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Uranium Traces in Water
News Analysis
Assault on tehsildar not linked to scam: SSP
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2 held on charge of spying for ISI
Party to decide on Sukhbir: CM
Rs 500 crore bus stand to come up in Patiala
Rail link to be upgraded
Round-up
DIGs get power to grant local rank
PU counselling schedule
Only CNG, LPG autos to get permit: HC
‘Speed governors must for commercial vehicles’
Punjab told to keep check on release of govt funds
2 held with contraband
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Anjali Singh Deswal Tribune News Service
Bathinda, July 23 A special medical board was constituted by the Civil Surgeon, Faridkot, under the chairmanship of Prof AS Thind from Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, to find out the uranium levels, after its presence was highlighted by the media. The board included specialists from the departments of forensic medicine, psychiatry and pathology and two medical officers from the Civil Hospital, Faridkot. A radiation survey and environmental sampling around the Faridkot and Amritsar area of Punjab was also carried out by specialists from the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, along with the board constituted by the Civil Surgeon, Faridkot. The report by BARC was out in June but it has been made public recently. The report said a gamma radiation survey was carried out by the team from BARC and the values of 83.8-157.0 nGy/hr obtained are within the normal range. The radioactivity level in soil samples were found to be comparable to the national and global average levels. The report filed by VD Puranik, head of the environmental assessment division, BARC, said the uranium content in water samples was found to be in the range of 2.2-244.2 micro grams per litre. Three samples exceeded the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board limit for uranium in drinking water of 60 micro grams per litre. Two samples were analysed for uranium isotopic concentration and were found to have isotopic concentration of natural uranium. There were other studies reported in the literature on uranium content in water for other parts of the country. In one such study, uranium content up to 113.7 micro grams per litre in water was reported from Punjab. The uranium concentration in human hair samples taken from Baba Farid Centre for Special Children, Faridkot, was found to be within the range of variation. Puranik stated that the concentration was normal. "We have tested all samples that were collected by our team from Faridkot and areas in and around Amritsar. Every sample tested was within the permissible range and there is nothing to worry, though the concentration of uranium in drinking water is slightly high, but acceptable." Sources from the BARC stated that samples collected from Faridkot were subject to isotopic analysis for uranium, using the ionisation mass spectrometry and the samples were found to be of natural uranium. The reports have been sent to the central government, sources said.
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All is not well with state BJP
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 23 There could not have been more embarrassing situation than one when the Bathinda district unit president, accompanied by his wife, went out begging with bowls in their hands to collect money to get one of the several offices of profit being doled out by the SAD-BJP government. “You get nothing unless you end up paying senior leaders,” lamented the protesting BJP leader. “How a dedicated and honest party worker can afford so much money to bag an office,” he asked. Disciplinary action has been taken against him. While there have been indications that the party high command may revamp the state unit, Punjab BJP president Rajinder Bhandari sets at the rest the speculations that he may be replaced. “I am not quitting,” he retorts. He is aspiring for the only ticket the BJP hopes to get when elections to all seven Rajya Sabha seats are held early next year. Of the four seats that the SAD-BJP alliance can hope to claim, three will go to the SAD. The remaining three will in any case go to the Congress on the basis of its strength in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The Punjab BJP will have to have new leadership by the end of this year. Will it be Harjit Singh Grewal, Vijay Sampla, Navjot Sidhu or Avinash Rai Khanna, it is remains to be seen. The Bathinda incident is not an isolated incident of its type. Trouble has been spreading to almost everywhere in the state. Protests in Fazilka, Nabha, Amritsar, Bathinda and other areas have not only led to resignations by party leaders and workers but also painted the state BJP leadership in colours of apathy and discrimination. What started as a feud among the state leadership of the BJP and MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, has now started tormenting the party at district and subdivision levels. The bickering in the party surfaced after the Lok Sabha elections, in which 17 of 19 BJP MLAs could not help the SAD-BJP alliance candidates through from their respective assembly segments. Some senior members want the party to come out with a white paper on as to who all have benefited from largesses of the SAD-BJP government. If a senior party leader could get his brother-in-law as the chairman of an improvement trust, other got his son a senior position in the Advocate-General’s office besides getting for himself chairmanship of a district planning board. One of his trusted lieutenants has been made the chairman of an improvement trust. In Fazilka, all municipal councillors have resigned against the action of the state leadership and appointments it got through the SAD-BJP government. “Where do the dedicated and long-standing workers go?” they rue. The party high command, too, has been finding itself in a soup in sorting out the row over the appointment of Chhina as the chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. Insiders maintain that a severe internal strife in the party was the cause of growing resentment in the party cadre. All those who were commanding the party before the assembly elections in 2007, have been conveniently sidelined. Former president Avinash Rai Khanna could not contest the last Lok Sabha elections because the seat he represented in the previous Lok Sabha is now become a part of the reserved category seat. Instead of giving Anandpur Sahib seat to him, the BJP gambled on contesting the reserved seat by putting a new face, a bureaucrat. Vijay Sampla, who emerged as a strong leader among Dalits in Doaba, too, was put on the sidelines. The same fate awaited HS Grewal, who looks after the Haryana BJP. Sukhpal Singh Nanu, second time MLA from the border district of Ferozepur, has been experiencing a stiff resistance from within the state leadership.
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Assault on tehsildar not linked to scam: SSP
Ludhiana, July 23 He said the police had concluded after interrogating prime accused Ravinder Pal and his aide Jyoti after their arrest. He said another accused, D P S Bhikhi was to be arrested but Major Benipal's exposure of scam had not invited attack on him. ‘‘Jyoti named neither SAD councillor and youth akali leader Simarjit Singh Bains nor Kamaljit Singh Karwal. She did not even name anybody related closely to them,’’ he said. The final word on the scam would be received when Jyoti's narco test would be done . ‘‘We have prepared a dossier on her. She would be put to narco test to know if she had spoken the truth during interrogation, ’’ said the SSP. Major Benipal said he would not backtrack on his stand. ‘‘I have already told everybody I had received feelers from several persons to go quiet on the issue. I was threatened I would be stripped and beaten up if I kept on raising a stink about it. The same thing happened. How can I believe the attack was for some other reason?’’ said Major Benipal. The police is accused of slow in investigating the scam. It was not able to arrest Bhikhi. Nothing substantial could be recovered by the police from Jyoti and Ravinder Pal though the stamp papers sold by him were scanned copies of original ones. The duo did not even reveal to police about their modus operandi.
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2 held on charge of spying for ISI
Amritsar, July 23 Gurjit Singh Bhullar has been visiting Pakistan in jathas, sent by his father Bhullar on pilgrimage to Sikh shrines to mark major Sikh events. This has put question mark on the credibility of “self-styled” Sikh organistions sending jathas to Pakistan. Material related to military installations, photographs, charts on movements of military units, Pakistan telephone numbers have been traced from the recovered laptop along with mobile phones of the accused. An FIR no 22 under Section 489-A,B,C, 3/4/5/9/ of the Official secrets Act, and 120-B of the IPC has been registered at police state Special Operation Cell, Amritsar. Preliminary probe of arrested person revealed organised and ISI- controlled network involved in espionage. Gurjeet Singh, a module himself was frequent visitor to Pakistan in religious jathas ,where he was cultivated by ISI officials, Sayeed and Rana. They trained him in computer and Internet. He was in touch with Pakistan Intelligence Officers (PIOs) through mobile telephones and internet. The Pakistan’s Intelligence agencies used to provide funds through hawala transactions. Investigation are on . In the follow- up action another accused in this case Dilbag Singh alias Baga , resident of gali no 4, Tahliwala Chowk under B division police station. He was evading arrest was arrested and sensitive material on movement of armed forces, photographs and maps of vital installations are likely to be recovered. However, IBMYKDS chairman, Bhullar and his elder son Harpal Singh , summoned by the Special Operation Cell, Punjab were let off after preliminary interrogation. The central government is contemplating to ban the jathas being led by “self-styled” organisations to Pakistan following busting of espionage racket by Amritsar police. The International Bhai Mardana Yaadgari Kirtan Darbar Society (IBMYKDS) and other “non-entity persons” came into limelight a decade ago when the SGPC had banned jathas to Pakistan in 1999 in protest against the following formation of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. However, sources pointed out many businessmen who have been making frequent trips to Pakistan are also under the scanner of intelligence agencies.
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Party to decide on Sukhbir: CM
Dera Bassi, July 23 Cashing in on sympathy wave in favour of the Akali stalwart, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during whistle stop tour of Jawaharpur, Samgauli, Haripur Hinduan and Mubarikpur reminded the voters of the service rendered by the former Cooperation Minister. Hitting at the Congress, the CM said keeping in view profile of the Akali stalwart and sympathy for his family, the opposition party should not have fielded a candidate. He justified the decision of the party to field Jasjit Singh Bunny from Banur seat. Earlier the CM told media decision to make Sukhbir Badal Cief Mnister or Deputy Chief Minister was of the party. He was replying to a query on his status after the Jalalabad election. Taking a dig at the Centre, he said slogan of performance in 100 days was cruel joke as price of diesel and petrol had been increased. He said it was duty of the Centre to help states in natural calamities.
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Rs 500 crore bus stand to come up in Patiala
Patiala, July 23 Managing director of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation Manvesh Singh Sidhu told The Tribune here today that 14-acre land had been acquired and all unauthorised structures had been removed. “Now, only a couple of shops stood that had to be shifted. The shopkeepers were being provided with alternate site and there was no problem in handing over the possession of the land to the private party,” he added. He said a big hotel and a shopping complex were integral part of the six-storeyed building. The ground floor would be used as bus stand, while the first floor would have commercial establishments. The new site was just 1.5 km from the present bus stand and it was located on the Patiala-Rajpura highway. Sidhu said the representative of the building party were here today to discuss final points of execution of the project with the PRTC officials. He said the PRTC had already received Rs 13.50 crore from the party by way of first installment. The project would be completed in a phased manner and the first phase would be executed within 18 months. He further said the new state of the art multi-storeyed bus stand project has come as a big help to the corporation. Faced with an acute paucity of funds, the PRTC was defaulting in payment of certain benefits of the employees, including Provident Fund and leave encashment. Now the corporation has received Rs 13.50 crore from the private party that was undertaking the bus stand project. He said this amount had been utilised for clearing the outstanding dues of the employees.
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Rail link to be upgraded
Patiala, July 23 Announcing this, HK Jaggi, Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, said the project was being undertaken keeping in view the strategic importance of the route and the load of traffic on this route. He added the double tracks projects for Chandigarh-Ambala, Ludhiana-Chandigarh and Abohar-Fazilka had been sanctioned. Interacting with the media, Jaggi said Patiala Railway Station would be upgraded and it would have all the modern amenities. The platforms, waiting halls and parks at the railway station would be given a new look. He was here for inauguration of a facility of railway reservation tickets through passenger reservation system (PRS) from the head post office. The specially identified counter for railway reservation tickets in the Patiala head post office was inaugurated today. Jaggi said work on the provision of a world-class railway station had been launched at Delhi Railway Station for which a project of Rs 1,000 crore had been prepared. Work on the project had already got underway and more such stations were planned.
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Rs 70 crore for Shagun scheme
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 23 Gulzar Singh Ranike, Welfare of Schedule Castes and Backward Classes Minister Punjab said yesterday under shagun scheme Rs 15,000 were being given to the families of Schedule Castes/Christian community and widows belonging to any caste and the widows/divorced women for re-marriage. The minister added this benefit was for only permanent residents of Punjab whose annual family income was not more than Rs 20,000 and Rs 27,500 in rural and urban areas respectively. ‘PDS streamlined’
The Food and Civil Supplies Department of the state made 2,624 checks of fare price shops this month to ensure supply of quality foodgrains at fixed rates. DS Grewal, Director, Food and Civil Supplies, said here yesterday the department had distributed 8,866.9 tonnes of wheat and 4353.7 tonnes dal in the state under the public distribution system (PDS) and atta-dal schemes. He added there were 2,88,600 below poverty line (BPL), 1,79,400 antodaya aan yojna (AAY) and 55,535,87 above poverty line (APL) card holder families in the state getting subsidised wheat under the PDS. Under the atta-dal scheme 14.13 lakh identified families are getting subsidised wheat and dal.
EVMs for bypolls
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has given green light for the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for by-elections in Banur, Kahnuwan and Jalalabad, Assembly constituencies scheduled to be held on August 3. A spokesman of the CEO office, Punjab, said today sufficient number of electronic voting machines were available for polling in Assembly constituencies. The polling staff were also trained in the handling of electronic voting machines and the voters conversant with the operation of the EVMs.
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DIGs get power to grant local rank
Chandigarh, July 23 According to an official spokesman of the police department, it came to the notice of the DGP that the present system of granting local rank three months before retirement was quite tedious, which denied local rank to most of the retiring employees. The spokesman said the DGP felt that this delay deprived the beneficiary from enjoying the higher rank for a few months before retirement and, therefore, range DIGs should be authorised to grant local rank at their own level, if the employee fulfilled the conditions. This delegation of powers will give relief to thousands of such employees of the Police Department, the spokesman added. The DIGs, before granting local rank, will ensure that the service record of the employee concerned was good and his integrity was not doubtful during the last eight years. Giving a major relief to officials, seeking voluntary retirement after putting in 20 years of service, it has been decided to give rank to such officials too.
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PU counselling schedule
Chandigarh, July 23 The counselling for the defense category earlier deferred on July 15 will now be held on July 30 at 10 am in the gymnasium hall, PU. Also the second counselling for Joint Engineering Admission-2009 will be held on July 31 to August 3 in the Gymnasium Hall as per the schedule. To fill up vacant seats for admission to the MBACIT and MEFB courses being offered at Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women, Ludhiana, and GGDSD College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, Panjab University will hold the entrance test on August 9 at the Chandigarh centre only respectively. The last date for the receipt of application form is July 31 up to 4 pm. The last date for the submission of application forms for part-time courses in language faculty i.e. certificate courses, diploma courses and advanced diploma courses has been extended up to July 31.
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Only CNG, LPG autos to get permit: HC
Chandigarh, July 23 Applying brakes on polluting vehicles in these cities, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that new permits for plying would only be handed over to such three-wheelers and buses that have been running on CNG and LPG. The development assu-mes significance, as the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has identified four cities of Punjab- Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar- for supply of CNG. The findings have been communicated to standing counsel for the Union of India Onkar Singh Batalvi, who informed the court on
the same. As of now, the feasibility for laying the infrastructure for CNG is being studied at these places, on the asking of the state government. Acting on the public interest litigation, the high court Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia also asked Punjab chief secretary to convene a meeting of all those connected with the possible switchover from diesel to LPG and CNG. The Bench also fixed October 15 as the next date of hearing on the petition. The matter was brought to the high court’s notice by Ludhiana resident Jatinder Moudgil. In his petition against the state of Punjab and other respondents, he had sought directions for putting to a halt the plying of commercial vehicles using diesel within the municipal limits of
the four cities.
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‘Speed governors must for commercial vehicles’
Chandigarh, July 23 The Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia gave a year’s time to the state for fitting the speed governors on the existing vehicles. Another six weeks time has been granted to the state to study the vehicles that need to be fitted with speed governors. As a PIL filed by Suraksha Foundation came up for hearing, Punjab’s Additional Advocate-General Rupinder Singh Khosla had asserted the state would have no difficulty in fixing the higher limit of speed for the governors, as a major road safety measure for the passengers travelling by public transport. Taking on record his statement, the Bench asserted it could in the first phase be limited to the vehicles plying on the national highways under the
state government. In the petition, the foundation had earlier sought directions to the state of Punjab and another respondent to “follow the provisions of Rule 118 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules and to
direct the state to prepare an implementation plan for the installation of
electronic speed limiters within a specific timeframe.
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Punjab told to keep check on release of govt funds
Chandigarh, July 23 The warning came, even as the state assured the high court that the “instructions will be issued to the departments concerned to release the undisputed amounts payable to persons in compliance with the court orders”. Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg asserted, “It is made clear that any further lapse on the part of the respondents that would not comply with the directions of this court shall be viewed seriously.” The issue had cropped up after one Dalip Kumar had alleged non-implementation of the court orders. Kumar had alleged that the necessary payment was not made within the stipulated time period, even though the court on March 4 had held him entitled to release of amount for work done on behalf of the Abohar Municipal Council. Justice Garg observed, “Vide order dated July 10, the court had also noticed that even the undisputed amount payable to the persons, who have done work for the government institutions, was not being given to them, in spite of the directions of the court to the officials concerned of the Punjab government to release at least the undisputed amount and because of that a number of contempt petitions are being filed by such persons.”
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2 held with contraband
Jalandhar, July 23 AIG Jaskaran Singh said Balbir Singh of Barmalipur village in Ludhiana and Rajinder Singh, alias, Minku of Bhaini Khurd village in Fatehgarh Sahib district were nabbed in Ludhiana. The police recovered 4.72 kg of methamphetamine (synthetic drug), .32 bore Webley Scott revolver, eight cartridges and Rs 1 lakh in cash from their possession. The drug was claimed to be of Rs 25 crore. He added drugs were to be smuggled to Canada on the direction of mafia head Raja hailing from Billichocharam village in Jalandhar.
— TNS
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