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47 IAS officers shifted
Chandigarh, April 6 Dr B.C. Gupta, Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, has been given the most important slot. He has been posted as Principal Secretary, Home, replacing, Mr P.K. Verma, who has been holding Home as additional charge. Mrs Tejinder Kaur has been shifted from the School Education Department which was in the news for inept handling of the issue of shifting of schools from residential areas in the state. She has been posted as Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies. Mr P. Ram, who has been sidelined for some months, has been given an important posting of Principal Secretary, Technical Education. Mr Vijay Kain has been posted as Principal Secretary, Labour and Employment Department replacing Ms Kusamjit Sidhu, who has been posted as Principal Secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department. Mrs Geetika Kalha has been posted as Principal Secretary of Tourism Department. Mr Sundaram Krishna has been posted as Financial Commissioner (Appeals). Mr J.R. Kundal has been transferred to Medical Education and Reserach Department as its Principal Secretary, replacing Mr Sarvesh Kaushal, who has been sent to School Education Department as Principal Secretary. Mr A.R. Talwar has been given the important posting as Secretary, Housing and Urban Development vice Mr K.B.S. Sidhu, who has been posted as Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayats. Mr Himmat Singh has been also given the charge of Managing Director of Markfed, replacing Mr S.S. Channy, who has been sent to the Labour Department as its Commissioner and Director. Mr R.S. Sandhu has been sent to the Transport Department as its Secretary. Mr Karan A Singh has been posted as Secretary PWD (B and R) and Mr Mandeep Singh Sandhu as Secretary, Higher Education. Mr Satish Chandra has been posted as Secretary, Planning and Special Economic Package, in addition to Secretary, Coordination and Implementation. Mr A.S. Chhatwal has been
transferred to the Finance Department for posting as Managing Director, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board. Mr M.P. Singh has been sent to the Local Government Department as its Director and ex-officio Secretary. Dr G. Vajralingam goes to Punjab Financial Corporation as its Managing Director. Mr J.B. Goel has been posted as Secretary, Industrial Training, and Mr Som Parkash as Chief Administrator of PUDA, at SAS Nagar. Mr Anurag Aggarwal has been posted as Member, Finance, Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala. Mr Kulbir Singh goes to the Punjab State Agriculture Marketing Board as its Secretary. Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu has been posted as Special Secretary, Health and Family Welfare. Mr B.C. Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepore has been transferred to the Department of Home as Special Secretary and Dr Arvinder Singh has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepore. Mr H.I.S. Grewal, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, has been posted as Special Secretary, Transport. Mrs Seema Jain has been posted as Special Secretary-cum-Director of General Education(School). Mr S.R. Ladhar has been posted as Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur. Mr Mandeep Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Moga has been shifted to Bathinda as Commissioner Municipal Corporation there. Mr Jaspal Singh has been posted as Director, Social Security, and Mr Raminder Singh has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Kapurthala vice Mr Samir Kumar, who has been transferred to the Irrigation Department as Special Secretary. Mr Ashok Kumar
Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar and Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana will swap places. Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Patiala replacing Mr Tejvir Singh, who will be the first Deputy Commissioner of the newly created Mohali (SAS Nagar) district. Mr K.Siva Prasad, who is under investigation by the CBI, has been posted as Additional Resident Commissioner, Punjab Bhavan, in Delhi. Mr R.K. Ganta has been posted as Additional Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Mr Vikas Pratap goes to the
Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, as Commissioner. Mr Alok Shekhar has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Ropar and Mr Hussan Lal as Deputy Commissioner of Mansa. Mr Raj Kamal Chudhduri has been posted as Special Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation. Mr V.K. Meena is Deputy Commissioner, Moga and Mrs Rakhee Gupta Bhandari has been shifted to Faridkot as Deputy
Commissioner. Mr N.K.Wadhawan as been posted Director, Technical Education. Mr S.K. Sharma, a PCS
officer, has been posted as Managing Director, of Milkfed.
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Contaminated water: 30 sarpanches write to CM
Abohar, April 6 As many as 25000 cusecs of water is released from Sutlej for supply to Ferozepore and Muktsar districts and neighbouring districts of Rajasthan. Chemicals discharged by a fertiliser unit at Nangal and units in Ludhiana get mixed with canal water in Sirhind Feeder. Now Rajasthan feeder and Bikaner canal are closed for maintenance for 20 days. Ratio of effluents in water of the canals of this region has increased. The Rajasthan feeder had been getting 8800 cusecs of water against the capacity of 15000 cusecs; 1600 cusecs of water was supplied till last week through Bikaner canal against 3000 cusecs capacity. The problem is not limited to Abohar. All villages and towns in Ferozepore and Muktsar districts now are getting highly polluted canal water. In Ferozepore district total area under canal water irrigation is 1.69 lakh hectares, it is 2.18 lakh hectares in Muktsar district. Sources indicated the purity of water was not above 25 per cent at present. It was almost blackish in colour in certain areas. The Technical and Mechanical Services Union of employees posted in the Department of Public Health alleged that the government had not been supplying bleaching material for the rural water works as per specifications. No effort had, so far, been made to improve the quality of drinking water in urban areas, sources said. The polluted water was stored in all drinking water reservoirs and pools used by cattle in the region. The sarpanches said they had been facing the same problem for past five years but the government had not made efforts to prevent the discharge of harmful chemical waste by the industrial units in canals. Sources in the Health Department said such water could cause jaundice, respiratory diseases besides the skin disease to users. Even the mineral water processed by small indigenous units might not be 100 per cent fit for human consumption. Animal Husbandry experts feared cattle might face problems by drinking such water. Scientists of the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments said use of contaminated water for irrigation could be harmful for vegetables, grains and fruit plants. The ground water in these districts could be used for paddy cultivation only as it was not fit for drinking in most of the areas. Tests conducted in the past indicated that the ground water had much of fluoride and sodium contents, which were, responsible for arthritis and other physical problems. Mr Vinod Chaudhry, Superintending Engineer, Irrigation, said he had flashed a message to the Department’s Headquarters at Chandigarh regarding this problem.
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Sting operation puts SGPC in piquant situation
Amritsar, April 6 A video recording has shown blatant violation of the edict by a publisher near Harmander Sahib complex. The ‘Hukamnama’, pronounced by the then Jathedar Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh, on April 9, 1998 while banning publication of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib, had directed that only the SGPC would be responsible for its publication. However, the sting operation showed that in gross violation of the edict, a private publisher was ‘selling’ Guru Granth Sahib to a Muslim for placing it in a ‘mazar’ (tomb). However, the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and representatives of various Sikh organisations have given a list of 60 private publishers, most of them in Amritsar who were openly publishing and selling Guru Granth Sahib in violation of the Hukamnama. Representatives of Sikh organisations have threatened to gherao the private publisher on April 6. They have also threatened to take direct action against the SGPC and Akal Takht secretariat for having failed to implement the Hukamnama. However, Mr Harbhajan Singh of ‘Bhai Chattar Singh - Jeewan Singh’ publication house, claimed that they had not indulged in violation of the edict. He, however, said that he was ready to appear before Akal Takht to submit his clarification in this regard. He said his firm had been printing Guru Granth Sahib much before the inception of the SGPC. Some resolutions of the SGPC had approved the publication of Guru Granth Sahib by this firm, he claimed. Mr Harbhajan Singh alleged that some rival publishers who themselves were printing the Birs of Guru Granth Sahib singled out his firm due to ‘professional jealousy’. Meanwhile, the SGPC has reportedly sought 15 days to implement the edict . However, sources said that the SGPC is unable to meet the demand for the Holy Guru Granth Sahib all over the world due to its limited sources. The Sikh representatives alleged that the edict was being violated in connivance with the SGPC and Akal Takht. On the other hand, the private publisher has lodged a written complaint with the DIG and district police chief against representatives of various Sikh organisations. The publisher alleged that he had been receiving threats to his life. The SGPC, on the other hand, has threatened to organise a march from Bathinda to Damdama Sahib in protest against registration of criminal case against Giani Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Jathedar Takht Damdama Sahib and other Sikh leaders who took away Guru Granth Sahib from a ‘mazar’ at Balluna village in the wake of the edict, issued from Akal Takht. Sikh circles are questioning the role of the SGPC and Akal Takht in resorting to direct action at Balluana while they had failed to implement the edict in Amritsar.
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Don’t test our patience, Vedanti warns govt
Bathinda, April 6 In a letter sent to the Chief Minister through the Bathinda DC, Panthic bodies cautioned that if the government didn’t take action in time, Punjab would have to pass through a phase similar to one in 1978 when “fake Nirankaris had perpetrated sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib”. They said resentment was brewing among Sikhs after Baluana episode and the government should make proper arrangements so as to ensure that no mischievous element could commit sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. They termed the police case registered against Jathedar Nandgarh as the “issue of entire community”. They warned that if the “false case” registered against him was not withdrawn, Sikhs would protest against it. Jathedar Vedanti said till now Sikh leaders had not allowed the situation to go out of hand, but if the state government continued with its “apathetic approach” on this sensitive issue, it would be responsible for the outcome of a massive agitation by Sikh sangat from India and abroad. Panthic leaders said Baluana episode was neither associated with a political party nor with an individual, but was an issue of the entire Sikh community. Speakers addressing the meeting also blamed the police for “giving leeway to mischievous elements” at Baluana village. They alleged that to cover up its fault, the police, instead of booking mischievous elements, registered a case against Jathedar Nandgarh. Terming Baluana episode as conspiracy of mischievous elements, hundreds of people took out a protest march after performing ''ardas'' at Haji Ratan Gurdwara. The protesters headed towards the mini secretariat where they handed over a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Harjeet Singh. Jathedar Tarlochan Singh from Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Bhai Panthpreet Singh, Bhai Satnam Singh Paunta Wale, Bhai Daljeet Singh Bittu and Sant Baljeet Singh Daduwal were also present on the occasion. It may be mentioned here that a violent clash took place between the SGPC task force members and Baluana village residents when the former reached there to shift a ''bir'' from a village dera on March 22. Jathedar Nandgarh was leading the task force.
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Octroi abolition announcement soon: CM
Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), April 6 Chief Minister Punjab Amarinder Singh stated this in an interview with The Tribune here today. He was here to address a political rally organised by Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Abolition of octroi and granting of time scale of 4/9/16 to government employees were the only promises made in the Congress manifesto that remain to be met. Announcement of octroi abolition is to be made in the near future proposal to grant time scale to the employees had been referred to the fifth pay commission. “I have started organising two election rallies in a week in different parts of the state. Slowly the number of rallies would be increased to four and then seven at the peak of campaign”, he added. On the criteria for selecting candidates for the election the Chief Minister said popularity would be the only criterion. Only those MLAs would be recommended for the ticket who had worked hard in their areas. Earlier the Chief Minister addressed a rally here. The rally was termed by the Chief Minister as the start of election campaign in Gurdapsur district. The Chief Minister accused SAD leaders of ignoring all the issues of the state. SAD president Prakash Singh Badal worked only for the welfare of his family and not the state. The Akalis were without any issue and were just trying to rake up communalism in the hope of winning the elections, he said. On the demand from Mr Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa the Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 1 crore under the Rajiv Gandhi sanitation scheme for the Dera Baba Nanak area. He announced to bring up a tehsil and judicial complex in the Dera Baba Nank subdivision. Mr Surinder Singla finance minister Punjab, said the SAD government was anti-employee. It was the SAD/BJP government that set up the disinvestment commission. The party also brought the VRS and the NDA government brought the Electricity Bill 2003. The Congress government had been forced to enforce the policies brought by the previous government. Mr Singla also announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh for the Dera Baba Nanak constituency represented by Mr Sukhinder Singh Randhawa from his discretionary fund. Mr Pratap Singh Bajwa, Minister for PWD, urged the Chief Minister for early implementation of scheme for granting 200 units of free electricity to Dalits. He also demanded the scheme be extended to the Dalits who had converted to Christianity. To this the Chief Minister said that the Supreme Court had directed that all Dalits who had converted to Christianity be given benefits due to them before conversion. The Chief Minister went to the border to visit the place where people pay obeisance to Kartar Sahib Gurdwara located 3 km from the border in Pakistan. He said the Prime Minister was seized of the matter and would take it up with Pakistan. He also inaugurated the C-PYTE camp organised at Dera Baba Nanak for training youth who wanted to join the Army. Mr Amarjit Samra, Minister for Revenue, Mr Raghunath Sahai Puri, Minister Housing and Urban Development, Mr Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, chairman of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Mr Ashwani Sekhri parliamentary secretary and MLA from Batala, Mr Khushal Behl, MLA, Gurdaspur, Mr Sukhdev Wadhera, Chairman, PUNSUP and other MLAs from the district were also present.
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H.S. Gill on selection board
Amritsar, April 6 A notification to the effect has been issued by the Chief Secretary and the members are likely to take oath of the office and secrecy next week. Mr Gill, former All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) chief who was arrested after the Operation Blue Star and who remained a loyalist of late Jathedar Gurcharn Singh Tohra, had joined the PPCC in March 2004 during the last Lok Sabha elections at the behest of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh. Mr Gill is a gold medallist in MA History from the Guru Nanak Dev University and also holds a Masters degree in Economics. Incidentally, Mr Gill was being projected as a candidate for the next Assembly elections from Patti constituency against former Akali MinisterAdesh Partap Singh Kairon, son-in-law of Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Earlier, he was instrumental in the election of three SGPC members from Patti constituency with the active support of the Congress Party. Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, a close confidant of Mr Gill, is in the executive body of the Shiromani Committee. After his release from the Jodhpur Jail in August 1989, Mr Gill convinced his colleagues in the AISSF to contest the Assembly elections in June 1991 which were aborted due to political reasons. The Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Sardool Singh, the Chairman , Water Supplies and Sewerage Board, Mr Jasbir Singh Dimpa, the Chairman, Mandi Board, Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sarkaria, Mr Harpartap Singh Ajnala, the district Congress president (rural), Mr Inderjit Singh Baserke, and a former minister, Mr Gurchet Singh Bhullar, thanked Capt Amarinder Singh for appointing Mr Gill as a member of the PSSSB . Interestingly, Capt Amarinder Singh, who had criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal for appointing Mr Virsa Singh Valtoha and Mr Amarjit Singh Chawla, both former militants, as members of the PSSSB and the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) during the SAD-BJP rule, has now chosen Mr Gill, with a similar background, for the coveted post. Mr Gill has remained in various jails in connection with militancy related activities.
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Demand for N-plant gains ground
Chandigarh, April 6 The present Punjab Government has been opposing the setting up such a plant in the state for fear of the hazards involved. However, as Haryana has now announced to have such a plant in Fatehabad district, that shares its boundary with Mansa district of Punjab, the argument of hazards has become meaningless. The installation of nuclear power plant in the immediate neighbourhood of Punjab can be as safe or fatal for its people as the setting up of it within Punjab. In fact, the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee ( PPCC), Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, is infavour of installation of such a plant in the state. He had taken up this issue with the Prime Minister about six months ago. The PSEB Engineers Association, which has been pushing the case for setting up such a plant, says that to install 1,000 MW nuclear plant in a joint venture with partnership of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the PSEB and the Punjab Government should revive the proposal of setting up of the Plant. As a matter of policy, nuclear power plants are located where the distance from coal mines is large and where the hydro potential is limited. As per the policy, Punjab is eligible for the setting up of such a plant. With an equity share of 30 per cent of the PSEB, home state share of 10 per cent and the share of other states of 10 per cent, Punjab will be entitled for 50 per cent capacity i.e. 500 MW for allocation from the plant. There are reasons for opting for such a plant in the state. There has been no capacity addition in Punjab since the commissioning of Lehra Mohabbat and Ranjit Sagar Project during 1998-99 and 2000, respectively while the energy requirement of the state has been shooting up by minimum 6 per cent per year, thereby progressively adding to the energy crisis. The 17th Electric Power Survey issued recently by the Central Electricity Authority has assessed the energy requirement of Punjab. The projected energy requirement during the current financial year will be 42,012 million units (MUs) which will rise during the next financial year to 46,106 MUs. However, availability of power during these years will be 35,488 and 39,747 MUs, respectively. By 2008-09, the shortage of power during the peak summer season in Punjab would be nearly 50 per cent. Punjab faced a tough time during the paddy season of 2005 (June to August). Despite making maximum power purchases through traders, the average power cuts applied were 135, 88, 173 lakh units (LUs) per day during June, July and August, respectively. The energy shortage was 14 per cent in August. The association says that to mitigate the energy and peak time (summer season) shortages action will be required on three fronts. This includes increasing capacity addition within Punjab, capacity allocation from new central sector projects and capacity purchase from independent power producers, whose power is being sold through Power Trading Corporation. The capacity addition by PSEB, in addition to 500 MW Lehra Stage-2, 18 MW Mukerian Stage -2, 75 MW UBDC stage-3, 168 MW Shahpur Kandi, two mega projects are required to be taken up. The association says that the first priority should be to sign a long-term gas supply agreement (GSA) with Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) in view of gas supply constraints throughout the country. With signing of the GSA, GAIL would be in a position to take up the construction of the Dadri-Panipat-Doraha-Nangal gas pipeline. While the other northern states have multiple linkages with the national gas grid Punjab does not have a single touch point/linkage with national gas grid.
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No move to have N-power plant in Punjab: CM
Jalandhar, April 6 This is in sharp contrast with assertions of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, who has been demanding repeatedly that a power plant should be installed in Punjab as a long-term solution to the mounting power deficiency. Capt Amarinder Singh, who was here to participate in a religious procession today, said the Punjab Government had no proposal to set up a nuclear power plant in Punjab in the near future. “Setting up of such a plant in the border state could involve several high risks, particularly when we have such a huge population of 2.4 crore in Punjab.,” retorted the Chief Minister when he was asked to comment on Dr Manmohan Singh’s promise that the UPA government would consider a proposal about setting up a nuclear plant near Fatehabad in Haryana. Interestingly, Mr Dullo has repeatedly been making efforts to set up a nuclear power plant in the state and he had also met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, along with his proposal about six months back. Mr Dullo had reportedly said that the Prime Minister was very keen towards his proposal. Referring to a decision of the Centre to import about 15 lakh metric tonnes of wheat, the Chief Minister said such a step was “in right direction and was taken by the UPA government to keep the public distribution system (PDS) well oiled and to effect an increase in the existing wheat stocks of the country.” He said the import of wheat would not affect the farmers of Punjab in any way as their produce was already selling above the minimum support price (MSP). He, however, said the Centre had not fixed any fresh MSP so far. Virtually giving a clean chit to security and intelligence agencies of Punjab, the Chief Minister said that though it was reported that hardcore terrorists had been roaming freely around Ropar, yet that could not be construed as a failure of the intelligence and other agencies. Referring to the alleged lathicharge on farmers by the police near Barnala, the Chief Minister said there was hardly any logic behind farmers’ stir as the land in question had already been acquired for an industry. “Farmers should put an end to their stir as investment worth over Rs 60,000 crore was flowing towards Punjab and they should realise the factor that such a huge investment would generate vast employment avenues in the state,” said Capt Amarinder Singh, who was accompanied by Punjab ministers, Mr Surinder Singla, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Mr Amarjit Samra, Mr Avtar Henry, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Ms Gurkanwal Kaur.
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Irregularities in allotment of filling station sites
Chandigarh, April 6 Against the norms, in recent years most of the petrol pump sites have been allotted in residential areas, within forest lands and near major traffic bottlenecks (crossings and rotaries). In many cases, violations with regards to the minimum front width (of 50 meters) required for setting up a pump have been ignored. However, the most blatant violations in allotment is with regards to the distance between petrol pumps. In a bid to compete with each other, oil companies have been opening their outlets in less than 300 meters of each other, and in less than 1000 meters of each other along the highways. “Most of the petrol pump sites ( A sites) are allotted to oil companies, and even the NOC is issued in their name. Oil company releases land to dealer. So, it is these companies which are to be blamed for the violation, and not the dealer,” said Mr J.P. Khanna, President, of Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association, and owner of a filling station in Amritsar. He said these violations were rampant in the districts of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Moga and Faridkot. Demanding a vigilance inquiry into the allotments, he said that the collusion between oil company officials, forest officials, police, municipal town planning officials, PWD officials, Pollution Control Board, and Town and Country Planning officials, besides the appropriate authority for issuing the NOC , needs to be probed. There has been a 300 per cent increase in number of petrol pumps allotted across Punjab since year 2002. The number of filling stations has increased from 936 in year 2002 to 2735 in 2004. Another 400 are in the pipeline, and awaiting NOC. Petrol pump dealers say that though the oil companies have been allotting sites in order to increase their revenue, the increase in number of petrol pump sites have actually cut into the profit margins. “Crores have gone down the drain in setting up the petrol pumps, but the revenue are not coming,”said a petrol pump owner in Jalandhar.
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Allotment of sites: ADC booked, 4 held
Chandigarh/Ludhiana, April 6 The SSP Vigilance, Mr G.S. Dhillon, told The Tribune last evening that the ADC Ludhiana, Mr Ajmer Singh, the Range Forest Officer, Mr Santokh Singh, Assistant Town Planner, Mr Varinder Singh and Mr Rajiv Sharma, Area Manager, BPCL, and another senior officer of BPCL, Mr Mukul Joshi, besides owners of the two controversial filling stations, Vishwanath and Kamal Kumar have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and several other sections of the IPC. Vishwanath, Kamal Kumar, Varinder Singh and Santokh Singh have been arrested. Another accused Rajiv Mishra has joined investigation. Efforts to arrest ADC Ajmet Singh are going on. Mr Dhillon said all the accused had connived together to pass a rural area and near Sahnewal as urban area land to felicitate the installation of two filling stations. Under the norms two petrol pumps should have a distance of at least one km between them in a rural area, especially along the National Highway. However, in urban area the distance can be 300 metres. In this case the petrol pumps had a distance of 800 metres. They were situated in a rural area which was shown as urban area land. The ADC, the forest officer and other accused had issued a no objection certificate in alleged violation of the norms. The Vigilance is also investigating the role of the National Highway officials.
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Foundation of third front in Punjab laid
Ludhiana, April 6 He said the rally was organised to lay down the foundation of the third front in the state, which would provide a “viable and credible alternative” to the Congress and the Akali Dal-BJP combine. Besides Mr Ramoowalia, the rally was addressed by Prof Balwant Singh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Mr Jagroop Singh of the Communist Party of India, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) and Mr Baldev Singh Khayala of the Shiromani Akali Dal (1920). Former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna had sent a message which was read out to the gathering as he could not make it to the rally. Visibly excited over the good turnover at the rally and the presence of the leaders of so many parties, Mr Ramoowalia announced, “The third front was imminent and people of the state would soon get rid of the Akalis and the Congress.” He asserted that a good beginning had been made today and it would be taken to the logical conclusion. The tone and tenor of the speakers at the rally was against both the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, as well as his rival Mr Parkash Singh Badal.
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Signature drive for Kanshi Ram on the anvil
Bathinda, April 6 Addressing a press conference here, he said the campaign would continue till July 31 after which the memorandum would be submitted to the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He said he would also appeal to all the MPs and the Speakers of both the houses to intervene in the matter and get Mr Kanshi Ram “released from the clutches of BSP supremo Mayawati”. He alleged the former UP CM had embezzled crores of rupees and had “held his brother captive fearing that she would be exposed”. He alleged that he was attacked when he went to meet his brother on his birthday in New Delhi on March 15. He claimed that a DDR was lodged in this regard with the Tuglak Road police.
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BSP flays rath yatras of BJP leaders
Hoshiarpur, April 6 In a press note here today, Karimpuri alleged that leaders of the Congress and the BJP were the chips off the old block. Congress leaders were responsible for Delhi riots in 1984 and BJP leaders for the Gujarat violence. He said keeping in view the ongoing strength of the Dalits in the country, communal forces were now joining hands. He criticised the rath yatras of L. K. Advani and Raj Nath Singh, BJP chief, and said these were posing a serious threat to the minority communities of the country.
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Jallianwala eyewitness hopes Kalam fulfils promise
Amritsar, April 6 Though Bapu Shingara Singh was given paltry sum of Rs 25,000 by the government after lot of efforts by various social groups, he was not provided with any historian or stenographer to record his memories as promised by Mr Kalam. His grandson, Mr Dilbagh Singh Chohan, told The Tribune that despite repeated requests, the state government and district administration had failed to give him a job, the tall claims notwithstanding. Mr Chohan said he, along with his grandfather, had met senior district officials many times, but he got promises only. He alleged that the state government was meting out a callous treatment to the freedom fighters and their kin. He said Bapu Shingara Singh would now write to the President against the state government which had failed to fulfil his promise. He said the memories, which were still fresh in his mind, would die with his death. While successive state and Central governments have failed to provide him with any aid or facility, the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front
(AIATF) president, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, honoured him at Jallianwala Bagh. Bapu Shingara Singh had gone to Jallianwala Bagh along with his four friends on the fateful Baisakhi day to listen to freedom fighters. While his three friends died in the indiscriminate firing, he managed to escape. He witnessed people jumping into the well to save themselves from firing. He was injured in the firing. Bapu Shingara Singh said the Jallianwala Bagh had played as catalyst in the freedom struggle. He said he had a chance to meet the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
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Rajasthan Sikhs demand separate gurdwara panel
Abohar, April 6 Mr Tejinder Singh Timma, secretary, managing committee, Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh, Sriganganagar said yesterday that a member was nominated from amongst the Sikhs from Rajasthan to the SGPC without taking the Sikh sangat into confidence. Such member was never seen in any important religious function held in the state. The SGPC had never watched the interests of thousands of Sikhs settled in Sriganganagar and other districts. The committee had not organised a major event in Rajasthan for the past 60 years. No efforts to promote Sikhism were made. The Sikhs had to pay in advance heavy remuneration to ragi jathas besides travelling expenses at Amritsar for organising kirtan darbar etc at Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and other places. The Sikh sangat regretted that Haryana had five representatives on the SGPC but it was still limited to one in Rajasthan though the number of Sikh families had increased many fold in the state. Ms Jaswant Kaur, a teacher, also favoured the demand for a separate GPC for Rajasthan.
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DSGMC to organise nagar kirtan to Lahore
Amritsar, April 6 In a press conference here today, he alleged that Badal had connections with Ganga Singh Dhillon, a Khalistan supporter who had strong influence in the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. He said the palki would be installed at the place sooner or later. Mr Sarna, who is also a former president Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said on the occasion of the 400th celebrations of the fifth guru, Sri Guru
Arjan Dev, they would take out a Nagar Kirtan from Delhi to Dera Sahib, Lahore. They had urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff for granting visa to a jatha of 5,000 devotees. He said the Delhi Akali Dal would also organise seminars in Europe, North America, West Asia and Far East, besides Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda districts in this regard. He said they would organise a Gurmat Samagam at Tarn Taran on May 20th. When asked by media that whether it would not be the confrontation with the SGPC as the committee had also announced to organise such seminars and smagams, he said it was the SGPC, which was responsible for this. He said they had announced the celebrations in December last year while the SGPC announced it last month. Commenting on presenting “Siropa” to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh in the sanctum sanctorum during his recent visit while denying it to the Chief Minister, he said this discrimination was condemnable and it was against the teachings of Sikhism.
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Fight for Durgiana management hots up
Amritsar, April 6 Mr Surinder Arjun, ex-president of the DMC, had written letters to the Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police for restoring the management of the committee headed by him. He accused the present managing committee headed by Mr Harnam Das Arora of tempering with the records of the committee without having any legal sanction, power and locus standi. It is pertinent to mention here that the new DMC had lodged a complaint against Surinder Arjun, former chief, for embezzling Rs 3.33 lakh received as grant for Sanskrit college.
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Another record by thermal plant
Bathinda, April 6 Forced outage period is only .75 per cent, which is lowest in the history of plant. The plant load factor of 101.62 per cent achieved during February 2006 was also the highest so far in the PSEB. The plant has also achieved the coal consumption of 579 gm per unit during the year against the national average of 650 gm per unit. Oil consumption was only .37 ml per unit against the set target of 2 ml per unit.
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Sister, daughter deny Sarabjit’s conversion to Islam
Amritsar, April 6 “We have been in touch with Sarabjit’s lawyer, Rana Abdul Hamid and he has given no such information”, the two said when asked for comments on reports in certain newspapers that Sarabjit who is facing the gallows in a bomb explosion case and is lodged in a jail in Lahore had converted to Islam. They said as per information provided by Mr Hamid and some of their well-wishers in Pakistan, Sarabjit continues to be a devoted Sikh. “He may not have been provided a ‘gutka’ (small version of Guru Granth Sahib) in jail, so he could have taken part in the daily prayers performed by Muslim prisoners in jail, which did not amount to his embracing Islam”, they added. Mrs Dalbir Kaur said Guru Nanak in his ‘bani’ had said ‘Aval Allaha Noor Upahya, Kudrat de sab bande’ (All human beings are created by the same god). “So if Sarabjit has recited versus from the Koran in jail there is nothing wrong”, she said but at the same time expressed confidence that her brother still remained a devout Sikh. As per reports quoting an Urdu newspaper, ‘Ausaf’, Sarabjit who is lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore had embraced Islam and in his ‘will’ has asked his family members to bury him instead of cremating him after his death. The paper had quoted that the conversion had nothing to do with the death sentence but was purely because of religious understanding. The report said that he had changed his name to Sarfaraz Ahmad. Referring to her talks with Sarabjit’s lawyer, the sister said that there was no
official certification suggesting his conversion to Islam. On the contrary the mercy
petition filed before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and another review petition filed before the Supreme Court have been filed on behalf of Sarabjit Singh and not Sarfaraz Ahmad, she added. The sister and brother had a few days back sent a faxed message to Gen Musharraf appealing to him to consider the mercy petition sympathetically as he was ‘reham dil insaan’ (compassionate person). The two had also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he came here on March 24 and had appealed to him to impress upon the Pakistan government to grant pardon to Sarabjit who was innocent.
— UNI
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No buyer for Pinkcassia tourist complex
Ropar, April 6 Continuing with its disinvestment policy, the PTDC invited tenders for the sale of its 16 tourist complexes in three phases from April 3 to 5. The floor price of Pinkcassia was fixed at Rs 18 crore and tenders for it were invited until April 5. A price of Rs 4.5 crore was fixed for Gulmohar for which the tenders were to be filed by April 3. Only one applicant filed tender for the Gardenia tourist complex, Kapurthala, while two applicants evinced interest in the Maulsari tourist complex, Aam Khas Bagh, said PTDC sources. It is learnt that in 2003-2004 the PTDC had suffered a loss of Rs 30 lakh in running tourist complexes in the state. It started leasing out and selling off loss-making complexes and earned a net profit of Rs 23 lakh in 2005-2006. Sources said Amaltas Hotel (three star), which is situated in Ludhiana, earned a net profit of Rs 28.36 lakh while a few others posted marginal profits. The rest of the complexes, besides a hotel run by the PTDC, had been suffering losses to the tune of Rs 33 lakh per annum. The Chairman of the PDTC, Mr Ashok Sharma, said tenders for Pinkccasia and Gulmohar did not work out due to certain technical problems. The areas of these complexes included land belonging to the Irrigation Department. Mr Sharma said the department would invite tenders again.
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Singla’s statue to be installed in Samana
Patiala, April 6 The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, will unveil Mr Singla’s statue and would also address the public meeting being held to pay tributes to him. Mr Sant Ram Singla had represented Samana in the state Assembly in 1980-85 when he had defeated former SGPC President Kirpal Singh Badungar He was also elected to the Lok Sabha from Patiala in 1992. He was nominated as Chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board after being refused nomination to the Samana Assembly constituency in the last elections. After his death, his son Mr Vijay Inder Singla was nominated as chairman of Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA).
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Cong workers resent renaming of college
Patiala, April 6 Mr Parkash Chand Mittal, former member of Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC), and a leading Congress worker, Mr Pram Chand Joshi, today alleged that Prof Gursewak Singh was one of the four persons who had stopped the entry of late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru into the Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara when he had come there to pay obeisance after being sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the country. Not only this, the Congress leaders alleged that Prof Gursewak Singh and his colleagues had pelted stones at a rally which was addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru at the same venue. They added that a case had even been registered against Prof Gursewak Singh and his colleagues after this incident. They claimed that the Deputy Chief Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who had given her consent to rename the college on the recommendations of the Patiala MP, Ms Preneet Kaur, should take back the decision as it had caused considerable hurt to Congress workers. They claimed that Ms Bhattal should know the background of Prof Gursewak Singh as she too was from a family of freedom fighters. Mr Mittal and Mr Joshi claimed that this action on the part of the state government had became a subject of worry among the local Congressmen and the government should immediately take back this decision. They maintained that Congress workers would continue to feel hurt if the government kept on naming institutions after Akali workers.
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High Court Our High Court Correspondent
Chandigarh, April 6 The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice, D.K. Jain and Mr Justice Surya Kant gave this direction during the resumed hearing of the writ filed by Mr Attar Singh and others seeking directions to quash the Punjab Government’s notification of 1975 vide which it had reserved 50 per cent of the reserved category posts for just two categories, namely Balmiki and Mazhbi, of the Scheduled Castes while providing the remaining 50 per cent of such posts for 35 categories of SCs from among the notified list of 37 categories. PIL on terrorists dismissed
The high court on Thursday dismissed a PIL petition filed by the World Human Rights Protection Council (WHRPC), seeking directions to disclose the identity of all those militants who had abandoned arms and had been rehabilitated. The petitioner had stated that such militants had been declared to be dead in police encounters but they lived under assumed names after rehabilitation. However, the Division Bench adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by former militant-turned-police informer Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi. Sukhi, who is living in a Jalandhar locality under the assumed name of Harjit Singh Kahlon has moved the court, seeking directions to the government and the police not to disclose the identities of former terrorists like him.
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Two rape accused held
Abohar, April 6 The police said a girl from Mahlarampura village, located on the Punjab-Rajasthan border, had lodged an FIR at Sangria in 2003. In the FIR, she had alleged that Sumit and Ajay, sons of Mohinder Bishnoi, residents of neighbouring Bazidpur Bhoma village and Bablu, a resident of Suraj Nagari, had raped her. The accused had not been able to get anticipatory bail even from the High Court. There were reports that Sumit and Ajay had gone to Bangalore for studies and escaped arrest.
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NRI, father booked for fraud
Abohar, April 6 The police said that Dhian Singh has been arrested this evening. Balkaran Singh and 12 others, including a Naib Tehsildar and a document writer, had earlier been booked by the city police under orders from the ADGP (Crime), Punjab, on April 14, 2004, in another case. But none of them had been arrested despite the accused's failure in getting an anticipatory bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sources said the Sadar police had received complaints from Ranvijay Singh, Trilochan Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, all residents of Kalatibba village, Budh Ram and Om Parkash, both residents of Dutaranwali village and Banwari Lal, resident of Raipura village. They said Dhian Singh had been executing deals on behalf of his son Balkaran Singh through general power of attorney as the latter lived in Canada most of the time. They further alleged that Balkaran Singh and his father Dhian Singh had agreed to sell 32 acre of agriculture land owned by the family at Rs 1.38 lakh per acre. The complainants claimed having paid Rs 26 lakh in advance. The sale agreement was reportedly prepared on December 14, 2005, but not registered. They later learnt that the NRI had already sold a part of the land to some other person. He had also allegedly refused to refund Rs 26 lakh. Dhian Singh said during investigation that he owned only 3 acre of land and denied signing any agreement. Balkaran Singh had left for South Africa on January 23, 2006, the father added. The Investigation, however, confirmed that the advance amount had been paid. The sources added that the NRI enjoyed proximity to a very senior police officer, posted out of the police range, and had evaded arrest.
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College holds placement programme
Rajpura, April 6 Located at Michigan, USA, and with 27 offices worldwide, Syntel is publicly traded on the NASDAQ and has a market capitalisation of around $ 770 million. The company has nearly 5,500 employees worldwide. In India, Syntel has a technology presence since the early 1990s. The company has Global Development Centres at Mumbai, Pune and Chennai and sales/recruiting offices around the country . We are overwhelmed by the response and are looking forward to recruiting a number of students from this region as they are enthusiastic and hard working. Mr Rajendra Raut, manager-recruitment, Syntel Corporation, said.
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