Jalandhar, August 26
Like most other parts of the country, the common saying that justice delayed is justice denied holds true for Jalandhar as over 73,000 cases have been lying pending in different district courts since long.

The huge backlog of cases was confirmed by district and sessions judge Gurdev Singh while talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a press conference organised in the district courts complex on Tuesday on the proposed special lok adalat here on August 30.

Surprisingly, despite an enormous amount of cases lying pending, as many as eight sanctioned posts of judge are lying vacant in Jalandhar, the district and sessions judge said.

Of them, three posts of additional district and sessions judge and five of sub-judge are lying vacant in the district.

Vacant sanctioned posts of judges in subordinate courts are filled on the recommendation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But prior approval of the state government is necessary for filling the posts.

According to the information, the selection of judges in subordinate courts in Punjab was made by the Punjab Public Services Commission (PPSC) prior to the unearthing of an alleged recruitment scam a few years back.

Meanwhile, Gurdev Singh expressed the hope that Jalandhar might get a special NRI court soon.

He said the High Court had asked the Jalandhar district and sessions judge to furnish a list of total pending cases connected with NRIs which might be considered as an indication that the process for setting up of a special NRI court in Jalandhar was on.

During an NRI sammelan a few months back, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced that special courts would be set up in different districts of Punjab, especially those located in the Doaba region, for the benefit of NRIs.

Earlier, while talking to newsmen, district and sessions judge-cum-chairman of district legal services authority (DSLA) Gurdev Singh and civil judge (senior division)-cum-DSLA secretary Virinder Aggarwal said nearly 10,200 cases would be taken up for disposal in the special lok adalat in Jalandhar.

Of them, nearly 7,100 pending civil and criminal cases and over 3,100 pre-litigative cases of banks, cellular and telephone companies would be taken up for disposal in the lok adalat, they added. Special lok adalats are simultaneously being held at Nakodar, Phillaur, Nawanshahr and Balachaur on Saturday.

Gurdev Singh and Virinder Aggarwal said Punjab Legal Services Authority (PLSA) was holding a series of special lok adalats in the state and this proposed lok adalat on Saturday would be second in the series.

Aggarwal said special efforts would be made to dispose of traffic challan cases as well as security and mutation cases.

Gurdev Singh appealed to the people to come forward to avail the benefits of lok adalats as these adalats were an effort to resolve litigation and disputes through compromise and conciliation. Further no appeal to the decree of the lok adalat could be made and the decree is binding on the parties concerned, he added.

Phagwara, August 26
Accusing the Haryana government of openly supporting the demand for a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in the state, Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal on Monday said such a move could trigger another flashpoint in the country.

The Congress government in Haryana was “poking its nose unnecessarily in Sikh affairs” by siding with those who were raising the demand for a separate SGPC in the state, he told reporters here.

Terming this as an “uncalled for interference”, Atwal said such a move could trigger another flashpoint in the country.

In this context, he reminded the Bhupinder Hooda government of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir which was simmering over the Amarnath land transfer issue.

On the shrine land row, Atwal said concerned parties should sit together and solve the issue amicably.

Asked from which Lok Sabha seat he would contest the next general election after redrawing of constituencies, he said it was for the party to decide.

“I would have quit without batting an eyelid if my party had asked me to do so when the UPA government at the Centre sought a trust vote over the nuclear issue on July 22,” Atwal said.

To a question, he said in India, the presiding officer of a house remained a party man even after his elevation to the august office, Atwal said.

“One could be apolitical only if the office of the presiding officer was permanent like that in Britain,” he said. On Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s stand during the trust vote, he declined to comment. — PTI

Phagwara, August 26
The police nabbed two more members, identified as Karamjeet Singh, alias Kanbha, and Bhinda Ahir, of an inter-district looters’ gang and recovered 13 motorcycles from them.

Giving further details, Phagwara DSP H.S. Khakh said the nine-member gang had been active in the Doaba region for the past some time and had lifted many vehicles in different areas of Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur.

He added that four of them had been caught earlier, while three were still absconding.

With wealth having become the main objective, the man has resorted to destruction of natural resources present in our biosphere. It is a pity that no one is caring for the critical situation.

Signals are being received from the melting glaciers and rising of level of oceans. The ice from the highest mountains will disappear in the next 15 years. The statistical data reveal that heat wave claimed 2,500 lives in India in May, 1998. America became the hottest place this year when the temperature crossed 100°F for 29 days. The Ganga and Brahmaputra deltas are the areas of thick populated biodiversity and due to extreme unbearable heat, it has become dangerous for Bangladesh to save its land from heating effects of earth and if water level in the ocean increases even beyond one metre, about 18 per cent of its land will go under water. The man is cutting trees and forests. It is true that the earth is hotter than the past eight years. The temperature has risen from 0.3°C to 0.6°C over the last century. Continuous combustion of fossil fuels have been releasing toxic gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Now, the control of climatic change is no more static.

No doubt, we know that at the start of 18th century, after industrialisation, factories, power houses and motor vehicles are filling the atmosphere with hot and toxic gases, but solid proof of the agents making atmosphere too much hot is not available till yet. Afterwards, inter-governmental organisation on climatic change explored the solid evidence for continuous heating of earth’s atmosphere in the 21st century. The year 1998 was the hottest followed by 1997 and 2001.

It is feared that the polar ice will melt, low-land regions will sink in water and crop production graph will fall. After 50 years, if the ocean water level rises up to 3 feet, areas like the Maldives, Bangladesh, Florida and many densely populated regions will cease to exist. The health facilities will be affected and water will become salty. International organisation foresees 1°C to 3.5°C rise in the temperature up to 2100. A US survey agency has revealed that there will be decline in the quantity of wheat, rice and other food products (1.2-7.6 per cent) by 2060.

The earth’s temperature is continuously increasing with the entry of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and aerosols. Combustion by fossil or by any other fuel, carbon dioxide will certainly be released as the major byproduct. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation has decreased the number of trees which absorb carbon dioxide and other toxic gases. Chemical fertilisers are being used at a large scale. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) being released from refrigerators, air-conditioners, room fresheners and aerosols in the body spray are playing a major role in this kind of destruction. Researchers of California University have warned that climatic change may convert water resources of America into desert and it may cause danger to the dwellers of south-west regions because there is about 50 per cent extinction of Meed Lake which will be only a dream by 2021. This lake supplies water to Los Angles, Los Vegas, Sen Diago and other south-western places. To prevent global warming and its effects, America has made an effort for the countries to be members of the NRDC (Natural Resources Defence Council.

It is true that for maintaining existence and mode of living, the man himself has to do something to cool down the intense heat of earth. The governments of many countries have implemented their actions like “Kyoto” in Japan to control the percentage of green house gases by 2012. Such an effort was made by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal in Sultanpur Lodhi (Punjab) who cleaned the whole Kali Bein. But such actions are possible only if every person initiates his effort to check the harmful and unnecessary activities. Limited use of fossil fuels, growing of more and more trees, saving of water resources, direct use of solar energy, use of organic farming and so many such small initiatives may be helpful in preserving our environment.

Jalandhar: Local trader Gaurav Chatrath has become the first customer of iPhone in the city. Bharti Airtel has launched the much-anticipated iPhone 3G in India. The phone has an array of revolutionary features, including the 3G networking, built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, besides software that includes support for microsoft exchange active sync and runs hundreds of third party applications available through the new App Store. It’s a delightful experience to launch the iconic phone for all the customers in Punjab, Sanjay Bahl, COO, Bharti Airtel, said.