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No separate voter lists for Assembly, MC poll
Hoshiarpur, May 3 He said the meeting of the three-member commission would be held on May 12 in New Delhi for discussing public view gathered by the Delimitation Commission headed by Mr Justice Kuldip Singh for the reconstitution of state and parliamentary segments of Punjab on the basis of population. Mr Gopal Swami, Chief Election Commissioner, and Mr Justice Kuldip Singh are the members of the commission. Mr Bains said on the basis of the 2001 census, the Delimitation Commission had prepared a report in which it was proposed to form five more reserved Assembly segments keeping in view the increase in the population of the Dalits in Punjab. With the formation of five more reserved segments the number of reserved constituencies would go up from 29 to 34. Similarly the number of reserved parliamentary constituencies would rise from three to four. It was proposed to abolish the reserved Assembly segment of Garhdiwala in Hoshiarpur district. However, the status of the reserved segments of Mahilpur and Shamchaurasi of this district would remain intact. Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Faridkot and Fatehgarh Sahib would be the new reserved constituencies of Parliament in Punjab. Mr Bains said on public demand, 30,000 voters of the Phagwara area, who were not in the Phagwara segment previously, would be included in it. The Delimitation Commission also proposed that one more reserved Assembly constituency should be formed in Amritsar and Jalandhar districts. He said the commission would take decisions on the matter within next 10 days. He further said the Election Commission was taking different decisions to improve the election process to ensure fair and free elections in the country. To discuss various issues relating to the election process, a meeting of the Election Commission would be held in Srinagar on May 15. Electoral Officers of all states would participate in this meeting.
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Jaiswal admits failure on Naxal issue
Patiala, May 3 Mr Jaiswal, while refusing to divulge the details of the report, said the Central Government had offered all kind of help to the Gujarat Government for maintaining peace and communal harmony. The Centre had despatched four companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) to Vadodara. Categorically supporting the anti-encroachment drive, which was followed by protests and bloody clashes with the police due to the demolition of a religious structure, Mr Jaiswal said the authorities concerned should take care in the case of important religious structures and treat them in a different manner. He added that sensitive matters should be handled tactfully. Asked what action the Central Government was planning for Gujarat, Mr Jaiswal preferred not to comment. Mr Jaiswal, while admitting that the Central Government had not been able to curb the menace of Naxalism effectively, pointed out that extreme poverty, unemployment, backwardness and the lack of infrastructure were the main reasons for the rise in the Naxalite movement in different parts of the country. “To deal with this problem effectively, the state government should carry out land reforms, remove economic disparities and bring prosperity in those areas where the menace of the Naxalite movement is prevailing. Not only this, the state government should carry out the police modernisation scheme to deal with the problem for which the Centre had given adequate funds,” he said, adding that about 25 per cent of the CRPF battalions had been deployed in the Naxalite affected areas. While praising West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh governments for carrying out land reforms to curb the Naxalite movement, the minister said governments of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand should also show their will to do the same. Asked about the killing of Hindus in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Jaiswal said terrorists had been indulging in such inhuman acts, as they were frustrated over the peace talks with Pakistan going on in the right direction. Asked why Punjab was still being termed as a disturbed area, he said he was not aware of it. He said that no representative of the Punjab Government had talked to him in connection with the return of the Sikh relics, which were taken away from the Golden Temple after the Operation Bluestar. Asked whether the Central Government would give extension to the DGP, Punjab, Mr S.S. Virk, Mr Jaiswal said if the Punjab Government made recommendations in this connection, it would be considered. Asked about the demand of a Congress MP for a CBI probe into the killing of Sikhs and others at Chattissinghpura in Jammu and Kashmir a few years ago, Mr Jaiswal said the Congress MP should first approach the Jammu and Kashmir government.
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Union Minister, Akali leader Calcutta meet
Patiala, May 3 After the meeting Mr Jaiswal and Mr Calcutta went to the conference of the All-India Ahluwalia Samaj in the Central Library hall here in the same car. When Mr Calcutta was asked about the meeting, he did not make any comment. He only said, “Tusi Mainu Akali Dal Vichon Kadwanoge" (Do you want my exit from the Akali Dal). It is said that today’s meeting of Mr Jaiswal and Mr Calcutta became significant because Mr Calcutta had not been having cordial relations with Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President, SAD. Differences between Mr Badal and Mr Calcutta came to the fore when Mr Calcutta praised Congress party chief Ms Sonia Gandhi after she made Dr Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of the Congress-led UPA government. When Mr Calcutta, was, chief secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), he had also presented a “siropa” (robe of honour) to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, which the SGPC had refused to him earlier. Recently, Mr Calcutta again raised a controversy when he opposed the appointment of Mr Avtar Singh as president of the SGPC by dubbing him as political and religious lilli put. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) also entrusted Mr Calcutta with a religious responsibility recently. SAD (B) leaders when contacted for comments about the meeting, said that they were not supposed to comment on it. But they said Mr Calcutta should have met Mr Jaiswal with the permission of party president Badal. If he had overstepped his authority and action could be taken against him by the party leadership. Congress leaders though surprised over the development were of the view that it was routine meeting as both Mr Jaiswal and Mr Calcutta were here today to attend the conference of Ahluwalia Samaj.
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Ordinance on teachers’ retirement soon
Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 3 The ordinance has the informal approval of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh and it will be tabled in the forthcoming meeting of the Council of Ministers scheduled for May 5 to obtain a formal approval. Thereafter it will be sent to the Governor for necessary action. Well-placed sources in the Punjab Government confirmed the move to The Tribune, saying that this move was specific for school teachers and was not for any other cadre of employees in the state. Under the proposed changes, teachers will not retire at the age of 58, rather they will continue to work till the end of the academic session. Normally the academic session ends on March 31 each year. This can be extended under extraordinary circumstances till April 30. This means, if a teacher was to attain the age of 58 years in September 2006, he or she shall continue to work till end of the academic session in March/April, 2007. For matters of salary, the amount drawn as last pay by a teacher on attaining 58 years of age shall be paid for the extended period of service. For matters of pension, the last pay on attaining 58 years of age shall be taken into account. However, the teachers shall have the option of retirement even in the mid-session. Teachers, who continue their service, will be allowed to withdraw their provident fund and gratuity at attaining 58 years of age. Most teachers would prefer to continue, estimates the government. At present, nearly 2000 teachers retire and these retirements spread across the whole year. Because of this, studies of students suffer as the continuity is broken. Also, thousands of teachers start applying for transfers to fill the vacant posts. By having retirements on single day in an year, this will give a clear projection of requirement of teachers each year. When asked about the proposed ordinance, the Principal Secretary Education, Mr Sarvesh Kaushal, reluctantly admitted: “The Education Department had mooted a proposal to prevent mid-session disruption or studies due to retirements of teachers ”. But he refused to comment further.
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Faulty bridge claims many lives
Tarn Taran, May 3 The “caution” boards put up on both sides of the bridge warn people to be careful while driving through this bridge. The 800 metre-length of the bridge is faulty in many ways and has taken a heavy toll of life. In the past one and a half years of the re-opening of the newly constructed bridge 30 persons have died while 150 were injured. The administration “fulfilled” its responsibility by installing caution boards on both ends of the bridge. However, it did not address the main problem which causes these accidents. Mr Satnam Singh a resident of the nearby village and member of the Block Samiti said drivers of vehicles were unable to see the vehicles coming from other side of bridge and usually collide. He said before the renovation of the bridge such accidents were rare. Mr Tarsem Singh Ahir, a leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has demanded rectification of fault from the bridge and also demanded registering of a case against the officials under whose supervision the bridge had been constructed. He warned that the BSP would be forced to file a public interest litigation plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get a case registered against the officials responsible.
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Film on runaway NRI grooms
Ropar, May 3 The story of the film is based on the real story of one such girl. The father of the girl, with a view to entertain the NRI groom, has incurred debt. The dialogues and screen play of the film has been written by the Punjabi writer, Vijay Tandon, he added. “After studying many cases in the state we have decided to highlight the plight of the poor villagers who continue to be cheated by NRIs. The film is based on the real-life story where the father of the girl had even sold his only source of income, his agricultural land, to get his daughter married to NRI, told the producer of the film, Mr Ramesh Dutt, to The Tribune yesterday. “With a team of more than hundred persons the shooting of the film will continue here for next four days. Besides Punjab, the film would also shot in Manali, Chandigarh and Delhi”, he added. Mr Dutt said that due to limited resources they would shoot in India only. “We have collected like-minded people who wanted to work for some cause. Many of the senior actors like Swinder Mahal have agreed to work free for us to highlight such serious problem prevailing in Punjab”. About his team members he said that Ajay Rampal was working as director, Atul Sharma as music director while Archita and Happy were playing the lead roles in the film. Other actor who were acting in the film included Shilpa, Ruchika, Amrit. Meanwhile, actor Swinder Mahal expressed anguish over the neglect of the Punjabi cinema by the state government. He said the Punjabi actors did not get the place they deserved due to lack of resources. The government did not show any interest in the uplift of Punjabi actors as well as cinema. The actors did not get any honour or encouragement from the state government, he rued.
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Badal leaves for Mahajan’s last rites
Chandigarh, May 3 Mr Badal said here today that the country had lost a visionary and seasoned political leader. He said Mahajan was a promising leader with liberal outlook. Akali leaders, including Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, have also expressed shock over his death. BJP leaders , including Mr Harjit Singh Grewal, Mr Sukhminder Pal Singh Grewal, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal and Mr Balramji Dass Tandon have also send their condolences to the bereaved family. They said Pramod Mahajan was a good political organiser.
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Pramod’s death condoled
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 3 A condolence meeting was organised at Sirhind under the presidentship of Mr Sashi Gupta, president BJP Sirhind Mandal and hundreds of party activists observed two minute silence in the memory of the departed soul. Addressing the gathering various speakers expressed grief and sorrow over his untimely death. Similar condolence meetings were held at Mandi Gobindgarh, Amloh, Bassi Pathana and
Khamano.
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BJP postpones yatra
Amritsar, May 3 Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, said that Mr Rajnath Singh was scheduled to kick off the third leg of the yatra from the holy city tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, Mr Sidhu, in a condolence message, stated that it was an unfortunate day when India lost one of its gems. Offering his condolences to the bereaved family, he said that the Almighty give the family strength to bear the loss.
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66,000 more to get pension in Punjab
Chandigarh, May 3 The state offers pensions for the aged, widows, orphan children and the disabled. The total number of pensioners would go upto 11 lakh by June. The committee was set up to review the ongoing development works of all departments in a phased manner. Ms Bhattal said all women belonging to the below poverty line (BPL) segment should be covered under Jan Shri Bima Yojna . Also Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, said the entire amount earmarked for supplementary nutrition would be released on priority basis to maintain regular supply of nutrition at anganwadi centers.
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Streamline PDS, says Henry
Chandigarh, May 3 Mr Henry said those who were above poverty line and below poverty line were entitled for 25 kg of wheat and 10 kg of rice per month under the PDS. Under the Antodya Anna Yojna, certain categories of poor sections were entitled for 35 kg of wheat per month. He said wheat and rice were provided at subsidised rates to those covered under these schemes. Under the above poverty line scheme 48,89,189 families were covered and under the below poverty line scheme, 4,61.287 families were entitled for wheat and rice at subsidised rates in the state.
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VHP activists hold protest march
Batala, May 3 About 3,000 activists of various Hindu organisations like the RSS, the BJP, the Batala Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, the Arya Samaj Wing, Sanatan Dharam, Dharam Jagran Manch, and the Punjab Vyopar Mandal took out a protest march. The leaders alleged that on the one hand the Hindus were being massacred in Jammu and Kashmir, and on the other hand they were being evangelised by Christian organisations in Punjab. The leaders said such massacres were being carried out under a conspiracy to render the community in minority in J&K.
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Dairy farming unprofitable: report
Chandigarh, May 3 Dairy farming can be more feasible alternative for the diversification provided adequate attention is given to it by policy-makers and researchers. This is what the extensive report prepared by the local Institute for Development and Communication headed by Mr Pramod Kumar has revealed. The report is prepared by Prof
H.S. Shergill, an eminent economist known for his grasp on issues related to the rural economy. In fact, Punjab tops as far as as milk yield per milch animal ( 2601 kilogram) per year is concerned. In the past few years, the replacement of Indian cow by cross-bred cow is the main reason for the fast growth of milk production. There are 31 lakh milch animals in the state. Of these, 78.23 per cent are buffaloes and 21.77 per cent cows. Indian cow is now being replaced by cross-bred cow. About 40 per cent of the total milk produced in rural areas is consumed locally and remaining 60 per cent is marketed to the urban areas. Dairy farming is widespread in rural areas of the foothill region where 63 per cent households regularly sell milk but is less developed in the Malwa region as only 25 per cent people are engaged in the sale of milk on regular basis. Unfortunately, commercial dairy farming and milk selling has not yet emerged as the main occupation of any sizeable number of rural households in any region of the state. Among the commercial dairy farmers, about 24 per cent do not own any land and about 22 per cent belong to the Scheduled Castes. However, their contribution to the total milk output is only 6 per cent. Buffalo milk dominates dairy farming in the state. The price of milk received by the dairy farmers does not cover the cost of production, says Prof Shergill in his
report. The cost of milk production per litre works out to be Rs 11.13 and the mean price per litre received by dairy farmers is Rs 9.98 per litre. Farmers suffer loss of Rs 1.15 for every litre of milk sold. The big gap between milk production surplus and process capacity and the sheer inefficiency of the milk processing industry are main factors responsible for the dairy farmers not getting the remunerative price of their milk. And landless dairy farmers face other problems such as unavailability of green and dry fodder. Prof Shergill says long-term strategy suggested by Dr
S.S. Johl for the development of dairy should be implemented.
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Minor raped, two booked
Batala, May 3 The victim’s father has gone abroad in connection with his profession, while her mother is serving life imprisonment in a murder case. A few days back she was waylaid by the accused and raped on the bank of a canal. She did not disclose the happening to any of her relatives. Subsequently, she was subjected to sexual harassment by a few others. The police came into action when his father came back and lodged an FIR here yesterday under Sections 376, 506 and 34, IPC, against Gurinder Singh, a son of Gurdial Singh, and Pankaj, both residents of Mehta Chowk, Amritsar. No arrest has been made so far.
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Woman commits suicide
Batala, May 3 She left behind two daughters and a son. The deceased, Kanwaljit Kaur, wife of Satnam Singh, allegedly committed suicide as her husband had gone abroad and she was under depression. She used to plead with her husband to come back but Satnam Singh would tell her that he would come back after saving some money in Dubai. The police completed the proceedings under Section 174, CrPC, and handed over the body to her relations after a post-mortem examination here today.
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Dr Ubha invited to present paper in London
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 3 Talking to the mediapersons, college Principal Dr Gurmohan Singh Walia said Dr Ubha would present his paper on “Role of Ethics in Corporate Governance: A Study of Major Indian Scriptures” at the seventh International Conference on Corporate Governance to be held on May 11 and 12 in London. Dr Walia said Mr Ola Ullsten, former Prime Minister of Sweden, is the chairman of the World Council for Corporate Governance. Hon Joe Lark, former Prime Minister of Canada, Ruud Lubbers, former Prime Minister of The Netherlands, Ms Erika Mann, MEP, European Parliament, Richard Howitt, member, European Parliament, Baroness Shreela Flather, House of Lords, Mathew Cadbury, Sri Ravi Shankar Founder of The Art of living, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India, MDs and CEOs of international corporate houses, professors of various universities, reputed business leaders and academicians were participating in the conference as speakers. Dr Walia congratulated Dr Ubha for getting the opportunity to present, share and exchange ideas and views on a global platform with great luminaries and scholars. He said the college had paid the registration fee of the conference and the University Grants Commission, had sanctioned him the grant of 50 per cent of the travel expenditure under its grant for travel scheme to college teachers. Dr Ubha, while talking to mediapersons, said his paper was based on the study of the major scriptures of India.
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SGPC president inspects communication research centre
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 3 Jathedar Avtar Singh inspected the network facility which would provide seamless network connectivity across all classrooms, administrative office, hostels, faculty residences, lawns, student community centre and auditoriums. He highly appreciated professional training programmes conducted by the Department of Computer, Electronics and Mechanical Engineering of the college. He said these courses would help students in getting good jobs. The college Principal, Dr D.S. Hira, said the project would augment the existing campus wide network gigabit wired network and aims at extending it with wireless access using IEEE 802.16 WiMax and IEEE 802.11 WiFi technologies. Dr Hira said the Department of Computer Science Engineering had research facility in computer networks. He said the centre had test beds for conducting research in the field of wireless and wired networking. He said currently this research centre was being used for doctorate and postgraduate level research work. He said the research centre had a number of routers, wireless scanners, wireless equipments mini
PCI, PCI cards, network sniffers and a number of laptops. The facilities were being regularly enhanced with latest technology in the field, he added.
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Views sought on fee structure in medical colleges
Chandigarh, May 3 Meanwhile, the government has announced the provisional fee to be charged by private unaided institutions from the students admitted in the year 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 in the private medical/dental/ayurvedic/homoeopathic colleges. College fee: MBBS — Rs 1 lakh; BDS — Rs 55,000; and BAMS/BHMS — Rs 35,000. Hostel fee and security advance (annual and provisional): general independent room — maximum Rs 12,000 per year for single bed; special room with attached bathroom and AC — maximum Rs 20,000 per year. Security advance — Rs 10,000 or its equivalent (refundable at the completion of course).
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Warm sendoff to MBA students
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 3 Dr Walia called upon the students to develop professional skills and highlighted the importance of ethics in business management. Various competitions were organised and Prof Bikramjit Singh Sandhu declared Alamjit Singh as Mr Farewell while Eisha Mehta was awarded the title of Ms Farewell. Mr Personality Title was awarded to Narinder Pal Singh and Balwinder Kaur bagged the title of Ms Charming.
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