Amritsar, June 30
The holy Kalgi (plume) of Guru Gobind Singh was brought here today by a research team, comprising Harpreet Singh Sidhu, Punjab cadre DIG, and Kamaljit Singh Boparai, after 160 years.

The Kalgi was handed over to the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, bypassing the SGPC, which had formed a committee to cross-check its authenticity. However, Sikh leaders, including SGPC secretary Dilmegh Singh, HS Boliana, former OSD to then SGPC president Joginder Singh Vedanti, were present at the Rajasansi International Airport to receive the research committee.

The event was kept a “top secret” and the media was informed at the eleventh hour since earlier efforts of Boparai to bring back the Kalgi had courted controversy. Two years ago, former Jathedar of Akal Takht Bhai Ranjit Singh had called upon the Sikhs to boycott the team.

Researchers claimed that they had pieced together facts bit by bit to examine the authenticity of the Kalgi.

The possession of the Kalgi by Maharaja Ranjit Singh has been proved from the records of the Lahore Durbar and numerous other sources. Court records of the Lahore Darbar and the daily diary of Faqir Azzizuddin testify to the manner in which Maharaja Ranjit Singh daily paid obeisance to the Kalgi.

The fact that Lord Dalhousie took the possession of the Kalgi and later purchased the same from the Court of Directors of the East India Company was also proved from correspondence between the two parties.

That the possession of the Kalgi passed to the daughter of Lord Dalhousie and through her to her husband Col WH Broun. Its possession by Colonel Broun is evident from his correspondence with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, dated 1898. 

The keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in a letter dated January, 2006, made it clear that after Lord Dalhousie’s death, the Kalgi, along with other relics of Guru Gobind Singh, passed on to in his family.

The correspondence with the present descendants of Lord Dalhousie (through daughters) proves that the Kalgi was indeed sold by Col Broun, either privately or through an auction.

According to the family, many other valuable items, that came in the possession of Col Broun, were sold in a similar manner. Some items that were not sold by Col Broun continue to be in the possession of the family and the Kalgi is not among those.

Jalandhar, June 30
Opposing the Punjab government’s decision to make direct payment through cheque to farmers against foodgrains procured by government procurement agencies, arhtiyas (commission agents) across the state have decided to observe strike from tomorrow for five days keeping the shutters of their establishments down.

“There will be no sale and purchase of foodgrains, pulses and edible oil seeds for five days,” said Dharam Singh Kang, convenor, Arhtiya Association Action Committee. He said there would also be no advancement of money to farmers, who often borrowed money from commission agents.

Kang said there were 45,000 licensed commission agents and all would keep their shops shut till July 5. The next course of action would be decided later, he added.

“The call for strike has been given in a reaction to a statement given by Chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, who had stated that from July 1 farmers would be made direct payment for foodgrains to be sold by them in grain markets”.

At present, the payment to farmers is rooted through commission agents. The billing is done by commission agents and forwarded to procurement agencies which hand over the cheques to them (commission agents) for further payment to farmers. 

Commission agents get 2.5 per commission on the sale proceeds for what is being described as facilitation of procurement of foodgrains. Kang said the association wanted that the existing 60-year-old system of making payment through commission agents should continue.

The issue of direct payment to farmers had been hanging fire for the past several years. The Punjab Farmers Commission had recommended direct payment through cheque to farmers when Capt Amarinder Singh was Chief Minister. A notification was also issued in this regard by his government.

However, as the notification was issued only a few weeks before the Assembly elections in 2007, some Congress ministers had persuaded Amarinder not to enforce it because it had the potential to annoy the trader community.

When the SAD-BJP government, led by Parkash Singh Badal, came to power about two years and three months ago, some farmer organisations built a pressure on it to make direct payment to farmers. One organisation also approached the court requesting it get the notification enforced. The government had given assurance to the court that the notification would be implemented.

Interestingly, now even the Congress has opposed direct payment to farmers. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Mohinder Singh Kaypee had stated yesterday that his party was opposed to the mode of direct payment.

Bathinda, June 30
It was not just the death of Bhanu Tiwari, a labourer, which led to a rampage by labourers at the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery here yesterday. If the statements of labourers and officials of the district administration are to be believed, the under-construction refinery lacks basic amenities for its workers and the Monday violence could be attributed to this fact.

Disclosing their grievance to The Tribune, labourers alleged that working conditions at the site were inhumane.

The labourers blamed the refinery officials for the absence of proper arrangements for potable water and medical facilities. “We had to work here like bonded labourers. There are a few trees in the area to take shelter in the scorching heat,” they alleged.

Officiating SSP of Bathinda Naunihal Singh said: “During the investigations, I came to know that there are more than 12,000 labourers working at the refinery, but no grievance redressal mechanism is in place there,” he said.

“In comparison to the costly equipment being installed there, we found poor security arrangements at the refinery,” the officiating SSP added.

When asked about the legal action to be taken against the protesters, the SSP said: “We have been going through video footages to nail the culprits.”

Repeated attempts to contact Rajeev Parmar, chief manager of the HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, proved futile. His subordinates repeatedly said he was busy.

SDM, Talwandi Sabo, Anil Garg said he had been informed that nearly 60 per cent of the labourer had resumed work. He added that out of the compensation amount, Rs 30,000 was paid yesterday at the time of the cremation of the labourer and the rest Rs 4 lakh would be paid when his widow reached here.

Ludhiana, June 30
The fake stamp paper racket, unearthed by tehsildar GS Benipal has its roots not only in Ludhiana but also in the entire state. The interrogation of its kingpin and stamp vendor Ravinder Pal by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has revealed that a number of people in revenue business were involved in the racket that was continuing for quite some time.

The loss incurred by the state exchequer can run in crores, reveal investigating officers. A member of the team told The Tribune that they, too, were surprised to know about the magnitude of the scam. Following Ravinder’s disclosures, the SIT had raided several places but the searches have not yield anything as yet.

Sources said the racket was run by a well-organised gang with well-connected members from different walks of life. Following the arrest of Ravinder yesterday, several of them had disappeared, the sources added.

The SIT had got important leads during the interrogation. It had got information about several places from where the gangsters operated.

The investigating officers, not willing to divulge more details, said the entire racket would be unearthed soon. They had still not caught hold of registers of Ravinder, which were mandatory to maintain the record of stamp papers sold by a stamp vendor.

Meanwhile, Duty Magistrate JPS Wehnipal extended the police remand of SAD councillor and Youth Akali leader Simarjit Singh Bains by three more days.

The prosecution lawyer said he was not helping the police in recovering belongings of Major Benipal. Along with him, three more accused Sarbjeet, Rupinder and Jaspreet, were produced before the court. 

Sangrur, June 30
Led by general secretary of the SGPC Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, a five-member committee, formed by the SGPC on the directions of Akal Takht, today visited the gurdwara at Mastuana Sahib to review changes being done on its building in the light of the Takht orders.

After visiting the gurdwara, Bhaur announced the constitution of a committee of technical experts under the headship of SGPC’s SDO Sukhwinder Singh to monitor the work at the gurdwara daily. The committee, which has junior engineers and persons from technical staff, will also give expert opinion on changes to be effected in the architecture of the gurdwara. The headquarters of the committee will be Gurdwara Nankiana Sahib near here.

Besides Bhaur, the other members of the committee that visited Mastuana Sahib were two executive members of the SGPC Karnail Singh Panjoli and Rajinder Singh Mehta and two members Bhupinder Singh Bhalwan (Amargarh) and Udey Singh (Longowal).

The team also met three groups to discuss the issue. Bhaur said a verandah was being constructed on two sides of the shrine to change its looks. He said all three groups gave them assurance that they would implement the order of the Takht in letter and in spirit.

Ludhiana, June 30
In a slow but definite transformation in farming patterns in the state, farmers are increasingly opting for direct seed plantation that is conducive to growing rice in fields without water puddles or with a minimum level of water. Scores of farmers in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Patiala districts have reportedly adopted the new technique.

A visit to various villages in Ludhiana district showed farmers changing over to direct seeding, albeit in small numbers. Confident of the results, noted agricultural economist SS Johl said he had planted 10 acres of paddy on his land at Jandiala Manjki village using direct seeding, as was the case for the wheat crop. “Instead of maintaining standing water, I water my fields after eight days,” he said.

Daler Singh, a fervent votary of the ridge and furrow technique, has planted all his crops minus the water puddles at Kakka village. “I have 10 years’ experience to vouch for the change,” he said. Mohinder Pal Singh Grewal, a farmer from Hawaas village, has continued to follow the technique this year as he was satisfied with last year’s yield.

Jagdeep Singh of Jeevanpur village has planted two acres using direct seeding. “Last year I had seen the results of the crop at Hawaas village and was encouraged to go in for a partial change. There are several more farmers in adjoining villages who have attempted the shift. I have planted two acres using the new technique and the results are very promising. It also helps in slowing down depletion of the watertable”.

The Farmers’ Commission has introduced a bed maker-cum-seed driller machine that allows crop plantation without puddles of water in the traditional format.

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu confirmed farmers had gone in for direct plantation in over a 1,000 acres in Amritsar district alone. “At least 10 of these machines have been distributed in different districts, including two in Amritsar,” he added.

Pannu said, “The machine for direct seeding is being given at a 50 per cent subsidy by the commission. We must acknowledge the fact that the rice crop is alien to the traditional cropping pattern soil of Punjab. Farmers are further lowering the already depleted watertables. There are also reports of certain weedicides the use of which has shown excellent results and which have also been approved by the central government”.

Prof Ujagar Singh Walia, head, Agronomy Department at Punjab Agricultural University, said: “Though we are aware about the new development we haven’t made any recommendations till date, asking farmers to grow rice using direct seeding or the ridge and furrow method and are also conducting field research on the issue.

There have been widespread complaints of unmanageable weeds in the crop using this technique. Though we know certain weedicides have shown positive results we are yet to decide on a fully reliable product”.

Ghanaur (Patiala), June 30
Putting forth her advice to Pakistan to ensure safety and security of minority communities, Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Preneet Kaur has urged the Pakistan government to restore law and order by initiating a serious drive against those militant groups which were forcing Sikhs or Hindus over there to shell out jaziya.

Mincing no words, Preneet said India certainly would not like the use of Pakistani territory by any of terror outfits even as India was always keen to initiate or carry on the dialogue with its neighbour at any point of time.

“We (India) would not like to see Pakistani territory being used by terrorists in any way. The thaw in the Indo-Pak relations could be a direct outcome of Pakistan’s serious efforts to wipe out terrorism from its soil,” said Preneet after attending a thanksgiving rally organised by the Ghanaur MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur here today.

Referring to her recent visit to the UN headquarters in New York, Preneet said there was a consensus on extending all possible help to 177 developing countries in uplifting their economic, health and educational standards and to get them rid of poverty and prevailing food crisis. 

“Consensus had always been there and it was rather a priority under the millennium programme or goals set by the members but, the envisaged programme was hit by the global meltdown. For example, the growth rate of India has come down from 9 to 6.7 per cent even as we expect to overcome the meltdown effect within a period of two to three years. Recovery from the meltdown shock is underway,” asserted Preneet.

Turning to Punjab, Preneet said the state was passing through a phase of anarchy like situation. “The SAD-BJP government is subjecting Congress workers to atrocities and yet the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has extended a Rs 800 crore project for development of the state under various programmes. The PM has proved that he is a true son of the soil,” said Preneet.

Chandigarh, June 30
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has taken a suo motto notice of a representation that Pt JR Government Polytechnic Institute, Hoshiarpur, has been passing out batches of B Pharmacy Course without having the requisite clearance from the Pharmacy Council of India.

The representation was made by the All-India Sikh Students Federation, Amritsar, which claimed that the institute had cleared four batches of the course without even having a well-qualified faculty and other requisite facilities.

Besides, the representation the commission also has in its possession a letter (May 9, 2008 ) written by the Pharmacy Council of India to the Principal of the college directing him not to undertake any admissions for 2007-2008 as it did not have the requisite teaching staff.

The PSHRC has sought a report from the state government through the Secretary, Technical Education, Punjab, Chandigarh, and the principal of the institute, as to what steps have been taken to remove the deficiencies pointed out by the council. 

Chandigarh, June 30
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has removed a 32-year-old anomaly in date of granting revised pay scale to agriculture inspectors in Punjab.

The petitioners - agriculture inspectors in the office of Punjab Chief Conservator of Soils - had moved the court, claiming the pay scales of inspector in the agriculture and other departments were revised from Rs 250-450 to Rs 320-750 with effect from November 1, 1977. But their pay scale was revised only from January 1, 1978.

The pay scale of inspectors working in various wings of agriculture department had been uniform since 1967, they added. As such, there was no reason for the respondent authorities to deny equivalent pay scale from the date it has been granted to other agriculture inspectors.

Taking up the petition by Manjeet Singh and other petitioners, Justice MM Kumar ruled: “I am of the considered view the grievance made by the petitioners deserves to be redressed.

“It has remained undisputed that the pay scale of agriculture inspectors in the agriculture department, soil conservation, horticulture and animal husbandry, has continued to be same since 1967.

“It is pertinent to mention all the agriculture inspectors were part of one agriculture department and soil conservation, which was bifurcated on December 15, 1969. If the agriculture inspectors, who are now working in the soil conservation wing were part of the agriculture wing at one time, it would be wholly unfair for the respondents to create a classification and grant the pay scale from a date different than the one granted to the agriculture inspectors working in the agriculture wing”.

Justice Kumar asserted: “Denying the benefit of pay scale of Rs 320-750 to the petitioners with effect from November 1, 1977, is violative of Articles 14 and 16(1) of the Constitution and the same is, thus, unsustainable”.

Jagraon, June 30
The police has arrested three suspected Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terrorists with 4 kg of explosives, six detonators. The explosives, packed in 32 gelatin sticks, reached here through an inter-state smuggling nexus.

The explosives, as powerful as RDX, bear the manufacturing stamp of a Nagpur-based factory while the detonators were brought here from Andhra Pradesh.

Preliminary questioning of the suspects revealed that their main targets were religious leaders Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarewala and Baba Ashutosh, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and crowded places and vital installations.

The suspects, Baba Balvir Singh Bhag Singh are residents of Lamme village, while the Kuljit Singh, alias Kantna, is a resident of Jawahar Nagar, Ludhiana.

IG Sanjiv Kalra and DIG Ishwar Singh said Jagraon SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and his team intercepted the vehicle (Maruti 800) in which the three suspects were travelling late last night during a nakabandi.

Kalra claimed all three accused have been handpicked by KZF chief Ranjit Singh. “Baba Balvir Singh is the kingpin of the gang and has a considerable following in this area. Kanta is a granthi and is well-acquainted with the city.”

The suspects said they were working at the behest of Bhupinder Singh of Jalandhar, Avtar Singh of Ludhiana and Ranjit Singh of Mohali, who are at present in Germany. Intelligence agencies from across the border also helped them.