Chandigarh, April 7
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today reiterated the demand for making Chandigarh the sole capital of Punjab. After sharing the dais with Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain at a function organised at the high court premises, Badal said Punjab was the only state in the country not having its own sole capital after reorganisation.

Talking to the media after the function organised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Badal elaborated as a matter of principle, the parent state retained the original capital after reorganisation, while another capital was set up for the new-born state. He added that a separate high court for Haryana was not an issue at the current stage. Earlier during the function, Badal presented a cheque of Rs 1 crore to the Association as Punjab’s share towards the corpus of Rs 5 crore setup for the welfare of lawyers.

Addressing the gathering, he called upon the lawyers to play a pro-active role in the delivery of justice as they were an integral pillar of the entire judicial system. Badal said lawyers were the “officers of the court” and had a great responsibility towards the success of the judicial system. He also exhorted the legal fraternity to discharge their duties with professional commitment, dedication and sincerity in the larger public interest.

He lauded the high court’s pioneering role in setting up the first mobile court in Punjab at Talwara, besides unique initiative for upgrading the infrastructure in the judicial complexes across the state. He also commended the Chief Justice for creating awareness against social malady of female foeticide and drug addiction.

He assured the Chief Justice that the state government would provide all financial assistance and cooperation for the construction of judicial complexes and lawyers’ chambers in the state.

In his address Punjab Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal said the interface between judiciary and state government would prove to be an ideal platform and would go a long way to strengthen the bonds of judiciary, legislature and executive. 

Amritsar/Patiala, April 7
Guru Nanak Dev (GND) University has postponed its annual theory examinations scheduled for April 8 due to certain administrative reasons.

Stating this here today, R.S. Bawa, registrar, said the postponed examinations would now be held on April 14 (Monday). However, the examination centres and time of the examinations would remain the same.

All examinations of Punjabi University, Patiala, which were scheduled to be held on April 8, have been postponed. Fresh dates for these examinations have been fixed after the exams are over, which will be available with the centre superintendents. The place and time schedule of the examinations will remain the same.

Even as Guru Nanak Dev University and Panjab University have rescheduled the exams slated to be held on April 8, about 7,000 teachers of all government and non-government-aided colleges affiliated to GND, Panjab and Punjabi Universities will boycott the exams on April 8, in protest against the indifferent and callous attitude of the government towards their long-pending demands.

Prof H.S. Walia, central executive member, PCCTU, said there were two rounds of discussions and deliberations between representatives of the state government and the PCCTU regarding their demands. He said Dr Upinderjit Kaur, education minister, had assured them to fulfill their demands. However, even after six months, nothing concrete had been done so far.

Their demands include 95 per cent full and regular grants, lifting ban on recruitments, revival of 716 posts of lecturer, arrears relating to 50 per cent DA merger and other allowances and career advancement scheme for physical education lecturers and librarians etc.

Chandigarh, April 7
To end the ongoing Amarinder-Bhattal spat and ensure collective leadership, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has constituted an 11-member coordination committee in the Punjab Congress.

The committee, to be officially announced, will be headed by general secretary in charge of the state, Margaret Alva, seems to be loaded against Amarinder with three Patiala-based leaders, now aligned with Bhattal being part of it. The party has also concentrated on the Malwa region and also urban areas where it lost to the BJP in the last Assembly elections.

The earlier coordination committee, constituted during the tenure of Shamsher Singh Dullo as PPCC chief, has been revamped. Besides former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and PPCC head Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, other members of the committee are Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Jagmeet Brar, Manish Tewari, Lal Singh, Brahm Mohindra, Surinder Singla, Varinder Kataria and Ashwini Sekhri.

According to Congress sources, the new entrants on the committee include Surinder Singla, Varinder Kataria, Lal Singh and Ashwini Sekhri.

The first meeting of the committee will be held at Punjab Bhawan in Delhi on April 9. The committee is likely to discuss steps on taking everyone along while taking on the Akali-BJP government in Punjab as well as making strategies for the party’s poll campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

Even though the committee is yet to meet, the apparent tough line being taken on the issue of groupism in the PPCC is already being felt.

PPCC president Bhattal refused to be drawn into criticising former CM Amarinder Singh while addressing a press conference today. In fact, she stressed that Amarinder was like her elder brother and whatever had happened in the past was due to misunderstandings. “We have nothing against each other,” she added by way of explanation.

The committee is also likely to ensure the participation of Amarinder in PPCC programmes. Earlier, Amarinder had requested the high command to allow him to work for the party independent of Bhattal to “effectively” counter the Akali-BJP government. The AICC was apparently uncomfortable with this request and decided that the party hould stay away from groupism and put up united front in the parliamentary elections. 

Ludhiana, April 7
The misery of abandoned wives has trickled down to their next generation. Earlier, there were 30,000 women in Punjab suffering from the treachery of their NRI husbands. Now, it is the turn of children born out of their wedlock to suffer for no fault of theirs.

Nearly 6,000 children of these abandoned women are living the same agony their mothers went through all these years. They lived through hell and grew up ruing the treatment meted out to their mothers.

A number of such children, accompanied their mothers, to the office of Lok Bhalai Party leader, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia on Saturday, where nearly 100 abandoned brides were narrating their tales of dejection. All women were crying inconsolably, regretting the life they were forced to give to their children.

They were brought up, making rounds of police stations and courts, with the law of land failing to help them. Despite having legally and socially approved fathers, their children were fatherless. And whenever they managed to talk to their respective fathers over phone, they got threats to their life if they demanded love, care and security.

''I never got a penny from my father. Neither his love. All I get to hear from him is that he will get me and my mother killed,'' said 14-year-old Harpreet Kaur of Jalandhar. She had seen her mother losing her youth waiting for her husband. Harpreet’s father moved to California when she was two-month-old, leaving them at the mercy of their relatives.

They said the slow system of justice had added insult to injury, as they had spent years in their fight, and had now grown-up kids, who stared into their faces.

Harpreet grew up seeing her mother crying in the middle of the night. ''Whenever I asked for papa, I was told he was in America. But I could never see his face. My friends' fathers would play with them, help them in studies. I had to depend on my maternal grandmother, who is bearing the burden of my education,'' said Harpreet.

Similar was the fate of Amandeep Kaur (15) of Garhshankar, whose mother, Surinder Kaur, was deserted by Holland-based Balwinder Singh only to live in a house meant for cattle. The mother-daughter duo spent all these years waiting for his call from Holland. But the call never came.

They only got news that he had got married to an Indian woman settled in Holland just to become a citizen. ''Now, I have learnt that my father has sent sponsorship to my uncle's daughter. He does not want his own children. Where should we go? '' asks Aman as she looks towards her malnutritioned mother.

The fate of Balwinder Kaur of Khadoor Sahib in Tarn Taran is no different from Surinder. She was deserted when she gave birth to three sons and now works as a domestic help to eke out a living. Her husband Baljeet Singh went to Lebanon, promising that he would take her, but had married another woman there.

Similar story was narrated by Renu of Jalandhar whose Singapore-based husband left her pregnant. Now she has a two-month-old son, who would grow up like other NRI-abandoned brides’ kids trying to belong somewhere.

Ramoowalia said there were 6,000 children in the state who were abandoned with their mothers by NRIs. ''These women and kids have nowhere to go. Who would come up for their welfare?''

Amritsar, April 7
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) today arrested Meerut-based Tehsim, alias Akbar, and from his possession seized Rs 22.84 lakh (Rs 500 denomination) counterfeit Indian currency made in Pakistan, here today.

The currency was made by Pakistan’s bank, having patronage of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The currency seems to have been brought by train or bus from across the border.

Dheeraj Rastogi, joint director, DRI, said the accused was arrested on the Amritsar-Jalandhar road on the basis of a tip-off. The accused along with two accomplices were intercepted by the DRI team when they were going from Amritsar to Jalandhar in Bolero jeep. The currency wrapped in a Pakistani newspaper was concealed in a special cavity of the jeep. While the main accused has been arrested, his two accomplices fled. This is the third seizure of fake currency in one and half years by the DRI.

The accused was produced in the court of Balwinder Kumar, judicial magistrate who remanded him in police custody for 14 days . To a question, Rastogi said more arrests are likely to be made in coming days .

Preliminary investigation by the DRI revealed it was the sixth time the main accused was taking “fake currency”, made in Pakistan to Delhi and other states. It is believed the accused has collected the fake currency from his local contact, here .

Earlier on March 23, the DRI arrested a senior leader of the Youth Akali Dal Parshotam Lal Sondhi while he was ferrying 23 kg heroin in his car (Indica) to Rajasansi airport. It was the biggest-ever seizure of heroin to be smuggled through an airport. 

Sangrur, April 7
Members of the Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union, led by state general secretary Tarsem Jodhan, today marched through main bazaars of the town against the state government’s failure to revise minimum wages of the unskilled workers even after seven years though prices of essential commodities have increased many times since then.

Brick-kiln workers gathered at the Banasar Garden here and then moved to the office of the labour officer. They held a dharna and rally for an hour there and raised slogans against the state government. After the dharna and rally many protesters took off shirts, kurtas and banians and moved in a procession towards the district administrative complex (DC’s office) here, where they ended the march.

Jodhan said the Punjab government had revised minimum wages of the workers more than seven years ago. Since then unskilled workers in Punjab had been getting only Rs 2,500 per month, while unskilled workers in Haryana and Delhi get Rs 3,600 and Rs 3,800, respectively.

Jodhan also said the Department of Labour had told them that they had sent a file to revise the minimum wages of workers to the government, but the government had not taken any decision on it. He also accused the Labour Department of not even getting the existing minimum wages implemented in the state.

Jodhan said they were sending a memorandum to the Chief Minister regarding this. If the wages were not revised soon, the Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union and the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha would start gheraoing MLAs of parties in respective Assembly constituencies from April 15.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum of demands, to ADC Indu Malhotra here to forward the same to the Chief Minister.

They were addressed by Jodhan, state vice-president Gurpreet Singh Rureke, district president Pargat Singh Beer, district secretary Sher Singh Dhandholi Kalan, and a leader of the union from Barnala Kaur Singh Sehjarra.

Chandigarh, April 7
The All-India Motor Transport Congress is up in arms against the Union government and ready to confront the government on issues of truckers and public carriers. The congress, that represents lakhs of truckers across the country, has convened a meeting in Kolkata on April 25 and 26 to announce action.

Charan Singh Lohara, president of the congress, said a nationwide call to observe strike against the indifferent attitude of the union and state governments towards private transporters, especially truckers, had been planned. At present 70 per cent goods are being transported by trucks and remaining by goods trains .

He said issues bothering the truckers were the charging of toll and increase in the price of diesel. Truckers were made to pay heavy toll on daily basis. That was being done against the agreement the Union government had reached with the congress in 1997. He said as part of the agreement, the government had declared that there would be only one toll barrier in the 80-km stretch of a road. However, in recent years toll barriers had come up almost at a distance of 20 km to 30 km. He said besides charging of toll on roads built under the command of the National Highways Authority of India, state governments were also charging toll on state highways and bridges etc.

“It was a loot of truckers and other transporters,” he said. “We are paying special road tax, cess on diesel and other charges. So on what basis toll is being charged from us ?” he asked. He said it was also decided that the toll would not be more than Rs 1.40 per km. However, that clause had also been violated, he added.

The other issue is of diesel price. It has gone up three times in a few years. As the price of diesel increased in the international market, the Union government also increased it. That was justified. But there was no reason that the Union government should collect excise duty and other levies on the enhanced price of diesel. He said the excise duty and other levies at the Union and state government levels should be imposed on the quantum of the diesel and petrol and not on its value.

Another issue was of highway robberies. Almost daily, trucks were looted on highways. No one registered a case. In fact, truck drivers were made target by the police. “We will urge the Union government to ensure safety on highways to truckers,” he said.

Another issue related to the National Road Safety Council that had been spending crores every year on so-called road safety shows, but so far had not opened a single school to train drivers. He said 95 per cent truck drivers could not even recognise traffic signals. “Almost all truck drivers are self-trained and they are unaware of mechanical aspects of driving,” he said. 

Amritsar, April 7
The government will prepare a tourism master plan with the help of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) consultants for the development of tourism on modern lines in the state.

Public relations minister Bikram Singh Majithia stated this at the inauguration of a hotel here today.

The concept of tourism had undergone radical changes in the present scenario, thus requiring special focus and expertise for the overall development on modern lines, he said. Punjab had wonderful heritage, numerous pilgrim centres, historical, archaeological assets, besides unique fairs and festivals, rural sports, arts and crafts, folklore and ethnic cuisine, he sais.

Therefore, a lot needed to be done for this development, he added.

Majithia said development of tourism would have multiplier effect in the economic sector also. He said with history spanning over 430 years, Amritsar had emerged as the premier city of the state and the presence of the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Durgiana Temple had given a unique place to this in history.

It attracted religious tourism visitors and if facilities were developed, even leisure and medical tourism could be promoted, he opined.

The connectivity of the district by road, rail and air not only with other parts of India, but also with other countries, is also an added asset for tourism promotion, claimed Majithia.

Amritsar, April 7
About 200 passengers were stranded here today as the England-bound Air Slovakia flight took off without taking them from Rajasansi International Airport this afternoon.

The passengers who had booked tickets with the airline had to face lot of inconvenience as the flight took off at 5.30 am. The passengers had to remain without food as most of them had arrived at the airport late last night from far-off places like Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Ludhiana.

However, Air Slovakia’s station manager Amarjit Singh said the passengers had to face the problem in view of the cancellation of Friday’s flight. He said they had informed the passengers in this regard in advance and added that all of them would be sent in the next flight scheduled for tomorrow.

Gurdaspur, April 7
Punjab water supply and sanitation minister Bikram Singh Majitha dedicated a 66-kv power sub-station to over a dozen villages falling in the Srihargobindpur area today.

Built at the cost of Rs 4.50 crore in Rajoya village, the sub-station would supply electricity to 13 villages.

The minister said the government had a target for setting up 110 sub-stations. Out of these, construction work was on at 55 sites.

He also said power shortage in the state would be met with the setting up of more power projects in the years to come. The minister also laid the foundation stone of a school building in the village.

He criticised the Punjab Congress for being mum over the sky-rocketing prices of the commodities, which have disturbed the “kitchen budget”.

Nabha, April 7
From the essential qualifications prescribed by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) in a recent advertisement for 265 posts of college lecturer, it seems the commission is not aware of the latest guidelines of University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, for the appointment of college lecturer.

The commission’s advetisement says: "As per the guidelines from the UGC, the candidates who have passed M Phil degree up to December 31,1993, and have submitted PhD thesis to the university in the related subject on or before December 31,2002, are exempted from appearing in the NET examination. In case such candidates fail to obtain PhD degree, they shall have to pass the NET examination." The PPSC has set the December 31,1993, deadline for MPhil candidates, but the UGC has also exempted MPhil candidates from having passed the NET examination for eligibility for the post of lecturer.

The information on UGC website (ugc.ac.in) as well as supplied along with the forms of NET says: "The candidates having PhD degree in the subject concerned are exempted from NET for undergraduate and postgraduate level teaching. The candidates having MPhil degree in the subject concerned are exempted from NET for undergraduate-level teaching only. The candidates, who have passed the UGC/CSIR JRF examination, prior to 1989, are also exempted from appearing for NET." In this way the PPSC claimed that the guidelines are as per the UGC norms, but that is not so and in this way MPhil candidates are debarred from applying for the posts unless the PPSC rectifies its mistake.

The posts, that are to be filled after 1993, also show the concern of the PPSC towards science subjects. It has advertised only one post of zoology, three of chemistry, three of bio-chemistry and three of mathematics in all government colleges of Punjab.

The big chunk of posts goes to Punjabi (65), computer science (45), history (44), commerce (35) and political science (23). 

Bathinda, April 7
Indian students eager to get higher education in Australia need not worry about repaying educational loan for pursuing studies abroad. The Australian government has relaxed for Indian students the condition relating to going back after completing studies and made a provision for 18-month temporary stay to work and repay the loan, G. Bajwa, Indian Operations (Head) of the Australian Unified Pathway Programme (AUPP), informed here yesterday.

Bajwa, who was here along with Australian delegates to interact with students of class X and plus II on the last day of “six-day career counselling” seminar at the Baba Farid Institute of Higher and Foreign Studies, was responding to queries regarding conditions imposed by the Australian government on Indian students to return to their country immediately after the completion of the course.

He said even during the course, the students were be given “work permit” and the additional 18-month stay in Australia would further help them to supplement income and repay the loan. The students were also made fluent in English and made aware of the conditions abroad so that they could easily acclimatise in the foreign land and the programme was yielding 100 per cent results, he claimed.

The foreign students studying in Australia contribute 2 to 3 per cent to the GDP and 23 reputed institutes in India have linkage with AUPP. He said a large number of universities were affiliates of the AUPP and Indian students were pursuing over 12 courses after completing plus II.

The duration of the courses, which include B.Sc, BIT, BCA, BBA, BHM, BACC, and BIS, is three years and after completing one year in India, students are sent to Australia for the remaining two years of study.

The average cost of the courses varied between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh.An amount of Rs 1.5 lakh is paid in India, while the balance amount is payable in Australia.

As placements after degrees are more rewarding, a large number of Indian students are lured to go to Australia for higher studies. Of the total students, pursuing higher education in Australia, the ratio of boys and girls is 60:40.

Chandigarh, April 7
While agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today claimed that the Union government had not imposed any restriction on the entry of big corporate houses to procure wheat from Punjab and Haryana, BKU leader Bhupinder Singh Mann said Pawar was not speaking the truth on the issue.

Pawar said any corporate house could purchase wheat from Punjab and Haryana markets and there was no ban in this regard. However, wheat should be procured through legal channels and not in a clandestine manner.

However, countering Pawar, Mann said farmers would burn the effigy of the Union government at Kurukshetra in Haryana to protest against the unwritten ban on the entry of private companies in grain markets. Mann said the Union government had verbally warned such companies against procuring wheat in Punjab and Haryana.

Meanwhile, Pawar said besides crop loans, that were overdue for payment on December 31, 2007, other overdue loans taken for farm related activities such as buying tractors and implements, for dairy farming, fishery, horticulture would be also be covered under the loan waiver scheme announced by the Union government. He said such overdue loans would be waived by June 30.

On loan taken from commission agents, he said first the government would work on waiving bank loans. Later it could also think about loans taken from commission agents and other sources, he said. On regulating loans being advanced by commission agents, he said state governments were competent to regulate such loans.

The Maharashtra government had enacted a law to regulate loans being advanced by private institutions, including commission agents, he said. Punjab and Haryana could follow Maharashtra in this regard.

Chandigarh, April 7
The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) today announced to have short-listed four companies for establishing solar photovoltaic (SPV) projects of combined capacity of 17 megawatt.

This has been done following international competitive bidding and four companies have been shortlisted and combined for the projects to be set up on build-own- operate (BOO) basis at various locations in the state.

Punjab science, technology and information minister Bikram Singh Majithia said today that Punjab was the first state in the country to allocate the MW-scale projects. He informed that earlier 20 bids were received from international and national companies for setting up of combined capacity of MW-scale solar photovoltaic power projects. Earlier, only KW-scale SPV power projects were the norm and PEDA itself had started with setting up of 50-KW and 200-KW SPV power projects.

Majithia said the state had major potential in generating power from solar energy as 330 days of clear sunshine were available. The state was the first in the country to provide tariff for solar power which starts from Rs 7 per kilowatt and peaking up to Rs 8.93 per KWh with annual escalation of 5 per cent.

With a view to encouraging the setting up of SPV power projects on BOO basis, Majithia said PEDA had invited bids through tariff -based competitive bidding route in the 1st phase for creating total capacity of 100 MW through solar photovoltaics.Various international and national companies, including Reliance Industries, EPURON Renewable Energy Pvt, Germany, Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd, Power Quality and Electrical Systems Inc, USA had submitted bids. He said the four companies to which allocation letters were issued were Moser Baer, PQES Inc, India Bulls Electricity and Azure Power.

These projects shall be completed and commissioned in 630 days before December 2009 and power generated fed into the PSEB grid. Majithia said the tariff order with peaking rate for sale of power from these projects would be Rs 8.93 per KWh from year 2011-12 onwards. The power purchase agreements shall be signed for 30 years.

The minister said also PEDA would shortly invite expression of interest and offers for setting up of a large- scale solar thermal power projects in Punjab very soon.