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| Sunday,
July 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Vigilance asks banks to ‘seal’ Badal’s accounts Chandigarh, July 12 Vigilance Bureau sources said here late tonight that they had written to different banks including Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank and Bank of Punjab to “seal” the accounts of Mr Badal in different branches in Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab for scrutinising the accounts to check the transactions made in the past few years. The sources said the bureau teams had been sent to Delhi for searching residential properties of Mr Badal and his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, in the Capital and in Gurgaon.
— PTI |
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CM trying to ‘weaken’ SAD Alamgir (Ludhiana) July 12 Mr Badal alleged that the Chief Minister had made false declaration in the suit before the court. He claimed that in order to get custom duty exemption for his factory, Capt Amarinder Singh had claimed it to be a 100 per cent export-oriented unit. “Although he got the exemption but in actual terms the production was for domestic consumption only”, Mr Badal alleged, saying that, “those who live in glass houses do not throw stones at others”. The former Chief Minister observed that Capt Amarinder had launched a campaign to malign his and the image of the Shiromani Akali Dal. “He knows it very well that nothing is coming out of it, but he only wants to defame and malign us”, he observed, while adding “earlier they used to say that we had taken all the money to USA and now they have reached to the conclusion that we have sent everything to Haryana”. Mr Badal reiterated his stand that whatever property he possessed whether in Punjab, Haryana or Rajasthan was his ancestral property. He disclosed that his land in Rajasthan had been inherited from his maternal grandmother, who was the only daughter of her parents. He declared that if it was proved that he had made a single penny by corrupt or illegal means and invested it abroad, he was prepared to take any punishment deemed fit by the public. “I will go to the jail for as many years as the people decide if I am proved corrupt”, he said. He alleged that the Chief Minister had tried to weaken the Akali Dal. “But this has united the Akali workers and they had given an overwhelming response to us in our counter-campaign against the government”, he said, while declaring that the Akali Dal was going to the people and organising regular public meetings. He maintained that the morale of the Akali workers was quite high and they had accepted the challenge and it was already taking up the shape of a mass movement. About installing Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra as the SGPC president, Mr Badal said a meeting of all senior leaders had been convened on July 16. He said the arrangements were being worked out and all concerned would be taken into confidence before taking any final decision. MOGA:
Seeking the support of the people of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday claimed that his party would dislodge the Capt Amarinder Singh government “in five months,’’ a UNI report said. Addressing a gathering at the district level party rally here, Mr Badal said the Congress government had only one-point agenda of harassing and defaming the Akalis in the state. He said the law and order situation in Punjab was getting from bad to worse, while the Chief Minister had been “exposed of his political vindictiveness against the SAD in the name of anti-corruption drive’’. Mr Badal appealed to the people to rise like a strong wind to uproot the Congress government which, he alleged, was trying to blot the glorious history of Punjab through its wrong policies and tactics, which were aimed against the Sikhs. Reacting to the expulsion of Punjab Minister of State for Forests Dr Harbans Lal, Mr Badal said the Chief Minister should take a similar action against four of his other ministers who had already been indicted by the Lok Pal. |
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CM’s reply misleading, says Badal Chandigarh, July 12 Mr Badal asked Mr Amarinder Singh to come clean on the details of the loan, the exact amount, payments made over the past five years, circumstances under which he was declared a defaulter and the sources from which he got the money to clear the liability. “Amazingly, he is silent on all these counts. If all his business ventures had failed, as claimed by him in his settlement with the bank, then what exactly was the source from which he got the money to steer clear of default?” Mr Badal said that the Chief Minister must make his position clear on the crores that allegedly changed hands during the allotment of the Congress ticket for the February poll last year. “The timing of the repayment of the loan, as claimed by Amarinder in his letter to Mr Jaswant Singh, coincides intriguingly with his emergence as President of the PPCC. He must tell the people of Punjab how exactly has he managed to come out of the financial woods even as his business ventures were flopping one after the other by his own admission”, said Mr Badal. In a statement here, the Akali leader advised the Chief Minister “not to get panicky and face his nemesis with poise and cool courage and not keep rushing to Delhi to offer pathetic explanations.” “The people of Punjab will see the real face of corruption behind the mask of righteous anger put on by Amarinder and his men. To begin with, let him agree to an independent and impartial probe into the disappearance of Rs 2 crore from the bank lockers in the PPSC scam and into why the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had to rebuke his Administration for misdirecting the course of investigations in the recruitment scandal. It has just got started”. Referring to Mr Amarinder Singh’s clarification on the allegations regarding the customs duty he owed to the government, Mr Badal asked if the Chief Minister was so sure of his facts, why was he shy of an independent probe into the entire episode, beginning with the setting up of the project. |
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Order probe against “corrupt” officers, Amarinder told Chandigarh, July 12 In a joint statement here today, they pooh-poohed the anti-corruption campaign of the Chief Minister, criticising him for shielding “corrupt” officials and ministers. They termed the campaign against former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family as a mere political stunt. They also dared the Chief Minister to file defamation cases against the three central ministers — Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Mr Madan Lal Khurana — within the next 24-hours if there was any truth in his claims regarding bank loans and customs duty. |
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Selection board member attacks Badal Bathinda, July 12 Mr Sidhu alleged that the SAD and the BJP were creating hurdles in the anti-corruption drive launched by Capt Amarinder Singh. Mr Sidhu is the third one among the confidants of Capt Amarinder Singh of this region, who has come to his “help” in his fight against Mr Badal and others. Mr Jagroop Singh Gill, Chairman, Improvement Trust, Bathinda and Mr Harinder Singh Jaurkian, Member, PSSSB, two other confidants of Capt Amarinder Singh had already been inserting advertisements in various dailies to project Capt Amarinder Singh as hero of Punjab by making people aware of his honesty, dedication and bravery apart from connection of his clan with two Sikh gurus. A cross section of Congressmen, to whom TNS talked to today, pointed out that when differences arose between Capt Amarinder Singh and Member Parliament, Mr Jagmeet Brar before the party came into power in Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh got huge support from state Congressmen. However, the feeling among a large section of partymen at this moment was that there was an open fight between Capt Amarinder Singh and Mr Badal and they were not asked to “do anything” till now neither by elected representatives not by the party functionaries. A senior functionary of the Congress on the condition of anonymity said the party should launch a series of rallies to make the people aware of the alleged misdeeds of Mr Badal while he was the Chief Minister. Mr H.S. Hanspal, President, Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC), claimed that entire party was behind Capt Amarinder Singh like a rock in his anti-corruption drive. |
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Boat tragedy mission to file FIR against Badal Amritsar, July 12 Mr Khehra said they had raised the issue of alleged human trafficking involving senior Akali ministers and leaders who had managed to take large number of Sikh youths disguised as “panj piaras” to Canada by charging them Rs 8 lakh each and left them to fend for themselves in those countries without any valid documents. The chairman of the mission alleged that these Akali leaders had even arranged fake weapons of 10th Sikh Guru and also taken a handwritten copy of Guru Granth Sahib to Canada. He said the scandal was unearthed when the fake “panj piaras” applied for asylum in a Canadian,court causing embarrassment to Indian origin Federal Minister, Mr Harbal Dhaliwal, who was pulled up by the Canadian parliament. The mission submitted a memorandum to the Akal Takht secretariat, as the Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti was not present. |
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Officer smells scandal in Forest Dept, probe on Chandigarh, July 12 On a complaint by a senior officer of the Forest Department, the Punjab Government has asked the authorities concerned to send their comment on the complaint regarding photography bills and the purchase of angle iron. Informed sources said the Financial Commissioner (Forest) to the Punjab Government, Mr P. Ram, had written to the Forest Department in this connection. When contacted, the authorities concerned confirmed that they had received both complaints for comment from the state government. Requesting for a high-level probe in what he described as a “scandal” involving lakhs of rupees, the senior officer has stated that he had brought the matter to the notice of all concerned in the department but to no avail. The officer in his complaint had stated that when he tried to conduct an inquiry, relevant records were not made available to him. Officers in the field were told unofficially not to cooperate with him in the matter. The officer had also stated in the complaint that pressure was regularly mounted on field officers to clear
photography bills. He said photograpy, video-filming and compact discs were got prepared from a Chandigarh-based photographer in violation of rules and regulations. The rates charged for the work were much higher than those in the market. The rates for video-filming and compact discs (CDs) were also higher than the market rates. Procurement of photographs had been shown as “local purchase” by officers in the field whereas these were made from a photographer based in Chandigarh. In another complaint regarding the purchase of angle iron, the officer had stated that the purchase was made against his recommendations. The officer said he had recommended that either concrete posts be build or wood posts installed for barbed wire fencing at certain places to protect the forest area because angle irons were often stolen and their protection became a headache for forest guards. |
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News Analysis Chandigarh, July 12 The Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Gupta, says. “A free hand given to the Administration by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to douse passions in Talhan helped save Punjab from a casteist flare-up. The June 14 agreement is being implemented. Akhand Path bhog has been held, two Dalits have been nominated to the Talhan Gurdwara Management Committee and criminal cases withdrawn.” As Punjab’s economy is rooted in villages any fissures and divisions in the panchayat have the potential to rural social fabric. And Talhan is the shame of Punjab. Simmering estrangement between the Dalits and the Jats became manifest in open or veiled threats, intimidation, attacks and calls for social ostracisation and boycott. What is unfortunate is that the government has so far failed to respond to these developments, which are not a mere “law and order” problems to be tackled by a district administration. The ruling Congress is yet to take the lead in eliminating this virus. In any case, political parties have much to explain as to why they have cultured this virus and why they should not be held accountable. This brand of politics is blatantly
uncivilised. There are apprehensions that while empowerment of panchayats is good, the real problem will arise when money flows to the cash-strapped panchayats and decisions are to be taken on development projects. If the caste wounds are not healed, things could turn sour. The Union Ministry for Rural Development has made it mandatory for all states to set up “vigilance and monitoring committees” headed by members of Parliament. These are to monitor projects under centrally sponsored schemes and to effect efficiency in the functioning of the Panchayati Raj institutions. Punjab, along with several other states, had protested to the Centre against this in January last. The Centre has yet to respond. The state has so far not constituted district planning committees which are to decide on devolution of funds to Panchayati Raj institutions. Despite talk of political interference in Panchayati Raj institutions, there is fear that too many bodies may impede their functioning. While Punjab, like other states, demands an equal and rational share in the resources of the Centre, it is reluctant to give similar share from its resources to the panchayats. It is unfortunate that a team of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has had to visit Punjab and the Jalandhar district administration had to stop Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Bilas Paswan and others from visiting Talhan on Friday. It is equally disturbing that no social, religious or political organisation has tried to apply the healing touch to the ruffled susceptibilities of the Dalits and the
Jats. Strained relations between them can cause irreparable damage to the Punjab economy and amity. |
Repoll in 39 panchayats today Chandigarh, July 12 In view of the simmering disquiet in rural areas due to tension between Dalits and Jats, the State Election Commission does not view it merely as a law and order problem. For a peaceful, fair and free re-poll, it has asked the Director-General of Police to deploy the Punjab Armed Police at all polling stations, as the people have little or no faith in the local police. The Election Commissioner, Mr C.L. Bains, told TNS today that special focus was on sensitive border districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepore, with repoll in 29 panchayats. The commission Secretary, Mr B.R. Banga, said so far 12,463 panchayats had been elected with as many sarpanches. The number of panches elected was 75,599. Out of the general category panches, the number of women elected was 18,762. Of the 15,614 Schedules Caste panches, the number of women elected was 7,862. The commission is yet to announce the election results in 15 panchayats in Kahnuwan, Dhariwal and Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur. The commission had received a large number of complaints from these places regarding deletion of votes or addition of bogus votes. Since the poll process had already begun, the commission decided to allow polling but withheld the results. Later, it appointed four officers — Mr A.S. Pannu, Mr Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Mr S S Gill and Mr Jaspal Singh — to inquire into the complaints. Their reports are expected by Monday. The swearing-in of the newly elected panchayats is scheduled for July 17 at the divisional headquarters, of Jalandhar and Patiala.
Bathinda has been selected for the other two divisions of Faridkot and Ferozepore. The Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayats, Mr J R Kundal, said that there would be a training programme for these panchayats, on devolution of powers — administrative, financial and functional. They would be told about the extent of autonomy given to them. Over six departments out of the 29 listed in the XI Schedule are to be given to panchayats following the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments.
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No pact for Lok Sabha poll: BSP Patiala, July 12 Talking to newsmen here, the BSP President said the party would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state on its own. He said the party was already moving in this direction by strengthening its organisation base all over the state. He said in the past the party had observed that it had been "used" in successive elections and it would now be the endeavour of the party to strengthen its own base instead of extending support to other parties. Speaking on the arrest of Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan at
Talhan, the BSP leader said Mr Paswan's visit was a stunt and that he had been invited on the invitation of the Congress government. He said by inviting and then arresting Mr
Paswan, the government wanted to prove that it was ready to move against everyone who broke the prohibitory orders. Mr Karimpuri said the BSP was preparing a
"sena" of 1.15 lakh youngsters who would be ready to render "sacrifices" to fight against oppression in the state. |
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Preneet Kaur to fight LS poll Patiala, July 12 Speaking at the rally along with District Youth Congress president and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation Chairman Hardial Singh Kamboj, Mrs Preneet Kaur said she would fight the coming Lok Sabha election from the Patiala constituency. She said the recent panchayat election had proved that the people were happy with the state government. She added that the Congress was sure to emerge victorious in the coming Lok Sabha elections due to the large-scale development taking place this year which had already been named as “year of development” by the state government. Mrs Preneet Kaur said the new panchayats would soon undertake development work in rural areas of the state, adding that the government was also formalising a policy to give them more powers. Rajpura Municipal Committee President Rajindra Raja, Vice-President Brijlal Singh and Block Samiti Chairman Gurbax Singh were also present. |
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Surjit men join Pasla group Gurdaspur, July 12 The CPM activists who joined the Pasla group told newsmen here today that they had left the CPM (Surjit) because it had abandoned the path of struggle and indirectly supported the policies of the Congress at the Centre and in Punjab. Mr Pargat Singh, a former chief of the Surjit faction of the Students Federation of India said the CPM (Surjit) had failed to raise its voice against the recent hike in electricity charges, bus fare and college fee in Punjab, while the Pasla faction was launching a campaign against it from July 15 in Punjab. Mr Gurmeet Singh Ghuman, a member of the state executive of the CPM (Pasla), who was present on the occasion, said the district unit of party would hold rallies at Pathankot and Batala on July 22 and 25, respectively, to raise its voice against the fee hike. The party will join the other Left Parties in organising rallies against the hike. |
High Court Chandigarh, July 12 In his petition, the former minister had stated that the government
had adopted a revengeful attitude towards the opponents and members of
the Akali Dal in order to arrest them in false cases. |
Narottam’s judicial
remand extended Ropar, July 12 |
Naik: work on Bathinda refinery to continue Chandigarh, July 12 “Work on Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda is progressing as per schedule,’’ Mr Naik said at press conference at the Indian Oil regional office in Sector 19. The refinery would be completed by the HPCL even if the government disinvested its share, he said. An amount of Rs 200 crore had already been spent on the project and it would be completed as per schedule within four years. There would be clause in the disinvestment process in which bidding companies would be told about this. He said the refinery and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited refinery in Bina, Madhya Pradesh, would be completed as per schedule. On the Panipat Refinery project, he said the current 60 lakh tonne refining capacity per annum would be doubled to 120 lakh tonnes soon. This would cost Rs 4165 crore. The project was expected to be commissioned by January 2005. The IOC had also started the construction of a petro-chemicals project at Panipat at a cost of Rs 5,100 crore, likely to be commissioned by 2005. The IOC was also constructing a new LPG bottling plant at Una in Himachal which is likely to be commissioned by September this year. This plant would have a capacity of 22,000 metric tonnes per annum in single shift operation and would ease the availability of LPG in Himachal Pradesh. The minister denied that the government proposed to increase the prices of cooking gas and kerosene. The oil companies, he said, had been demanding a price hike, saying that they were not getting even the production costs on these products. The government, however, had to take a consumer-oriented approach even as it tried to harmonise the interests of the oil companies and the consumers. Claiming that public sector companies in the oil sector were doing well, he said the profit of all companies put together was Rs 23,250 crore. A sum of Rs 3,220 crore had been invested in Sudan and the first shipment of crude oil had been received at the Mangalore refinery. The ONGC had acquired a 25 per cent stake in oil-fields in Sudan which produced 120 lakh tonnes of crude oil annually. Another major investment of Rs 8,500 crore had been made in Russia to acquire a 20 per cent stake. India would get an annual supply of 40 to 80 lakh tonnes of crude from this project. |
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Sarabjit, Mathur to head central police forces Chandigarh, July 12 After Mr Gurbachan Jagat, an IPS officer of the 1966 batch, who superannuated as Director-General of Police, Border Security Force, the two police officers become the first from Punjab to get the nod for appointment to the highest rank in the central police organisation (CPO). Incidentally, Mr Sarabjit Singh, who served as Director-General of Police from February 16, 1999, to February 28, 2002, is the seniormost police officer of the country. He is posted against an inconsequential post as Director-General of Police, Home Guards and Civil Defence. In spite of his seniority, he could not get a posting in any CPO after relinquishing charge as DGP, Punjab, because he was not in the panel of DGPs. He will superannuate on May 31 next year. Intriguingly, the name of not many senior Punjab police officers get approved for senior positions in the CPOs or the Government of India. Punjab has one of the most top heavy police administrations in the country. It will have, beginning August 1, five officers in the rank of Director-General, 14 Additional Director-Generals and 20 Inspector-Generals. Mr V.N. Mathur, though a Punjab-cadre officer, has remained mostly on deputation with the Union Government. Before Mr Gurbachan Jagat, the only other Punjab police officer in recent years to have headed a CPO was Mr J.S. Bawa (Central Bureau of Investigation). Unlike in the police, Punjab is well-represented in civil services in the Union Government. But this representation will shrink further when two more Secretary-level officers retire later this year. Mrs Jyotsna Khanna (1966 batch) is due for superannuation on September 30 while Mr S.S. Dawra (1967 batch) will retire on October 31 this year. Mr S.K. Naik (1966 batch), who has been appointed Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi, sought voluntary retirement by six weeks. He was to retire on July 31. Until late last year, Punjab had Mr A.K. Kundra, Mr Jagat Narain Lal Srivastava, Mrs Jyotsna Khanna, Mr Nripinder Nath Khanna, Mr Shishir Kumar Naik, Mr Shyam Sunder Dawra, Mr Kunjuraman Rajendran Nair, Mr Surendra Kumar Tuteja and Mr Jai Inder Singh Gill as Secretaries to the Government of India. After October this year, this number will be reduced further as only Mr Nripinder Nath Khanna, Mr Surendra Kumar Tuteja and Mr Jai Singh Gill will be in service as Secretaries. Now, after approval of the name of Mr K.R. Lakhanpal, the number of Additional Secretaries from Punjab will go up to three, the other being Mr Amitabh Pande and Mrs Satwant Reddy, (both 1971 batch). Other officers of the 1972 batch in Punjab are Mr Gurjit Singh Cheema, Mr Jagbir Singh Kesar and Ms Harsimrat. |
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Errors not rectified in ID cards Abohar, July 12 Four booths, number 102, 103, 104 and 105, at ID card photography centre at Anmol Public School in Nai Abadi here were today given only 10 copies each of Form No 8 meant for correcting the credentials of voters. But every 10th name in the voter list of Ward No 23 was carrying wrong name or surname. Employees there refused to make more forms available. Councillor Narender Verma expressed annoyance over the misbehavior of some employees posted at the centre. The voter lists had been prepared and revised by the municipal staff. Majority of them are local residents and personally know the voters, still glaring mistakes were committed by them putting residents in problem. The name of the Yuva Beopar Mandal president, Mr Rakesh Dhuria, was mentioned in the ID card eligibility slip as Mr Rakesh Pahadia. The Headmistress of a school said she had posed for ID card photograph thrice but the name of her husband was not corrected despite submitting the prescribed form. The staff at booth No 103 refused to entertain such cases. SDM Jaskiran Singh was contacted on mobile phone. He accepted the request but the staff on duty refused to talk to the SDM. He sent a representative but he too had to struggle with the erring photographer and employees for half an hour. The employees argued they had not been instructed to deal with such cases. Ms Sarla was denied photography for preparing ID card on the ground that her name appeared in the list of those who had already been issued such cards. She maintained that she had never visited any ID card centre and used her right to vote only four months back in civic elections. There were complaints that those who had been issued ID card last week were again supplied slips to get their card prepared today. Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that the contract for videography in the last round was given to a Fazilka-based firm which had no experience in the field. This time another firm of the same town got the contract and arranged little digital cameras operated by daily wagers. |
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Singla promises to revamp
marketing set-up Amritsar, July 12 Addressing mediapersons here today Mr Singla said the Supreme Court in its significant judgement had directed that the fees and other charges collected by agriculture marketing boards could not be diverted for any purpose except for the development of marketing infrastructure for the agriculture produce. He said he would not allow any diversion of funds during his tenure and would work to revamp the entire marketing set-up and repair village link roads. The Chairman said the decks were finally cleared to shift the congested fruit and vegetable mandi from outside Hall Gate to Wallha Mandi on the outskirts of the city. Mr Singla said the dispute with the shopkeepers and commission agents had been resolved and the mandi would shift positively by the end of August. He was sure all parties to the agreement would fulfil their commitments. Earlier, the Chairman visited the Bhagtanwala Grain Market and addressed gathering of farmers, commission agents and labourers. Phagwara: Mr Sant Ram Singla, today said that eight new mandis would come up at Badni Kalan, Nihal Singhwala, Bhallanwal, Talwandi Bhaian, Maur Mandi, Sultanpur Lodhi, Lalru and Harike. All mandis of the state would have modern facilities, he said here in a chat with newsmen. Roads up to 20,000 km would be repaired at a cost of Rs 40 crore on priority basis, Singla said. Mr K.K. Sardana, Joint MD, Sukhjit Starch and Chemicals Ltd and Mr Harjit Singh Parmar, Chairman, Local Improvement Trust, were among those who welcomed Mr
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Suspended Class IV staff cry foul Chandigarh, July 12 The entire staff of the school was suspended following a raid by the Vigilance Bureau on May 2. The department is yet to re-instate Chander Pal (water man), Parkash Chand (sweeper), Jagan Nath (Class IV), Paramjit Kaur (office clerk), Tejinder Singh and Salinder Kumar (Senior Laboratory assistants). The department, upon verification, had found that the school was actually closed on that day. Sources told TNS that as per a recent communication endorsed on July 9, the suspended non-teaching employees have been asked to report to the office of the District Education Officer (DEO), Nawanshahr, every Monday throughout the suspension period. As per the rules, the school Principal is empowered to declare five days in a year as “local holidays” with the prior approval of the District Education Officer. Sources said the non-teaching staff is also entitled to a holiday in such cases. “When the grounds for suspension were the same, why have we not been re-instated till date,” they ask? A spokesperson of the Government Teachers Union (GTU), Nawanshahr, Mr Harjit Singh, said they had made a petition for re-instatement “afresh”. However, officials in the dealing branch said they had not received any request for re-instatement in the past but the staff would be re-instated once the recommendation for the same came from the department. The DEO, Nawanshahr, could not be contacted. Mr Harjit Singh, who was one of the suspended teachers, said they would ask the authorities to consider the date of their re-instatement with effect from the date of suspension and not “immediate effect.” The intervening period, he said, would otherwise find mention in their service record. |
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When Bhisham Sahni broke down at Wagah Chandigarh, July 12 It was only in November 1999 — 52 years after the Partition of the country — that Bhisham Sahni stepped on the soil of Wagah from where he aired his views on the physical dissection of the land that caused irreversible damage not just to the people of India and Pakistan but also to the very spirit of humanity. Standing on the yellow line, that defines the no man’s land on the Wagah Border, Bhisham Sahni told his documentary maker, Amarjeet Singh, that the concept of the border between India and Pakistan was virtually beyond his imagination. Pained at the sight of the iron fencing that symbolised the division between Indian and Pakistani hearts, Bhisham Sahni told Singh: “It was to avoid this traumatic sight that I never wanted to be anywhere near the border. I am coming here after 52 years and as I stand on the land that belongs to no one I must say that this pain is overwhelming. I cannot bear it. I may have written extensively on the Partition but let me admit it to you that I never knew a border looked so horrible, so divisive.” Sahni cried so often that day that the shooting schedule of the documentary had to be broken up occasionally. In an interview to the Tribune, Amarjeet Singh, who featured Sahni and his remarks extensively in his documentary titled “Sanjha Dukh”, recalled: “I had been asked by the Folklore Research Academy to make a documentary on Indo-Pak relations and the achievements of the Academy in this field. I was fortunate that Bhisham Sahni was visiting Panjab University in November, 1999, as a visiting professor. Since he was a very close friend of my father, Prof Sher Singh Sher, who was himself a Padmashri, he obliged me with a visit to Wagah. The idea was to shoot Bhisham Sahni live from the Wagah Border, which is a living testimony of the Partition, the main theme of Sahni’s works.” The documentary features Sahni sitting in the backdrop of the 15 feet high black granite monument dedicated to those who died during the Partition. It also has Sahni’s exclusive remarks on the Partition. Interestingly, since Sahni belonged to Rawalpindi he did not cross over to India from
Wagah. He says in the documentary: “ We came from Kashmir. But borders are borders. They are the embodiments of violence which is bred by politicians.” Amarjeet Singh adds: “Bhisham Sahni was extremely sad that while foreigners could easily cross over to Pakistan, Indians had to just wait helplessly.” He also shared his childhood memories of Pakistan, making occasional references to
Wagah. |
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Bhisham Sahni's death mourned Muktsar, July 12 The students observed two-minute silence. Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Hindi Lecturer of the school, told the students about the literary works of Bhisham Sahni. |
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Train engine catches fire Fatehgarh Sahib, July 12 There was no casualty as the fire was detected in time. Railway sources said the train, which was going from Jammu to Mumbai, had to halt around 5.28 pm a few kilometres away from Sirhind railway station when the diesel engine of the train caught fire. However, the fire was extinguished and the train resumed its journey at 6.45 pm.
— UNI |
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Mail damage: action against staff sought Phagwara, July 12 Mr Nandwani today claimed that the postal staff had already been instructed to use caution at the time of shifting bundles of mail. There was a railway bridge for it and if at all the other short passage was to be used after taking due permission the postal staff must keep a safe distance from the passing trains, he continued. When the local authorities were contacted today, they said that only a few letters and some registered letters were damaged. There were total 17 bags and almost all of them were found intact, they claimed. Hardly 10 letters and five registered letters were damaged, they asserted. |
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Water level of Bhakra, Pong dams rises Chandigarh, July 12 The inflow from the Sutlej in the Gobind Sagar during the past couple of days has been around 40,076 cusecs while the outflow stays at 33,044 cusecs. Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) sources said today that the level of the Bhakra Dam reservoir today was 1605.48 feet, about 80 feet blow the normal level. However, there was no cause for anxiety as the sharing states have been experiencing pretty good rains. The
Nangal (Bhakra) area reported 25.8 mm more rains till this morning. The level in the Pong Dam reservoir was 1293.87 feet with an inflow of 10,165 cusecs and the outflow of 5,052 cusecs. As the North-West region had more spells of light to moderate rains in the past 24 hours, day temperatures at most of the places dipped by two to seven degree celsius below normal.
— UNI |
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Body of Pak national handed over Wagah (Amritsar), July 12 According to sources, after a great deal of persuasion and dialogues, the Pakistani authorities relented to take the body after having refused to accept it in the morning. The Rajasthan Police had brought the body from Bikaner this morning and was awaiting response from across the border, as the Pakistani rangers had refused to accept the body. The Indian Foreign Ministry officials contacted their counterparts in Islamabad, following which the body was accepted at 4 p.m. The Rajasthan Police officials, while talking to newsmen, said that Abdul Aziz had crossed over to the Indian side two years ago and was arrested by a BSF patrol party and was undergoing a jail sentence at Sri Ganganagar. Two months ago, Ahmad developed some serious ailment and was referred to a Bikaner hospital, where he died on June 17. The information about his death was conveyed to the Pakistan mission in Delhi, which took almost a month to permit his body to be sent to Pakistan. |
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Strict visa regime brings few Pak passengers Wagah, July 12 Talking to newsmen at the customs waiting hall, Zubaida said that in view of the strict visa restrictions by the Indian High Commission, it was difficult for Pakistanis to take the bus ride to India despite assurances by both countries to relax visa rules to make the service popular. She said that India needed to adopt a more friendly approach in this regard. Later, 16 passengers along with three crew members crossed over to Pakistan in the return journey this evening. Meanwhile, the Amritsar Vikas Manch has welcomed the restoration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service and demanded the restoration of air and rail links with Pakistan, opening of the Khemkaran border, visa centre at Amritsar and early implementation of the South Asia Free Trade Area
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Amritsar-Lahore bus route sought Amritsar, July 12 Making his point, the president of the dal, Col J.S. Bal (retd) said both cities Amritsar and Lahore were at least 400 years old and shared common history and language. Both cities were well connected with road and rail link. He said a resident of border district had to first travel to Delhi and from there to Lahore. |
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‘CAs can help detect company scams’ Chandigarh, July 12 He mentioned about blue chip and other companies that were doing so well by showing tremendous results in their annual reports had suddenly vanished from the market after duping the public and shareholders. He said that such scams could be detected in time with the help of CAs. Meanwhile, Mr Vinod Jain, member of the Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, while addressing the gathering said the institute had set up a mechanism to review accounts with a view to ensuring compliance of technical standards and adherence of disclosure requirements. “This is to ensure excellence, independence and integrity of profession and achievement of code of conduct both in letter and spirit,” he said. Mr Jain who is also the chairman of WTO negotiation study working group of the ICAI said they welcomed competition from international accountants. |
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Blood scam: suspect ‘tried to end life’? Amritsar, July 12 Kamaljit Singh has been sent in one-day police remand, Mr Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, SP( City-1) confirmed while taking to this correspondent. He claimed that the accused used to send the needy family members of patients coming for blood to middlemen. According to sources, a doctor of the blood bank in a letter to the Principal of the medical college, said a police party consisting of about 25 police personnel searched the premises of the blood bank, as per the orders of the court on July 11. The letter stated that the police did not find any discrepancy in records. However, it took along employees Amrik Singh, Ranjit Singh and Kamaljit Singh, assuring them that they would be released in an hour. Two employees were set free late last night. Kamaljit Singh was admitted to a private hospital instead of the Government Hospital. The SP said a case had been registered against Kamaljit under Section 309, IPC, for attempting suicide. He said the police had seized some records pertaining to the blood bank and the discrepancies would be known only after the documents were verified. |
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Who will repair collapsed bridge? SAS Nagar, July 12 While Drainage Department officials claimed that it was the Public Works Department that constructs bridges, Public Works Department officials stated that the bridge had collapsed due to the negligence of the Drainage Department employees. However, the matter was resolved after the intervention of the MLA of Kharar, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, who talked to the heads of the departments and convinced the Drainage Department officials that they should also participate in the effort. ‘‘Now the department is providing and laying sandbags into the choe to divert the sewage and rainwater and since the work is going to continue all through the night by tomorrow morning traffic movement should be restored,’’said Mr Bir Devinder Singh. |
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Dalit MLAs have failed community: SC panel Chandigarh, July 12 Certain speakers at the conference alleged that a section in the state government was anti-poor and anti-Scheduled caste. They urged the government to remove the “injustice” done with SC employees by the previous SAD-BJP government. The association headed by Mr R.L. Sandhu criticised SC ministers and MLAs for their “failure” to protect the welfare of their community. Criticising the state government for the delay in the implementation of the 85th Constitution Amendment, the association demanded reservation in the private sector on the pattern of government departments. Expressing concern over the privatisation of various government organisations, it said it would eliminate the chances of Scheduled Castes getting government jobs. The association urged the government to review the fee structure in educational institutions. High fees should only be charged from those in the high income group, it said. The government should frame a reservation Act to punish those who have not been making recruitment in government jobs as per the reservation rules. To ensure the implementation of the schemes meant for SC welfare and to protect the interests of the SCs, a commission should be set up in the state. It alleged that the office of the Chief Secretary was continuously encouraging and protecting activities of anti-Scheduled Caste organisations. The association said to restore confidence among the SCs, at least 33 per cent officers belonging to this community should be appointed as Deputy Commissioners and district police chiefs. |
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MLA, MP bury the hatchet Nabha, July 12 Meanwhile, Kaka Randip Singh and Shamsher Singh Dullo, MP, addressed a press conference at Bhadson, 15 km from here. While talking to press persons, Kaka Randip Singh said that he had buried the hatchet with Mr
Dullo. |
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Move to install
statue Jalandhar, July 12 Talking to reporters here today, the local MP, Mr Balbir Singh, revealed that the statue of Mr Swaran Singh will be unveiled by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in October. He said that former Union Foreign Minister was one of the architects of Indian foreign policy, which led the country to play a major role in the Non-aligned movement. |
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Home Guards help plug breaches Hoshiarpur, July 12 Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, along with Mr S.K. Baruta, Commandant, Home Guards, inspected the site yesterday evening and appreciated the work done by the Home Guard jawans. Mr Bhullar said the work would be completed within three to four days. |
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Employees
not paid for 4 months Gurdaspur, July 12 The official sources said that the Punjab government has failed to settle with the Centre the salaries of the employees. |
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First aquarium for Ropar Ropar, July 12 The Minister for Fisheries, Punjab, Mr Jagmohan Kang, stated this in a press note issued here yesterday. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Seema Jain, said the district administration would extend all help to the Fisheries Department to synergize the Ropar wetland and other tourist spots with the aquarium to promote tourism. |
Admn drive to recover loans
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 12 According to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
S.K. Ahluwalia, all revenue officials have been directed to speed up the recovery of loans. The DC has directed revenue officials to complete departmental inquiries of patwaris and executive officers of the municipal council within two days and accede to their genuine demands. Mr Ahluwalia has also directed the officials to send utilisation certificates regarding the utilisation of government grants sanctioned from time to time so that all development projects can be completed in a planned manner. He said a sum of Rs 2 crore had been released for various pension schemes, which would benefit 25,466 beneficiaries.
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Gang adulterating diesel busted Patiala, July 12 Disclosing this here, the Deputy Director of the department, Mr Bhupinder Singh, said a special team of the department had raided a locality in Sunam, which led to the seizure of 10,000 litres of adulterated diesel. He said the raid, which had been conducted on the directions of Food and Supplies Minister Avtar Henry, also led to the arrest of Naresh Kumar. Mr Bhupinder Singh said the raid was conducted following complaints of farmers and businessmen that their machinery was being adversely affected due to poor quality diesel available in the market. He said while a case had been registered against Naresh Kumar under the Essential Commodities Act, the department had also appealed to the police to verify how diesel was sold to other distributors in bulk in the area. The Deputy Director said case had also been registered against Vandana Filling Station. He said this was done following a surprise check. Besides finding adulteration in diesel, the filling station also had more diesel in its stock than that listed in its files. He said the stock had been seized and further investigations were on. |
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Three travel agents booked Kapurthala, July 12 Dr RN Dhoke, SSP, identified the travel agents as Satnam Singh of Jalandhar and Karamjit Singh of Pathankot and Bhupinder Singh of SAS Nagar. In a press note issued yesterday, Dr Dhoke stated Surinder Singh of Tandi village of this district had lodged a complaint that travel agents Satnam Singh and Karamjit Singh had agreed to send his son to Germany in 2000 on a payment of Rs 4 lakh. He gave Rs 2.35 lakh and the passport of his son to them. But neither his son was sent to Germany nor the amount returned. In another case, Joginder Singh, a resident of Akbarpur village of this district in a complaint with the police had alleged that Bhupinder Singh, a travel agent of SAS Nagar took Rs 5.50 lakh from him in 2002 for sending his son abroad. He had alleged that his son was sent to Thailand, China and Australia and brought back. |
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4 more held in robbery case Phagwara, July 12 Earlier, three persons Sandip Singh, Ravinder Singh and Daljit Singh were arrested in this case on June 18. Two staff members of a liquor contractor had allegedly hatched a conspiracy in a Jalandhar jail last year to stage manage the robbery after being released on bail. The police had registered a case under Section 382 of the IPC against them. The employees had been even inflicted self-injuries to give impression that they were actually robbed but the police smell a rat and revealed the truth. |
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Nobody named in Kanchan’s suicide note: experts Phagwara, July 12 It may be recalled that 22-year-old Kanchan Bansal had, along with her two-year-old daughter Mitali, committed suicide by throwing herself and the child before a running train at the local railway station on April 16. On the complaint of her brother Sandip, a case under Section 30-B was registered against Samir Bansal, her husband, and three other members of her in-laws’ family. |
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Dalit woman alleges beating Mansa, July 12 The sadar police arrested Chota Singh on the complaint of Ms Manjit Kaur after the registration of a criminal case against the above three persons under Sections 294/323/341 and 34 of the IPC. Meanwhile, a dharna was staged here today by Dalits in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner demanding the arrest of remaining accused and to book them under Sections 3 and 4 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1988. Jat Sikh farmers also staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. |
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Travel agent held for cheating Jalandhar, July 12 According to the police, Mr Harmeet Singh of the Urban Estate Phase-I colony here, in his complaint, alleged that Atul Sharma of SAS Nagar, who impersonated as a senior RAW official, had promised that he would make arrangements to send his son abroad for a sum of Rs 8 lakh. Accordingly, Harmeet Singh gave Rs 7.41 lakh and passport of his son to Atul Sharma on April 5, 2002 in the presence of Atul’s friend T.P. Singh. He alleged that neither his son was sent abroad nor the money was returned despite his repeated requests. The police conducted investigation and registered a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC. Following a tip-off, a special police party conducted raid on one of Atul’s hideouts in Delhi this morning and arrested him. The police has also seized some documents from the place. |
Ranjit Singh, a ruler of Hindustan? Manoli (SAS Nagar), July 12 Yet another example of the state of school education in the state brought to light once again by the Punjab Deputy Speaker and Kharar MLA, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, who on the fourth consecutive day today raided a school in his constituency. The school registered a pass percentage of 42 this year, double of what it had achieved last year. For a change, the MLA was more charitable towards the staff. “We had adopted this school last year and there has been a marked improvement in the results. But there is a lot to be done and the level of schoolchildren’s knowledge leaves much to be desired.” Taking down detailed notes of the performance of every individual teacher in the school, the MLA noted down the names of the worst performing teacher in every subject. The problem is that there is no one who wants to own the responsibility of failure. So one has to find out who is responsible,” he said. Accompanied by the SDM, SAS Nagar, Mr M.L. Sharma, the MLA, along with a troupe of mediapersons, went around the school during the break and talked to students. The SDM visited a classroom and questioned the students on their knowledge of English. Only one out of the class could tell that Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled Punjab. Their knowledge of Chapter two on the 1857 revolt was even worse. Except one student, who managed to say that the first war was fought in India in 1857, the rest of the class drew a blank. Against whom this war fought, asked the SDM, but no one knew the answer. Maintaining that he would continue with this “atam chintan” spree over the next few weeks, the MLA said that till the government took a serious note of the situation, the education system in the state was headed towards collapse. |
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