Amritsar, May 13
Alert customs officials today seized two packets of pearls and about 30- 40 necklaces and bracelets, concealed in the cavity created in the water-cooler of the Lahore - Delhi bus, belonging to the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation at Wagah checkpost, 28 km from here, today.

Customs officials reportedly recorded the statements of the crew members of the bus even as no passenger claimed the seized pearls. The value of the pearls could not be ascertained.

The 44 passengers, including two children, were put to a lot of inconvenience following the seizure as they had to wait for the recording of the statements by the crew members. Though the bus arrived at Wagah joint checkpost afternoon, it was allowed to cross over to Pakistan after the daily Beating the Retreat ceremony .

Earlier, on May 6 2000, the Customs officials had arrested two passengers of the Lahore-Delhi bus following seizure of two Chinese-made revolvers and some ammunition from them. These pistols were also concealed in a water cooler at that time.

It is believed that the concealing of the pearls was the handiwork of crew members. The Lahore- Delhi bus had crossed Wagah yesterday morning and had night halt at Ambedkar Stadium bus terminal near Delhi Gate. A maximum of 29" long suitcase with a perimeter of 60" weighing up to 20 kg. is permissible along with one shoulder bag.

As per the clear instructions, no valuables such as cash, jewellery, cameras, negotiable papers or business documents should be placed in checked-in-luggage. Only one small handbag is allowed in the bus cabin.

The breakfast at tourist resort, Pipli (Haryana) and lunch at Magnolia Tourist Complex, Kartarpur (Punjab) is served to the passengers of the bus leaving Delhi for Lahore.

Only three halts are allowed between Delhi and Wagah border. The passengers are not allowed personal eatables during the journey except for the items provided by the DTC and the PTDC. Hence it is not possible for a passenger to create a cavity in the cooler fitted in the bus.

Patiala, May 13
In a significant development, Mr Harwinder Singh Sarna, President, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC), made scathing but veiled attack on SAD (Badal) President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his associates for bringing degradation in the Sikh religion.

Mr Sarna, who was here to preside over a function organised in connection with one-day seminar on "Reflections on Baba Dyal Das and Nirankari Movement" by the Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, while addressing the gathering yesterday said that a section of leadership of Akali Dal was responsible for the huge magnitude of apostasy among the Sikhs and hence the need of hour was to bring able person to lead the Panth.

Though senior officials of Punjabi University, Patiala, including Dr Param Bakhshish Singh, Registrar, and Dr R. K. Sehgal, Dean, Academic Affairs, were present in the function, it could not be known whether Punjabi University authorities had allowed Mr Sarna to make a political speech or not.

Mr Sarna also announced that come what may the DSGMC would continue its campaign against apostasy among Sikhs in Punjab, UP and other states despite the fact that a section of religious and political organisations had been creating hurdles in this task and raising objections over the execution of this mission of DSGMC in Punjab.

Without naming anyone, Mr Sarna said a major section of Akali leaders was not having the type of character, which Akali leaders had when Akali Dal came into existence. He alleged that now a section of leaders had been using offerings of gurudwaras for their own comforts and constructing palaces with the same.

He said that he had urged the Jathedar, Akal Takht, to make a list of those members of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC), whose kin had been indulging in apostasy adding that such members should be removed from the SGPC.

He said though there was a great need of different factions to come on a common platform by shedding the policy of confrontation to strengthen the Sikhism, those Akali leaders, who were heavily possessed by greed of money, were not taking interest in the same.

Appreciating Baba Dyal Dass, founder of Nirankari movement, for his principles and teachings for respect of Sikhism, Mr Sarna said that he would urge the Chief Minister, Punjab (Pakistan), Mr Prevez Elahi, to hand over the keys of Nirankari Ashram, situated in Rawalpindi, to Baba Mann Singh Nirankari, who was heading the mission now.

Dr Navtej Singh, Head, Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Dr. J. S. Grewal, former vice chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Prof Gurtej Singh and Dr G. S. Dhillon participated in the seminar.

About 14 research papers were presented by the scholars in the seminar, which was conducted in two academic sessions.

Abohar, May 13
Braving scorching heat wave, scores of farmers took out a protest march here today to express resentment over unbalanced supply of canal water for irrigation.

The farmers carrying banners of the Bhartiya Kisan Union marched through the main roads of the walled city shouting slogans against the executive engineer and other officers of the irrigation department.

They sat on a dharna later inside the canal colony here. They lamented that the fields could not be irrigated last month due to supply of highly contaminated blackish water in the canals of the region.

Since temperature was 5 to 7 degree above normal this year the demand for water had increased. Inclement weather had shattered all hopes on better Kinnow fruit plantation this year.

Total concentration was on the cotton sowing but canal water was not available to meet the requirement.

Some of the protesters said they opted for Bt cotton sowing this time but one of the manufacturers was allegedly selling seed at a “premium” to exploit the farmers. The authorities, by not booking the spurious seed marketers under section 420 of the IPC due to political and monetary pressures, had encouraged the scoundrels.

Water was not available for drinking purpose even at the tail-ends of the sub canals in the region.

Government officials claimed they had intensified patrolling to check theft of water by farmers but results were yet to be established. Some farmers of Dalmirkhera village and the neighboring areas continued to siphon off water from the canal by using plastic pipes even during broad daylight.

The Irrigation Department sources said that some cases of theft had been detected and the employees were today deployed at some sensitive outlets on receiving complaints that theft was still in progress.

The BKU activists said targets for cotton cultivation might not be achieved if remedial steps are not taken immediately.

Patiala, May 13
More than 500 students and doctors of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, Government Dental College, Government Ayurvedic College and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) held a protest rally in front of the OPD of the Rajindra Hospital against the arrest of doctors in Delhi and the lathi charged on them by the police.

Senior doctors also joined the protest against the extension of reservation and the OPDs remained closed throughout the day. The students and doctors categorically said the acts of government were "shameful and unpardonable". — OC

Chandigarh, May 13
Capt Amarinder Singh’s offer to allot land to Reliance Industries, has opened a proverbial can of worms for the ruling Congress in Punjab.

Yesterday’s outburst by Mr Jagmeet Brar, a member of the working committee of the All-India Congress Committee, against the Chief Minister had again exposed the thorny relationship between the two senior leaders.

Today in a counter-attack against Mr Brar, Amarinder-loyalists branded him as a “frustrated man” out to grab power and a “mouthpiece” of the party’s rival, the Shiromani Akali Dal. They also urged Ms Sonia Gandhi to take immediate disciplinary action against him for “anti-party” activities.

As a reaction, in a joint press statement issued here today, Deputy Chief Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and senior ministers, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Mr Surinder Singla, Mr Avtar Henry, Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, Mr Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Ch Jagjit Singh, Mr Lal Singh, Mr Sardool Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, Mr Raghunath Sahay Puri and Hans Raj Joshan today accused Mr Brar of being an “opportunist” and a “mouthpiece” of the SAD.

The ministers said: “Mr Brar had flouted the ethics of the party that tantamount to indiscipline and dissension within the party”.

The Akalis were apprehensive of losing their vote bank among farmers but such statements, like the one made by Mr Brar, could harm the prospects of the Congress.

Barkandi (Muktsar), May 13
Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, former MP and now a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), has expressed apprehension that the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, could form a new political party as he (Amarinder Singh) was implementing his own individual agenda by ignoring the secular policies of the Congress and Congress workers. He said Capt Amarinder Singh’s religious agenda was his own agenda and not of the Congress.

Mr Brar visited this village yesterday in connection with a workers’ meeting held to organise a function to mark the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at Muktsar on May 25. He also addressed the workers and urged them to play a bigger role in making the function a success.

Talking to The Tribune, Mr Brar also lashed out at Capt Amarinder Singh by saying that he was “encouraging” militants even though it was not the policy of the Congress. He said rather than “encouraging the militants”, Capt Amarinder Singh should support those Congmen who had lost a lot during the period of turmoil in Punjab.

Mr Brar also criticised Punjab Chief Minister on the issue of providing land at throwaway prices in the state to the Reliance Industries and said he (Brar) would not allow Reliance Industries to capture Punjab’s land in connivance with Capt Amarinder Singh. 

Chandigarh, May 13
The USA, Canada and the UK are passe. The Punjabi businessmen and professionals are now zeroeing in on the Central Europe to satiate their ever-growing appetite for new lands and avenues.

A batch of 12 businessmen and professionals, the first from Punjab, is leaving for Croatia — a small country located just 13 km from Italy — on May 18.

It comes in the wake of a publicity blitzkrieg launched by the Croatian Ambassador to India, Mr Dino Debeljuh, a few months ago, inviting Punjabi entrepreneurs and professionals to the country.

Mr Vishal Gahrana, who is striving to build the Punjab-Croatia trade links, says: “The country has fabulous opportunities in real estate, food and beverages, tourism, resorts and sea-adventure industry.

The businessmen headed for Croatia are primarily interested in the real estate.

They say that it is easy to buy property in Croatia by setting up a company (called d.o.o.) and later purchasing the property in the company's name. And surprisingly, the market rates are lower than India.

Naveen Sharma, who has established a company named Victoria Amicus there, says it is now or never. The country, being a tourism hub, rated as the top tourist destination in 2005 by the Lonely Planet, is in dire need of five-star hotels.

“A young nation, it boasts of easy laws, cosmopolitan culture, low cost of living and world-class education. I plan to settle there as soon as possible,” says Dr K.R. Arya, Chairman, Expert Committee, Rehabilitation Council of India, who is going with the delegation.

In fact, the businessmen are brimming with enthusiasm and it is estimated that Punjabi investment in Croatia will be to the tune of Euro 15 million by the end of the year.

Mr Kuljit Singh Nagra, a Congress leader and businessman, wants India to emulate Croatia in ensuring business-friendly environment.

In yet another strong appreciation for the country, Mr Manik Rai, a businessman, says the country is not a part of the EU as yet but will become so by 2009. Till then, the land prices are less as are other infrastructural costs.

Apart from the real estate, pharmaceuticals, hospitality and IT are other lucrative markets which these businessmen are eyeing.

Incidentally, the second batch is also ready to depart by mid-June and will in all likelihood comprise eminent film personalities.

Tarn Taran, May 13
Three persons were killed and four others injured in three different road accidents in the area in the past 24 hours. The killed persons include a mother and daughter who were going back after attending a marriage function from here last evening.

A marriage party was going back after attending the function from here to border village Rajatall (near Attari). Their Tata Sumo (HR-26- G-0962), which was in full speed, overturned when the driver of the Sumo lost control over the vehicle. It was alleged that the driver Jaswinder Singh of Daoke village was under the influence of liquor.

Ramandeep Kaur (14) died on the spot, while her mother Raj Kaur (37) succumbed to her injuries at the local Civil Hospital this morning.

The other injured in the accident include Ranjit Kaur, Sukhbir Kaur and Paramjit Singh of the marriage party. A case under Sections 279, 304-A,337, 338 of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the Sumo, who absconded from the scene.

In another incident, Kartar Singh (55) of village Dhotian was crushed by a fast moving car near Naushehra Pannuan .The driver of the car Baljit Singh Mallhian (near Jandaila Guru) has been booked under Sections 304-A, 337, 338 of the IPC by the Sarhali police.

In the third accident, Gurdev Singh of nearby village Aladinpur was injured when he was hit by a PRTC bus (PB-11H-9841) at the local Sarhali bypass .The Sadar police has registered a case under Sections 279,337,427 of the IPC against Jaimal Singh of village Koharka, the driver of the bus. 

Nawanshahr, May 13
A four-day district-level training workshop under the Adolescent Education Programme launched jointly by NACO, Punjab State AIDS Control Society, State Institute of Science Education and Education Department, with a view to sensitising teachers and students against the menace of AIDS, was organised here at Government Senior Secondary school. As many as 100 teachers and 100 students from the 50 schools participated in the workshop, which concluded here yesterday.

Dr Rekha Beri, Assistant Director, Punjab AIDS Control Society, presided over the concluding session. Addressing the teachers and peer educators, she said the idea behind the programme was to generate awareness about AIDS among the adolescents. The Punjab AIDS Control Society, in collaboration with the Education Department, had already brought as many as 2,000 senior secondary and high schools and 3,000 more schools would be brought under the Adolescent Education Programme this year.

Dr Beri also held an open-discussion session and answered the queries of the students regarding safe sex, responsible sex behaviour, modes of transmission of AIDS, behavioral changes in HIV positive persons etc. The students were also made aware about the right use of condom.

Mr Gurmail Singh Sahlon, District Education Officer, exhorted the teachers to learn the skills developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, NACO, NCERT, UNICEF, SACS etc for dedicatedly conducting school community projects to spread AIDS awareness.

Mr Balihar Singh Bains, District Science Supervisor, said a conducive environment to pass on right information for the clarification of myths and misconceptions and to enable adolescents to cope with emotions, stress and negative peer pressure should be built up in schools.

During the workshop, Mr Baldev Singh, Mr Surinder Pal Agbihotri (master trainers), Dr Anju, Dr H.S. Gupta, Mr Balbir Kumar, Mr Nirmal Singh, Mr Narinder Kumar, Dr Ravinder Sethi, Mr Ashok Bhaura, Dr Devinder Kumar and Mr Baldev Nayyar, among others, delivered lectures on a variety of topics related to AIDS awareness, its social aspects, natural cure, yoga and health etc.

Amritsar, May 13
A tricky situation arose in the local Hindu College following the decision of Guru Nanak Dev University to recognise, Mr R.C Verma, as Principal of the institute on the basis of the orders of DPI (Colleges), while the College Management claims that Mr V.P Lumba continues to be the officiating Principal of the college.

Mr Verma, who had been suspended following serious charges of embezzlement was reinstated by the DPI (Colleges). However, Mr P.N Arora, Chairman of the Hindu College Management says that the management won’t allow Mr Verma to join the college since he was not cooperating in the ongoing probe. He said the college management had already moved the Supreme Court in this regard. He, however, said Mr Verma had not come to him to re-join with the copy of the DPI’s order so far.

The Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr S.P Singh, however, said the university authorities had appointed Mr Verma as Coordinator (Examination) on the basis of the DPI orders and the university would accept the signatures of Mr Verma as Principal. The decision might affect the admission process.

Mr Lumba, officiating Principal and Dr Arun Mehra, Presiding Officer of the inquiry committee of Hindu College Governing Council, said the inquiry against Mr Verma had been delayed as instances of more discrepancies in the accounts and other charges had surfaced.

Earlier, the management in its order on August 24, 2005 had suspended Mr Verma following serious charges of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds.

Fazilka, May 13
Even though the Education Department has not cleared promotion of postgraduate teachers in any subject for the past five years, the promotion of 23 such teachers as lecturer of chemistry has come to light.

Giving details of this discrepancy, Siksha Sudhar Committee, Punjab, patron Raj Kishore Kalra said of these promotees promoted by the Director, Public Instructions (Secondary), 21 were women and only two were men.

The highest number of promotions — of nine masters and mistresses — were from Patiala, while six were from Ludhiana, which are incidentally the constituencies of Chief Minister and Education Minister, respectively.

The remaining four were from Ropar and one each from Mansa, Fatehgarh Sahib, Hoshiarpur and Faridkot districts.

He said the cases of other eligible teachers from the districts had been ignored.

According to information, even these 23 promotions had not been made according to norms. In all cases, the approval of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC), which is mandatory, has not been taken.

Moreover, seniority has also been ignored. Mr Kalra said 159 cases of science teachers had been pending for promotions as chemistry lecturer.

Of these, 14 science masters and mistresses belonged to Ferozepore district but surprisingly none of them had been promoted.

Some women science mistresses, on the condition of anonymity, said some such science mistresses who were junior to them had been promoted as chemistry lecturer.

Citing an example, they said science mistresses appointed on regular basis on February 3, 1997 had been ignored, while those whose services were regularised on December 20, 1997 had been promoted.

In a memorandum sent to the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Education Minister and the Principal Secretary, Education, Mr Kalra has demanded an impartial probe into these promotions.

He has called also for disciplinary action against the erring officers.

Amritsar, May 13
Members of the Punjab Poultry Industry Association (PPIA) have blocked the supply of poultry feed to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in protest against the ban imposed by the J&K Government on the sale of poultry products from Punjab in the state due to bird flu threat.

Members of district units of PPIA were ‘‘performing the duty’’ of blocking the feed meant for Jammu and Kashmir near Sujanpur (Pathankot).

Mr G.S Bedi, president of the Amritsar Poultry Industry Association, today said the J & K Government had imposed the ban on February 21, and this decision had hit poultry industry in Punjab very badly. ‘‘Even though not even a single case of bird flu had been reported from Punjab, the ban was still continuing’’, he added. He alleged that the requests of the Central and state governments and PPIA had fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Bedi said the protest would continue till the J&K Government lifted the ban and restored the normal supply of poultry products.