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ASI suspended for thrashing journalist
Abohar, October 24 Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, press secretary of the SAD, in a statement faxed to the media here today, said the police by thrashing Thind on October 19 inside Guruharsahai police station in this district had breached freedom of the press. Thind had visited the police station simply to collect information on the alleged torture of a poor labourer, but Additional SHO Pardeep Singh, taking strong exception to the scribe’s presence, started beating him up, causing a fracture in his nose. This indicated that the law enforcing agencies in the rule of Capt Amarinder Singh had no respect for the law as well as the Fourth Estate, Dr Cheema added. He demanded stern punishment for the guilty police officer to avoid recurrence of such acts. Mr Arpit Shukla, Senior Superintendent of Police, when contacted, said ASI Pardeep Singh posted at Guruharsahai had been suspended. Departmental action against the cop had also been recommended to the higher authorities. The DSP, Jalalabad (West), was investigating the case. He had met the scribe in the Civil Hospital. Thind has been discharged from the hospital after treatment.
Inclusion of Raikot in Barnala opposed
Raikot, October 24 Ex-MLA and senior Congress leader Harmohinder Singh and the Raikot Municipal Council, having majority of the Congress Councillors, are leading the residents in opposing the proposed inclusion. Residents are threatening to move court if the government does not take back the move. Mr Harmohinder Singh, who lost to Akali Leader Ranjit Singh Talwandi in last Assembly poll, will take up the matter with the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, on his visit to Ludhiana tomorrow. He said the residents were quite disturbed at the reports and had been approaching him for taking legal recourse. The main grouse of the residents was that no one had thought of taking their viewpoint in this regard. Sonu, a local trader, said the decision was totally undemocratic. He said it was wrong to think that Raikot was closer to Barnala town. He argued that residents had trade ties with Ludhiana.
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Baba Budha’s fifth birth centenary today
Amritsar, October 24 Mr Sidhu has been hospitalized in Escort Hospital in New Delhi and doctors attending on him have advised him to avoid travelling for the time being, Mr Chautala’s participation is certain . Mr Sidhu has also cancelled his commentary at the CCI tournament at Mohali due to reasons health. Sources close to Mr Sidhu said he was fast recovering and there was no need to worry about his health. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, former Akali Minister and SGPC member also opposed invitation to Mr Chautala at the 500th birth anniversary of Baba Budhaji. He alleged that it was surprising that an invitation had been extended to Mr Chautala at for the event due to political considerations . He said it was unfortunate that Sikh centenaries were being converted into ‘election rallies’. He alleged the ‘Granthi Samelan’ at Kathunangal proved to be a failure and most of the SGPC employees had to participate in the function, while hampered the functioning of gurdwaras.
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SAD demands probe against DTO
Hoshiarpur, October 24 Addressing a press conference here this afternoon, the SAD leaders alleged that instead of taking departmental action against the DTO, the district police had even failed to register an FIR against him. They demanded registration of a case against the DTO, his suspension, transfer and an inquiry into the allegation by a senior officer of the government. They said that though the SSP of Hoshiarpur had constituted an inquiry against the DTO following the complaint against him, he was still on the post and could influence the inquiry officer. His suspension and transfer were necessary for conducting an impartial inquiry against him.
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Federation for increase in retirement age
Chandigarh, October 24 At the end of the meeting, the federation passed a resolution urging the state government to increase the retirement age of all remaining categories of employees to 60 from the existing 50 years. Mr Roshan Lal Goel, a spokesman of the federation, said several leaders of various officers’ associations, including Mr B.B. Sethi, Mr B.B. Rampal, Mr Kewal Krishan and Mr G.C. Midha, participated in the meeting held at the Mini Secretariat. After the meeting, federation leaders met the Public Works Minister, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, and the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi. They urged them to treat Punjab officers on a par with Central Government officers who retire at the age of 60.
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Protest held against police excesses
Barnala, October 24 They were protesting against the alleged police excesses over residents of Bhadaur in the police-public clash over the demarcation of gurdwara land on October 11. They also held a rally. They demanded a compensation of Rs10 lakh for the family of deceased Ruban Masih and a government job for his widow and withdrawal of cases against over 150 persons behind the bars now facing trial in courts. Talking to this reporter here today on phone, Mr Ugrahaan said if the administration did not meet their demands by November13, they would gherao the Bhadaur police station on November14.
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2 killed in road mishaps
Rajpura, October 24 In the first accident, Gurmukh Singh, an employee of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), was killed on the spot when his moped was hit by a car near Bathonia village. Sources said another accident occurred when a pedestrian was hit by a scooter on the GT Road. He was admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital.
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New farm technique saves water, gives higher yield
Chandigarh, October 24 An innovative farmer, Mr Joginder Singh of Lodhipur near Batala, had sown the sugarcane in trenches. He got the cane yield of 840 quintals almost worth Rs 1 lakh from one acre. And, perhaps, it is a new record in the state. More and more farmers are now adopting this technique in the Hoshiarpur-Gurdaspur belt. Mr Guriqbal Singh Kahlon, who was earlier posted as Chief Cane Development Officer with the Cooperative Sugarmill at Batala and now working as General Manager (Cane Development) with A.B.Sugars Limited, Dasuya, says that he had fixed a target to sow sugarcane in 2,000 acres in trenches in his mill area and planned to cover area of 30,000 acres next year. Mr K.S. Pannu, Secretary, Punjab Farmers Commission, said all cane growers would be motivated to switch over to trench and ridge farming in three years. The commission was promoting the sowing of cane as an alternative to paddy. The problem was that the cane crop sown in traditional method consumed as much water as paddy. However, with the new technique of trench and ridge farming, the consumption of water for the cane crop had been drastically cut. It has been proved during trials conducted in this regard. “That is what we wanted. Our aim is minimise the pumping out of the subsoil water to maintain ecological balance. High water consumption in case of cane crop has been a big handicap and it was discouraging farmers from shifting from paddy to cane. With the introduction of new technique, water consumption in cane fields would come down by 50 per cent and the production would go up tremendously,” he added. Mr Pannu said under the new technique, cane was either sown on the ridges drawn in the field with help of a specially prepared ridger that is driven by a tractor or in trenches. He said farmers had start adopting both techniques and ultimately they would adopt the one which they found most suitable and useful. “We are introducing trench technique in wheat sowing. It has become already popular in case of paddy at certain places and a target has been fixed to cover about 1 lakh acres of paddy under this technique next year”, said Mr Pannu. He said that at certain places this type of sowing was also described as bed planting. Dr Daler Singh, who lives near Ludhiana, was the first farmer to introduce bed plantation of paddy in this region. He perfected this art after a research of 10 years. And he has become a role model for other farmers now in this regard.
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Brig Bajwa takes over as PEDA chief
Chandigarh, October 24 Brigadier Bajwa is son of the late Satnam Singh Bajwa, a former Minister of Punjab from Qadian (Gurdaspur), and the elder brother of Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Public Works (B & R) and School Education Minister, Punjab.
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Father rapes teenaged daughter
Tarn Taran, October 24 The victim, who is about 15 years, in her complaint to the police alleged that her father, who was under the influence of liquor, came to her cot and after covering her mouth with her dupatta raped her. The mother of the victim had died. The girl was medically examined at the Patti Civil Hospital and was given medical treatment.
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3 held for gangrape of 2 girls
Amritsar, October 24 The two girls belonging to the Nawi Abadi area used to work as domestic help in various houses in Basant Avenue. The accused were identified as Babbu, Pamma and Chhinda, all of Nawi Abadi, and Kewal Singh, a photographer, Deba of Naag Kalan village and Jagga of the Faizpura locality. The first three accused had been accosting the victims for over a month and managed to lure them. According to complaint lodged, the accused on pretext of taking them to Harmandar Sahib took the girls in a tubewell room situated at Naag Kalan where the their three other accomplices were already present. The girls alleged that they were gangraped by all six for over a month.
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Rs 5.66 lakh looted from PNB
Tarn Taran, October 24 The three locked the manager, cashier, assistant cashier, security guard and three customers in a room and fled the scene with the keys. Police sources while detailing the incident revealed that the security guard deputed at the bank got suspicious of one of the looter. When he enquired about the purpose of his visit, he got into a brawl with the security guard. This diverted the attention of the staff of the bank. Meanwhile, two of his armed accomplices forced their entry into the bank. They took the keys of the safe and the locker from the manager at gunpoint. They found nothing in the safe. But they robbed Rs 5.66 lakhs from the box. Before fleeing they locked all the staff, customers and security personnel in a room. The incident came to light when one of the staff members came out of the room after smashing a window and hit the alarm.
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Constable ‘commits suicide’ in police custody
Amritsar, October 24 Sukhwinder Singh was arrested by the police in connection with a vehicle theft case after his name was disclosed during interrogation by one Narinder Singh of Sathiala village. According to information, Narinder Singh was caught with a stolen car a few days back. During investigations he named Sukhwinder Singh, who was his accomplice in the crime. As per information, relatives of Sukhwinder surrendered him to the police. He reportedly swallowed some poisonous substance leading to his death. The police authorities said the accused swallowed some poisonous substance on the pretext of drinking water. However, they failed to tell from where he got the poisonous substance.
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Hoshiarpur, October 24 Hans Raj, a resident of Canal Colony, Bhangala, Mukerian, died on the spot when a private bus hit him near his village last night. Jaspal Singh of Binewal was also killed when a truck hit his scooter while he was going along with his father to Garhshankar last evening. Hans Raj of Kaloya died on the spot when a motor cycle hit him near Harsvir Palace while he was going to Tanda on his cycle last evening. Manmohan Singh of Sarhala Mundan was killed when his motor cycle rammed into a tree. — PTI
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New loan scheme for higher education on cards: Sibal
Patiala, October 24 The minister, who presided over the 20th convocation of the Thapar Institute of Engineering Technology (TIET), held here today, said that there was no doubt that the quantum of monetary grant being given by the Centre to various institutes imparting higher education had been coming down as it was not possible for the Centre to make arrangements for enough money. Talking to mediapersons, he said that under the new scheme, the deserving students would be given loans on low rate of interests for getting higher education. The loanee would be allowed to start returning the same after he or she would get employment. He added that the Centre had also been looking into the aspect that who would stand guarantee for such loanee for ensuring the return of loan amount to the banks. The union minister said that the Ministry of Science and Technology had been giving due attention to the northern India as Rs 20 crore had been given to the PGI, Chandigarh in the recent past for executing a project Delivering convocation address, he said that today the country needed young people who were willing to take on the responsibility of hard work to make India a still better place for all. “Each of us must take responsibility for the management, governance and improvement of our society. If we leave this mission only to the elected politicians like me, they may lead you in directions that compromise our cherished principles”, he said. Dr Abhijit Mukherjee, Director, TIET, in his report presented the progress of the institute in academics, research and consultancy during 2005-06, the golden jubilee year of the institute. He highlighted the increase in the research activities in terms of increased in flow of R and D funds by about 20 per cent over the last year, higher number of Ph.D registrations and a substantial increase in resource generation through consultancy. A total of 613 students were awarded degrees in various disciplines by Dr Mukherjee at an impressive ceremony. Dr Mukherjee said that there were 13 recipients of Ph.D. Mr Gautam Thapar, Chairman, BILT, gave away medals to meritorious students. Mr Gaurav Singla was awarded the president medal for securing highest marks and Mr Udayan Khurana was awarded S. Ranbir Singh Memorial medal for the best all round performance. Professor Romesh C. Batra, Clifton C. Garvin, Professor of Engineering Sciences and Mechanics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, were conferred the degree of doctor of sciences for academic brilliance and the significant research contributions in the field of mechanics of materials.
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No link with Prof Ghagga, says Sikh Missionary College
Amritsar, October 24 The meeting said that Professor Ghagga was not a student of the college being run by the institution at Ludhiana and so was not its alumnus. The meeting reiterated that Professor Ghagga had no connection with Sikh Missionary College (Ludhiana), whatsoever. The term ‘Sikh Missionary’, used for him, was wrong and factually incorrect, they said. Among those who attended the meeting were Mr Gurbir Singh Director Parchar, Mr Gursharn Singh, director training, Bibi Ravinder Kaur, Mr Baldev Singh and Bibi Harjinder Kaur, former Mayor of Chandigarh. The Jathedar of Akal Takht had taken suo motu action against Professor Ghagga, taking a serious view of his alleged blasphemous writings. The meeting added that the Sikh Missionary College Ludhiana was engaged in the constructive propagation of Sikh Thought and not in either promoting or denouncing personalities. The literature published by Sikh Missionary College (Regd.) Ludhiana expressed the views of the organisation which were in total accordance with the Panthic thought, ideology of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Panthic Sikh Rehat Maryada as approved by Sri Akal Takht Sahib. It said that the Sikh Missionary College, Ludhiana was an international institution working for the mission of propagation of universal ideology of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and was a strong and unequivocal supporter of ‘One Granth and One Panth’. “It is an institution which constantly and without any ambiguity propagates the Sikh Rehat Maryada which has been approved by Akal Takht. To propagate the thoughts of the ‘Living Guru Granth Sahib’, Sikh Missionary College had published more than 350 books which were being printed in lakhs every year and distributed among the Sikh masses. Sikh Missionary College (Regd.) Ludhiana was the only organisation which was conducting a two-year correspondence course in Sikhism in Punjabi, Hindi and English languages in which more than 46,000 students were enrolled. The monthly magazine “Sikh Phulwari” published by Sikh Missionary College (Regd.) Ludhiana has a circulation of 70,000 every month and was the largest Sikh religious magazine. It conducts the annual Dharmik Prikhia’ in which more than 1,28,000 children and adults were participating this year. All these activities ‘were proof of devotion of Sikh Missionary College (Regd) Ludhiana to the Ideology of Sri guru Granth Sahib and the principle of “One Granth and One Panth”.
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Campaigning on for varsity poll
Amritsar, October 24 Both the rival groups are leveling allegations with regard to the circular which directs that no officer of the university should directly or indirectly influence the election. Meanwhile, with just two days left for the election, campaigning was at its peak with both sides indulging in a war of words and trying to take the wind out of each other’s poll planks. The groups are led by Mr Rabinder Singh and Mr Randhawa. The returning officer, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, said he had been directed to make suitable arrangements for holding free and peaceful elections.
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College teachers to hold protest on Oct 31
Muktsar, October 24 The union’s district president, Mr Narinder Sharma, alleged that the state government had failed to honour its poll promise and had been maintaining an indifferent attitude towards the long-pending demands of the non-government teachers. He claimed that the demand of pension and gratuity for the non-government college teachers were accepted in 1996 by the then CM, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. He alleged that despite repeated assurances, the incumbent government had not implemented that decision. He urged all the teachers to converge on Matka Chowk, Chandigarh, on October 31, when the state executive would court arrest in support of their demands.
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Corruption has ruined criminal justice system: VC
Patiala, October 24 Mr Boparai made these comments while inaugurating a seminar on ‘Reforms in Criminal Justice’, organised at Senate Hall of Punjabi University by the university’s Department of Law and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), Patiala branch. Dr S.S Khehra, Professor of Law and Director, Planning and Monitoring of Punjabi University, while presenting his theme paper, stressed on the revamping of the investigation wing of the police so that investigation could be conducted on scientific lines. Professor Khehra’s theme paper was followed by a discussion in which 15 participants spoke on different issues raised by him.
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