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Hailstorm damages crops in 1,800 acres
Abohar, June 14 Those affected in the Kamalwala area, included Mr Harjinder Singh sarpanch, Mr Harbhajan Singh nambardar, Mr Sukhwinder Singh, Mr Naunihal Singh, Mr Suhawa Singh, Mr Mahender Singh, Mr Sahab Ram, Mr Munshi Ram, Mr Ajit Kumar Maini, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Hazara Ram and Mr Lakhbir Singh. Their crops were damaged. They said the hailstorm lashed a 35-acre strip, Mr Surjan Singh Chhina, former sarpanch lamented farmers had suffered loss in cotton for past three years and they were unable to repay loans to banks and commission agents. Hopes were pinned this year on Bt narma cotton crop for which most of them had spent Rs 3000 to Rs 4000 per acre but today felt shocked. Besides cotton the hailstorm damaged green fodder, vegetables and sugarcane, he added. Other areas affected by the hailstorm-included Ghallu village Katehra, Bodiwala Peetha and Khuikhera on the national highway 10 here. Surprisingly desert was again spreading base from the neighbouring Sriganganagar in Rajasthan to Abohar subdivision. Leaders of different political parties have faxed messages to the Deputy Commissioner requesting that a survey be conducted to assess the loss and compensate the affected farmers accordingly.
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19 IAS officers shifted
Chandigarh, June 14 The government shifted the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, Mr S.K. Sharma. He was shifted earlier also. However, his transfer was stalled. He was earlier appointed MD, Milkfed, and will now go as MD,
Sugarfed. The Commissioner, MC, Bathinda, Mr Mandeep Singh, will go as Director, State Transport. Mr Vikas Pratap will be the Commissioner of the MC, Ludhiana. Mr Roshan Sunkaria, Commissioner, Faridkot division, has been posted as Managing Director, PSIEC. Mr Kulbir Singh, Commissioner, Ferozepore division, will hold additional charge of Faridkot division. Among others to be transferred or given additional charge are Mr R.C. Nayyar, who will hold additional charge as Secretary, Revenue, and also Director, Disaster Management. Mr Mandeep Singh Sandhu will be the new Managing Director, PSIDC. Mr Arun Goel will be the new Secretary, Expenditure, in addition to Director, Disinvestment, replacing Mrs Kalpana Mittal Baruah, who is proceeding on Central deputation. Mr A.S Chhatwal will hold additional charge as Project Director, Shahpur Kandi Dam Project, and also Secretary, Power. Mr Viswajeet Khanna will hold additional charge as Secretary, Civil Aviation. Mr S.P.Singh will hold additional charge as MD, PUNCOM. Mr V.K. Singh will be the new MD, Milkfed. Mr B.C. Thakur will be the new Special Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation. Mr G.S. Grewal will be the MD, Markfed. Mr Hussan Lal, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, has been posted as Director, Rural Development and Panchayats, while Mr Khushi Ram will be the new DC, Mansa. Mr Raj Kamal Chaudhuri will be the new Director, Welfare of SCs and BCs, and also Director, Social Security, Women and Child Development, while Mr K.S. Pannu will be the new Special Secretary, Home, in addition to his duties as
Secretary, Farmers Commission, Punjab. Mrs Alaknanda Dayal has been posted as Additional Secretary, Finance. Among the PCS officers Mr N.S. Walia will be the new
Commissioner, MC, Bathinda. Mr Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon will be the new MD, PRTC, Patiala. Mr Narinder Singh Brar will be the new Director, Hospitality.
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Dalit Sena chief held, activists torch bus
Bathinda, June 14 Sources said the incident took place a few hours after Bathinda Depot officials of the PRTC removed illegal encroachment from a shop. When the officials were leaving the site after loading goods from the illegally encroached shop some Dalit Sena leaders, reportedly armed with sharp-edged weapons, reached there. Soon the police was called on the scene. The Dalit Sena leaders raised slogans against the administration and allegedly took out kirpans. The police rounded up Dalit Sena chief Kiranjit Singh Gehri, his brother and other party workers. A case was also registered against them under Section 307 of the IPC. The General Manager of the PRTC Depot, Mr Om Prakash Khichi, said the shop had been illegally encroached upon for the past many years and the Deputy Commissioner’s court had recently delivered the verdict in the depot’s favour. He said those who encroached upon the shop were close to Dalit Sena leaders and the former owed Rs 3.5 lakh to the depot. He alleged that the party workers attacked the officials, who were at the site to get the encroachment removed. Later, some Dalit Sena activists torched a PRTC bus at the bus stand, but the staff present on the scene extinguished fire before it could cause major damage to the bus. The police had seized empty petrol bottles from the spot.
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Bhattal hospitalised, discharged
Chandigarh, June 14 En route, Ms Bhattal complained of breathlessness, later doctors at the Wellingdon Hospital, Manali, reportedly detected that she also had high-blood pressure. Security men accompanying her alerted the Himachal Police and also functionaries of the Punjab Government here. It was decided to send a helicopter to bring her back to Chandigarh. A couple of leading hospitals in Chandigarh were also alerted. However, officials said Punjab's helicopter was ferrying the Punjab Governor to Tarn Taran. The Chief Ministers Office, here got into action once the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was informed and requested the Himachal Pradesh and Haryana governments, respectively, for their helicopters. The HP helicopter reached first but it was to land at a helipad that was located at a spot higher than Manali. Ms Bhattal was rushed to the hospital where doctors helped in controlling her breathing. In the meantime, the chopper sent by the Haryana Government also reached Manali. However, doctors reportedly advised Ms Bhattal to avoid the air journey and the choppers were sent back. She was discharged from the hospital after a few hours and would travel by road. Later tonight aides of Ms Bhattal confirmed that the Deputy Chief Minister was discharged from the hospital and was in the hotel where she was staying.
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Lifters eye 1200 cc bikes
Chandigarh, June 14 If the allegations of two such victims are to be believed, the gang is active in the city for the past one month. Both victims have lost their expensive imported sports motor cycles priced anything between Rs 11 lakh and 12 lakh. The gang reportedly picks up the bikes from Chandigarh and sells them in the grey markets of South-West India and even in places like Dubai, Nepal and Bhutan. The modus operandi only indicates that the gang is well organised at the international level. Even though the motor cycles equipped with sophisticated sensors and other anti-theft equipment that require training of sorts to operate, these adroit bike lifters managed to steal these machines discreetly from busy market places, even from inside a house. Interestingly, though these motorcycles are attention grabbers and “different” in looks compared to other bikes moving on roads, the police has failed to trace the stolen vehicles. Fed up with failure of the police to trace these two motorcycles, the owners of the vehicles have announced a prize of Rs 50,000 to anyone providing information about them. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Maninder Singh, a resident of Sector 7-B here stated that his Black Yamaha V-Max (HR-26-V-8233) motorcycle powered with 1200 cc engine was stolen from the Sector 8 market on June 10. He added that he had gone to meet his friend in his Sector 8 office and had left his motorcycle in the parking lot at around 9 pm. When he came back after 25 minutes, he found his motorcycle missing. He immediately reported the matter to the police. Mr Maninder Singh added a PCR vehicle was also stationed nearby. “It’s really surprising how the miscreant managed to start and escape with the bike. It was equipped with all the latest anti-burglary gadgets, which are difficult to break. One needs a lot of technical expertise to accomplish this job. In this case, the guy stole the bike in front of the cops, who never got even a slight inkling of what the culprits were doing”. Narrating his tale, the other victim, Mr Sahil Gupta of Sector 6, Panchkula, alleged that his Honda CRB 60 (KA-05-EF-0600) was stolen from his residence on May 10. He said the theft came to light when he returned home at around 11:30 pm that day and found his bike had gone missing. Till date his bike remains untraceable. “It was only recently, that we got a faint lead about Mr Gupta’s bike. The servants of his neighbour told him later that they had seen four strong built persons coming to Gupta’s residence that day in a Black coloured high-end SUV bearing Punjab’s registration number. After failing in their attempt to start the bike, they lifted and loaded it and fled”. The story did not end here. After some days the thieves contacted a Ludhiana-based mechanic to make a duplicate key for the bike. As the mechanic, who was known to Mr Singh, was not available that day his subordinate refused to go with them as he was not an expert in dealing with such bikes. According to the information gathered so far, those persons belong to Bathinda or Ludhiana. “We have taken up the matter with the senior officers of the Punjab Police also, but nothing has come out as yet”, said Mr Singh. He added: “We are members of a national-level bikers club, which has a website xbhp.com. The club has over 30,000 members. We had informed about the thefts of our vehicles along with their details, but in vain. As these are high-end bikes, they could fetch anything around Rs 6 lakh to 7 lakh in the market. We have also sounded a red alert on our website about the bikes.
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“Centre benefiting from taxes on petrol”
Chandigarh, June 14 “Bringing down the price of a litre of diesel by 16 paise against a hike of Rs 2.20 a litre is nothing but a joke,” remarked an insider of an oil industry revealing that “bulk of taxes, levies and duties charged on a litre of petrol or diesel go the Centre. For
example, the basic price of a litre of petrol in Punjab is about Rs 20 . Every consumer pays more than Rs 31 a litre as Central and state duties, taxes and levies. And interestingly, the state gets only Rs 8 a litre and the Centre pockets the remaining Rs 23.” So exempting the incremental component from the Value Added Tax( VAT) and other levies would only give a cosmetic relief. In Punjab, this relief would come to 93 paise a litre of petrol and just 16 paise a litre of diesel. As of now, Punjab has the lowest tax tariff on diesel in the country which is 8.8 per cent. In case of petrol it is 27.75 per cent. Since the introduction of VAT regime, the Centre has been pressing Punjab to revise the tariff upwards on diesel. Other states have been protesting against the Punjab rate. In some states, rate of VAT on petrol and diesel are the same. Insiders of the oil industry maintain that there has been utter confusion over the new instructions issued by state governments over withdrawal of any tax on the difference in old and new price of both petrol and diesel. “There cannot be any uniformity on this insignificant relief as there are variations in prices of petroleum products depending upon the location of the outlets through which they are sold,” says another insider of the trade. As of now, he maintains, no official communication has been addressed to the dealers in the field. “We are learning about this relief only through media,” he added. Sources in the state governments maintain that though they have followed the instructions of the Union government by exempting incremental portion from payment of state taxes and levies, it would neither benefit the consumer nor help the state. “If the Centre slashes some of its duties, including excise and custom duty on petroleum products, it could provide good relief to all consumers. Further, it would not affect the Centre much which has a huge budget of thousands of crores. For a small state like Punjab, a slash in its revenue by a few hundred crore of rupees may lead to pruning or even shutting down of some development schemes,” the sources
added.
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Can VC make an appointment effective
Jalandhar, June 14 The answer seems to be in the affirmative if an order issued by the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev (GND) University relating to recent appointments of the Coordinator and the Deputy Coordinator of the Centre with Potential for Excellence in Sports Sciences is any indication.
Dr Jai Rup Singh, Director of the Centre for Genetic Disorder, has been appointed the Coordinator of the centre by the university authorities after he raised a hue and cry and shot off a letter to the UGC Joint Secretary, Dr K. Gunasekran, saying though he was appointed Coordinator of the Rs 30-crore project by the UGC on July 8, 2004, the university authorities informed him about it only on May 29 this year. Although Dr Jai Rup Singh has been appointed Coordinator by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, the order (No. 8967-9047, dated June 6) also says that Prof Jaspal Singh of the Department of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy, who was currently working as the Deputy Coordinator, will take over as the Coordinator of the centre from August 12. This means that Dr Jai Rup Singh would be the Coordinator of the centre for just nine weeks. The situation seems somewhat ironical as the term of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, ends on July 22. This means that Prof Jaspal Singh will be taking over as the Coordinator of the centre 20 days after the expiry of the term of the Vice-Chancellor, who made the appointment. So far, there has been no official communication about the grant of a third-time extension to the VC. The question is whether a Vice-Chancellor can appoint anyone from a future date spilling beyond his own tenure? Whether, he is empowered to issue orders that will be implemented after the expiry of his term? If not, then, is he cocksure about his third extension? Meanwhile, in an open letter (a copy of which is in the possession of The Tribune) to the UGC, and heads of all teaching and non-teaching departments of the university and Secretary to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jai Rup Singh has said since the project was a UGC-funded venture, it was the prerogative of the UGC to appoint a coordinator of the centre and not that of the university. “I understand that as per the rules of the UGC, deciding on the appointment and tenure of coordinators and deputy coordinators for “centres with potential for excellence” is the prerogative of the UGC and thus, decided by the UGC and not by the university,” Dr Jai Rup Singh says in his letter. He has also rued that he was not informed about his appointment by the UGC as a coordinator of the centre by the university authorities for more than two years.
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Cong leaders seek action against Birmi
Ludhiana, June 14 Irked over the tour programme of PCC president Dullo with city Mayor Nahar Singh Gill in his Assembly constituency, Ludhiana Rural, Mr Birmi alleged that the PCC president was encouraging factionalism and had collected money from his tour of the constituency. Mr Gill is a claimant of party’s ticket from this Assembly segment. Mr Birmi also alleged that he was not invited or informed about the PCC president’s visit. Countering his allegations several Congress leaders including Mayor, Nahar Singh Gill, District Congress Committee (DCC) president, Jagmohan Sharma, Housefed chairman, K.K. Bawa, senior vice president of the Pradesh Youth Congress Amarjit Singh Tikka, former DCC president, Gurdev Singh Lapran and some councillors demanded action against Mr Birmi for his outburst against the PCC president. These leaders said, they had written to the party high command about the adverse impact of Mr Birmi’s allegations. They claimed that the PCC president’s programme had set the tone for party’s campaigning in Ludhiana as it had proved to be great success. Mr Gill and Mr Sharma alleged that invitations had been sent to Mr Birmi about the programme and still he remained absent. They said, action must be taken against him.
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CPM not to withdraw support to UPA govt
Chandigarh, June 14 Mr Karat was talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a state-level meeting of the CPM here. He said petrol was being taxed at 57 per cent when central and state taxes were calculated. The CPM would be presenting a note to the UPA government on the prevailing prices of petrol and diesel tomorrow, seeking a review of customs duty and other taxes. A major share of the taxes on petrol and diesel was by way of central taxes and these had to be rationalised, said Mr Karat. The Left parties would point out what they felt had not gone right during the two-year rule of the UPA at the Centre. The note would also have suggestions and options. It would touch issues relating to industry, agriculture, employment, among other things. Mr Karat refused to specify what else would be included in the note. He said the note would be submitted and the UPA asked to hold a meeting later on the issues mentioned in the note. On having an alliance with the Congress in Punjab, he said no decision had been taken yet.
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CPI not for alliance with communal forces
Ludhiana, June 14 In conversation with reporters after participating in a left-sponsored dharna against hike in the prices of diesel and petrol, here today, Mr Dayal pointed out, there was no meeting ground between the Left parties and the parties which preached communalism and separatism. He said, the Left parties would form a joint front. These include besides, the CPI, the CPM the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc and also the Lok Bhalai Party led by Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. The CPI leader appeared to be cynical about the strength of splinter Akali groups. He maintained that these had been formed following personal grudges between the leaders without any ideology, policy or programme. He observed, the moment their personal grievances ceased, the parties will die. Mr Dayal, who has always been a critic of the state government was not amused about the massive investment claimed by the government in the state. He observed, only markets were being set up here and these could hardly lead to any employment as claimed by the government. He alleged large-scale corrupt practices were involved in granting permission to these “mega projects”. Earlier addressing the protest dharna, Mr Dayal sought withdrawal of hike in the prices of petrol and diesel. He said, this would have adverse impact on the living of common people as this would lead to rise in the prices of other essential commodities also.
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Foreigners show the way forward
Chandigarh, June 14 For two days, top conservationists and ethnomusicologists from the USA have been analysing the challenges faced by Punjabi culture more comprehensively than one has seen before. Today — on the concluding day of the Indo-US conference on developing a cultural preservation initiative for Punjab — they proved how well they understood what ailed the process of cultural preservation in Punjab and what is the way forward for it. The conference was organised by the Anandpur Sahib Foundation and Smithsonian Institution US. So you had an ethnomusicologist from the University of California telling Punjab Government about its endangered musical heritage and reasons behind the rot. Gibb Schreffler, a research scholar, has been in Punjab for five years, researching the trend before finally sharing his findings today. He conclusively mentioned that the cultural heritage institutions in Punjab needed to reorient their approach, away from culture promotion and towards documentation and research. “Punjabis of India are already proud of their heritage. If we compare the situation to the Pakistani Punjab, we find that, over there, interest in Punjabi heritage has been downplayed in favour of Urduisation. But with such healthy interest in India, promotion of Punjabi culture by government institutions is not really necessary. The long term archiving and preservation of materials is first and foremost a financial issue, and at the time the most crucial issue for Punjab," Schreffler told The Tribune today. Where Schreffler put the musical heritage in perspective, Dr Robert Koestler, Director, Museum Conservation Institute, SI, showed ways of controlling bio-deterioration — a big challenge for Punjab. Priceless limestone paintings at Quila Mubarak, Patiala are withering on account of bio deterioration, and Dr Koestler knows how to use new technologies to save this visual art heritage. In regards conservation, analysis and education value of Sikh heritage artifacts, Prof Hanna Szczepanowska, Conservator, National Air and Space Museum, SI, spoke with unchallenged authority today. As conservator for the Smithsonian exhibition on “Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab”, Prof Szczepanowska knows exactly how to go about making exhibits of Sikh artifacts across Punjab's museums relevant to indigenous landscape as well as the visitors. Finally, Dr Bruno Frohlich, Senior Statistician and Director of Computed Tomography at the Smithsonian Institution showed how non-destructive and non-evasive new techniques could be applied for the preservation of museum objects in Punjab.
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Hair shearing case: victim harassed by hospital staff
Hoshiarpur, June 14 Mr Jai Gopal Dhiman, president of the Social Democratic Party of India, told mediapersons this afternoon that Naresh Kumari, wife of Manohar Lal of Sahiba, was admitted to the health centre after she was mercilessly beaten up and her hair was shorn on June 11. An X-ray was needed to be done to ascertain injuries. Mr Dhiman alleged that the PHC, Mahilpur, had an X-ray machine, but the EMO of the centre referred her to the Civil Hospital, Garhshankar, for the X-ray. The patient was taken to the said hospital in the blazing heat. When she reached there, she was told that the X-ray could not be done as the doctor was on leave till June 18. She was taken back to the PHC, Mahilpur, from where she was again referred to the Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur, for the X-ray. The test was conducted there. He distributed the xerox copies of the referral slip by the EMO of the PHC, Mahilpur. Dr Paramjit Singh, Assistant Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, said there was no radiologist at the centre. However, routine X-rays were being done there.
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Women’s conference pledges
Tarn Taran, June 14 In yet another significant announcement, Ms Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Chief Minister, Rajasthan, said that Sikh Heritage was coming up on 6,000 yards in her state. She said the state government had also established Guru Gobind Singh Chair in Jaipur University that showed keen interest of the government of Rajasthan in Sikhism. Eulogising the Sikh values that hold women in high esteem, she said this should be followed all over the world. Ms Scindia said her state had exempted all the gurdwara lands from all types of taxes. ‘I would endeavour to bring Sikh brethren closer to us though we have already been enjoying thick relationship with them’, she said. The conference also called for ending the trend of ‘Patitpuna’ (apostate) among Sikh youth, including women. The conference, held under the chairmanship of Bibi Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, urged the women to take the responsibility of preaching Sikh tenets all over the world. The conference, expressed concern over the deterioration in the status of women in the country. The gender bias and deep-rooted prejudice and discrimination against women, which have been there down the centuries, need to be curbed. Galaxy of top women leaders of the country, including Sushma Swaraj, senior BJP leader and Bibi Jagir Kaur emphasised the need to uplift the status of women as per the tenets of Sikhism. Ms Sushma Swaraj said it was unfortunate that there was lot of distortion in NCERT books. One of such distortions was relating to Guru Teg Bahadur which was most disturbing. She said measures should be taken to remove such historical blunders. She said that the reason for the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev was not refusal of the offer of the daughter of Chandu but the fact was that he (Guru Arjan Dev) was considered big challenge to the authority of Emperor Jehangir. The other resolutions passed on this occasion, included eradication of drug menace in which women can play vital role. Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President, Shiromani Akali Dal and Mr Avtar Singh, President, SGPC said that the Sikh Gurus and their followers had made supreme sacrifices for the sake of mankind.
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Councillor resents non-development of area
Patiala, June 14 Ms Gera, who represents ward number 4, in a letter to Mr Sharma, pointed out that residents of that ward had been harbouring resentment against the non-development of that area by the authorities concerned deliberately. She added that the situation had reached a point where the residents might start an agitation by holding rallies and dharnas. She said the roads of Tirpuri area in ward number 4 were in a bad shape. There was no arrangement to drain out rain water. The works pretaining to the installation of street light, widening of roads and construction of footpaths had been hanging fire for the past one year. While making an appeal to Mr Sharma, she said that he should carry out development works in the ward and keep political considerations aside.
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Kirti Chakra awardee’s widow
Baghelewala (Moga), June 14 Talking to The Tribune here today, Manjeet Kaur said that she had returned her husband’s gallantry award to Punjab minister Avtar Henry at a meeting of the District Grievance Committee on Monday but instead of taking the gallantry award, he assured transfer of the acting Principal Ravindra Shukla but it could not be given practical shape so far. Manjeet Kaur’s brother-in-law Jagdev Singh (younger brother of martyr Zora Singh) told The Tribune that they had demanded not only suspension and transfer of the acting principal but also the registration of an FIR under SC/ST Act for allegedly for using derogatory remarks against Manjeet Kaur’s caste. Manjeet Kaur alleged that he had asked her Mr Amarinder Singh ‘ne tainu ki de dita’ (What Amarinder Singh had given to you). Besides he had also used derogatory remarks against her caste, she added. Terming the allegations as baseless, the acting principal of the school Ravindra Shukla told The Tribune that Manjeet Kaur was trying to take undue benefit of her husband’s martyrdom and her caste. Alleging that she was levelling accusations against him at the behest of Moga DEO (Secondary) Gurdeep Kaur and the state president of the Class IV Employees Union, Mr Karam Chand Chandaliya, he said that she did not want to perform her duties as peon of the school and his priority was to maintain discipline. Mr Shukla said that instead of issuing statements Manjeet Kaur should wait for the report of the inquiry conducted by Director Administration APS Sandhu on the DPI’s order on June 3 in this regard. He would abide by the report, he added. Admitting that a Punjab Minister was his cousin, he denied that he was shielding him in this case.
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PPSC announces results of PCS (Judicial)
Patiala, June 14 The following are the roll numbers of successful candidates: 1006, 1040, 1077, 1134, 1148, 1161, 1162, 1171, 1186, 1253, 1307, 1429, 1530, 1536, 1724, 1725, 1814, 1987, 2085, 2113, 2265, 2286, 2376, 2527, 2671, 2684, 2721, 2737, 2741, 2795, 2928, 2945, 3262, 3491, 3529, 3590, 3612, 3627, 3661.
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Thousands take part in nagar kirtan
Bathinda, June 14 Led by the Panj Piaras, the nagar kirtan witnessed the participation of thousands of devotees from Bathinda and neighbouring districts. The procession passed through Bhagi Bandar and Kot Shamir villages before reaching the city. People had organised langar and put up ‘chhabeels’ on the way for devotees taking part in the historic event. A large number of vehicles were also a part of the procession, which resulted in a traffic jam on the Bathinda-Goniana road while the nagar kirtan was leaving the city. SAD (A) leaders Harcharan Singh Burjhari and Barinder Singh Mann also participated SAD MP Sukhbir Singh Badal joined the nagar kirtan from Goniana Mandi.
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Petrol price hike fuels protests
Patiala, June 14 Hundreds of activists of milkmen and dairy unions, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Ekta, autorickshaw union and Lok Chetna Manch assembled at the Rose Garden today to lodge their protest against the ‘unprecedented hike in petrol and diesel products.’ Mr Harjinder Singh, president of the Milkmen and Dairy Union, said with the recent hike every commodity would now be costlier which would prove disastrous for the middle class. Mr Gurbax Singh Balbera, district President of the BKU (Ekta), said the farming community was totally dependent on diesel products and the recent hike had spelt doom for the states agrarian community. He added that farmers in Punjab were already caught in a massive debt trap and with the recent hike, the farmers would be crushed under the burden of increased diesel and petrol prices. Mr Major Singh, a senior leader of the Technical Services Union, added that the hike was just a ploy by the Union Government to increase the margin of profit of the public sector oil companies.
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Work on theme park begins
Chamkaur Sahib, June 14 The park will be built at an approximate cost of Rs 17 crore in 10 acres. Besides, work on a memorial park at Saheri village near Morinda, where the younger Sahibzadas, along with Mata Gujri, had stayed for a night, has also started. Besides Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, Chief Architect, Punjab, Mr Amrish Gupta, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Alok Sekhar, and the SSP, Mr Kapil Dev.
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Ex-Army man killed in accident
Kharar, June 14 According to the police, Hari Singh, a resident of Radiala village, was hit by a truck. Hari Singh, who was driving a scooter, died on the spot. His body was sent to the local Civil Hospital for postmortem examination. It was learnt that the body of the deceased was identified by Harnek Singh, a resident of the same village, who worked as a chowkidar in the bus stand area. The police has impounded the truck but the driver fled from the area.
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Traffic police, NCC hold rally
Patiala, June 14 The NCC cadets stationed themselves at various intersections of the city.
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PSEB men caught taking bribe
Patiala, June 14 Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhuller, SSP, Vigilance Bureau, Patiala, in a press note here today said the complainant, Mr Baldev Singh, had installed a generator set at the tubewell motor in his farm. Both lineman went to his farm and told him that he had been stealing power to run his tubewell motor. The accused also cut electric wire connected with the tubewell motor and asked him that they would get a theft case registered against him. They asked Mr Baldev Singh that if he wanted to save himself from the case of power theft, he would have to pay Rs 5,000 to them. After making repeated requests to the two ALM, Baldev Singh agreed to give them Rs 3,000 instead of Rs 5,000. He said the accused were caught while they were taking bribe money.
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Couple robbed
Batala, June 14 The victims were going on a motor cycle towards Panj Garaiana village.
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2 vehicle thieves escape from custody
Amritsar, June 14 According to information, the accused were in the custody of ASI Sikandar Singh and Constable Prabhjot Singh when they fled from the police station. The accused were caught for stealing vehicles. A case under Sections 379, 411 ans 420 IPC had been registered against them at Kathunangal police station.
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ITI employees hold dharna
Patiala, June 14 Mr Mansa Ram, a Patiala-based leader said it was unfortunate that the state government was implementing a new scheme called the Centers of Excellence in about six ITIs across the state due to which 36 posts of instructors would be abolished in various trades. He added that this was a backward step on the part of the Department of Industrial Training and the state government should refrain from taking such a ‘drastic step.’ Mr Balbir Singh, state cashier of the Employees Union, said the state government should reduce the fee of students coming to the ITIs as middle class families could ill afford to get their children quality technical education. State secretary Harvinder Bhardwaj, added that ITIs had become commercial shops where poor students were being exploited. Others who spoke on the occasion were Mr Iqbal Singh, zonal president of the ITI Employees’ Union.
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Aided school raises loans to pay salaries
Sangrur, June 14 It has taken loans worth more than Rs 15 lakh to meet the salary expenses of the staff. The management has paid salaries up to February, 2006. As the school management has exhausted all its sources to collect money salaries for the past three months have not been paid. The school has 19 sanctioned posts (one Headmaster, 14 teachers, one clerk and three Class IV employees) while the posts of the Headmaster and three teachers are lying vacant.
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GMA students shine in class XII exam
Hoshiarpur, June 14 Students of the school also got 58 distinctions in various subjects. Pooja Behl got the first position in the commerce stream in the district. She scored 91.8 per cent marks. Sri Ambika Sood stood second. In the medical stream, Vani K. Gupta, who had been the topper in Class X in the district, has again repeated the performance in Class XII. She scored 90.6 per cent marks in aggregate.
— OC
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