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| Sunday,
May 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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PCCTU poll: ruling group a house divided Chandigarh, May 3 Incidentally, the first two phases of the elections stand completed. In the first phase, 450 delegates were elected in all the 172 colleges. In the second phase, all 17 district councils were constituted. In the third and final phase, now office-bearers and 13 executive members will be elected on May 11. Reports say that the present ruling group, manifest in different forms and combinations, has been calling the shots for almost three decades. It is, perhaps, for the first time that its internal strife has become so pronounced, making horizontal and vertical divisions discernible. There is a virtual revolt against the present president, Mr Sukhdev Singh
Hundal, and the general secretary, Dr V.K. Tewari. While Mr Hundal is being opposed by his close friend and past general secretary, Mr
R.S. Brar, for the post of president (2003-04); Dr Tewari has in Dr Jagwant Singh, again a friend, an opponent for the post of general secretary. The basic reason for the split, say insiders, is the
‘’lacklustre’’ performance of the present team. It is alleged that it has failed to function in a ‘’transparent’’ manner. Also, alleges the break-away group, more often than not, the ruling leaders were invariably taken for a ride by the government on several contentious and key issues effecting the teachers, across all the 172 colleges. This, they say, was evident from the repeated calls given for strikes or demonstrations or boycott of examinations, etc, which were all later withdrawn on mere assurances given by the government. The “on-now, off-again” meetings with the Chief Minister had sent a signal down the ranks that neither the leadership nor the government was serious about the issues involved. What are the key issues on which the PCCTU has faced the split? The major unresolved issues, say sources, revolve around 95 per cent grant-in-aid to the non-government colleges and the proposed 10 per cent cut on this grant. Contrary to an assurance by the minister concerned, so far, there is no gazette notification to confirm that the government had withdrawn the proposed 10 per cent cut. The non-implementation of the Act passed by the Punjab Assembly on March 30, 1999, had included pension-cum-gratuity and other post-retirement benefits to the teachers. Its non-implementation has made the teachers restive, who blame this on bureaucratic delays and political machination. The other issues include non-payment of recommended pay grade (Rs 14,940 basic, per month, at par with senior selection scale for lecturers) to DPEs and college librarians, denial of third promotion to senior teachers with 19 to 36 years of service, who are not being given recommended grade of Rs 16,400-Rs 20,900. About 3,000 teachers, say sources, have already crossed the upper grade limit of Rs 18,300 and are not getting any increment. The union general house is likely to take up the issue of ad hoc or temporary college teachers who are employed on a fixed honorarium of Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,500 per month, against the normal salary of Rs 13,000, per month. At least 2,000 plus such ad hoc teachers are engaged, constituting 30 per cent of the college teachers. All are relieved in February-March every year. They are not members of the PCCTU as per the union constitution. Another factor expected to dominate the meeting is the silence of the PCCTU leadership on the fee hike. This, teachers say, will adversely affect rural colleges as well as urban poor. Meanwhile, a leaflet war is on in these elections, with both groups making claims, counter claims, trading charges and justifying their respective positions on issues involved. |
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Steps to provide quality education Gurdaspur, May 3 Mr Bahl said 4,500 posts of teacher during the SAD-BJP regime had been shifted from rural to urban areas. As a result, the strength of students in rural schools had fallen. He said 15,000 rural committees had been constituted to look after the working of the rural schools. The Head of a school had been assigned the job of supervision of these committees and asked to report to the department. Mr Bahl said nearly 3 lakh students from poor families did not attend school as records available tot he department indicate. The Government of India under “Sarb Sikhya Abhiyan” aimed to have total literacy in the country by 2010. The Punjab Government had distributed Rs 129 crore under this campaign during current year. Mr Bahl said it was unfortunate that the SAD-BJP government during its fifth year did not deposit 15 per cent of its share in the campaign and the state government was deprived of an instalment of Rs 150 crore approximately. The step delayed total literacy in the state by a year, he said. He said grading of schools would be done in three categories. The schools designated as grade 1 would be given incentive and the schools falling in grade C punished. The minister said it was unfortunate that during vigilance raids in this district certain absentees had been reported. He warned such officials saying that strict action would be taken against them. Mr Bahl said the process to know the number of vacancies in the schools had been started. Their number was expected to exceed 5000 and these would be filled on merit this year, he added. |
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12 schools found locked during raids Chandigarh, May 3 The bureau in a statement said here today that the raids were conducted simultaneously throughout the state between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. As many as 36 teachers were found in schools in Moga district. |
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Tampering with doctor’s service book: report sought Amritsar, May 3 Earlier, Dr Parbodh Kumar Kakkar, Professor, Pathology, Government Medical College, had written to the Principal that certain entries in the service book of Dr Devgan had been incorrectly signed under his name by some vested interests. Dr Bedi said he had also sought an explanation from Dr Kakkar as to why had he kept silent. When contacted, Dr Devgan refuted the charge that he had got his service book tampered with. He claimed that on the basis of an inquiry report the Medical Superintendent, Dr H.S. Gill, had given him a clean chit. Dr Kakkar, when contacted, said he could not issue any statement without the permission of the Principal. He said the Principal had directed all officials not to issue any statement to the press without his permission. Dr Devgan asserted that he should not be held responsible as the service books were always in the custody of officials. He said a case had been filed on the basis of the inquiry conducted by senior officials of the department. In a complaint, Mr Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, president of the All-India Youth Association, sought immediate action against Dr Devgan. Mr Sultanwind alleged that Dr Devgan had applied for a house job in 1978 to the Medical Superintendent, Amritsar and was selected on January 13, 1978, and continued till June 30, 1978. He further alleged that Dr Devgan had completed the house job and had obtained the certificate during the period he was working as government medical officer in Gurdaspur district. “In his complaint, Mr Sultanwind alleged that Dr Devgan had got the evidence of two simultaneous jobs erased by tampering with the service records in connivance with the staff at the Civil Surgeon’s office, the Principal of the medical college and Dr Kakkar.” Dr Devgan alleged that an employee of the Health Department, Mr Amrit Lal Jain, was behind the filing of false reports against him. He alleged that a case of fraud had been registered against Mr Jain for using letter heads of ‘baseless organisations’ for filing complaints against him. However, Mr Jain said the FIR had been quashed on an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the complaint of Dr Devgan had been found to be baseless. Mr Jain alleged that he had been receiving threatening calls from Dr Devgan for highlighting corruption in the department. |
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Jathedars visit Sikh
Dharma headquarters
Chandigarh, May 3 The distinguished guests received flowers from children and witnessed gatka performances with cries of ‘‘Bole so nihal’’. Afterwards, Yogi Harbhajan Singh Khalsa welcomed them. Later in the evening, the sangat of Hacienda de Guru Ram Das joined the guests in a gurdwara service. After kirtan, Dr Balkar Singh, Professor of Punjabi University Centre in Espanola, introduced the guests and each one was honoured with a siropa. Giani Vedanti said that he was happy that the Khalsa was progressing in the West, ‘‘Guru Gobind Singh took the Khalsa in his own image, and I am seeing the Guru’s image in you’’. He offered prayers that the sangat should ‘‘continue to be blessed with the love of the Guru, love of the shabad and love of the Khalsa’’. He ended by saying, ‘‘you are missionaries and you are in the Sikh spirit. However, I am expecting a lot from you. May you impart the Khalsa spirit to your children as well as those around you’’. |
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Exhibition on Sikhism in USA Amritsar, May 3 About 35 photographs were sent by Dr Hardip Singh Deep, Assistant Professor, Medical College, here, as member of the Amritsar Vikas
Manch. The exhibition was held to clear misconceptions and mistaken identity under which Sikhs were targets of the hate crime besides expose the rich culture traditions, life and religion of the Sikhs.
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Statements of Badungar, Tarlochan condemned Bathinda, May 3 Mr Gill, while talking to this correspondent, today said that the statements of Mr Badungar and Mr Tarlochan Singh that there was no gurdwara in Baghdad were politically motivated. He said it was a shame that Mr Badungar and Mr Tarlochan Singh were not aware about the historic gurdwara constructed in memory of Guru Nanak. “Those who claimed to be protecting the rights of Sikhs and guiding them about Sikhism gave false statements just because a Congress Chief Minister took the initiative for the repair of the
gurdwara,” said Mr Gill. He said it was sad that Mr Tarlochan Singh and Mr Badungar did not pay attention to their jobs, rather they were involving themselves in politics. The ignorance of the SGPC chief about the Sikh history was due to the fact that the presidentship of the supreme body of Sikhs had become a political post in place of religious one, he added. Mr Gill said that it had become clear from a letter by the Iraqi government about the safety of the gurdwara in Baghdad that the so-called leaders of Sikhs were misguiding the Sikh
Sangat. He said the Sri Guru Singh Sabha would hold a function in the city soon to honour Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for making efforts to repair the
gurdwara. |
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Dal (A): punish Tarlochan Singh Amritsar, May 3 In a press note here yesterday Mr Harbir Singh
Sandhu, Secretary Akali Dal (Amritsar) condemned the Chairman’s statement regarding the status of gurdwaras in Baghdad. He said it was a fact that Guru Nanak visited Baghdad and a gurdwara was there in the Iraqi capital. He said even Giani Zail Singh, had written to Iraqi President for the renovation of that
gurdwara. However, Mr Tarlochan Singh was following the BJP line and had issued a statement that no gurdwara existed in Iraq. He urged the jathedar to pronounce ‘tankha’ on the NMC Chairman for his alleged statement. |
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PHRC nominations irk Badal Chandigarh, May 3 According to sources, Mr Badal has recorded his comments on the file sent to him by the Home Department for his consent on the new appointments. According to Rule 21 of the PSHRC Act, the Leader of the Opposition has to be consulted in writing over an appointment made to the commission. The Akali leader, however, made it clear that he had nothing personal against those nominated and that his reservations were based on considerations of principle. “I see no reason why the government could not find any eminent retired judges, legal luminaries or human rights activists from among the Sikhs, Dalits or women.” Mr Badal also questioned the manner in which the new names for the commission had been arrived at as the government had failed to specify which other names had been considered for appointment against each category. “They have simply presented me, as Leader of the Opposition, with a fait accompli. They have not even cared to explain the norms and criterion under which the new nominations had been made or why the Sikhs, Dalits and women have been so completely ignored,” said Mr Badal in a statement . The Punjab government had nominated Mr B.C. Rajput, Mr R. L. Anand and Mr V.K.Sibal as members of the Punjab Human Rights Commission in the categories of retired judges, human rights activists and legal luminaries. The file had been sent to Mr Badal for concurrence. The Akali leader reminded the Chief Minister that members of the Sikh community had excelled themselves in every field. “It is amazing that they could not get recognition even in Punjab. This clearly showed the anti-Sikh bias of the Congress party,” said the Akali chief. Similarly, he said, giving no representation to the Dalits was an unforgivable act. “Could the Congress government not find even a single member from among the Dalits who deserved to grace this august body. |
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NRI’s murder: Interpol
alerted Punjab police Chandigarh, May 3 Amarjit Chohan, 46, an Indian-born entrepreneur, his wife Nancy, 25, their two sons, Devinder and
Ravinder, and his mother-in-law, Charanjit Kaur, had vanished under mysterious circumstances from their house in London on February 16. On a request from Scotland Yard, Interpol had alerted the Punjab police about the disappearance of the family. The crime branch of the Punjab police was informed about the case last month. Investigations by The Tribune and information supplied by Mr Narpal Singh
Shergill, an England-based NRI and author of books on Indian diaspora, reveal that Amarjit Chohan belonged to the Doaba region in Punjab and had married Nancy of Ludhiana some years ago. The Chohans own a house in Sector 21-A for which special power of attorney has been drawn in the name of Mrs Charanjit
Kaur. The other house owned by Amarjit Chohan is in Kalkaji in New Delhi. Though a team of detectives from the Hampshire police is currently in India to look for Maninderpal Singh
Kohli, a strong suspect in the Hannah murder case, there is no indication that any investigation is being conducted in connection with Amarjit Chohan case here. Mr Shergill told The Tribune here today that when the police searched another house of Amarjit Chohan located near Heathrow Airport, they found passports and other travel documents of all members of his family. Even the return ticket of his mother-in-law was also found. Mr Onkar
Verma, 28, a brother of Ms Nancy Chohan, who had come from New Zealand to help the police in the search, said he had been very upset since the family went missing. According to Mr
Shergill, whose latest book on Indian diaspora is all set for release late this month, said Mr Chohan was a well-known figure in the Asian community in
Southall, west London, where he owned several properties and ran a fruit and vegetable import company with an annual turnover of £4 million. Despite his wealth, his personal lifestyle was modest. He preferred to drive a modest car — Escort. The police, according to Mr
Shergill, did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of drug mafia in the whole case as his quick rise after three and half years in jail had raised strong suspicions. The police has launched a hunt and named two suspects who are believed to have fled the country. |
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Panchayat poll likely on June 22 Chandigarh, May 3 Mr Bains said June 22 was still a tentative date and the notification for the elections would be issued in the first week of June. The elections process is to be completed before June 30. Mr Bains said the state government wrote a letter to the Election Commission in March, expressing its desire to conduct the elections by June 30. “For most of the districts, the names for the appointment of returning officers and assistant returning officers have been cleared, Mr Bains said. The lists were submitted by the district authorities concerned, he added. Meanwhile, sources said the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had also asked the Department of the Panchayats to complete the poll exercise by June 30. The Chief Minister will submit a report in this connection to Ms Sonia Gandhi, President of the All-India Congress Committee. In fact, Ms Gandhi had directed the chief ministers of all Congress-ruled stated to strengthen the democracy at the grassroot level by devolution of powers to institutions like panchayats, block samities and zila parishads. The sources said Capt Amarinder Singh had directed the authorities to prepare documentaries to highlight the steps being taken by the state government to do so. The sources said immediately after the elections, powers with regard to the management of primary schools, health institutions and welfare of weaker sections of societies would be handed over the elected representatives of the people in villages. About 12 departments had agreed to empower panchayats with regard to village-level affairs, pertaining to their departments. However, certain departments are resisting the move. As per the rules, the state government should hand over the local administration of 29 departments to panchayats. This includes development works, like pavement of streets and operation of water works. The sources added that the government had decided to postpone the elections beyond June 30, but legal experts had advised, that the elections could not be postponed as there was no provision for appointing administrators of panchayats in the entire state. Only in those cases, where panchayats were found to be not working as per the law, administrators could be appointed. |
Dusty winds affect life Bathinda, May 3 In this town also a nicknamed, “Dust bowl of Punjab” storm has given harrowing time to residents of the city. All buildings, business establishments, vegetation and residential areas have been covered with thick layer of dust. Due to the working of threshers converting wheat stubble into wheat husk, suspended matter in air has gone up by more than 1000 times. Sources said that the patients of lung diseases, chest infection and those having breathing problems are a harried lot. Hospital sources said that the patients have been advised to exercise caution and wear masks to avoid precipitation of symptoms of diseases. Besides this the people have been advised to lake care of eyes and skin. A section of shopkeepers said that due to dusty winds, advertisement signboards had been damaged. Some minor accidents have also been reported due to broken pieces of glow signboards, but no damage to electric or telephone cable poles was reported. Sources in the Agriculture Department said the dust would take some time to settle and it was likely to rain. They added that rain at this time would help sow cotton. PHAGWARA: A haze of dust continued to envelop the area on Saturday, causing great inconvenience to the public. People were seen moving with their faces covered with handkerchiefs. Many complained of irritation in eyes and breathing problems. The hazy conditions affected the visibility and caused great hardships to motorists. |
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Bhattal
exempted from personal appearance Chandigarh, May 3 The court room was jampacked when the complainant, accompanied by a
Supreme Court advocate, Mr P.N. Lelki, and a battery of lawyers
appeared in the court.
The case came up for hearing before the UT Additional District and
Sessions Judge, Mr Balbir Singh. After hearing the defence counsel’s
plea that the District Bar Association had suspended the work due to
the death of an advocate and therefore case be adjourned, the Judge
adjourned the case.
Meanwhile, Ms Bhattal was today granted exemption from personal
appearance in the case on medical grounds by the court. Ms Bhattal had
stated in the plea that she was not able to attend the court
proceedings as she was unwell.
Ms Bhattal suffered a setback when the Supreme Court declined to
alter its order passed on April 21 in the case on May 1. The apex
court stated that the complainant, who had filed a complaint against
Ms Bhattal, had the liberty to assist the prosecution in the case
before a UT Special Court and point out the deficiency, if any, in its
(prosecution’s) submission regarding the facts of the case.
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the orders
passed by the UT Additional and Sessions Judge, Mr Balbir Singh,
ruling that the complainant in the corruption case against Ms Bhattal
had no right to argue at the time of framing charges. Accepting the
petition filed by complainant Balwant Singh Dhillon, the High Court
concluded that “The petitioner shall be heard personally or through
his counsel at the time of considering Ms Bhattal’s application for
discharge”. |
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Cops in ‘satta’ racket: DGP promises action Sangrur, May 3 Mr M.S. Bhullar, DGP, Punjab, stated this here today that hardcore militants had left Punjab. He could not give this approximate number of militants, living in Pakistan these days. Mr Bhullar was talking to mediapersons at the local Police Lines after inaugurating a gymnasium hall, for the police personnel, in the Police Lines. He was accompanied by Mr Anil Kaushik, I.G. Patiala Zone; Mr I.P.S. Sahota, DIG, Patiala Range; and Mr A.S. Rai, SSP, Sangrur. The hall has been set up at a cost of Rs 3.50 lakh. The DGP also said that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was still luring Punjabi youth into militancy. He stated that on the pretext of providing jobs in foreign countries, travel agents especially from the Doaba area, took Punjabi youths abroad via Russia or Germany where these youths had been lured by the ISI. On the involvement of a number of policemen in satta racket in Ludhiana, the DGP announced that no guilty person would be spared. He said action had already been initiated. In case, any higher officer was found “guilty” he would also be ‘punished’, he added. Mr Bhullar also stated that recruitment of sportspersons still continued in the police. |
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Vigilance raid on Tibri subdivision Gurdaspur, May 3 The staff also sealed the record of the Executive Engineer of the Gurdaspur division. One superintendent and one clerk of the department were taken into custody but later released. According to official sources, the Deputy Commissioner had received a complaint that tenders for various works were being opened at 3.30 p.m. yesterday. The complaint said that works were to be distributed by the officials of the department on cheaper rates, benefiting some officials and their
favourites. |
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Civil hospital sans facilities Jalalabad, May 3 For the past two years only three doctors are working here against the section of eight posts of medical officer. Even the post of Senior Medical Officer has been vacant for the past three years and one of the serving MO has to look after the duties of the SMO, which includes general administration, maintenance and other works in addition to his duties. Although normal cases are being handled by the doctors available but in the absence of specialist like gynaecologist, dentist and ophthalmologist, poor patients are forced to get themselves treated from private doctors at a huge cost. At present there are only two nurses working against the posts of five required for a 30-bed hospital. Keeping in view their shift duties and vacations, the hospital remains without the services of any paramedical staff several a time thus affecting the admissions. The building of the civil hospital was renovated two years ago, besides facility like 300 MA X-ray, ECG, Diagnostic laboratory and cardiac monitor, two additional wards were added to the building. But instead of any rise in the patients OPD has gone down from 35000 patients a year to 18000. The hospital in its category has registered maximum medico-legal cases in recent past. Several formalities for these cases have also affected the normal medical services. Dr Shiv Kumar Chhabra, president of the Hospital Welfare Association Jalalabad, has alleged that the quacks were mushrooming in the absence of proper medical facilities in the civil hospital. He pointed out that keeping in view the huge population of the area dependent on this hospital, the hospital should be upgraded from 30-bed to 50-bed besides filling the posts. |
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Amritsar SARS suspect tests
negative Amritsar, May 3 Confirming the report, the Civil Surgeon, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, said Dr Shiv Lal, Additional Director of the NICD, had conveyed to him that the reports of the suspected SARS patient were
negative, much to the relief of the health authorities and district administration. According to attending physicians, Mr Partap Singh is likely to be discharged shortly. |
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‘Sangat Darshan funds misused’ Patiala, May 3 Inaugurating a project at Bhunerheri village 20 km on the Meeranpur choe (rivulet), the Minister said all district heads had submitted a report of the grants released to their districts under the Sangat Darshan programme. He said the final report would be released to the people soon. The minister, accompanied by Patiala MP Preneet
Kaur, said a 31.8 km of the rivulet would be dug up at a cost of Rs 1 crore to serve 30 villages from floods during monsoon season. He said digging would be completed before the arrival of monsoon. Mr Lal Singh said crops in thousands of acres of land were destroyed during the monsoon season along side the
Ghaggar, Markanda and Tangri rivers. He said the government had made Rs 150 crore proposal to channelise the Ghaggar river. He said the project had been delayed earlier because the permission of the Haryana and Rajasthan governments was necessary before commissioning the project. He said a Rs 12 crore project had been submitted to NABARD for the desilting of Tangri river. The Minister announced that the Dakala constituency had also been taken up under the Progress Year scheme of the State government under which Rs 1.25 crore would be spent on various development activities. He also announced that repair of the
Patiala-Pehowa and Patiala-Nawa Gaon road would be taken up, a barbed wire would be put around the Bhunerheri Bir and two grid stations constructed in the constituency. Ms Preneet Kaur announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the village school and Rs 1 lakh for the school stadium. |
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Arms cache seized from border Mahawa (Amritsar), May 3 The arms and ammunition found dumped in a piece of land belonging to an Indian farmer of this village included two AK-47s, nine Chinese mousers with two magazines of 40 rounds each and 17 magazines for mousers containing 100 rounds. The weapons were packed in polythene and cardboard cartons. According to intelligence reports, this consignment was concealed by ISI conduit Sharifa of Thahpur village (Pakistan) for his Indian contact. Mr Rohit
Prohit, DIG, said that the case was being handed over to Gharinda police station for registration of an FIR and further investigation. He added that a similar consignment of 18 Chinese pistols with 34 magazines was seized from the nearby Daoke village, close to the International Border last year in October. The BSF sleuths searched the entire area opposite Border Post 107 and found a cardboard carton dug in the fields about 80 m from the International Border and across the fence. It took three hours for the BSF jawans to locate the consignment. The search was supervised by the Commandant, 19
Batallion, Mr D.K. Sharma, Mr G.S. Sandhu, DIG, Mr Ish Aul, Joint Director (G branch) and Mr
S.K. Sharma, Inspector, BSF. Mr Prohit said though the field from where the cache was seized belongs to Mr Mahal Singh, a resident of Mahawa village, his involvement could not be ascertained as he had already harvested the wheat. He said the involvement of smugglers having links with militants could not be ruled out. |
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Contractors flay enlistment policy Gurdaspur, May 3 Mr Rajinder
Trehan, president, talking to mediapersons said under the new policy, ownership of hot mixing plant had been made compulsory for class I and class II contractors. Moreover, enlistment henceforth would be done either for buildings or road work. Earlier it was combined. Mr Trehan said earlier the PWD (B&R) enlistment was done by the Punjab Mandi Board and the PWD (B&R) under category one for execution purchased by all class-I
contractors. For bituminous work, however, contractors having hot mixing plant had been enlisted under category II. Mr Trehan said under new policy category one contractors would not be able to fill tenders and their men and machinery would be rendered idle. Furthermore, the contractors who had mostly purchased the machinery with bank loans would be unable to pay back the money. He said transport authorities allowed buses and trucks to operate for 15 years. He demanded the revival of the old policy and threatened statewide stir if the government failed to do so. |
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Rs 107 cr for uplift of poor Phagwara, May 3 He said non-government organisations having 60 per cent Scheduled Caste and Backward Class members would be involved in the implementation of various welfare schemes of the government. He expressed concern at the high dropout rate of poor students from schools. The minister also said Rs 18 crore would be spent on providing 10-marla plots to the homeless poor, benefitting 4,000 families in the state. He added that cheques worth Rs 37,99,500 had been distributed among 131 schools under the Sarb Sikhsha
Abhiyan. |
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Akali leader surrenders Bathinda, May 3 The SSP Vigilance Baljinder Singh Grewal confirming this here said that Kulwinder Singh son of a former SGPC member Hakam Singh Grewal was booked under Section 420,467,468 and 471 of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act in November last year. It was alleged that the accused had obtained some of his educational degrees through questionable means. Later he was sent to central jail under the court directions.
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Fire destroys wheat crop on 2000 acres Gurdaspur, May 3 Standing crop almost 50 per cent was destroyed in the fire which broke out last night, police sources said today. The villages whose wheat crop has been damaged included Gunnopur, Saidowal, Nameen Gharal, Barara, Kahnuwan and Lamini.
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HC: illegally sacked worker entitled to back wages Chandigarh, May 3 Delivering the verdict on employee Jarnail Singh’s petition, Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar of the High Court ruled: “It is a settled proposition of law that ordinarily a workman whose service has been illegally terminated would be entitled to full back wages except to the extent he was gainfully employed during the enforced idleness. That is the normal rule and the party objecting to it must establish the circumstances necessitating the departure”. In his detailed order, the Judge concluded: “The petition is allowed. It is held that the petitioner is entitled to back wages from the date his services were illegally terminated”. In his petition, Jarnail Singh had earlier contended that his service was illegally terminated on October 6, 1977. Initially, a civil suit was filed, but later Amritsar’s Senior-Sub Judge dismissed it after holding that a civil court had no jurisdiction to try the case. Subsequently, the labour court was moved, counsel for the petitioner had asserted. After going through his submissions and the documents, the labour court had held that the termination orders were void, but the issue of back wages had remained for the petitioner. |
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Hearing in Thandal case put off Ropar, May 3 Meanwhile, hearing in the corruption case against the former Director, Animal Husbandry, Mr
G.S. Chahal, has also been adjourned till May 7. |
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2 get life term
for murder Sangrur, May 3 The Judge convicted Rajesh and Vishnu, residents of Sunam, for the murder of Som Nath and also directed that their life imprisonment would be extended for three years in case the two did not pay the fine.
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5-yr RI for 2 Jalandhar, May 3 |
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48 cases settled at Lok Adalat Mansa, May 3 Members of District Bar Association cooperated to make today’s Lok Adalat a success. |
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Lok adalat settles 269 cases Amritsar, May 3 The adalat under the supervision of Mr M. R. Batra, District Session Judge, constituted four benches to settle 269 cases. Social workers and officers of the Cooperative Department were inducted as members to assist the bench. |
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Three animals injured in fire Jalandhar, May 3 |
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‘Install Jassa Singh’s statue’ Kapurthala, May 3 Addressing a function organised at a gurdwara here today in connection with the celebrations of the general’s birth anniversary, Mr Tikka Shatrujit Singh described him as a national hero. Paying tributes to Jassa Singh, he said the general had freed more than 2,000 Indian women from the captivity of Ahmad Shah
Abdali. |
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Cops examined at camp Bathinda, May
3 As per a press note of the Principal of Police Public
School, where the camp was held, the purpose of the camp was to
provide better and special medical care to the cops, who normally lead
a stressful life comprising long working hours, frequent travel,
inadequate sleep and no fixed eating timings. |
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Two kiosks removed Jalandhar, May 3 The officials equipped with special machines razed the kiosks. Certain kiosks owners alleged that though several pucca shops had been built on encroached land by some influential persons, but no action was taken against them. They raised anti-board slogans and said that their business establishments were ruined due to indifferent approach of the authorities concerned. They said that the board officials should have issued notices to them before launching such exercise. |
Two booked for selling spurious seed Bathinda, May 3 The case was registered following a raid by Agriculture Department officials and the police on the shop and godown of the firm last evening. Mr Ishwar Singh,
SSP, said that during the raid empty boxes of Krishi Research Narma under the brand name of Krishi Leader, cartoons 15 containing 820 packets of Krishi Leader seed with each packet having 400 gm of seed, 48 packets of Manek F-1 research hybrid Narma seed, packing material weighing machine etc. were seized from the premises. Apart from it, 200 kg seed of cotton lying in an open box without any wrapper of any brand name on it, 15 empty big boxes, 24 packets each of 500 gm Aventing Company’s Lekisol (a pesticide) and 150 empty cloth bags of H-8 variety seed of Ravi
Beez, Gujarat were seized. Officials of the Agriculture Department led by Chief Agriculture Officer
(CAO), Dr H.S. Bhatti led the raid following directions by the Deputy Commissioner. For the past two years, traders of this cotton belt of Punjab have been allegedly selling fake cottonseed to the farmers desperate to get better seed for more yield facing attack by American Ballworm and other pests for the past six years. Sources said that several traders had been supplying fake BT cottonseed to the farmers and making money in this way. Last year, many farmers sow BT cottonseed in Muktsar district though the Centre and state governments were yet to permit its Cultivation in Punjab. The raid revealed though those selling seed sale were required to take permission for it the office of the Agriculture Department, from the accused, whose godown was located on the Bhagu road in the city was raided today, had not sought permission for storing and packaging the seed in different containers. The SSP said that the investigation was in progress. |
Couple held on cheating charge Pathankot, May 3 A spokesman for the police said here today that Vijay Kumar, a resident of Bhadroya, had executed an agreement dated April 3, 2002, vide which he had agreed to sell his house situated at Bhadroya for Rs 2,50,000 to Mr Jagdish Raj. Of the total amount, Rs 1,70,000 was paid at the time of execution of the agreement and March 30, 2003 was agreed on for the execution of the sale deed. Vijay Kumar had again received Rs 10,000 from the complainant in September last year. He allegedly refused to execute the sale deed. The police found that Vijay Kumar had already executed a sale deed of his house in favour of his wife Veena Kumari much earlier. The police has registered a case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the
IPC. |
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1 killed, 23 hurt in accident
Jalandhar, May 3 While one person identified as Tarsem Singh, driver of the bus, died on the spot, 23 bus passengers got injuries. The condition of eight injured is stated to be serious and were admitted to a local hospital. A case has been registered at the Bhogpur police station. In another accident between an oil tanker and Tata Sumo at the Sarai Khasa area, near here, four Sumo-borne passengers were injured, who were identified as Sukhdev Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Buta Singh and Jasveer Singh. The condition of all the injured is stated to be out of danger. |
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2 die in accidents Bathinda, May 3 Sources said that the husband of the deceased, Mr Baldev Singh Jaura, a sanitary inspector with the local Municipal Council died on May 2, 2002 and was cremated on this day last year and Balwinder Kaur had been appointed in place of her husband on compassionate grounds. The sources said that she joined her duties yesterday and was under depression. The sources said that the neighbours gathered at the house of the deceased after hearing the wails of the daughter and found that the deceased was in flames. Police sources said that the parents of the deceased had been informed and a case in this connection would be registered. Her son, Maninder Singh, who is doing MBBS course at Delhi and a daughter, Kimmi, survive the deceased. |
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2 injured as truckers clash Rampura, May 3 Police sources said
Sukha, Gurpiar, Bhinder and two others attacked Bhinder Singh and his brother Bharpur Singh with swords and iron rods. Both suffered multiple injuries and were admitted to Local Civil Hospital. The condition of the two was stable. There had been tension between two sections of truck operators over a dispute pertaining to the amount of tax deducted at source
(TDS) belonging to the truck union. About a week ago, the district police authorities registered a case against Mr Satnam Singh
Bhairupa, an SGPC member and a close confidant of Akali minister Sikander Singh Malooka and Basant Singh, former president of the truck union for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation of funds of the
TDS. About a week ago, news persons emerged on the scene and made attempts to become president of the union. A large number of truck operators, who opposed the move, were threatened by government. Mr Devinder
Attri, Station House Officer (SHO), local police station, when contacted, said to prevent any untoward incident on the truck union premises, a police party had been deployed there permanently. No arrest had been made so far. A case had been registered under Sections 323, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC against
Sukha, Gurpiar, Bhinder and two others. |
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Patwari held for graft
Moga, May 3 According to the DSP, Mr Narinder Pal Singh, the accused demanded Rs 10,000 for entering the mutation in favour of complainant Amarjit Singh after the death of his father, Kulwant Singh.
UNI |
19,000 posts of teacher to be filled Fatehgarh Sahib, May 3 He said the government was making all efforts to improve the standard of education in the government schools to counter the increasing “menace” of the so-called public schools. The government had initiated various steps in this regard and the decision to make elementary and secondary directorates had brought fruitful results, particularly in the primary section. Addressing the function, Mr Devinder Pal Sharma, state president of the union, said the teaching community would extend all possible cooperation to the government in its campaign to improve the education standard in the state. |
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Workshop on TERI project Patiala, May 3 Teachers from 11 schools of the city including
Aurobindo, Budha Dal, Lady Fatima, St Peters Academy, DAV and Teja Singh Khandari School participated in the workshop to know the aim and purpose of TERI. The Principal of the school, Ms Ravi Singh, informed the participants about the green olympiad which encompasses `issues of daily concern related to global climate change. She also emphasised upon the increasing air and water pollution and friendly initiatives to curb it. |
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Industrialists’ demands ‘to be considered’ Bathinda, May 3 Mr Atwal, who met a delegation of the Bathinda Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the government was serious about developing industrial zones in the state. He praised the role of Mr Mangat Rai, editor of a local Punjabi weekly, in highlighting the problems and demands of
labourers. |
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Missing millionaire Indian businessman Amarjit
Chohan, whose body was found floating in the sea in England on April 25, owned properties in Chandigarh and New Delhi.