Bhattal lays stone of bridge on Ghaggar
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 23
Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, and MLA from Lehragaga, laid the foundation stone of a bridge, to be built on the Ghaggar in her Assembly constituency, at Chandu village yesterday. The bridge will connect Chandu and Bushehra villages of the Moonak area.

Ms Bhattal said this bridge would be completed at a cost of Rs 3.50 crore while its construction would start in November. She said work on the Ghaggar project would start soon to save the people of the Moonak and Khanauri areas from the wrath of the Ghaggar.

Ms Bhattal said that in the Lehragaga Assembly constituency development works, especially on the education front, were being done at a fast note by the state government. She said a college and a university were being set up in the constituency.

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 23
The Kanshi Ram Bachao Sangharsh Committee and the SAD(A) have decided to hold akhand path on the departed leader’s bhog ceremony at Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara here.

The path would start on October 28. After the bhog on October 30, a “shradhanjli samaroh” would be organised at Diwan Todar Mal Hall behind the gurdwara.

All political leaders, including Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and all those who believed in his philosophy would be invited to the function, said Mr Santokh Singh, national president of the committee, and Mr Iman Singh Mann, son of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, while addressing a joint press conference here today.

They said they would ask Mayawati why he was cremated as per Buddhist tradition. When he had not adopted any other religion, he should have been cremated as per Sikh traditions, they claimed. “In Sikhism, the pyre is lit by a male member of the family, but Mayawati lit his pyre,” they said.

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 23
The Punjab Rice Millers Association has submitted its charter of demands to the state government and the FCI, declaring that if their demands are not met by November 7, they will go on an indefinite strike and till then they have decided not to deliver rice to the FCI.

Addressing a press conference following a meeting of the association held here today, Mr Tarsem Saini, national president of the Federation of Rice Millers, said it was unfortunate that the state government and the Centre had failed to concede their genuine demands.

The state had issued a letter seeking to recover lakhs of rupees from every rice miller and directed the FCI to deduct the recovery amount from the payment of levy rice. He demanded the withdrawal of the letter, claiming that the government had agreed to withdraw it.

Mr Saini said VAT on paddy husk and rice bran should be withdrawn as 4 per cent purchase tax on paddy was already levied while purchasing it.

It amounted to double taxation. At present 1 per cent triage was given on MSP, but, he demanded, it be given by weight, not by rate.

He demanded DC rates while delivering rice above 8 km at an FCI depot and a hike in milling charges from Rs 15 per quintal to Rs 27, as electricity and other expenses had increased. 

Two get 10 years’ RI for selling poppy husk
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 23
Mr S.K. Goel, Special Judge, Sangrur, today awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) each along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each to Amarjit Singh (41), a resident of Sherpur, and Ranjit Singh (41), a resident of Barnala, in a case registered against them under Section 15 of the NDPS Act at Sherpur police station on January 6, 2000.

In default of the payment of the fine, the court ordered the accused to further undergo RI for one year.

As per the prosecution’s case, on January 6, 2000, the police received information that the accused used to sell poppy husk on a large scale. It was also informed to the police that at that time both were filling poppy husk in plastic envelopes.

A police party raided the house of Amarjit Singh at Sherpur village where both accused were found filling poppy husk in envelopes and they were apprehended on the spot.

The poppy husk found in the envelopes was taken out and two samples of 250 grams each were taken while the remaining poppy husk, lying there, was put into an empty gunny bag.

Apart from it, five other gunny bags containing poppy husk were also lying there. After the collection of samples, on weighing the remaining poppy husk ,it was found over 35 kg.

Ropar, October 23
The president of a faction of a local truck operators’ union, Magar Singh, was today granted bail by a local court.

He was arrested by the police in two different cases, one of embezzlement in the funds of a truck cooperative society and another for protesting against the Ambuja cement plant here following truck operators’ demand about three months ago.

Over 200 truck operators gave him a heroic welcome on his release from the district jail at about 6pm. 

Bathinda, October 23
While the good crop size has cotton farmers on cloud nine, the pressure of consistent arrivals coupled with poor export demand has left cotton prices nearing around Rs 1,900 for the past many days.

Talking to The Tribune, the former president of the North India Cotton Association, Mr Ashok Kapoor, said the cotton markets of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan had witnessed a long run of a daily arrival of 30,000 bales before Divali.

He said though there was a slump in arrivals close to Divali, it should now cross the figure of 30,000 bales. He said despite brisk buying by local mills the market had seen a declining trend.

He attributed this trend to the “monopoly” of private buyers and millers apart from a poor export demand.

“They are in no hurry to make cotton purchase, as they are the regular buyers aware of the fact that cotton would be easily available even in the coming months.” He said the export demand too had been below expectation in the state.

He said at this stage the entry of government agencies like the CCI and the Markfed could arrest the decline in prices. “They can lend the much-needed support to the market, as the quality of cotton too meets their standards.”

Interestingly, according to him, the farmers too didn’t show any resistance and they continued to bring in their cotton produce at fast pace. He said the farmers might have found solace in the increased crop size, as their bumper crop had compensated for the decreased prices.

He apprehended that if the prices declined further the farmers might put up some resistance and give a second thought before taking their produce to the market. He said the cotton prices were at higher end in Muktsar and Bathinda, while they were at lower end in Mansa and Sardulgarh.

He said the northern region was well on its way to achieve its target of 50 lakh bales, with Punjab contributing half of it, followed by Haryana with 18 lakh bales and Rajasthan with 7 lakh bales.

He said as of now 6 lakh bales had arrived in the region’s market, of which Punjab’s contribution was 75 per cent.

Meanwhile, Bathinda’s cotton market today saw an arrival of about 4,000 quintals of cotton and the highest price it fetched was Rs 1,941 per quintal.

Chandigarh, October 23
The Punjab Government is racing against time to stock adequate quantity of DAP, a fertiliser required for the sowing of wheat that is scheduled to start in the first week of November.

The Central Government has accepted the request of the state government to make the movement of the fertiliser a priority for the Railways.

Sources in the government said the Railway Ministry had accorded top priority to the movement of DAP a few days ago. However, such movement takes time and it will be a difficult situation for Punjab. The state will be barely meeting its minimum requirement.

Earlier the Railways was busy moving wheat from Punjab to other states. Punjab at present has a stock of 2.20 lakh tonnes of DAP while the requirement is of 2.85 lakh tonnes as per last year’s wheat sowing pattern. This year the state government had planned to have 3.15 lakh tonnes of DAP available by the first week of November as the sowing pattern can vary. Also, this will be last sowing of a crop before the Assembly elections scheduled in February next year and the government wants things to go smoothly.

The total expected requirement of DAP in the state is about 4.4. lakh tonnes. The Railways has allocated three rakes for the movement of DAP on priority. Two such rakes will run daily from Mundhra port and one rake will run daily from Kandla port. Each has a carrying capacity of 2,300 to 2,500 tonnes. About 7,000 to 7,500 tonnes of DAP will start coming to Punjab.

Officials said by the end of this month the target of 2.85 lakh tonnes will be met. Strict instructions had been issued to prevent hoarding.

Ropar, October 23
A 12-year-old boy, Amit, was found murdered at Manku Majra village here this afternoon.

He had gone missing on October 21 night, according to the parents of the boy.

Injury marks were found on the boy’s neck, but the exact cause of the death will be found only after the post-mortem report, said the police.

Patiala, October 23
A domestic servant, Shanker, took away valuables from the house of his master located in the Tripuri area of the town by making all family members fell unconscious after administering them intoxicants late last night.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that Shanker had taken away about 10 tolas of gold and Rs 25,000 from the house of Mr Kasturi Lal, a cloth merchant.

Shanker first administered intoxicants to Mr Kasturi Lal, his wife, son and daughter and after all of them fell unconscious, he committed the crime.

Police sources said Shanker was employed by Mr Kasturi Lal in his house a few days ago without getting his credentials verified from the authorities concerned.

Mr Kasturi Lal and his family members came to know about the crime after they regained consciousness.

Mr Manjeet Singh Brar, SHO, Tripuri police station, when contacted, said a case had been registered and hunt launched to nab the culprit, who belonged to Nepal.

Chandigarh, October 23
Panjab University has mooted a stringent schedule for granting of affiliation to colleges. The new schedule will be considered by the university syndicate members during their forthcoming meeting to be held on October 29.

The new plan is part of the recommendations made by a committee constituted for the purpose and will be applicable to new colleges as well as existing colleges.

Applications for grant of affiliation to new colleges will not be entertained by the university after October 1. These applications will be submitted to the Vice-Chancellor through the Dean, College Development Council. A survey committee will visit all the new colleges for preliminary survey during October itself utilising only two or three days.

The survey committee is expected to take an undertaking from the college management committee regarding the college infrastructure and facilities. The committee will then prepare a survey report on the spot and submit it to the university. The survey committee will visit the new colleges only once in a year and a re-survey will be allowed only in the next year or session on receipt of compliance report from the managing committee regarding fulfilment of all conditions.

The university will forward the recommendations of the survey committee of all colleges in a bulk to the state government for no objection certificate (NOCs) in the first week of November. On receipt of an NOC from the state government, by the first week of January, the university will submit an office note to the VC for appointment of an expert inspection committee.

This expert committee will then visit the college during January or February. The inspection committee will prepare an inspection report on the spot on the same day and submit it to the university. The committee will also make categorical recommendations whether provisional affiliation be granted to the college or not. The inspection committee will visit the college only once a year, no re-visit will be allowed in the same session or year. All cases for grant of affiliation to the new colleges will be placed before the Syndicate for consideration in the first week of March.

For existing colleges, the applications for grant of affiliation with normal affiliation fee should reach the university by November 1 and with 50 per cent additional fee by November 15. The decision of the Syndicate regarding accepting of applications with 50 per cent additional fee of the normal affiliation fee by January 31 has been withdrawn. The file for the appointment of expert inspection committee will be submitted to the Syndicate by the first week of December. The inspection committee appointed will complete the process of inspections by March 15 and the convener of the inspection committee will be responsible for arranging the inspection in consultation with the other members of the inspection committee. The report submitted by the committee will be sent to the state government in bulk in the last week of March for NOC.

Interestingly, Syndicate members will also consider a resolution moved by Principal Suresh Tandon and Principal Satinder Dhillon that the affiliated colleges that apply for new courses be allowed to run these courses on the basis of the no-objection certificate issued by Panjab University itself. The resolution is in line with a practice being followed by Punjabi University, Patiala, and Guru Nanak Dev University. Affiliated colleges of these universities do not have to take an NOC from the state government to start new courses. An NOC from the affiliating university is sufficient.