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VB to send teams to probe Badals’ properties abroad Jalandhar, January 14 “We are in the process of completing the requisite formalities for sending the bureau’s teams abroad to collect evidences against Mr Badal and his family for possessing properties even as we are in constant touch with the agencies of foreign land for the task,” Mr Alam told reporters here today. Terming the probe into Badals’ property as a “Himalayan task”, Mr Alam said, “We have already prepared a list of properties of Mr Badal, but as for as timing of filling separate challans against him for his foreign properties is concerned, it will be difficult to predict time framework at this juncture of investigation.” Regarding the charge sheet already filed in a Ropar court, he said the bureau has sufficient evidences to take the case to its logical conclusion and if some more evidences were collected in the case, these would also be submitted in the court. Asked whether there was lack of evidence against Ravi Sidhu, former Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) in “job for money” scam, as the former was granted bail by the court, Mr Alam denied the same and said in a corruption case the maximum punishment was for seven years only and Sidhu had already spent almost two years behind bars. Regarding the setting up of two fast-track courts to deal with the corruption cases, he said the High Court had already accepted the request of state government and process was on to set up these courts at Jalandhar and Patiala. On the issue of alleged Vigilance Bureau “raid” on the residence of Punjab Technical Education Minister, Mohinder Singh Kay Pee, Mr Alam reiterated that no VB official went to the minister’s house and the matter has already brought in the notice of the district police. |
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Rana Sodhi eyes Ferozepore LS seat Chandigarh, January 14 Sources said Mr Sodhi had discussed the issue with the Chief Minister. Rana Sodhi, Congress MLA from Guru Harsahai (Ferozepore), has take up the matter with other senior leaders. However, sources said Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, who had last time defeated Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal to enter the Lok Sabha from Faridkot, is also keen to shift to Ferozepore. He has also reportedly discussed the issue with the Chief Minister and other leaders. But the Congress high command wants Mr Brar to contest from Faridkot. As Mr Brar was the most tried and tested opponent of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, Mr Sukhbir Badal, the Congress would like him to have another election bout with the Badal family from Faridkot. “Moreover, the shifting of Mr Brar to Ferozepore would send a wrong political signal. It would be difficult for the party to defend his moving out from Faridkot. And then other sitting MPs may also like to shift to other safe constituencies,” a senior Congress leader said. There are reports that the party high command would like to change certain candidates. Old faces are likely to be replaced with young ones in certain constituencies. Capt Amarinder Singh is expected to give his assessment of the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections tomorrow to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who will visit Bathinda to address a conference of panches and sarpanches being held to announce the empowerment of panchayati Raj Institutions. Sources said the Chief Minister would assure victory in at least 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of the party had a political tie-up with political outfits such as the BSP. The Left parties are natural allies of the Congress as has been declared at the national level. However, the
tie-up with the BSP in Punjab would also be a risky affair for the Congress. The BSP would ask for the Phillaur, Ropar, Hoshiarpur and Ferozepore Lok Sabha seats. Both Ropar and Phillaur are reserved seats. There is a strong Scheduled Caste lobby in the Congress and they would not like to give reserved seats to the BSP. Hoshiarpur
is also known as a Congress stronghold. Congress leaders from the Hoshiarpur
belt would strongly oppose the handing over of this seat to the BSP and the same would be true in the case of Ferozepore. |
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INLD to remain in NDA, says Chautala
Bathinda, January 14 Mr Chautala was here to inaugurate a showroom of Maruti. While talking to mediapersons at the house of former Akali minister Chiranji Lal Garg, the Haryana CM said a meeting of the core committee of the INLD would be held at Delhi tomorrow in which some issues pertaining to entering into alliance with the BJP would be discussed. After that he would hold district-level meetings of the party workers to know their opinion, he added. He said the state BJP leadership was politically novice and hence making some statements against him in the press. He, however, said by and large he was having cordial relations with the BJP leadership. He said the INLD would also put up its candidates in Rajasthan and UP. On SYL canal, he said the canal was must for Haryana and the Union Government had already submitted in the Supreme Court that one of its agencies would complete the same if directed to do so. However, former Chief Minister and President, SAD, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who also reached at the House of Mr Garg while Mr Chautala was addressing the press conference, said as the Punjab had no surplus water for other states, the SAD would make any sacrifice to stop the completion of SYL canal. He alleged that all inter-state issues pertaining to transfer of Chandigarh, Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab and SYL canal were creation of previous Congress government, which always meted out stepmotherly treatment to Punjab. Mr Badal said foundation stone laying ceremonies and inauguration ceremonies of government and private projects by the politicians should be banned complete in the country as it was wastage of time and money. To bring the political corruption to an end, the Supreme Court should set up one-man judicial commission equipped with all the necessary staff in each state to deal with such cases. He said as per his information, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had sought a legal opinion for launching an investigation into the alleged “hawala” transactions of Mr Raninder Singh, son of Chief Minister, Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, by sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
(DRI). |
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Bathinda gets facelift for Sonia’s visit Bathinda, January 14 Apart from ensuring a facelift to a part of the city he pressed an aircraft into service today for dropping leaflets in this regard. Though the Punjab Government is facing an acute shortage of funds and has imposed cuts on various facilities which were being given to its employees in the past, the state will be left poorer by crores of rupees on account of the arrangements. Roundabouts, road dividers, electricity poles and walls of government buildings have been given a fresh coat of paint. Even some roads have been relaid. Showing little concern for environment, about 36 trees have been cut on the Bathinda-Goniana road. Welcome gates are being erected on the roads from where the cavalcade of Ms Gandhi will pass. Buses and trucks from various districts have been impounded to bring party workers from far-off places. The area in and around the venue has been virtually converted into a police cantonment. Ministers, party office-bearers, MLAs and officials of some government departments have been asked to bring people to the rally. Mr Surinder Singla, Chairman, High-Powered Finance Committee, Punjab, said Ms Gandhi would announce certain projects for Bathinda. She would also inaugurate a water treatment plant. To oversee the arrangements Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister designate Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Chairman, Markfed, Punjab, Harminder Singh Jassi, and PPCC president H.S. Hanspal have been camping in the city. |
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Govt staff plan protest rallies Jalandhar, January 14 The rallies, according to the general secretary of the federation, Mr Ramesh Chander Sharma, would be aimed at highlighting the “anti-people” policies of the Congress government. “We have decided to burn an effigy of the Punjab Government in Bathinda tomorrow to impress upon Congress President Sonia Gandhi that wrong policies were being pursued by the state government. The decision to empower panchayats to regulate government departments is nothing but an attempt on the part of the government to shirk its social responsibilities,” he said. He said the federation would hold protest dharnas at Hoshiarpur on January 23, Faridkot on January 30, Gurdaspur on February 5 and Patiala on February 12. The dharnas would be held in front of the offices of the Deputy Commissioners. He demanded that the state government should immediately implement the already accepted demands of the employees. |
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Groundwater depletion in Punjab alarming: TERI expert Chandigarh, January 14 To be completed under the expert guidance of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), New Delhi, the coordinating institute for nine states, including Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh in the north, the project will comprehensively focus on environmental concerns of regions for the first time. Punjab and Chandigarh have been sanctioned Rs 10 lakh to begin with. In Chandigarh today to introduce the project to officials of respective departments, which have to gather data on environment as required by the Ministry’s guidelines, was Mr P.V. Sridharan, Senior Visiting Fellow with TERI. Coordinator for the project in nine states, Mr Sridharan conceded that the fall in the levels of groundwater in Punjab was alarming. Out of 138 blocks (divided to assess groundwater level situation) in Punjab, 84 have been declared as dark, as they have exploited their groundwater. There are 16 grey blocks where utilisation of groundwater is between 65 to 85 per cent. Only 38 blocks are white, leaving scope for further utilisation of the resource. Chandigarh, reportedly, has astounding air and noise pollution levels. Admitting that environmental aspects are seldom covered in the statistics gathered by departments in most Indian states, Mr Sridharan said policy planning also hardly addressed environmental concerns. “The compiling of this report is a step in the right direction. For long, only 10 Indian states have bothered to compile reports on environment. But they have hardly been updated. We have sanctioned this project so that we can have data from all states, on a uniform basis. This will make analysis and subsequent recommendations easier,” said Mr Sridharan, who has worked extensively to assess the environmental quality of mining areas. He has also published many research papers on regeneration of lands lost due to mining. “We have assessed environment quality in the Dhanbad area of Bihar, iron ore mine area of Goa and lignite mine area of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Besides, I have been involved in environment quality management through regeneration of areas adversely affected by mining. We have implemented schemes for the regeneration of these areas and help displaced people to generate income,” he said. About SoE Reporting project, for which the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology is the nodal agency in Punjab and Chandigarh, Mr Sridharan said, “Our plans hardly address environmental concerns because our statistics do not incorporate the impact of economic pursuits on environment and human health. Officers of Punjab and Chandigarh Departments have told us that they never collect statistics with the environment angles in mind. This approach has to be corrected.” Expressing concern over the intensive agricultural practices of Punjab, which have been claiming most of its groundwater base, Mr Sridharan said the cropping pattern needed to be changed. “Let them reduce the growth of rice, which they anyway eat less. They must also start recharging groundwater,” he said. |
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KCF
(Panjwar) may be behind fractured rail track Jalandhar, January 14 Hundreds of passengers of the Howrah Express had a narrow escape on the night of January 5 as the train had passed on a fractured track, which was, in probability caused by an explosive device at around 9.30 p.m. The theory of use of some explosive device was corroborated by recovery of some articles like a container and smoked parts of cast iron from the site. The Punjab Police, which has been urged by the railways authorities to assist its investigation team, has pointed a finger of suspicion towards the KCF (Panjwar) and some J&K militants, even as the “anti-social” elements and possibility of a routine “dislocation of track” was not being ruled out at this stage. The police officials’ suspicion towards possible role of the KCF (Panjwar) activists in the incident was for its strong base in the area during militancy days and the J&K militant angle was being made a part of the ongoing investigation for the type of material found from the site. “The cast iron-type material has never been used in any of such blasts in Punjab. Moreover, KCF activists, according to our information, could be under pressure from their mentors on the other side of the border to show some results,” maintained Mr Dinkar Gupta, Deputy Inspector General (Jalandhar Range). For detailed study of the blast patterns in the country, the Delhi-based Bomb Data Centre of the IB has also been consulted by the police. “Since cast iron articles have never been used in Punjab earlier and for similar pieces were used in a rail bomb blast near Kathua in October last year, our focus is also on the J&K militants. We are in touch with the J&K police, particularly, with the Kathua SSP, so as the issue could be further investigated from that angle also,” said Mr Gupta. |
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‘Bomb’ found on
school premises Patiala, January 14 Police sources disclosed that around 9 a.m., Mr Bhir Bhan, a resident of the Badungar Basti area, spotted the crude iron and aluminum device lying under a tree in the complex of Shanta Primary School. He informed the Model Town police post. A police team led by Mr Rajesh
Snehi, in charge of the Model Town police post, rushed to the spot. Senior officials of the Army’s bomb disposal squad and those of the District Administration were informed about it and a team led by ASP, Dr K. Sharma, also reached the spot . The device was taken into custody by the police who buried it in a crater, dug up specifically for the purpose, inside the Model town police post. |
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Bomb hoax delays train
by 3 hours Jalandhar, January 14 A Railways spokesman said here that an anonymous person informed the Divisional Railway Manager
(DRM) last night over the telephone that a bomb was planted in the fourth coach from the engine which would explode at 10.40 pm. The railway authorities here were conveyed of the threat around 10.20 pm. They stopped the train at the station and informed the
RPF, the police and other district administration officials. Meanwhile, panicked passengers were evacuated from the coach and authorities started the search for the bomb. The bomb disposal squad and the sniffer dog squad also arrived which took about an hour to search thoroughly but no bomb or explosive was found in the train. Later, the train was allowed to proceed for Delhi at around 1 am after the clearance from the bomb disposal and dog squad.
— UNI |
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Governor to unfurl flag at Amritsar Chandigarh, January 14 The Speaker, Mr Kewal Krishan, will take the salute at Gurdaspur and Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal at Ludhiana, according to a press note. |
Former Cong men return to party fold Bathinda, January 14 Twelve other persons, all former Congressmen, also announced their joining the Congress. Mr Hanspal said all Congress MLAs should work to strengthen the party in their respective constituencies. When asked what the PPCC was doing as regards the disclosure made by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, that a senior Congress leader tried to topple the Congress government in the state, he said Mr Bir Devinder should not have spoken to the Press on the issue. The PPCC had been inquiring into the matter, he added. He, however, refused to disclose the mode of inquiry and the name of the person holding it. |
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Tarlochan for token jatha to Pak Amritsar, January 14 Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, Secretary, SGPC, said in a press conference here today that the event could be celebrated in the right spirit and according to Sikh rehat maryada by the SGPC only. Meanwhile, Mr Tarlochan Singh, Chairman of the National Minority Commission, has urged the Union Home Secretary, Mr N. Gopalaswamy, to allow passage for Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the Indo-Pak Border to a token jatha of 101 Sikhs on April 15 on the occasion of 500th birth anniversary of Guru Angad Dev. The gurdwara holds significance as the second Guru Angad Dev was granted ‘gur-gaddi’ at this place by Guru Nanak Dev. The SGPC secretary said the celebrations of the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Angad Dev would begin in April. These would focus on education and physical fitness. For this, the SGPC has given a call to gurdwaras to open primary schools wherein retired teachers could teach students at nominal fees. The fitness zone includes competitions in ‘gatka’ (Sikh martial art), horse riding etc. A ‘talking museum’ will also be inaugurated on the occasion at Khadoor Sahib,” he said. Message of Guru Granth Sahib, 64-page booklet, would be released on the occasion. It would be published in a number of languages. The 300th years of martyrdom of sons of Guru Gobind Singh would be observed in December. |
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5 deaths in 45 days
at mental hospital Amritsar, January 14 The spurt in the death rate in the hospital in the recent past has attracted allegations of mismanagement and serving of poor quality food to the inmates. Mr Kamal Kanoujia, president of the union of Class IV employees of the Health Department, alleged the deaths occurred due to negligence of the hospital authorities. In another statement, Mr Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, president of the All-India Youth Federation, alleged maltreatment of the patients. However, the Director of the hospital, Dr B.L. Goel, has refuted all these allegations. He said Ameena (35), who was brought from the Nari Niketan, Chandigarh, collapsed on her arrival here. While Dogar Singh (70) died of a cardiac arrest on December 27, Ved Parkash (89) had been unwell for the past four months. Harpreet Kaur suffered from hypertension and was hospitalised in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where she died on January 7. |
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Jallianwala Bagh hospital to go private Amritsar, January 14 Earlier, the state government had refrained from taking a decision due to the mounting pressure from doctors, staff and other employees of the hospital and the Communist Party of India (CPI). The privatisation process is being undertaken by Punjab Infrastructure Development Board, Chandigarh, which has reportedly given the final shape to the recommendations. The department had invited tenders in this regard till January 18. Several multi-specialty medical centres including Apollo, CMC and Fortis had shown interest for taking over the hospital. The sources said the new management of the hospital would be governed by the set of rules framed by the government. However, the charges of bypass surgery, heart and brain ailments and other costly treatments would be decided by the new management of the institution. The hospital was constructed by the Punjab Health System Corporation during the Akali-BJP regime at the cost of Rs 40 crore. |
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Town beautification
drive launched Ferozepore, January 14 The Forest Department officials have been instructed to plant saplings. He said the road divider on the GT Road would be spruced up. Mr Ranjit Singh said the work on the beautification and development of the National Martyrs Memorial, Hussainiwala, was going on a war footing. He added that he would approach the government to allocate funds for the completion of the Circuit House. But Shan-e-Hind gate, which was constructed at the Indo-Pakistan JCP. Hussainiwala, at an expenditure of Rs 78 lakh is still awaiting a VIP for its inauguration. |
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24-hr power supply to villages by June 30 Chandigarh, January 14 Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered regular disbursement of old age and widow pension and released the first instalment of Rs 60 crore for the propose. Under men above 65 years and women over 60 years and widows will get a monthly pension of Rs 200 each. The Punjab State Electricity Board was asked to complete all infrastructure installations to ensure 24-hour power supply to all villages by June 30. As of now 6,700 villages are getting regular power supply while the remaining ones will be covered by June 30. The first instalment of Rs 260 crore has been released to the PSEB for the propose. The board also energise 25,000 tubewells during the current financial year. It was also decided to repair 19,820 km of rural link roads at a cost of Rs 1,017 crore by March, 2005. |
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Farmers refute PSEB claims Jalandhar, January 14 The residents led by senior vice-president of the kisan wing of SAD (A) Amrik Singh today met the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Gupta, at an open darbar and presented a memorandum in this regard. It stated that despite lodging of several complaints with the PSEB authorities and Chief Agriculture Officer here nothing concrete has been done. Power is supplied late in the night only for two to three hours and for two hours in the morning. So much so that the power schedules being announced on AIR are never followed, Mr Amrik Singh said, demanding action against the erring officials. The affected villages include Khichipur, Talwandi, Haripur, Issrowal Nauli, Kapur pind and Badhiana. Mr Gupta instructed the PSEB officials, who were present during the darbar to immediately restore 10 hours supply and submit a detailed report at the next
darbar. |
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PSEB staff dharna at Jalandhar today Chandigarh, January 14 In a joint press statement issued here today, Mr Amarjit Singh Sodhi and Mr Ranjit Singh, president and general secretary, respectively of the Technical Services Union, PSEB said similar dharnas would be held at Bathinda and Amritsar on January 21 and January 22, respectively. Dharnas at the divisional-level headquarters would be held on January 20, besides organising `rasta roko’ on that day from 12 noon to 4 pm. On February 4, a joint dharna would be organised at Chandigarh before proceeding towards the Assembly. The employees have been protesting against the government’s move to privatise the board. |
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Two killed in
fog-related mishap Batala, January 14 A party was returning to Nausehra Mazza Singh town from Fatehgarh Churian when their car collided with a truck due to thick fog. Victor Masih, driver of the car, and Dhanna Singh died on the spot, while Rajwant Singh, Tarsem Singh, Kashmir Singh and Harjit Singh were injured seriously. Sangrur: Twenty-five persons were injured when two private buses collided head on the Sangrur-Sunam road near Kanoi village on Wednesday morning. Poor visibility due to fog is said to be the reason behind the accident. The drivers of both buses suffered serious injuries. Jagroop Singh, one of the drivers, has been shifted to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. Eight persons, namely Tarawati, Karam Singh, Gulzar Singh, Dara Singh, Kala Singh, Ram Singh, Krishan Singh and Hardial Singh, are under treatment at the Civil Hospital here. Chandigarh: Several persons sustained injuries in a collision of vehicles on the Jalandhar-Pathankot Highway on Wednesday morning due to poor visibility caused by fog. Four vehicles were damaged in the accident. Nobody was seriously injured as all vehicles were travelling at slow speed due to poor visibility, the police said. |
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CRPF unit gets national prize Chandigarh, January 14 The Additional Director General, North-West Zone, Mr K.J. Singh, also visited the centre this week and felicitated all officers and men of the group. The centre provides logistic and administrative support to CRPF battalions deployed elsewhere. Recently, family members of 97 CRPF jawans, who were killed while on duty, have been given employment at the centre. |
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March to promote world peace Phagwara, January 14 Before embarking upon the pedestrian odyssey, Mr Hardwick said about £5000 would be donated for the welfare of the poor and the needy in India. The club had already adopted two visually handicapped children for treatment. While the treatment of the one was going on at Ludhiana, they would be taken to the UK for further treatment. |
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Pakistan artistes in India Amritsar, January 14 The artistes, who belong to different art and cultural groups of Pakistan, are on the way to Mumbai where they will participate in functions being organised by the World Social Forum. They were invited here by the Indo-Pak Peoples Forum (Punjab chapter). The artistes enthralled the audience with folk songs and other items. |
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Tributes paid to
Lt Triveni Singh Pathankot, January 14 His father Capt Janmej Singh (retd) said, Triveni opted for infantary so that he could get a chance to display bravery. |
High Court Chandigarh, January 14 The High Court today fixed January 28 as the next date of hearing on a petition challenging the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh’s election from the Patiala Assembly constituency. Arguing on the issue of maintainability of the petition, the counsel for the Chief Minister had earlier claimed that the same was vague. The counsel had contended that the petitioner had failed to specify how the services of Class I gazetted officer Bharat Inder Singh Chahal were used to help the Chief Minister in his elections. He had added that the meeting, in which Mr Chahal was allegedly present, had nothing to do with the elections from the Patiala assembly constituency. Petitioner Harkirat Singh, a voter from Patiala, had earlier alleged that Captain had used Mr Chahal’s services. The documentary evidence, appended along with the petition, proved his role beyond any shadow of doubt. The petitioner had added that Mr Chahal was, subsequently, rewarded by the respondent for the services he rendered. Moreover, he had spent more than the prescribed limit during the elections. |
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Nirapjit gets bail Ropar, January 14 He was granted bail against a bail bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. Nirapjit Singh was accused of investing ill-gotten wealth of Sukhbir Badal in Punjabi film ‘Hawaein’. Meanwhile, the VB also produced a challan against him in the said court. Details of evidence and witnesses to the charges levelled against Nirapjit have been presented before the court. The challan against Nirapjit Singh was presented on the 91st day of his arrest. |
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Selection committees to recruit panchayat secys Chandigarh, January 14 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh. The Rural Development and Panchayats Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,
was also present at the meeting. Earlier, Ms Bhattal had announced that 909 panchayats secretaries, who had been removed from service, would be given appointments at the earliest possible. However, after consulting legal experts, it was decided that proper procedure
should be followed to re-appoint the sacked panchayat secretaries. |
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Rs 2 cr grant to District Welfare Dept: DC Patiala, January 14 He said this while addressing a meeting organised at Red Cross Bhavan here today. Mr Tejveer Singh further said this year nearly Rs 2 crore had been granted to the District Welfare Department to give scholarship to students of Backward Classes. In addition to this, nearly Rs 6 crore had been granted to the Social Security Department in order to provide pension to the aged, widows, orphans and handicapped persons of the district. Besides this, a grant of Rs 2 crore had been given to promote technical education in the district. He further said for the overall development of various villages of the district a grant of Rs11 crore had been given. Along with this in order to promote fishery a grant of Rs 1.3 crore had been given. A grant of Rs 6.5 crore had been given to implement Bandhan Mukat Scheme in the district. Speaking on the occasion Mr Tejveer Singh urged officials of various departments to inspect the developmental work being carried out so to complete it in time. While addressing the District Road Committee, Mr Tejveer Singh, said nearly Rs 9 crore would be spent on the repair of 242 km- long link road of the district. He further said that nearly Rs 5.3 crore had already been spent on the project. |
3 fake VB officials booked Jalandhar, January 14 An FIR has been registered at the police station No 6 under Sections 171, 120-B and 34 of the IPC against three unidentified persons on the complaint of the local Vigilance Bureau office, which had denied having sent any official to the residence of the minister. While Mr Kaypee was away to Delhi, three persons, posing as VB officials, reached his Model Town house here on January 5. They interacted with the security guard posted outside the minister’s residence. The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had asked the police and VB officials to conduct a probe into the matter. Later, he announced that no Vigilance Bureau raid was conducted at the minister’s residence. The police took 10 days to register a case in this regard. The police was now preparing sketches of the accused to intensify the investigation. |
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16 hurt in Lohri clashes Phagwara, January 14 The first clash started with a tiff between children on the issue of calling Lohri and snowballed into a pitched battle between elders of two warring groups at nearby Khangura village. Brickbats, lathis, sticks and stones were used in the clash. In the second incident, Manohar Lal and Mohan Lal of Jagat Ram colony were injured in a Lohri skirmish. In another incident Satish Bhanot and Munish Kumar were injured in Lamian mohalla. |
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1 killed, 6 injured in group clash Pathankot, January 14 According to Mr Manminder Singh, SP, many persons had gathered in the open to celebrate Lohri in the village when some youths were under the influence of liquor came there. They attacked others with swords and sharp-edged weapons and killed Balwinder Singh on the spot while six others were injured. The police has registered a case against 10 persons, Rakesh, Sarbjit, Anil, Surinder, Vikas, Rohit, Tinku, Nirmal, Arjun and Balwant Singh, under Sections 302, 307, 342 and 148-149 of the IPC. |
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Unemployed ETTs work as shoeshine boys Muktsar, January 14 The activists worked as shoeshine boys and polished the shoes of many passers by to lodge their protest. They claimed that by denying them the job, the government had been forcing poverty and starvation on them. The government had turned its back from the promise of filling nearly 2,000 vacancies of the ETT teachers in the state, they alleged. Mr Gurmukh Singh, president of the union, said the activists of the union would hold protests during the rally of the AICC President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, at Bathinda on Thursday. |
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PCCTU threatens education bandh Phagwara, January 14 In a press note here today, Prof S.S. Hundal, president, and Dr V.K. Tewari, general secretary PCCTU, threatened to go on mass casual leave on January21. A
steering committee has also been constituted in this regard. A mass mobilisation and awareness week will begin from tomorrow and a two-period strike will be observed on January 19 and 20, according to the leaders. Due to downsizing of grants and delay in their release teachers have not got salaries for the past many months, rued Professor Hundal and Dr Tewari. |
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