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| Thursday,
August 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Punjabi varsity Vice-Chancellor heckled, 4 students suspended Patiala, August 27 Trouble started when the Vice-Chancellor started addressing students after attending an Akhand Path organised by one faction of students at the gurdwara. The Vice-Chancellor, during his speech, alleged that he had caught one of the student leaders heading the agitation against the fee hike under the influence of liquor. Some students protested against this statement and asked the organisers to allow them to speak, which was not allowed. When these students failed to get hold of the mike, they collected in front of the gurdwara. When the Vice-Chancellor came out of the gurdwara, they obstructed his way and did not allow him to board his car. Some students lay down in front of the car. The Vice-Chancellor, whose shoes were in his car, was forced to move towards his residence on foot along with senior faculty members and members of the varsity security force. Students started following the Vice-Chancellor, raising slogans against him and the university administration. As the residence of the Vice-Chancellor was at a distance, he chose to enter the university guest house. Following this, the students collected in front of the guest house and held a rally. Meanwhile, some students sat in front of the office of the Vice-Chancellor on a chain fast for the second consecutive day. The students were demanding a complete rollback in the fee hike affected by the university authorities this session. The university authorities claimed that an attempt had been made to manhandle the Vice-Chancellor in the gurdwara in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib. An official press note said the situation was saved, with security personnel and senior faculty members forming a chain around the Vice-Chancellor. In a late evening development, the university authorities took action against four students as well as three former students who, it said, had misbehaved with the Vice-Chancellor. The four students — Gurnam Singh Virk, Swaranjit Singh, Gurpal Singh and Gurtej Teji — were suspended and banned from entering the university. The university authorities also banned the entry of three former students — Virkramjit Jattana, Kartar Cheema and Sukhjit Chahal. The university authorities appealed to the students of the university not to be misguided by a few elements who were pursuing a political agenda in the university. It appealed to all students to attend classes regularly, adding that all their genuine demands had always been attended to. |
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Tohra denies terming CM ‘corrupt’ Amritsar, August 27 What had forced Mr Tohra to give clarification on not attacking his political enemy like Capt Amarinder Singh is beyond imagination of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)? The contradiction issued by Mr Tohra through the publicity wing of the SGPC has sent a message across the Sikh masses that he (Mr Tohra) is afraid of criticising the Chief Minister for the reasons which only he could explain. In a press note, Mr Tohra clarified that while addressing a function at Mandi Gobindgarh, he did not even mention the name of Capt Amarinder Singh and hence there was no reason for describing him corrupt. Mr Tohra dubbed the news item published in a section of the press describing the Chief Minister as “corrupt” as “mischievous and baseless”. The panthic circles said the contradiction issued by Mr Tohra would certainly harm the interests of the SAD, which had taken all pains to dub Capt Amarinder Singh and Congress minister as “most corrupt”. Mr Tohra said the statement was published with a malafied intention. He, however, admitted that he had given a general statement about the corruption in the Congress. Senior leaders of the SAD said the
volte-face made by Mr Tohra would strain his relations with Mr Badal. They said the contradiction was aimed at giving “clean chit” to the Chief Minister who had launched an intensive campaign to book Akali leaders on corruption charges. Such a statement would harm the prospects of the SAD in the forthcoming parliamentary elections too. |
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Amarinder behind dowry case, says Lopoke Amritsar, August 27 Denying the charges levelled against him, Mr Lopoke alleged that the Opposition had first conducted Vigilance raids to defame him. He added that the case of the divorce of his son Ranbir Singh and daughter-in-law Navjot Kaur was pending in court. The Akali MLA said he had apprehensions that the Congress government would register a false case or could take some other action against him. He said he had obtained anticipatory bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
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Optional NPA for docs suggested Chandigarh, August 27 Since the process involves certain formalities and legalities, the committee has recommended that the implementation of the July 22 order of the Finance Department on the withdrawal of NPA be held in “abeyance for two months.” This breather has been sought on the premise that since doctors will be required to give an option either for NPA and an undertaking not to do private practice or for private practice and a bond not to avail of NPA, the government needed time to draw up a framework for putting into practice the suggested options. Given the wide spectrum of issues involved, the committee has said, “A two-tier package option may be introduced to reconcile the diverse, and, at times conflicting, interests of the medical profession with the requirements of an efficient and effective health delivery system that makes optimal utilisation of the health infrastructure and assets of the state.” The report, inter alia, says that the two-tier system was being recommended as a “'significant” number of doctors appeared to be in favour of the government decision to abolish the NPA and introduce private practice. The PCMS Association president, Dr Hardeep Singh, and general secretary, Dr Surinder Singla, issued a press note welcoming the decision of the Punjab Government to “fully roll back the decision of NPA withdrawal”. But from the government press note and the text of the committee report it is evident that the final word on NPA is yet to come. The government has only sought time of two months to work out modalities and give a “legal framework” to the suggested recommendation of optional NPA. One moot point is the operational part of “option” to be allowed to the doctors. One school of thought is that should it be a “one time” final option or should there be an inbuilt “flexibility”. This question is important because, say sources, one doctor may opt for NPA and forego practice at a given point of time. But if the same doctor was transferred to a place where private practice is more lucrative than availing of NPA should, he be then allowed to change his option. A member of the committee said that because of such vexed issues and other considerations, two months’ time had been sought, as there has to be a legal framework to oversee the implementation of the option(s), including the mechanism for recovery of NPA paid or taking disciplinary action in case a doctor violated either of the options. The press note of the government says that another recommendation was that there had to be a system of accountability at all levels and for that senior medical officers and civil surgeons would be personally responsible and accountable for any absenteeism, private practice or other malpractices by any doctors within their jurisdiction. There will also be stringent action against those who violated such instructions. The committee comprises nine-members and was chaired by the Minister, Mr R. C. Dogra. |
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Amarinder invites Pak Punjab CM Chandigarh, August 27 The invitation has been extended through the Ministry of External Affairs. Capt Amarinder Singh has written a demi-official letter to Mr Kanwal Sibal, Foreign Secretary. A request has been made by the Chief Minister to Mr Sibal to get the letter delivered to Mr Parvez Elahi, Chief Minister of Punjab in Pakistan. While inviting Mr Elahi and his colleagues to Chandigarh, Capt Amarinder Singh has expressed concerned over “artificial barriers” that divide the two Punjabs. Capt Amarinder Singh, has requested Mr Elahi to “let me know when it would be convenient for you to come to Chandigarh. The best time would be after the first week of November. After your visit, perhaps, I could then come to you along with my colleagues to meet you and the people of Punjab”. Though Capt Amarinder Singh has not made any mention there seems to be bigger purpose of inviting Mr Elahi to Chandigarh. Pakistan is interested in importing wheat from Indian Punjab. Recently, Mr Lal Singh, Punjab Food and Supply Minister, had sought permission of the Union Government to export two million tonnes of wheat to Pakistan through Markfed. An other purpose seems to pave the way for opening the Wagah border for promoting trade with Pakistan, Afghanistan and certain Arab countries. |
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Miraculous escape for Ludhiana pilgrims Ludhiana, August 27 Several anxious hours were spent till someone spotted Mr Janak Raj Garg on television accusing the local administration for the lapse and informed the family of his wellbeing. But hearsay was no consolation for the grief-stricken family. Nor did hours in front of the TV prove to be of any respite. “It was at 4 pm, nearly three and a half hours after the incident that “my brother Janak Raj Garg called us to say that he and all other members of his group were alright. But he could not say for sure about members of other groups from Punjab, some of whom were still untraceable”, Mr Bihari Lal told The Tribune. He said that though the call was short but his brother had said that the stampede occurred near Sardar Chowk, located near Ramkund, when some pilgrims who were collecting their shoes and chappals were pushed from behind. People started falling on each other, while other tried to push their way out of the melee, leading to the stampede. He added that before the call got disconnected, his brother blamed the administration for not making adequate arrangements to cater to the huge rush of pilgrims. In the city word had spread that Mr Janak Raj, who is the Vice-President of the Iron and Steel Merchants Association, had been caught in the stampede and the whereabout of some members of his group were unknown. Mr Janak Raj’s son, Bal Krishan, who is also in the family business, said he had informed his mother, Sita Devi, who is currently in Delhi about the wellbeing of his father. Meanwhile, Mr Kasturi Lal Mittal, also a member of the same group, called his family in Ludhiana and told them that all was fine with him. An employee at his factory said Mr Mittal had disclosed that a lane near Ramkund proved to be very narrow for the large number of devotees, many of whom got stuck and where trampled by others trying to escape. He further told his family that the police could not control the crowds that broke the barricades in a frenzy to escape. Even the waiting ambulances could not reach the victims for first-aid, raising the toll. |
Travel agents’ novel way
of duping youths Kapurthala, August 27 In a press note issued today, Dr R.N. Dhoke, Senior Superintendent of Police, said the arrested travel agent, along with Sushil Kanojia, Sumesh Kumar Kanojia, and Pawan Kanojia, all travel agents of Maqdoompura in Jalandhar, fleeced the money from Manjit Singh to send his nephew to the USA, saying they were producing a film for which they were in need of 10 youths. The travel agents came in contact with Manjit Singh at a dera in Bulle village in Jalandhar, where both the parties had gone to offer prayers. The accused told Manjit Singh that they were planning to produce a film. Manjit Singh alleged that these travel agents showed him a poster and photos of actors and claimed that one-day shooting of a film “Balle Balle America” had been done in Basra studio in Mumbai. They said the remaining film would be shot in the USA. As Manjit Singh showed an interest in sending his nephew Rupinder Singh to the USA, the deal was made that Manjit Singh would give them Rs 7 lakh for the purpose. Out of the amount, Rs 4.80 lakh, and the passport of Rupinder Singh were given to them. Thereafter, they took Rupinder to Mumbai in July. The remaining amount of Rs 2.20 lakh was sent by Rupinder’s parents through a bank draft in the name of Navrattan Film Industry, Mumbai. After taking the entire amount, they sent Rupinder back to his village, assuring him that he would be sent to the USA as soon as his visa was granted. Manjit Singh alleged that neither was Rupinder sent to the USA nor the money returned to him. On persistent demands they returned Rs 2.20 lakh but refused to return the remaining amount and Rupinder’s passport. On enquiry, the complaint of Manjit Singh was found true and the SSP ordered the registration of case under Section 420 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code against the travel agents. |
Office-bearers of new Akali
Dal
Chandigarh, August 27 |
Punjab body makes science
posters for Unesco Chandigarh, August 27 After winning appreciation from the UN body for successfully completing the ambitious “Greening of Science Education” project, involving arrangement of workshops and comprehensive publication featuring proceedings of the workshops conducted in five South Asian countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) in 2000, the PSCST has now executed another major Unesco project, to be further implemented in all the developing countries. Under this $ 8000 project, which was assigned to the council earlier this year, Unesco had required creation and development of specialised literature, which teachers in developing countries could use to clarify science, technology and environmental concepts with students. The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology also came out with six posters spanning various science and technology aspects and topics, as required by
Unesco. |
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Engineer accused of closing Malikpur project Patiala, August 27 The Vigilance wing of the PSEB has recommended to the chairman that punishment should be awarded to Deputy Chief Engineer Prem Sagar. The officer has been accused of closing all six units of the Malikpur Hydel project on January 15, 2002, without taking the approval of the Chief Engineer, (Hydel). It has claimed that the closure of the canal till April 3 had resulted in a loss of Rs 1 crore if the power generated during the period was taken into account. According to the case file which has been forwarded by Additional Director-General of Police (Vigilance), Lalit Bhatia after a report of a technical committee, the Deputy Chief Engineer is also guilty of misquoting the flow of water during the period of closure of the project. According to the report, only for one week during the closure of the canal was the water level below the average of 1,500 cusecs needed to generate the electricity. The report said for two and a half months period when the project was closed for desilting the water level had even touched 2,550 cusecs at the Madhopur - Beas link for sometime. The Vigilance wing has also accused the engineer of concealing the facts from his seniors. It said the notice for desilting had been invited on February 4 and that the tenders were to be opened on March 7. The report claimed that according to the facts there was no way the desilting of the canal could have been done before the third week of March. The engineer has also been faulted on the estimate of silt made by him. According to the report, the officer had estimated that money was needed to desilt 46,800 cubic metres of silt while when the actual desilting took place only 34,300 cubic metres of silt was dug out from the site. The report said the estimate of silt accumulated in the canal had been made after closing down the canal for a few days in November, 2001. The report also indicated that the desilting had been conducted in a hurry stating that the canal had been desilted earlier in 1998 and before that in 1989. It said the construction of Ranjit Sagar Dam further upstream meant less silt coming into the canal due to installation of filters at the dam power house site. It claimed that the board had also been misled on the matter of the civil works which were to be conducted after the closure of the project. It said during the stay of Mr Prem Sagar at Malikpur after closure of the project from January 15 to February 7 no civil work had been conducted. It said later against a total of 11 civil works only three minor works were undertaken at a cost of Rs 1.15 lakh. The Vigilance wing besides recommending major punishment under the PSEB rules, has also recommended that legal proceedings should also be initiated against Mr Sagar under Section 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue). Meanwhile Mr Sagar when contacted on the issue, said the inquiry report was biased. |
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Vinod Khanna threatens to court arrest Ludhiana, August 27 The Punjab Government and Mr Khanna, who represents the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, have been at loggerheads on the issue of inaugurating a bridge over the Beas in the Gurdaspur constituency. Mr Khanna claims that 90 per cent of the work on the bridge was completed due to his efforts, while the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, claims that the bridge was built with money from the state exchequer. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has already announced a joint rally with BJP workers at Naushera Pattan on September 2 to protest against the police highhandedness. Both Mr Tandon and Mr Mittal said besides Mr Parkash Singh Badal, central leaders of the BJP would also participate in the rally at Gurdaspur. The BJP leaders, while criticising the Punjab Government, said protocol required that the sitting MP, irrespective of party affiliations, should be invited to all state-level functions. For the inauguration of the bridge, a former Congress MP was invited, ignoring Mr Khanna. |
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DGP opens police resource centre Faridkot, August 27 Talking to mediapersons after inaugurating the Community Policising Resource Centre
(CPRC) here today to redress grievances of people in this district, the
DGP, who is on a state tour to review the working of the police, asked the residents to visit the centre to sort out their problems. He said 10 districts had been covered under this scheme and the remaining would be covered soon. He said that to make this system more viable a 40-member senior police officials’ delegation, led by him, would visit the UK on seven-day tour from August 30 to discuss it in detail with the senior officials of that country. Mr Siddiqui said an enquiry was still on against Avtar Singh Tari and Gurinder Singh Kala, two cops of Patiala who had links with some terrorists outfits as alleged by Mr Paramjit Singh Umranangal, SSP, Patiala. Replying to a question the DGP said a three-member committee headed by Mr P. Lal, ADGP, had already been constituted to analyse the ways for reducing the unnecessary security cover over being given to police officers and other persons so as to cut the expenditure. |
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Improvement trusts’ Chairmen demand powers Bathinda, August 27 In a meeting held here today, they passed resolutions in connection with the withdrawal of a letter of the Punjab Government issued on February 10, 2003, under which it was mandatory that every resolution passed by a improvement trust would be confirmed by state government before its implementation, and to give powers to the Chairmen for engaging lawyers for court cases of improvement trust as per the Act which was now lying with state government. Mr Jagroop Singh Gill, Chairman, Improvement Trust, Bathinda, who presided over the meeting of the Chairmen, in a press note, said Capt Amarinder Singh had been urged to give powers to trust Chairmen to waive off penalty on consumers of an improvement trust on account of the non-construction of a building and deviation in a building map by them as the same had been withdrawn by the state government. The Chief Minister was urged to grant power to the trust Chairmen for allotting extra land to plot holders and powers for sending advertisements to dailies for publication directly and not through the Director, Public Relations. He said the Chairmen demanded that they should be empowered to construct houses at cheaper rates for those who belonged to lower income group and to grant monetary support to those who had made mark in the field of education and sports. He said the Chairmen demanded that they should be empowered to waive off resumption fee to the allottees and the improvement trusts should be given the government lands, which were 4 acres or more in area for development. The Chairmen demanded that the improvement trusts should be empowered to develop residential colonies for a particular section of society. He said the proceedings of the meeting were sent to Capt Amarinder Singh. Those participated in the meeting included Mr Surinder Gupta, Chairman, Improvement Trust, Faridkot, Mr Kulwant Singh of Kapurthala, Mr Prem Chand of Barnala, Mr Bhalinder Singh of Khanna, Mr Jagmohan Singh Gill of Moga, Mr Ashok Singh Garcha of Ludhiana, Mr K.K. Sharma of Patiala, Mr Pawan Hiteshi of Hoshiarpur and Mr Hazi Siddiqi Ansari of Malerkotla. |
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develop defence colony Ropar, August 27 Families of martyrs will be given preference in the allotment of plots, while the quota for the freedom fighters’ families will be doubled after obtaining the requisite permission from the government. Mr Ram Prakash Bali, Chairman of the trust, gave this information at a press conference here today. He said 50 per cent of the colony area would be earmarked for residential purposes having plots of 100 to 250 sq. yds, while the remaining area would be utlilised for construction of roads, a commercial complex, a school and a community centre. Development of a residential colony in 10-acre area at Sukhrampur Tapprian and residential-cum-commercial sites at Old Veterinary Hospital, old police station, Old Tehsil Complex had also been proposed. The Site Selection Committee of the Local Bodies Department had already given its approval for the development of these sites, he added. There was also a proposal to construct high income group (HIG) flats at Giani Zail Singh Nagar. Since the land required for implementing the proposed schemes belonged to the state government, the process was being initiated to get the same transferred to the trust, so that work on the schemes could be started at the earliest, he said. He said stress would be on constructing LIG flats under various schemes for the benefit of people, including employees, who could not afford big houses. As many as 236 such flats would be constructed at Giani Zail Singh Nagar. Reservation would be provided to local scribes in the allotment of plots and flats under various schemes, he added. When asked about the finances for the proposed schemes, Mr Bali said the government would be requested to return the short-term loan taken from the trust with interest. These loans were siphoned from the trust during the previous Akali regime. He appealed to the residents to come to him directly in case they had any grievances against the Improvement Trust. Later, Mr Bali and the Ropar SDM, Mr Daljit Singh,
launched a plantation drive by planting saplings on the premises of
the Improvement Trust office. |
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Eye flu rages Hoshiarpur, August 27 Dr Y.C. Markan, Civil Surgeon here said yesterday that keeping in view the large number of cases of conjunctivitis, he had directed all Senior Medical Officers to examine these patients on priority and educate masses on the disease. He particularly stressed to stop use of contact lenses on getting conjunctivitis. Dr Markan warned against the use of steroids without the advice of eye specialist and in case conjunctivitis does not subside in three/four days eye doctors should be contacted. |
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Refinery on schedule: Mann Bathinda, August 27 Addressing a press conference here, Mr Mann said he was informed about this thing by the Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, in writing in Parliament. Mr Mann said SAD (Amritsar) activists would not allow anyone to scuttle the refinery project. He said he would continue to put pressure on the Centre so that the project was completed in time. |
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Scribe missing Fatehgarh Sahib, August 27 The family has handed over a copy of suicide
note written by him to the police. Family members said he had told his
wife that he was going to Gobindgarh for some work. He left his
cellphone, purse and other documents at home. OC |
HIGH COURT Chandigarh,
August 27 In his petition, Mr Bimal Kumar Kaushal of Gurbax Colony in Patiala claimed that his engineer son was kidnapped and murdered on December 28, 1998. A Junior Engineer, closely related to the then minister, was held guilty of the offence. But Junior Engineer Gurpreet Singh was initially released for 15 days within a month of being sentenced to life imprisonment. He was again released for three months on the basis of an ordinance, the petitioner added. Challenging the ordinance, the petitioner had stated that as per it, a prisoner undergoing life sentence “may be released for six months or less in parts for any sufficient cause”. Going into the background of the case, he alleged that his son Ashwani Kumar, posted as a Subdivisional Officer at Moga, was murdered in December, 1992, by Gurpreet Singh, working in the same department as Junior Engineer, in conspiracy with three others. |
Farm officials inspect fields for bollworm Bathinda, August 27 Though the attack of American bollworm on the entire cotton belt comprising Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa, Muktsar, Moga, Faridkot and Ferozepore districts is still below the economic threshold level (ETL), officials of the Agriculture Department have started touring the entire region to keep the situation under control till the end of cotton season by using various techniques recommended under the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to check the menace of American bollworm. Yesterday, Dr Ajmer Singh, Director, Agriculture, Punjab, held a meeting with the Chief Agriculture Officers and other staff members posted in the cotton belt to review the situation. He claimed that so far the attack of bollworm and other diseases was below the ETL. He said about 13.75 lakh cotton bales would be produced in Punjab from 5.22 lakh hectares in the current season against the production of 10.83 lakh bales last year from 4.49 lakh hectare. Official sources said district and state agriculture officials had fanned out in the cotton belt to get first-hand information from the cotton fields about the attack of American bollworm. These officials had recommended variety of pesticides to the growers to control the attack of bollworm according to the needs of their respective fields. The sources added that though the overall situation of the attack of bollworm was under control, the attack in certain pockets had crossed the ETL. The attack in these pockets had crossed the ETL as the farmers had grown those varieties of cotton in the fields which were more prone to the attack of American bollworm. In certain cases, the bollworm had developed very fast due to high level of humidity in the cotton fields due to their close proximity with paddy fields. Mr Gurdial Singh, Joint Director, Agriculture, Punjab, who has been touring Muktsar district, said today that as the field staff of the Agriculture Department had been giving stress on the IPM, the cost of cultivation of cotton had been reduced to a considerable extent and chances of improvement in its quality had gone up manifold. He added that last year, farmers had carried out six sprays of pesticides on their crop by the end of August, but this year, they had carried out only one spray of pesticides on their crop so far. It had reduced the cost of cultivation to a large extent. The agriculture officials who have been touring the cotton belt pointed out that if there was little rain in the month of September, the attack of American bollworm would remain under control. |
Encroachers
warned of heavy penalties Patiala, August 27 The plan which
will be implemented in the coming months will provide immense relief
to the residents, especially to those residing in the inner city
areas. Here owing to narrow lanes and alleys, the encroaching vendors
pose a perennial traffic hazard, besides being a constant source of
pollution and insanitary conditions. Traffic jams in various busy
streets of the city are an everyday occurrence and also pave the way
for minor accidents and collisions. The Municipal Corporation has
identified five sites where various clusters of these rehris will be
re-established. These include sites near Bhasha Bhavan, Tripuri,
Lahori Gate, Shahi Dawa Khana and Division Number 22. The first to be
shifted out under the plan will be about 100 vendors stationed around
the roads in the Sabzi Mandi area to a site in Division Number 22.
Following this rehris from various other localities will be shifted to
sites earmarked for them in a phased manner. The corporation expects
to complete this project in the next two to three months. It is not
the vendors alone who are a major nuisance in the city bottlenecks
like Sabzi Mandi area or Sheranwala Gate, the shop, and eateries
alongside the road in the posh Phatak Number 22 area also hold up
commuters daily to the congestion caused by their extended stalls and
equipment. To deal with the rampant encroachment by these shop keepers
on pavements and roads the corporation is also set to launch a drive
to put an end to this nuisance permanently. Mayor, Municipal
Corporation, Mr Vishnu Sharma, while talking to this correspondent
said that the corporation will clamp down on the encroachers in the
forthcoming drive. When asked why the next drive would prove
successful when similar earlier drives failed to have any impact, he
said that the new policy pursued by the corporation will include
constant vigil and levying of heavy penalties especially in the
evening hours when most of the eateries put out their stalls and
tables. Earlier, all anti-encroachment drives by the corporation had
fallen flat owing to the fact that shopkeepers and rehri owners have
devised a system whereby coordinating between themselves on land lines
as well as mobiles they come to know when the corporation staff sets
out for the drive and the route it is following and counters are well
within shop limits when the staff finally arrives. |
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Irrigation SE, four others suspended Chandigarh, August 27 The suspensions were ordered by Ms Kusumjit Sidhu, Secretary, Irrigation Department. Mr Jagdish Singh, Superintending Engineer, and Mr Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, Executive Engineer and Mr Tarsem Lal, a Superintendent, have been suspended in connection with the case of Mr Gurmit Singh, a workman. The case was in the Labour Court at Gurdaspur. The suspension order says that these officers did not “defend the case regarding Mr Gurmit Singh, a workman, in the Labour Court, Gurdaspur, which led to an
ex-parte decision against the department”. Mr Jagdish Singh, who was posted in the Upper Bari Doab Canal, circle, Amritsar, has been asked to report to the office of the Chief Engineer (Canals) at Chandigarh, which will be his official headquarters to draw subsistence allowance etc. Mr Nirmaljit Singh and Mr Tarsem Lal have been asked to report to the Irrigation Department
headquarters here. By a separate order, Ms Sidhu ordered the suspension of Mr Kewal Krishan, a Subdivisional Engineer in the Shahpur Kandi project, and Mr Dev Dutt Sharma, a Superintendent in Drainage Division at Gurdaspur, for not properly handling labour court cases and for serious lapses while performing official duty. They have also been asked to report to the Irrigation Department headquarters. Informed sources said the state government had been suffering huge losses because of a casual approach of the officials concerned of the Irrigation Department in pursuing court cases. In fact, officers rarely go to the courts to defend the state. They often direct junior officials, especially the clerical staff, to handle such serious matters. The government has to pay compensation in lakhs to employees winning these cases. However, a big fraud is played in arbitration cases. The state government has paid crores in compensation in the past few years because of the failure of the officers concerned to defend cases filed by contractors. The sources said certain big cases of arbitration pertaining to the SYL canal decided against the Irrigation Department in the past should be handed over for scrutiny to the Vigilance Bureau or a high-level technical committee. Certain engineers plead that there should be no provision for arbitration in contracts so as to save the Irrigation Department from such frauds. |
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12 employees found absent from
duty Patiala, August 27 Stating this here, the Mayor said
he had conducted the check at 9.45 am after receiving complaints from
people that many employees were either coming late to the office or
were not available at the seats on which they had been posted. He
said he had written to the corporation Commissioner, asking him to
take appropriate action against them. He said the employees who were
found missing from their office for the third time in a row should be
suspended. He said besides this, steps would be taken to ensure that
employees reporting late to work were not able to mark themselves
present in the attendance register later. Mr Sharma also conducted
checks at octroi posts of the corporation on the Rajpura, Sangrur and
Sirhind roads. He said the octroi collection today had crossed the Rs
4-lakh mark, which he said was a record for this time of the year. He
said the average collection till now had been Rs 3.20 lakh. He said
the collection system would be further strengthened in the coming days
to check all leakages. |
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4 civic staff dismissed for not depositing money Amritsar, August 27 While seeking on explanation in this regard, the corporation in a letter dated August 7 issued to them said despite the fact that money was collected on July 1 and 2, the same had not been deposited with the corporation. Mr P.S. Garewal, Xen, while talking to the correspondent confirmed the dismissal of the four contract-based employees. He said orders had been issued in this regard. He also confirmed that Mr Baldev Singh had been issued a show cause notice and added that the corporation had recovered the money from the accused. Meanwhile, confusion prevails as a number of people who have paid their dues for the past three months are reportedly receiving the same bills again. Mr Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, president, All-India Youth Association, alleged that people were feeling harassed as they had to go from pillar to post for getting their bills corrected. Mr Kulbir Singh Kang, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, while admitting this said the corporation was facing problems due to the computerisation. But, he claimed that the problem would be sorted out once the computerisation work gets completed. |
Ludhiana man in DRI
net for fraud Ludhiana, August 27 While Vinod Kumar Garg was arrested from Delhi on Sunday, his associate N.D. Garg was arrested from here yesterday. They owned Garg Forging and Casting Limited, a company for which they had obtained the duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) which entitled them to avail the export incentive. During the past three years, they reportedly claimed export incentives to the tune of Rs 20 crore. Sources revealed that they claimed to export steel forgings which cost between Rs 175 to Rs 200 per kg. But actually, they used to export cheap iron scrap which costs about Rs 5 per kg only. Also, the scrap was not exported to the destinations claimed in the documents. During the past three years they claimed to have exported 540 containers of steel forgings. Each container would carry 21,000 kg. The incentive, according to sources, is 20 per cent of the cost of the consignment. Since the prices were inflated by about 40 times, they claimed huge export incentives running into crores of rupees. The Gargs used to claim that they had been exporting consignments mainly to England, where they named several companies as their buyers. Even those companies existed on papers only and they had printed the letterheads of these companies themselves. They would send the orders of their own and do all communication on behalf of the buyers themselves. Sources revealed that investigations revealed that no company claimed by them as their buyers existed in England. They reportedly prepared the letterheads and would write letters on behalf of those (non-existent) companies, saying that the consignments may be offloaded at Dubai instead of England. In Dubai, one of their associates, Harminder Singh Rajpal, would get the consignments released and cleared from Customs officials. It
was learnt that the DRI officials were monitoring the Gargs’
activities for quite some time. |
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Boy stabs girl’s mother, ends life Amritsar, August 27 According to information,
Kaushik, a resident of Income Tax Colony, entered the house of the girl in the nearby Dayanand Colony with an intention to kill the girl who had rejected his advances. The frightened girl locked herself in a room after seeing him. As he tried to break open the door of the room, the mother of the girl Sushila Rajdan came to the rescue of her daughter. The boy stabbed her with a sharp-edged weapon which he had brought. After committing the crime, he reportedly climbed to the roof and threatened to kill anyone who came near him. On hearing shouts, their neighbours called the police. Seeing the police, Kaushik consumed some poisonous substance which he had brought with himself. Both Kaushik and Sushila were immediately rushed to the hospital where Kaushik was declared dead while Sushila Rajdan (mother) was undergoing surgery till the filing of this report. Police sources said the family of the girl had objected to the relationship of the boy with their daughter. The parents of the girl had tried telling Kaushik several times not to pursue their daughter. They even reportedly approached the boy’s family regarding this. However, the boy did not listen to them. No case had been registered till the filing of report. |
Undertrial escapes, rearrested Fazilka, August 27 Angrej Singh (25), resident of Pattl Sadeek village of Abohar subdivision, had been booked under Section 109 Cr.P.C. He had been lodged in the sub jail here for the past ten days as undertrial prisoner. Yesterday morning he had been taken to Abohar by three security guards for being presented in the court of the SDM there. While they were coming back in a Punjab Roadways bus Angrej Singh reportedly managed to get his wrist freed from the handcuffs. He then jumped from the bus as it slowed down near the bus stand around 5 pm and ran away. The security guards chased Angrej Singh and nabbed him near the office of the PSEB. Police sources confirmed the incident but were silent over any action being taken against Angrej Singh or security guards. |
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Murder case solved, three arrested Gurdaspur, August 27 Dr Naresh Kumar, SSP, said today that the three out of four accused involved in the murder had been arrested. He identified the accused as Jeet Singh, Karamjit Singh and Shingara Masih, all residents of Dhianpur. The fourth accused, who has not been identified, is still at large. Dr Naresh Kumar said that during investigations it was discovered that Gulzar had misbehaved with wives of Jeet Singh and Karamjot Singh due to which both the accused had vowed to take revenge from the deceased. The accused took Gulzar to Dharamkot Ferry to catch fish. At Dharamkot the accused and Gulzar had liquour and when Gulzar became drunk they killed him with a sharp-edged weapon. |
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Mohali driver shot at Nawanshahr, August 27 The miscreants had hired the taxi from the taxi stand, at the PGI, Chandigarh this afternoon on some pretext. When they reached near the village they asked the driver to stop the vehicle and came out. The driver also came out of the vehicle. One of the miscreants then fired a shot at the driver from behind. The shot hit the shoulder of the driver. He jumped into a ditch near the canal in a bid to save his life. Miscreants the fled away with the vehicle. The Balachaur police has registered a case under Section 397,
IPC. |
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Girl recovered, abductors held Sangrur, August 27 All three accused were today remanded in police custody till September 1 by a local court. |
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Chandigarh family held for cheating Hoshiarpur, August 27 |
Ragging reports continue as seniors let off Vallah (Amritsar), August 27 Matters came to a head when 21 girl hostel inmates, disturbed over their continuous ragging since August 4, felt harassed and humiliated when boys joined senior girls to rag them. According to reports, the girls, were who ragged for two hours on August 24, were again bullied into coming to the auditorium at about 10 pm and forced to dance to vulgar songs, sing vulgar songs and enact advertisements about certain products in front of some senior boys and girls. They protested, but ragging continued. They were rescued when the hostel warden came to the auditorium and reported the matter, leading to an inquiry by the disciplinary committee, which presented its report today. According to some parents, a few hostel inmates, out of fear and harassment, had started staying with local relatives while two students had started commuting from their homes. The parents rued that even as the college authorities had received the names of three senior boy students in this connection, all three were let off with a stern warning and their names were not blacklisted. They were not even fined, the parents added. Dr U.S.
Dhaliwal, Director-cum-Principal of the institute, said the issue had been resolved and senior students had decided to throw a welcome party to the juniors. He said some persons were deliberately trying to defame the institute. |
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Show-cause notice to Ram Dass colleges Amritsar, August 27 The Director-cum-Principal of the institute, Dr U.S. Dhaliwal, admitted receiving the notices today. He said a meeting of the Sri Guru Ram Dass Trust would be held on September 1 to discuss the issue. Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, as the SGPC chief, would preside over the meeting. Clarifying the institute’s stand to decide the fee structure and the NRI quota of the institute, which is unaided by the government, independently, the principal said the institute was only following the Supreme Court’s directions which allow such institutes to make their own decisions about the fee structure and quotas. The government cannot impose decisions to such institutes,” he said. |
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Varsity
courses fail to attract students Patiala, August
27 Students of Masters in Computer Application (MCA) now pay an
annual fee of Rs 72,810 instead of the earlier 48,940. The annual fee
of MBA has been hiked from Rs 22,360 to Rs 68,860. The fee for MFC has
been hiked to Rs 32,660 from Rs 22,360. The MSc (Biotech) students
will have to pay Rs 55,400 as opposed to the earlier Rs 16,140. The
fee for PGDCA has been hiked from Rs 12,590 to Rs 16,960 and the
annual fee for M.Com from Rs 14,010 to Rs 19,410. An admission notice
for the year 2003-2004 advertised by the Dean, Academic Affairs,
invites interested candidates for a large number of courses, including
MSc (Biotech), MFC, MBA, M.Com, LL.B and MSc (Microbial & Food
Technology) being run both in the university campus and the Regional
Centre, Bathinda. Seats are also available in MCA, M.Tech, PGDCA ,M.A/MSc
Part I in Hindi, Urdu ,Sanskrit, Public Administration, Theatre and
TV, Music, Dance, Mathematics , Zoology, Physics and Astronomy and
Space Physics. Seats are vacant in many courses at the Regional
Centre, Bathinda, the Regional Centre for Information Technology and
Management, SAS Nagar, the extension centre for Computer Education,
Jaito, and Guru Kashi Campus, Talwandi Sabo. Dr B.S. Sandhu, when
contacted, said the fee hike had little to do with the vacancies in
various courses. He said the university had increased seats in all
courses by 25 per cent. |
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Computer education for
underprivileged Patiala, August 27 The institute caters to even those students who cannot
afford to pay even subsidised fee of Rs 100. They are made to do
social service in the local Rajindra Hospital, bus stand and railway
station, post office for one hour everyday. Besides this, they also
encourage their students to organise family planning and health care
campaign in the backward and slum area of the city. These centres were
drawing a good response from youngsters who could not afford to attend
expensive courses run by various private companies. Pooja Arora who
is now teaching here had done a diploma in computer from the Cal-C
computer centre. The classes are held from 9.30 am to 10.30 am and
from 4 pm to 7 pm six days a week. There are nearly 28 students
enrolled in these courses. She said the centre at the Bundela temple
was conducting classes in the evening from 4 pm to 7 pm. The
institution also make sure that is students also get some kind of job.
Most of the students are in the centres. Manpreet Kaur, an institute
student, says that after completing the basic courses she would like
to do advance course in C++. Right from her childhood she had wanted
to work in a computerised office. Smilingly she says that after doing
the course she feels that her dream will surely come true. |
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PTU forms panel on re-appear cases Chandigarh, August 27 According to a statement issued here, Prof S.C. Sexana, Director, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, has been appointed as the committee’s Chairman. The committee will submit its report within one month. Meanwhile, the students affected have been allowed to attend classes of the fifth semester. |
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Rally against move to privatise ITIs Bathinda, August 27 In a press note issued here today, Mr Gurdarshan Singh, president of the union, said the union had urged the government to withdraw its move to privatise the polytechnic colleges and the ITIs in the interests of students and teachers. He said a dharna would be organised on August 29. |
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