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Relief for Kandi farmers Clubs in Ram Bagh Gardens want areas de-notified
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PR status eludes Indian immigrants in Spain
Pak’s highest civilian award for Nirmala
Chowdhary Manzoor Ahmad, former member, Pakistan National Assembly, at a press conference in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Canada panel to create awareness on Komagata Maru
Swine flu: Boards installed at Golden Temple
Unbundling power boards not must, says tribunal
BJP MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi carries “karah prasad” at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. He said the last time he visited Harmandar Sahib, along with his mother, was in his childhood and had participated in the kar sewa. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Confusion over jurisdiction of universities
Rulda Singh cremated
Principals vow not to take sugar
Haryana move on separate SGPC to be foiled, says Dy CM
Get your vehicle checked through NCRB before buying
Railway adalats to be held in Patiala, Sangrur
Gastroenteritis hits Barnala village
Fraud in panchayat dept alleged
Scanty rain hits Buddha Nullah cleaning
BKU postpones dharna to Aug 24
Probe into damaged textbooks supply sought
Agencies put CM on ultimatum
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Relief for Kandi farmers
Chandigarh, August 16 The move was initiated almost 12 years ago after it was discovered that vast tracts of land under habitation and cultivation had been “wrongly” shown as forestland. However, the delisting does not in any way help those who had been buying major chunks of land in the area for the past few years with an eye on these orders. The order passed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest adds that delisting has been done subject to the condition that this land would be put to bona fide agriculture use for sustaining the livelihood of the owner. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Punjab, BC Bala said the department had formed a committee of forest officers, which would work out the modalities of managing the delisted area. “It is for the committee to lay down guidelines for implementing the conditions laid down by the government of India,” he said. Sources add that the Forest Department might also write to the union ministry to ease these conditions, though a positive response is not expected from the Centre. A similar request made by the Punjab government with regard to the delisted area of Karoran and Nada villages was sent to the union ministry some years ago, but got a negative response. Refusing to dilute any of the conditions, the ministry had told Punjab that in case they wanted any change, they should approach the Supreme Court. Large portions of more than 470 villages in the state spread across districts of SAS Nagar, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur were “locked” under the provisions of the PLPA. Following a High Court order, land under the PLPA also attracted the provisions of the Indian Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Since large tracts of the locked area was under cultivation, thousands of farmers had been pushing their case for delisting. The act did not allow them to undertake any construction on their land. They were unable to construct tube wells, sheds for cattle or additional rooms in their houses. Any change in the status of this land was possible only following the consent of the union ministry. Some years ago, the union ministry had delisted 265 hectares in Nada village and 442 hectares in Karoran village from the PLPA. The case of the rest of the state has now been cleared.
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Clubs in Ram Bagh Gardens want areas de-notified
Amritsar, August 16 Selja has written to the Prime Minister, who holds charge of the Department of Culture and Archaeology, urging him to look into the representation of the three clubs seeking de-notification of 76 kanals in their control out of the 718.12 kanals declared protected. Selja said the clubs were set up in the Ram Bagh Gardens 100 years ago and there was no heritage or historical building in possession of the clubs. She urged the PM to de-notify the area under the control of clubs as they were ready to surrender any building/monument of national importance coming under notified heritage building pertaining to the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. JL Mehra, coordinator of the three clubs, said the summer palace of the Maharaja was situated only in four kanals of the bagh and only seven buildings had been notified as heritage buildings, out of which only one such building forms part of a club and the management of that club was ready to surrender the building to the ASI. The lease of all three clubs was extended by the Municipal Corporation up to 2020 in a resolution passed in 2006. He said the corporation leased only bare land to the clubs and the buildings were raised in the course of time by the managements of the clubs. Mehra reiterated that they were ready to maintain the area under their control per ASI guidelines and if the ASI wanted, it could have support of the clubs to maintain other parts of the gardens. He said 30 per cent members of the club represented senior citizen members who did not pay any fee, but had opportunity to live a purposeful life. He said there were 5,000 members of the club involving one lakh people of the city connected with the activities. The ASI has urged the government to hand over the entire garden for conservation and bring back old glory developed by the Sikh ruler. The clubs have also written to KN Shrivastava, Director-General, ASI, in this regard, besides seeking appointment for discussion and clarifying the position.
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Pak’s highest civilian award for Nirmala
Amritsar, August 16 He said President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari approved her name on August 14 and the award would be handed over to a representative of the late peacenik on Pakistan Day on March 23, 2010. He said it was, perhaps for the first time, services of any Indian woman to public life and her contribution to building amity in the region had been acknowledged by the Pakistan government. Chowdhary said, “Deshpande did not budge from her firm stand of building up bridges and peaceful co-existence of the two countries, which went to war several times”. He added that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government’s decision to deploy forces along the frontiers with the Pakistan following terrorist strike on Indian Parliament did not shake her faith from her stand and she continued efforts to bring about a thaw. He stressed the need for making South Asia free from nuclear weapons and putting an end to race for lethal arms. He said the Indian government raised defence allocation astronomically in its previous Budget prompting Pakistan to follow the suit. He said this amount ought to have been for eradicating poverty, illiteracy, unhygienic conditions and better health care in both countries. He said two nations must strive to push forward breakthrough achieved during the Sharm-El-Sheikh talks in Egypt. On hue and cry by Opposition parties and the ruling UPA government over mentioning of India’s role in inciting trouble in Baluchistan, he said the Indian government must not shy from looking into the documentary evidence. He said the President of Pakistan announced in Karachi yesterday that a regional common market in South Asia must be formed to help build up trade relation which would usher in prosperity in the region. On the death sentence to Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan, Chowdhury said his party (PPP) was against capital punishment, but since it was in coalition it could not dictate terms. He said the Indo-Pak Forum for parliamentarians would be revived as president of the Indian side Deshpande died last year. President of the Folklore Research Academy Ramesh Yadav said the academy had been trying to build public opinion for lasting friendly relations between the neighbouring nations by holding candlelight vigil on the Attari-Wagah check post for 15 years and would continue to do it.
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PR status eludes Indian immigrants in Spain
Chandigarh, August 16 Almost two-thirds of these Indians facing an uncertain future are Punjabis and may face deportation for being illegal residents in case they fail to meet the extended deadline. For the past several weeks they have been holding demonstrations outside Indian missions in Barcelona and Madrid. Though the Spanish authorities had informed the Indian Embassy in Barcelona in September last year that the police clearance certificate issued by a district police chief was not acceptable while processing an application for permanent residence, nothing had been done to revise the procedure for issuing such a certificate. After Spain Portugal has now decided to ask immigrants to get PCCs issued by the national police bureaus. Other EU countries may also follow suit. If Indian authorities fail to amend the procedure and format of the certificates it might not be possible for Indians living in the European Union to seek permanent residence. Since Spain is reportedly keen to retain most of the Indian immigrants who have been living and working there for periods varying between three and 10 years, the only hurdle coming in the way to regularise their stay is to get hold of a PCC. This is one reason Spanish authorities have periodically extended the deadline for submission of these certificates. The last time they did so was earlier this month when they gave prospective Indian applicants time till September 15 to complete formalities failing which local laws would take their own course. The management committee of the Gursangat Gurdwara in Barcelona also submitted a memorandum to the Indian ambassador to Spain on July 31 to urge her to persuade the Indian government to revise the PCC format on the lines suggested by the EU countries. Interestingly, the Spanish authorities had rejected all PCCs filed by Indian immigrants in Spain on the grounds that these were without any endorsement or ratification by the state and the national crime bureau. Indians have been submitting a police station-specific PCC that the authorities in Spain find inadequate to know about any possible criminal background of an applicant. Interestingly, applicants by immigrants from Pakistan are facing no such problems. The Pakistani government has started issuing police clearance certificates with endorsements like “antecedents have been verified by the police authority of the district concerned” and “further counterchecked with the national database and no adverse information against or criminal record of applicant found.” The certificates issued by Indian authorities invariably say “antecedents of the applicant have been verified through the station house officer of the police station concerned and there is nothing against him/her criminally on police records”. This certificate has been rejected outright by Spain. Though some of the applicants belonging to Punjab got these PCCs endorsed by the Punjab government’s NRI cell these were still rejected for want of national ratification. Though the issue was allowed to languish for a while, it has now been taken up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi by former MP and Lok Bhalai party chief Balwant Singh Ramoowalia.
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Canada panel to create awareness on
Chandigarh, August 16 The Komagata Maru was a ship that arrived in Vancouver harbour with 376 East Indian passengers, most of whom were not allowed to land because the ship did not make a continuous journey to Canada as was prescribed by Canadian immigration laws of the day. Government efforts apart, Canada-based film director Deepa Mehta is already busy shooting a film on the tragedy in which Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is playing the lead role. The committee, which comprises Jack Uppal, a businessman from Vancouver, Prof Ratna Ghosh of McGill University and Iqbal Gill, a teacher on the Peel District School Board, Brampton-Mississauga, has been constituted by Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Ghosh, who teaches race relations, says she was surprised that a group of teachers and would-be teachers had no knowledge of the Komagata Maru tragedy. “Therefore, it’s important that not only Indians residing in Canada, but all Canadians, including French Canadians, should know about it”. “The Komagata Maru should not be deemed a Sikh or a Punjabi issue. As far as I’m concerned it is an Indo-Canadian matter as, of the 376 passengers on board the ship, 24 were Muslims and nine Hindus,” she added. The panel’s mandate for the ‘community historical recognition’ programme is to look at projects from the community for sensitising Canadians about
the tragedy. Reports in Canadian newspapers indicate the committee members have already held a meeting and looked at some of the projects that some of the Indian-Canadian community groups have submitted for consideration. It will be the panel’s recommendations to the minister that will get the approval. Kenny has been quoted as saying the Canadian government has set aside $2.5 million for various projects that could help create awareness about the “wrongs” done to the Indian immigrants in Canada in 1914 when the Komagata Maru was not allowed to disembark. “Because the ship didn’t make a continuous journey to Canada, as prescribed by the country’s immigration rules at that time, only 22 of the passengers, who were returning Canadian residents, were allowed to land at the port of Vancouver,” Kenney quoted from the historical record. “After a two-month standoff with the authorities, the ship was escorted out of Canadian waters and returned to India where the then ruling British wanted to take the passengers to Punjab. As a sequence there were riots where 29 passengers were shot by British soldiers of whom 20 died”. Now the minister says: “It is tangible proof of our government’s determination not only to acknowledge the hardships faced by the Indian community in Canada, but also to use education to fight racism and embrace diversity in today’s society”. Whether it will be a memorial or some other project depends upon the recommendations made by the three-member committee. “The approved project will transmit into the future the memory of the experience of the Komagata Maru, so that not just children going to school today, but their children and their children’s children will remember that there was a time in Canada when we were not a welcoming society,” says Kenney. Describing the allocation of funds for the project as a “wonderful gesture,” Uppal said “the panel will work seriously to recommend the best possible project for informing and educating general public about this tragic incident”.
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Unbundling power boards not must, says tribunal
Chandigarh, August 16 The dispute arose when the Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company objected to grant of transmission licence by the State Regulatory Commission to a private company already engaged in the business of distribution. The main objection was that a distribution company couldn’t be granted transmission licence because the Act 2003 requires separation of transmission from distribution business. The bone of contention was that the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board was recently unbundled because they were told by the Ministry of Power that these two activities cannot be combined but private player was being allowed to bundle their functions of generation, transmission and distribution. The tribunal in its order recently held that the main objective of the Act did not seem to be the elimination of state electricity boards or their unbundling into separate entities of generation, transmission and trading. Unbundling of the power boards is only an enabling provision in the Act as the statement of objectives and reasons says that the core features of the previous Acts have to be maintained except for “mandatory existence” of the state electricity boards. Thus, the boards may continue but it would not be mandatory for the entire electricity business to be handled by the state electricity board. It was further held that as per Section 131 of the Act, the state governments have not been given the mandate for unbundling the state power boards, although the steps to be taken, if such unbundling is undertaken, have been provided for. Sub-Section (1) of 131 of the statement of objectives and reasons states that the state governments have the option of continuing with the state power boards, which under the new scheme of things would be distribution licensee, and state transmission utilities. Regarding an objection of the state utility that bundling of functions would hamper introduction of competition in the sector that is the core feature of the Act 2003, the tribunal held that unbundling of the power doards did not naturally lead to competition. If the boards are unbundled into three or four companies performing different functions without there being other players in the market, newly formed companies would again become monopolies in their own fields. Section 41 of the Act prohibits the transmission licensee from engaging in trading in electricity, but consciously omits to include the function of distribution. So all three functions of generation, transmission and distribution can be combined together by separating trading.
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Need to improve rural health care, says Varun Gandhi
Jalandhar, August 16 This was stated by BJP leader and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi while addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the 1st Dental Youth Festival here today. He claimed 90 per cent of the rural parliamentary constituencies have been deprived of oral health care. Coming down heavily on the Congress, Varun said the union government had been silent on serious issues like sky-rocketing prices of daily use commodities and drought-like condition in many states. He pointed out that the NREGA scheme launched be the central government had failed to provide jobs to the needy and unskilled workers. The authorities at the district and subdivision levels were not finding suitable ways to utilise the funds so that the common man was benefited. Recalling his father Sanjay Gandhi’s five-point programme, Varun said sincere efforts should be made towards climate change. He appealed to budding dentists to serve in rural areas besides educating people about the message of “Each one, teach one”. Replying to a query of Dr Anil Kohli, president, Dental Council of India, for providing more job avenues to dentists under the National Rural Health Mission, Varun said he would raise the issue in Parliament. Punjab Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal Sharma and Minister for Medical Education and Research Tikshan Sud also addressed the gathering.
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Confusion over jurisdiction of universities
Jalandhar, August 16 Two colleges, the Desh Bhagat Institute of Advanced Computer Sciences, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, which were earlier affiliated to the PTU, have got affiliated to Punjabi University. Eight other colleges, the Asra Institute, Rajpura; Vidya Sagar College, Patiala; Malwa College, Bathinda; Guru Harkrishan Girls College, Malerkotla; Sri Guru Harkrishan College, Patiala; SD Women Institute, Bathinda; Rattan Professional College, Mohali; and The Corporate Gurus School, Rajpura, have also been granted affiliation by Punjabi University. Besides, there are five recently set up university off-campus colleges of Punjabi University in which the fee is divided between the university and the colleges in the ratio of 30:70. The list excludes regional campuses of the university at Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda. While during the inception of the PTU about 12 years ago, it was decided that all colleges, old and new, offering technical courses be shifted to the PTU. The trend seems to be going reverse ever since the PTU started granting affiliation to 250 regular colleges, which it is finding hard to manage and regulate. Guru Nanak Dev University and Panjab University officials are also being coerced to take up PTU-affiliated MBA/MCA colleges of their respective areas. Directors of some old PTU-affiliated colleges have already started raising their voice demanding that they either be granted autonomy or be allowed to shift their affiliation with universities of their areas. Shalini, director of Desh Bhagat College, said this year would be the first year of intake of MBA students under Punjabi University. “Our MBA was earlier affiliated to the PTU. We somehow felt that Punjabi University was an old and well set-up university while the PTU being relatively new was still settling down. So, we decided to changeover”, she added. The dean, academics, Punjabi University, said it was not a new trend. Dean, academics, PTU, VK Arora, feigned ignorance on the matter, saying “I am not aware of that. The MBA colleges can’t go to any other university.” Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Tejinder Kaur said: “I don’t think there is any problem with Punjabi University taking over some colleges.” Asked if they could do that going by the state policy, she got a bit confused. “I need to check up that”.
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Rulda Singh cremated
Patiala, August 16 Rulda Singh had died early on Saturday morning in the PGI at Chandigarh after battling for life for over a fortnight. He was attacked by two unidentified men at his residence on July 28 night when they opened fire on him, injuring him critically at his New Grain Market residence on Sirhind Road. A soft spoken and amenable man, Rulda Singh was born in a village near Patiala and had his early education in the school. He joined the RSS in 1976 and rose to become president of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. He was also general secretary of the NRI wing of the BJP. A mail had been received in some newspaper offices wherein the group of Jagtar Singh Tara had claimed responsibility for the attack on Rulda Singh. Tara is one of the accused in the Beant Singh murder case and he had escaped from jail after jail break. The mail reportedly said that Rulda Singh was meddlling in Sikh affairs unnecessarily and the attack was to silence him. Rulda Singh is survived by two sons and a daughter besides his widow.
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Tiding Over Sweet Crisis
Chandigarh, August 16 “They will take a vow tomorrow not to consume any sugar till Diwali,” says MP Mittal, Principal, Shivalik Senior Secondary School, Jalalabad. “I have been travelling for the past few days through the length and breadth of the state to persuade Principals to join the campaign and set an example for the public to follow”. Sugar prices have touched a record high of Rs 35 a kg and are expected to go up further for the coming festival season. He says, “Teachers are torch-bearers of a society. Their job is not only to educate and impart knowledge to society, but also help tide over crises that it encounters. We have to follow the footprints of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who had given a call to countrymen to observe fast on every Monday as India was passing through a severe food and financial crisis because of the war against Pakistan”. “By cutting down use of sugar, one benefits medically also, besides saving money,” says MP Mittal. As many as 140 Principals of RASA from all over the state will assemble at Jalalabad Shivalik Secondary School on Monday to take the vow. Mittal says after Shastri set a strong national precedent to overcome the crisis facing the country in a strong, democratic and peaceful manner, other crises facing the country can be tackled with similar mass participation. “All we need is leaders who can give calls by setting their personal examples,” adds Mittal saying that even recently when Punjab and Haryana were facing a severe power crisis, the SAD-BJP government in Punjab and Congress government in Haryana had ordered switching off air-conditioners to save power for the agriculture sector. Though government orders are seldom implemented in letter and spirit, campaigns spearheaded by teachers and leaders with unblemished record always produce satisfactory results. Mittal says if all Punjabis, who are known for their sweet tooth, decide to cut, if they are not able to completely stop the use of sugar, it will prevent the sugar crisis from deepening. It will also help in preventing any additional load on household budgets.
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Haryana move on separate SGPC to be foiled, says Dy CM
Ludhiana, August 16 He said no state government was given this right in a secular country. ‘‘We will not allow them to have their way,’’ he said. The Deputy CM demanded 50 per cent share in the taxes collected by the Centre in Punjab and suggested state-specific central schemes. He said it was unfair on the part of the Union government to take 70 per cent of central taxes collected in the state and returning only 1.3 per cent. The Punjab government had been demanding a review of revenue-sharing formula so that states could get minimum 50 per cent of the taxes collected by the Centre. Blaming the previous government for not setting up any unit of power, Sukhbir said he was pursuing every project to achieve 7,000 MW by four thermal plants and 1,000 MW from biomass power plant. He said international flights from the Chandigarh airport would start from next month and on the completion of tarmac at the Sahnewal airport, domestic flights would also start soon. He said the Union Aviation Ministry had approved Greenfield Airport at Machhiwara to be built by the Chhangi Airport Authority,
Singapore.
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Get your vehicle checked through NCRB before buying
Ropar, August 16 In a press statement issued here today, SSP L K Yadav said the applicant should provide the Ropar Community Policing Resource Center (CPRC) with details of types of vehicle, its make, model number, registration number, chassis number, engine number and name of owners. For this one needs to deposit Rs 20 and get an under- verification certificate. At the CPRC, a special counter of the NCRB has been set up from where one can get a vehicle verified. The center has been up linked with the NCRB, Delhi, wherein the data regarding stolen vehicles is uploaded. He added that from the month of July till date, 12 stolen vehicles had been confiscated during various nakas. A vehicle had come for verification at the CPRC and it was found to be a stolen one. Investigations are under progress in this matter. The 215 vehicles compounded under the Motor Vehicle Act and other acts were verified through NRCB. Three of these vehicles have been found to be stolen. The district police also checked records of cyber café owners pertaining to record keeping of identification proof of visitors using their services. Yadav stated that all the cafes had maintained adequate records. During early this month, the police had directed all cyber café owners to maintain due records of people using computers so as to keep a check on anti-social elements.
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Railway adalats to be held in Patiala, Sangrur
Chandigarh, August 16
He informed that 3,000 retired employees benefited from a pension mela organised at Ambala on July 28. The other highlights of the I-Day function were a colourful patriotic play and special dog- obedience show. The Northern Railway Women Organisation president Renu Jaggi presented a school bus for the children of railway employees. ADRM Ambala RK.Saxena, senior divisional operational manager Gulshan and senior divisional commercial manager Karan singh organised a tree plantation campaign on the occasion.
Divisional railway manager of Ambala Division HK Jaggi unfurls the Tricolour at the I-Day function in Ambala on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
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Gastroenteritis hits Barnala village
Barnala, August 16 Six to seven persons with symptoms of gastroenteritis were admitted to the civil hospital here yesterday. Some of them were discharged after treatment, while one or two persons were in the hospital. It is learnt that one person died today in the village. He was getting treatment from DMC Hospital, Ludhiana. Whether or not he had been suffering from gastroenteritis could not be confirmed. Civil hospital doctor Rajesh, who visited Sangherra village today to examine patients, said he found 15 to 16 cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in a locality of the village. He said only one or two patients could be considered major cases of diarrhoea, while the remaining were mild diarrhoea and vomiting cases. Dr Rajesh said he had supplied anti-biotic, anti-diarrhoea tablets and ORS powder to the patients. He said the villagers had told him that there were several underground water pipes leaking from where dirty water contaminated the drinking water, he added.
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Fraud in panchayat dept alleged
Khamano, August 16 He had gathered information under the RTI Act, which disclosed a fraud of lakhs of rupees in the department between 2002 and 2006. In his letter, Harjeet alleged that panchayat officials had released advertisements in different newspapers by inflating their original price. He had also complained district administrative officials and senior functionaries in this regard. He further alleged that the department had been releasing advertisements in different newspapers for the sale of land that belonged to the department in various villages of Block
Khamano. The letter stated that the accused in the case were now forcing him to withdraw the complaint despite fact that the Fatehgarh Sahib police was investigating into the matter. Earlier, the block chairperson of the Human Rights Manch of
Khamano, Manjit Kaur, and other social organisations had demanded a thorough probe into the allegations in this regard. They said this practice of minting money by exaggerating the rate of advertisements was on for the past many years, but was stopped after information in this regard was sought under the Right to Information Act in 2007.
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Scanty rain hits Buddha Nullah cleaning
Ludhiana, August 16 Under a state government project to clean the nullah, the department was asked to release 500 cusecs of water from the Sirhind canal into the
nullah. The department has now stated that it may not be possible for it to release water into the nullah as it was facing a scarcity of water. The state government has now asked the department to provide a perennial flow into the nullah so as to wash away garbage and help biological oxygen demand
(BOD) parameters of the badly polluted water body. When the Buddha Nullah Development Committee, headed by Principal Secretary P Ram was constituted, it was decided that 500 cusecs of water should be released from the Sirhind canal into the
nullah. The head regulator of the canal was repaired at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh, especially for the purpose.
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BKU postpones dharna to Aug 24
Jalandhar, August 16 An indefinite dharna in front of the office of the PSEB at Patiala was to begin tomorrow. Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the union, said the Chairman, PSEB, today assured him to decrease the charges. Rajewal said the Power Department had sought a report on the charges from the PSEB which had increased it from Rs 1,200 per BHP to Rs 3,800 per BHP a few weeks ago. “I have been told that the charges will be decreased after consulting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,” said Rajewal, who wanted the restoration of the old rate
of charges.
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Probe into damaged textbooks supply sought
Mohali, August 16 Chairman of the board, Dalbir Singh Dhillon while demanding a probe in to the entire issue said though it had been ascertained that no damaged books had been reported at the 21 depots of the board. He claimed that officials of the social welfare department had clarified that no damaged textbook had been received them so far. The entire controversy had been webbed around just one Class VI textbook of maths. The total budget of textbooks was around Rs 50 crore.
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Agencies put CM on ultimatum
Jalandhar, August 16 The decision was taken by committee leaders comprising Akshar Kumar (Punjab Warehouse Corporation), Krishan Sangruri (Punsup), Pala Mal (Pungrain), Bhupinder Singh (Markfed) and Harbhajan Bhatia (Punjab Agro) in a meeting held in Ludhiana today. The committee members have decided to hold a protest in Chandigarh if their demands are not fulfilled till September 5.
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The Pakistan government has decided to confer its highest civilian award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, posthumously on Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande for working towards peace, harmony and cordial relations between India and Pakistan, according to member, Central Executive committee, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Chowdhary Manzoor Ahmad, also former member, National Assembly here today.
In view of swine flu spread in the country, the SGPC has installed boards at the Golden Temple advising devotees to wash their hands with soap before entering and exiting the shrine.
The boards, written in Punjabi language, have been installed near washbasins.
However, certain devotees pointed out that the SGPC authorities should have written the directions in at least three languages, including Hindi and English.
— TNS
After hoisting the national flag, the DRM took salute from the contingent of Railway Protection Force. Addressing the gathering, the DRM said the Ambala division got 11 shields, including best division shield, at the 54th Rail Week.