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Effigies of Sushma, Govindacharya burnt Amritsar, May 18 The activists led by Mr Balbir Singh Babbi, state president of the unit, criticised Ms Swaraj and Mr Govindacharya and raised slogans against them. Mr Babbi alleged that some leaders of the Opposition due to their vested interests were raising a baseless issue. He said the people of India had given their decision by ousting the NDA government and favouring a Congress-led alliance. He said all parties of the alliance had given their full support to Ms Gandhi for becoming Prime Minister. Mr Babbi alleged that the two leaders were insulting the Constitution of India. He said the party would stand with Ms Gandhi like a rock. JALANDHAR: Criticising the BJP for raising the issue of foreign origin of the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, after losing the General Election, hundreds of Punjab Youth Congress workers today burnt the effigy of RSS ideologue and BJP leader Govindacharya for trying to mislead the country. The Congress workers gathered at the Tanda road and raised anti-BJP slogans. Senior Youth Congress leader Rajinder Raja, addressing the workers, alleged that
Govindacharya, in connivance with the RSS and the BJP, was trying to a propaganda to undermine the dignity of the Congress President, which could not be tolerated. He said the BJP was making attacks on the Congress following its recent drubbing in the elections. |
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Market crash manipulated, says Congress Jalandhar, May 18 Since the BJP got frustrated after going out of power, it was trying to create unrest in the stock market to put hurdles before the next government even well before its installation,” he alleged. As far the Left parties’ reservations against disinvestments, he clarified that the Congress had cleared its stand that unlike the NDA government, no disinvestments would be proposed for those public sector undertakings which were yielding profits.
— PTI |
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Accept mandate with grace,
says Sidhu Amritsar, May 18 Asked to comment on the remarks of Mrs Sushma Swaraj and her husband that they would give up their Rajya Sabha membership if Mrs Sonia Gandhi was made the Prime Minister, Mr Sidhu said Mrs Swaraj was a senior leader and he would not like to join issue with her. Mr Sidhu said he would give priority to the revival of industry. He said he would also try for a special economic package for this area on the basis of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. He welcomed the decision of the Congress to continue a dialogue with Pakistan as Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee had already set the ball rolling. He said he would work towards shifting the present sabji mandi to the new site at
Vallah. |
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Teachers want Sonia as PM Phagwara, May 18 In a representation faxed to her this afternoon, a copy of which was released to the media here, Dr V.K. Tewari, national secretary, AIFUCTO, said Mrs Gandhi and her party had got the mandate and she should take over as the Prime Minister. |
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Sikh priests decry seva dal advertisement Amritsar, May 18 In another significant decision, the head priests denied permission to Malaysian gurdwaras for serving non-vegetarian food in the langar. Both matters assume significance as this is the first time that such issues were deliberated upon at a meeting held at the Akal Takht secretariat today. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti said they had received a communication from Kishan Singh, secretary, Kalang Gurdwara in Malaysia, who stated that a kind of meat was being served in many gurdwaras there and sought permission for its continuance which was denied to them. The head priests also took objection to the name of ‘onkar’ (religious symbol of Sikhs) used as the name by a TV channel. In another decision, the head priests directed the demolition of steps constructed for the handicapped in Sacha Dhan Gurdwara at Mohali and demanded a report on the construction near the parkash of Guru Granth Sahib there. Satnam Singh, a nihang who had presented himself here for placing kalgi on controversial Baba
Bhaniarawale, was awarded ‘tankhah’. The meeting also took a serious note of book ‘Guru Garib Niwaz’, written by five persons eulogising a self-styled guru of Padhri Kalan. The head priests also discussed taking Guru Granth Sahib to a ‘mazaar’ in Sansara village near Rajasansi and another instance of taking the holy book to a marriage palace by Gurjant Singh in Raikot. |
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4 held for torturing daughter-in-law Jalandhar, May 18 According to the police, Pinki of Hazara village, near here, in her complaint, said she was married to Sukhbir Singh of Mehra village (Phagwara), who was now settled in the US. She alleged that her father-in-law Harbans Singh, mother-in-law Surjit Kaur, sister-in-law Ranjit Kaur and an aunt Jaswinder Kaur, in connivance with her husband, used to torture her for bringing inadequate dowry. She said she was asked to arrange for a luxury car from her parents. She was thrown out of the home when she refused to do so. The police has registered a case under Sections 406 and 498-A, IPC, and the accused have been arrested. They were produced in a local court which remanded Harbans Singh and Surjit Kaur in police custody while sending the others to judicial custody.
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Biotechnology board set up in Punjab Chandigarh, May 18 Ms Romila Dubey, Principal Secretary, Science, Technology, Environment and Non-Conventional Energy, said the board would create public awareness about diverse uses of biotechnology, establish BT parks and promote cultivation and processing of herbs and aromatic plants. It would also work for procurement of instruments, equipment for biotechnological research and have the power to direct activities under various departments and agencies of the state on biotechnology. The official board members are the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the administrative Secretaries concerned, besides the PAU Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Director of the Punjab State council for science and technology. The non-official members are: Dr M.S Swaminathan, Prof Y.S. Rajan, a former PTU Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.S. Johl, Vice-Chairman, State Planning Board; Dr D.S. Brar, CEO, Ranbaxy Labs Ltd; Mr Rajesh Jain (Panacea Biotech), Dr G.S. Khush, Professor of Eminence at University of California, USA, and Dr Inder Verma, Professor, Salk Institute, USA. Both Dr Khush and Prof Verma are special invitees. The board is expected to prove crucial for allowing use of transgenic biotechnology in agriculture. Punjab had played a big role in solving food scarcity in the country first with the “wheat” revolution through the cultivation of high-yielding varieties followed by the “rice” revolution. Even the present “surplus” foodstocks can vanish in the case of a natural calamity. The continuing rapid growth of population would require stepping up foodgrains production and productivity. Biotechnology would fasten the process of achieving this objective. In fact, permission to cultivate BT cotton by the Centre — despite lobbying against it by certain individuals and organisations — was widely welcomed, including by Nobel Laureate, Norman Borlaug, whose Mexican wheat varieties ushered in the Green Revolution in Punjab in the mid-sixties. Both economists and agriculture research workers at the PAU agree that if necessary funding was assured, biotechnology, would speed up development of improved cultivars with a higher genetic potential. PAU Director of Research G.S. Nanda says that biotechnology, bioinformatics are among the focus areas at the PAU. PAU Vice-Chancellor K.S. Aulakh said the use of biotechnology would certainly increase resistance to diseases and insects and bring about greater tolerance to drought, heat, cold and soil toxicity. |
BSP leader resigns Bathinda, May 18 Mr Bansal said he would continue to make efforts for the uplift of the poor. He said he quit the party as it was exploiting the sentiments of its rank and file. He said the party President, Ms Mayawati, had been ignoring the interests of workers. He added that she had even ignored the founder of party, Mr Kanshi Ram. Mr Bansal was the BSP candidate from the Sangrur parliamentary constituency in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections. He, however, withdrew his candidature in the Lok Sabha elections in favour of the Congress candidate, Mr Arvind Khanna. |
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President urged to order re-elections Sangrur, May 18 Mr Mann criticised the CPM, the CPI and the Samajwadi Party, for supporting the proposed Congress-led government. He said these were the same parties that had fought against the Congress in the recently conducted Lok Sabha election, but were now “deceiving” the people. |
Open Indo-Pak trade channels: Alam Jalandhar, May 18 Mr Imtiaz Alam was here on an invitation of the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch convened by Mr Satnam Singh Manak. He interacted with people from different walks of life and shared his views with them. Addressing a gathering, Mr Alam said enhancement of bilateral exchange, particularly the trade, between the two countries could work wonders and could bring people of the two countries more closer to each other. “The possibility of opening of trade channel through the Wagah-Lahore road has already led to hike in prices of properties along the Wagah-Lahore road in Pakistan. To attain big things, we have to remove small differences,” said Mr Alam. He said he had met the Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister for improving bilateral relations between the two Punjabs. He said he would meet Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh at Chandigarh tomorrow for the same purpose. He suggested that the depiction of names of Indian people on their properties, left in Pakistan during the Partition, would create goodwill and improve ties. Mr Varinder Bajwa, newly elected Rajya Sabha member from Hoshiarpur, also hoped that the relations between the two countries would improve as people of both countries wanted to come closer.
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Jaito SMO suspended Faridkot, May 18 A fax message received at the Deputy Commissioner’s office directed the erring doctor to work at Civil Surgeon’s Office here till his suspension. Dr Romesh Chaudhri, District Family Planning Officer, Faridkot, will discharge the duties of SMO, Jaito. The state government has initiated the action following a complaint by the Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, yesterday against Dr Ajit Pal Singh, who not only remained negligent and absent from duty frequently, but also disobeyed the orders of the Deputy Commissioner and Civil Surgeon. Keeping in view the seriousness of the situation, the Deputy Commissioner himself shifted the headquarter of the doctor here from Jaito yesterday and later apprised the matter in detail to the Health Secretary, Punjab. Disclosing this here today after reviewing the situation in the affected areas, Mr Hussan Lal, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, not only claimed the situation under control but also stated that as many as five medical teams headed by experts were providing medical treatment to the diarrhoea patients round-the-clock at their doorstep. Each team has also been equipped with an ambulance to meet any emergency. In addition to, it four more experts from the local government Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital had been deployed today to assist the working medical teams. As far as 20 patients out of 30, who were earlier admitted in the Civil Hospital, Jaito, had been discharged and the remaining were likely to be discharged within a day or two, said the Deputy Commissioner. Supply of clean drinking water has also been ensured by deploying two separate tankers, besides directing the Public Health Department to segregate the water supply of the affected areas from other sources. |
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Two children drowned Bathinda, May 18 Police sources said both Varinder Singh and Arun Kumar, who were sons of military personnel were playing cricket. One of them went to drink water at the pond. Suddenly his foot slipped from the bank of the pond and he fell into it. On hearing his cries the other child jumped into the pond to save his friend. But he, too, drowned. When the children failed to return home, a search was launched . One shoe of the deceased was lying near the pond. Later the bodies were spotted floating in the pond. The bodies were fished out by the Army personnel from the pond. These were later handed over to the kin after post-mortem examinations. A case in this connection had been registered. |
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Moga, May 18 The adjoining shops on the Akalsar road were saved, fire brigade sources said. According to the police, transformer first started giving sparks, then there was a blast and after that the entire transformer oil leaked on the shop. Within no time, the entire hardware store was engulfed in fire and its owner Baboo and a customer became the victims of the fire. — PTI |
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‘Make soil conservation divisions functional’ Hoshiarpur, May 18 This was stated in a press note by Mr Paramveer Singh, publicity secretary of the association, here today. He said the meeting also resolved that three soil conservation divisions should be made functional to achieve the targets. The following have been elected office bearers of the association. president — Mr R.R. Kakkar; vice-president — Mr Krishan Lal; General Secretary; — Mr Karamjit Singh; Finance Secretary — Mr Aseem Sharma; and joint secretary — Mr Tajinder Singh. |
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Heatwave claims another life Bathinda, May 18 In another incident, Devi Dyal, a resident of Narwana (Haryana), was crushed to death by a bus near Hanuman Chowk. Mr Vijay Goyal, president of Sahara Jan Seva, in a press note here today said a child who had suffered sunstroke was found on the platform of the railway station and had been admitted to the Civil Hospital. |
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Lekhak Sabha’s office-bearers Sangrur, May 18 |
Pendency of court cases might continue despite appointments Jalandhar, May 18 The high court has recently appointed eight judicial officers of the rank of Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class), out of which six has assumed the charge. While three of the six judges are newly appointed, remaining three are experienced. Two more judges are likely to join this week. Prior to the appointment of eight judges, only three judicial officers namely Mr K.K. Karir, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Ms Mandip Pannu, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) and Mr Jagnahar Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, were handling the cases. The appointment of the judges may not bring any immediate relief as the required strength of judges is at least 20. Moreover, five of the judges are fresh appointees and they likely to proceed on training for about two months. It is estimated that around 5,000 to 6,000 cases are being handled by a judical officer even though the officer should be taking up between 1,000 and 2,000 cases. Lawyers and judicial officers pointed out that going by the existing high pendency of cases, it might take several months to clear the backlog. “Even with the appointment of 20 judicial officers, it would take months to clear the pending cases,” maintained an advocate. |
Sale of cut fruits banned Muktsar, May 18 In a press note here today, he said the sale of mineral water and ice candies would also be regulated and manufacturers would be required to take certificates from the district health authorities to sell the same. The timing of schools had also been changed. The schools would open at 7 am and close at 11 am. |
Minor kidnapped, raped; 2 held Amritsar, May 18 The 16-year-old, resident of Pandori village in the Sultanwind area, in the complaint lodged alleged that Sarabjit Kaur, her son Paramjit Singh, alias Pamma, Beant Kaur and Ramesh Kumar, husband of Sarabjit Kaur, all residents of Kapur Nagar here kidnapped her when she was going to Mata Kaulan Hospital side on April 19. She alleged they took her to the house of Beant Kaur and kept her in illegal detention for three or four days. The police has arrested Sarabjit Kaur and her husband in this regard. The victim alleged that from the house of Beant Kaur, Paramjit Singh took her to another place and raped her regularly for a month. She alleged she was kept in illegal detention for the same period by Paramjit and others who used to threaten her with dire consequences. The accused also took signatures on blank papers, she added. The girl used to work in the house of the accused as maidservent. However, due to alleged continuous advances and physical harassment by Paramjit, she left the job about two months back. The complainant added that yesterday the accused were taking her to court to forcibly marry her. She fled from there, giving a dodge to them. |
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Clerk booked for embezzlement Tarn Taran, May 18 Police sources said here today that the clerk used to receive licence fee for vehicles, but did not deposit the amount in the state Treasury. The matter came to light during the audit by the Accountant-General, Punjab, some time ago. The Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, conducted an inquiry into the matter. The services of the clerk have been terminated.
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Remand for PSEB official Patiala, May 18 |
Approach HC, PTU tells BCA students Jalandhar, May 18 According to the Registrar of the PTU, Dr M.S. Grewal, the court while dismissing a writ petition filed by the affected students in this regard last year, had observed that a candidate was required to get through a particular semester within a maximum of three chances, including the regular chance. If he failed to do so, he could not be allowed to continue the studies. The court further directed the university to file an affidavit that no mercy chance would ever be given to such students. Dr Grewal maintained that the agitating students should abandon the path of confrontation. |
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Reinstate Principal, demand residents Abohar, May 18 Mr Baghla’s suspension orders had been issued by the Secretariat after the DEO held an inquiry on some complaints against the Principal. The panchayat said as number of students had increased and working of the school was streamlined during the past few months, so they were demanding that Mr Baghla be reinstated pending final inquiry. The DEO said it was the Secretary (Education) who was competent to reverse the orders. The DEO met the SDM, Mr Inder Yash Bhatti, along with some teachers of the school who were unable to sign the attendance register as the panchayat had locked the school. The SDM deputed Tehsildar to probe the matter and submit the report in a day. Sources said some private schools in the neighborhood were instigating the residents to continue the agitation for vested interest. |
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Punjab advances summer vacations Chandigarh, May 18 Mr Sohan Lal, Director, Public Instruction (Schools), said the vacations would start on May 21 and would continue till July 4. He added that the decision had been taken keeping in view the persisting heat wave in the region. |
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School timings changed Patiala, May 18 Fatehgarh Sahib: In view of the scorching heat, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, has rescheduled the timings of schools in the district. The school timings will be 7 am to 11 am till May 31. |
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