured five migrant labourers including two women, in police custody
and at their houses. The labourers said they had left their houses due
to police terror.
BKU
for girdawari in cultivators’ names
Bathinda, August 18
Activists of the Bhartiya Kisan
Union (Ekta) burnt effigies of the Punjab government for the second
day today and demanded that girdawaris should be recorded in the name
of the farmers cultivating the land and not in the name of the owner
of the land.
Pesticide
case: official may be booked
Muktsar, August 18
Tall claims made by the state
government to check the sale of spurious pesticides, turned hollow
yesterday when the Agriculture Department authorities here recommended
the registration of a criminal case against an official of the
Bhullarwala Cooperative Society allegedly for supplying the
substandard pesticides to farmers on credit after purchasing the same
from traders.
Constable
held on kidnapping charge
Ropar, August 18
A startling case of nexus between
cops and criminals has come to light with three policemen posted at
the Sadar police station here being booked for kidnapping. Highly
placed sources told this correspondent that the said cops were booked
on the complaint of Malkiat Singh of Patiala, who has earlier been
booked under several cases of smuggling. The sources said the police
today arrested Constable Jagjit and Gurcharan Singh who were named in
the FIR. None of the local police officers was, however, available for
comments despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Hike
ST registration limit: traders
Phagwara, August 18
The general house of the Punjab
Kariana Retailers Association, which met here today with Mr Onkar Goel
in the chair, adopted several resolutions, demanding an increase in
the sales tax registration limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh,
exemption of retailers from the VAT, system being introduced from next
year, abolition of octroi, tabling an amendment to the Prevention of
Food Adulteration Act in Parliament, constitution of
state-and-district-level PFA panels, subsidy and low interest loans
of Rs 5 lakh to retailers on the pattern of industrialists, and
representation to them at every level in sales tax advisory
committees.
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