Chandigarh, April 2
Former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and member of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) Bir Devinder Singh has resigned from the party over ticket allotment to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. He has become the second senior Congress leader to quit the party after GS Ghalib, former MP.

In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bir Devinder Singh has not only blamed her for “committing a gravest error of fielding Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, ill-caring the sentiments of the Sikh community” but also accused her of not adhering to “the basic postulates of secularism as all; you rather work on micro-ethnic calculative consideration to exploit the sentiments of the minorities that suits your personal gains and political advantage.”

Bir Devinder Singh, who turned 60 on March 1 this year, joined the Congress in 1978 and was first elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from Sirhind in 1980. He was again elected to the Vidhan Sabha in 2002 from Kharar.

He had been declared one of the best parliamentarians during golden jubilee celebrations of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

He was denied ticket in the last assembly elections to defend his Kharar seat. This time he was an aspirant for Congress ticket from Sri Anandpur Sahib.

In the letter, he has alleged that in the Delhi anti-Sikh riots case, the investigations by the CBI had been monitored and doctored by Jagdish Tytler with her (Sonia) full knowledge.

“As such the CBI has done great harm to the cause of Sikhs. Congress again has rubbed salt on the wounds of the Sikh community. As such it is not possible for a person like me, who subscribe first to the ideals of my faith i.e. Sikhism than anything else, to accept it. I am deeply hurt on this development, especially the role of the Congress party and 10-Jan path, my conscious does not permit me to stay in Congress any more,” he has said in the letter.

Jalandhar, April 2
Contrary to his assurance , PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee said allocation of Congress ticket to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar was a serious matter and could not be discussed in the open.

Kaypee stated this on the sidelines of a function at Skylark hotel where son of former SAD minister, late Bapu Sarup Singh, Pritpal Singh Pali, along with his supporters, joined the Congress. Former Minister Avtar Henry, former chairman of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust Tejinder Bittu and PPCC secretary Virendra Sharma were also present.

On Congress leader Bir Devinder Singh’s statement that he was not allowed to raise the issue of Tytler, Sajjan Kumar at PPCC meeting at Chandigarh, Kaypee said they avoided to discuss the matter at the PPCC level. The high command would be informed about the sentiments of the Punjabis over the issue, he added.

Kaypee had stated in Jalandhar on March 26 that the matter would be discussed in the next PPCC meeting.

Kaypee said the issue of keeping environment pollution free would be included in the Congress’ manifesto. He could not give satisfactory reply on his stand on the shifting polluting units from residential areas of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Batala and Mandi Gobindgarh.

Jalandhar, April 2
President of the SAD and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has said 1984 Sikh massacre in Delhi would be reinvestigated in case the NDA is voted back to power.

“The scars on the Sikh psyche following the massacre of thousands of community members by Congress’ ‘goons’ have once again been opened following the decision of the CBI exonerating prime accused Jagdish Tytler of any complicity,” he said.

It is not an issue that haunts Punjab. It is a matter of national shame that the accused that orchestrated the pogrom have been let off the hook by the premier investigating agency of the country. It is a chilling reminder to the minorities that they are not safe in the country, he pointed out.

The news of Tytler getting a clean chit had been widely reported in the media. What one fails to understand is that how the report got leaked when the CBI had submitted it to the court in a sealed cover. The leakage of the report was aimed at minimising the danger ahead of the elections, especially in Punjab, he added.

Sukhbir said the role of the Congress high command, too, had come under the scanner for giving ticket to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. Sikhs see it not as a coincidence but an attempt to reward the duo for services rendered to the party in the past, he alleged.

Ironically, a Sikh was the President when Operation Blue Star took place and again a Sikh is the Prime Minister when such a thing has happened. Both of them had the power to influence any act that would hurt the community but they chose to be mere puppets, he pointed out.

Commenting on Varun Gandhi’s inflammatory speeches, he said no politician had the right to incite communal passions.

Samana (Patiala) April 2
The Punjab Congress’ ongoing poll campaign got a fillip when former SAD MLA Jagtar Singh Rajla joined the party. Meanwhile, the leadership of the party made efforts to put up a joint face at a rally here on Tuesday.

Not only senior Congress leaders such as Capt Amarinder Singh, former minister Brahm Mohindra and Lal Singh, who were said to have been flaunting certain degree of differences over certain party matters, shared a stage, but Amarinder also sought to convey that the Punjab Congress was united and that he had no differences with Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

Meanwhile, the former Chief Minister has also sought a judicial probe into the circumstances leading to the death of senior Akali leader Capt Kanwaljit Singh in a road accident near Kharar on Sunday.

Amarinder has demanded that the probe should be conducted by a sitting Punjab and Haryana High Court judge.

The former Chief Minister suspected as to how two trucks belonging to the same company could be involved in the accident. 

Chandigarh, April 2
Simple economics of the benefit from wheat straw and the increasing popularity of reapers, which are able to collect straw even after combine harvesting has been done, could partially reduce the burning of wheat stubbles this year, but to put an end to the practice, a law banning it would be needed.

“Farmers are ready to spend money to collect wheat straw as it has become profitable to do so besides fulfilling their need of fodder for milch cattle,” says a member of the Punjab State Farmers Commission, Dr PS Rangi. Punjab has one crore animals and produces an agricultural waste of 15 millions tonnes per annum.

Former Amritsar Deputy Commissioner and at present Secretary with the Farmers Commission Kahan Singh Pannu says wheat husk is selling between Rs 300 and Rs 400 per quintal. “Farmers are ready to go in for husk collection but a lot depends on weather conditions,” he adds.

The increase in the number of reapers, which collect wheat straw after the grain has been harvested by combines, may lead to less burning of wheat stubble. The commission has sanctioned reapers for 300 agricultural service centres in the state. Farmers can take them on lease.

The Agriculture Department has also subsidised around 2,000 reapers in the state. “We have given a subsidy of Rs 20,000 on each machine which costs around Rs 1 lakh,” Agriculture Director BS Sidhu said.

However, the problem of straw burning is likely to persist in some areas, largely because it is the easiest option for farmers, says Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari. “At the end of the day we might have to promulgate a law to address the problem,” says Pannu, adding that only a complete ban on early transplantation of paddy worked despite appeals in this regard since years.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) says though it has been holding awareness drives, it does not have power for direct action. “The power to take action rests with Deputy Commissioners”, says board Secretary Babu Ram.

He said the board had monitored the ambient air quality during the wheat harvesting in and around Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar last year. “At most of the areas, the suspended particulate matter (SPM) was recorded as 700 micrograms per meter cube,” he said, adding that the normal SPM level was around 200 micrograms per meter cube.

Meanwhile experts feel that the paddy-harvesting season could be worse as practical options for using paddy straw were still limited though the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has come up with proposals for mini power plants to be run by using paddy straw as fuel. The Farmers Commission as well as the Agricultural Department are promoting rotavators, which buries the paddy straw in the fields and also ‘happy seeders’ that uses the zero tilling method to sow wheat in the fields filled with paddy straw.

Amritsar, April 2
Dr Raj Kumar Verka, former MLA / Parliamentary Secretary, Sunil Dutti former mayor and a number of councillors, ex- councillors and Congress sarpanches today extended conditional support to Om Parkash Soni ,Lok Sabha candidate from Amritsar.

Earlier, Dr Verka had rebelled against the party when Congress high command had announced candidature of Soni. Both had been at the logger-heads since they belonged to different factions within the Congress party.

It is learnt the party high command has brought about rapprochement between the two factions, Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal former Chief Minister.

This development has paved the way for united fight of the party against Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP candidates.

Sinking of differences may give sleepless nights to the SAD-BJP candidate, Navjot Singh Sidhu banking on division in the Congress party. The delay in the announcement of Congress candidates had led to division among senior leaders of the party.

Navdip Singh Goldy, who had contested Assembly byelection from Amritsar and lost, Ashwani Pappu, AICC member, Ashwani Kukku, Yoginder Pal Dhingra , Gurinder Singh Sahbi, Narinder Singh Tung, Rakesh Sharma and Balbir Babbi attended the meeting.

Dr Verka told Soni they would extend cooperation and ensure his victory if he assured sincerity to their faction. Dr Verka said they were loyal Congress leaders and could never think of taking any step to benefit rival party.

Tarn Taran, April 2
Claims of quality education, infrastructure and introduction of English from first standard in government schools have failed to attract middle class wards to these schools.

As a result government schools have students from Dalit, poor and lower middle-class families only, as quality of education in these schools continues to deter students from other sections to join which face serious crisis.

Government elementary schools of this district have only very few students from upper class of society, whereas majority of students are from poor sections, including Scheduled Castes (SC) and backward classes (BC), due to lack of resources.

According to records, 91,166 students were admitted in 2008-2009 in all schools, including private, government and Zila Parishad schools in the district of which 44,593 children belonged to the SC category. Of these SC category students, 40,253 students were admitted in government and Zila Parishad schools which is 93 per cent of total. The remaining students joined private public schools, which is only 7 per cent of the total SC category students.

In 2006-2007 session, 90,442 students were admitted in elementary schools of which 46,214 belong to the SC category. Of this 90 pc (about 41,825 students) were admitted to government schools.

Sucha Singh Ajnala, a teacher leader, said lack of staff and infrastructure were keeping good students from government educational institutions. Teachers of government schools were given non-teaching works, so teaching work was hit in government schools. Lack of monitoring was blamed for poor education in government schools.

Tejinder Singh, media coordinator, of the Education Department said it had become trend that people admitted their wards in public schools though. He claimed the department had introduced English from the first standard. He added under the Sarav Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), government schools had been provided with modern infrastructure and the buildings given modern look.

Sangrur, April 2
To detect tuberculosis (TB) at early stage, the Central TB Division, New Delhi, issued new directions yesterday according to which cough of two weeks’ duration, earlier it was of three weeks, be considered suspected TB case. Now two samples of sputum will be tested to detect of TB bacilli (germs) in suspected TB cases. Earlier, three samples of sputum used to be examined for it .

Sangrur Civil Surgeon Dalip Kumar said changes in medical field were of vital importance to control spread of serious communicable diseases, including TB. He asked Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) staff , to take advantage of the new directions.

A programme on new initiatives was organised by the District TB Control Society at the civil hospital here on Tuesday. World Health Organisation’s RNTCP consultant for Punjab Rajdeep Srivastava and District TB Officer Surinder Singla were the speakers. Dr Srivastava spoke about basis and justification of new revised guidelines under the RNTCP. He said new directions had been endorsed by the laboratory committee of the national task force of the RNTCP. 

Ludhiana, April 2
Considering a steep rise in the number of cancer patients in the region, the local Christian Medical College and Hospital has opened its doors for the stage IV cancer cases who have been ‘refused’ treatment at other leading medical institutes in Delhi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana.

Committed to providing an alert and pain-free life to these patients, the oncology department at the hospital has even extended ‘hospice services’ to these patients.

As many as 250 cancer patients from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Punjab are undergoing treatment for lung, colon, lymphoma, breast, cervical and colorectal cancers at the hospital. With 100 per cent occupancy in the cancer ward, the patients have been accommodated in other wards.

The number of cancer patients has increased manifold over the past 12 months as is evident from the hospital record wherein the number of cases registered in April, 2008, was 20, and it has gone up to 250 now.

Many patients are in initial stages of cancer, which is curable through medicine and surgery while others, at the last stage of cancer, are being nursed under ‘Hospice care’ that focuses on quality rather than the length of life.

Talking to The Tribune, Satwinder (name changed), aged 49, suffering from stage IV breast cancer, said: “Having been sent back home by a leading cancer institute of Northern India, I had lost all hope to live. But, doctors and nurses of the CMCH have given me a reason to live. I feel loved, cared for and most importantly I have rediscovered my will to live,” said Satwinder.

The department has also started a “Chemo day care centre” wherein patients coming for chemotherapy are administered treatment under utmost care.

The lively paintings and positive thoughts inscribed on the walls of the special counselling cell give an upsurge to the lost spirit.

Dr Rohit Joshi said: “More than 30 per cent cancer patients coming to the hospital OPD are from Malwa (cotton belt), which has become a matter of concern for the medical fraternity”.

Jalandhar, April 2
Punjab cadre IAS officer Dr Swaran Singh, who had resigned from service a few days ago to contest Lok Sabha elections has requested Punjab government he wanted to rejoin service. He was to retire on March 31 next but he put in papers two weeks ago to lobby for Congress ticket, it is learnt. His resignation was accepted after it was submitted to the government.

Dr Swaran Singh has made submission to the state government he wanted to take back resignation and rejoin service. Confirming today the request in this connection of Dr Swaran Singh, Punjab Chief Secretary, Ramesh Inder Singh, said it was being processed for appropriate action.

Normally, such request is conceded by the government if made in three months from the day the resignation is submitted. However, the state government has discretion even to reject it.

The Congress did not consider Dr Swaran Singh for nomination as candidate for Lok Sabha election After along with Congress MLA Raj Kumar Verka from Amritsar, he had held press conference here alleging certain Dalits had not been given due representation by the Congress high command while selecting nominees for Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

Chandigarh, April 2
Punjab has four deputy commissioners, all of the IAS, but without batch! The four DCs, promoted from the PCS, are posted in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fatehgarh Sahib.

Following a legal battle between senior PCS officers and those promoted from the PCS to the IAS, the Supreme Court decided in favour of senior PCS officers telling the state to draw up fresh seniority list. The senior PCS officers, who had fought for their right for over two years were now placed higher in final seniority that was drawn up and these four officers were among the six who were rendered junior.

However following an order of the high court these officers were allowed to continue as IAS officers but only after those senior to them getting their due and only if some IAS posts (direct or promotion based) were still vacant.

“These four officers are junior and would not make to the IAS on the basis of present seniority. Their continuance in the IAS is due to the concessions granted by the court. But these officers are not part of the regular IAS cadre and post of the DC being an IAS cadre post, their continuation as DCs is irregular,” said one of the affected senior PCS officers.

In October 2008 while disposing of a contempt petition filed by the senior PCS officers the Supreme Court directed the state government to complete the process of promoting them in 16 weeks. “The deadline has expired but the state has not bothered. Now we have issued a notice to the government for another contempt,” said another PCS officer waiting to the promoted.

Instead of filling the 10 vacant IAS posts from among those whose turn had come, the state government picked up some of these officers rendered junior to head the districts besides allowing the others to continue as DCs.

The PCS to IAS promotion committee met under the chairmanship of the UPSC member but no promotions took place. “There were 10 posts and the government could have easily carried out eight of these. The meeting could not take any decision due to one person who was on ninth position of consideration. He was facing censure and his case was complicated. All of us were punished as the government was reportedly carrying a brief to ensure that his case be cleared,” said one of the affected officers.

Chandigarh, April 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed all operations in mines under litigation in Punjab. The directions by Justice Ranjit Singh of the high court were issued keeping in view the large number of disputes pertaining to the mining rights in the state.

The filing of several petition in this regard apparently led the court to conclude that the matter was required to be dealt with urgently, once and for all.

Taking up one such petition, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “There is serious dispute in regard to the rights of mining, which is put to auction in various villages.

“More than one petition has been filed, which contains challenge inter se or otherwise independently. All these writ petitions are required to be decided”.

Fixing April 18 as the next date of hearing the matter, Justice Ranjit Singh also made it clear that the issue would be taken up for final disposal on that date.

The advocates, appearing on behalf of different parties, too were asked to facilitate the court in its endeavor to arrive at a solution by not seeking adjournment on the date fixed for hearing. The warring parties were also asked to complete the pleading.

In the one-page order, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “In the meantime, the mining activities in the mines, which are under challenge, are stayed and shall stand still.

“The interim order, staying the mining operations in the state, has been made clear to Sushminder Singh, geologist, who is present in the court,” Justice Ranjit Singh asserted.

In the petition against the joint development commissioner, department of rural development and panchayat, and two other respondents, Vinod Kumar of Rajpura had earlier asserted shamlat land in Manauli Surat was given on lease for extracting sand.

He was successful bidder and started the work. But, the district development and panchayat officer (DDPO), without any reason, started interfering in his working, obstructing in the process the task of sand lifting.

His earlier petition against the same was disposed of by the high court with a direction to the DDPO to take a final decision on his representation, which the officer dismissed, compelling the petitioner to move the court again.