Chandigarh, September 17
Assembly elections in Haryana have put the SAD in a fix . It is in dilemma whether to support alliance partner in Punjab, the BJP, or to go with old ally, the INLD. The SAD has, so far, avoided a statement on the issue. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the issue was yet to be discussed.

The SAD has had several meetings over past few days, including its core -committee’s and coordination-committee’s of the SAD and the BJP, but the party avoided taking up the issue.

Though BJP leaders say the matter needs no discussion and they hope the SAD, which has sizeable followers among Sikhs in Haryana, would support it yet the SAD has not made any comment so far. Going by family ties between INLD chief Om Parkash Chautala, and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, it is difficult for the SAD to support to the BJP, ignoring the INLD.

At one point, SAD leadership was thinking of contesting the October 13 election on its party symbol as it had done in Delhi.

The leadership felt this could consolidate position of the Sikhs in Haryana who are already facing the issue of separate SGPC for Haryana. But the idea was dropped as it will hit the INLD and the BJP by dividing votes thus helping the Congress. Chautala has held meeting with SAD leadership, but no loine of action was formulated . It is now felt the SAD will remain silent on the issue and let Haryana voters decide for whom to vote.

There is thinking in the SAD if Bhajan Lal is able to forge alliance with the BJP, then they will be able to tell voters to oppose Bhajan Lal’s Haryana Janhit Congress (BL). A senior party functionary said, “ The matter will be discussed and resolved in a day or two.”

Going with the INLD could create a chasm between the SAD and its alliance partner, while going with the BJP at the cost of ignoring the INLD may not be acceptable to the party leadership.

Jalandhar, September 17
The Union Government has brought small and marginal farmers within the scope of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The necessary amendment to Schedule 1, para 1(iv) of the NREG Act has been effected by the government.

Earlier only members of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, persons living below the poverty line and some other categories were covered under the scheme. The Centre has already issued a notification in this regard. Joint Secretary to the Union Government Amita Sharma has sent copies of the notification to the state governments concerned, it is learnt.

Small and marginal farmers, as defined in the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008, will be entitled to benefits available under the NREGA.

Dr JS Samra, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rainfed Area Authority of India, who is also associated with the NREGA, today urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to extend the benefit of the scheme to small and marginal farmers, whose percentage in Punjab is more than 60. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh also have a substantial percentage of small and marginal farmers.

The Union Government has issued some guidelines to ensure compliance with the amendment notified and for the creation of durable assets and strengthening of the livelihood resource base of the rural poor.

The Centre has told the state governments that work on the land of SCs and STs will be taken up on priority.

Once the work reaches “saturation” within the jurisdiction of a gram panchayat, work in the case of small and marginal farmers should be taken up.

Work on the land of small and marginal farmers will include water conservation, water harvesting like the construction of wells and farm ponds and recharge structures on existing well and conveyance systems.

No contactor or machinery is to be used in the execution of the work.

No machinery will be purchased.

Projects will be approved by the village panchayat and each such project will have a labour and material ratio of 60:40.

Ludhiana, September 17
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has shortage of 500 teachers compared to 1962 when it was started. In 1998 the Board of Management reduced teaching posts to 1,166, now the university has 833 teachers, 300 lower than the sanctioned strength.

Sources said most of the vacancies were unfilled due to lack of funds. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research ( ICAR) has been funding PAU and of the 304 teaching posts funded by it, only 23 are vacant. The state government continues to fund 534 teaching posts.

Departments like plant breeding, agronomy, soil, horticulture and farm power and machinery are the worst hit. In plant breeding department of 95 posts of non- plan schemes (state funded), 52 posts are vacant; department of agronomy has 22 vacancies out of 54 posts, department of economics and sociology has 28 vacant posts out of 56 posts and Department of soils has 26 vacancies out of 72 under the state- funded category. The department of farm power and machinery has 38 state- funded posts and 26 of these are vacant.

At regional research station, Gurdaspur, of 20 state -funded posts 17 posts are vacant. At Bathinda regional research station, 12 out of 19 and at Ballowal Saunkhri 29 out of 34 posts are vacant. Ballowal Saunkhri research station looks after research in Kandi area. Bathinda research station takes care of fruits and cotton crops.

Set up on the pattern of Ohio State University of the USA PAU teachers have to teach, do research and extension work with campuses at Ludhiana, Hisar and Palampur in Himachal.

Registrar Dr R K Mahe, said only critical posts were being filled while those caused by retirement mostly not filled. The varsity had 4,500 non-teaching employees , he informed.

The university, with four colleges affiliated to it and 44 departments, had absorb 200 employees of the Central Seed Farm at Laddowal. The land with 100 year- old sugarcane research centre, Jalandhar was given to the Border Security Force. It hit sugarcane research.

Chandigarh, September 17
Forest and Wildlife Minister Tiksan Sud, at a meeting of the Sub-Mountain Kandi Area Committee on yesterday said the Board of Wildlife had approved hunting of female wild boar even at night.

Sud added the committee had also recommended the farmers who did not have licensed weapons be allowed get services of the farmers who had weapons.

Sud said a decision to compensate farmers at the rate of Rs 4,000 per acre had also been approved.

However, wildlife activists criticised the decision going against the provisions of Wildlife Protection laws which state female animals cannot be hunted at night especially during mating season. The rules also forbid hunting near ponds.

Jagriti—NGO head Prabhat Bhatti said the Wildlife Department had failed to address why wild boars preyed on fields. He said habitat of the wild boar had shrunk in the Kandi belt and people were farming in forest areas.

A former wildlife official said earlier restrictions on the hunting of wild boar did not suit hunters as hunting of this animal was easier at night. Moreover, it was easier to hunt females who roamed around with brood of 10 or 12 piglets.

He said since wild boar had not been declared vermin in the state, the new relaxation was not in order.

Chief Wildlife Warden R. K. Loona, said the Wildlife Board accepted the proposals following complaints of farmers it was difficult to distinguish male and female wild boar at night.

Besides, getting permits from subdivisional magistrates for hunting wild boar and then disposing of the carcasses was cumbersome and it was felt that this should be made simpler.

The board meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal 

Amritsar, September 17
One person was killed and 11 others injured, two of them seriously, when overloaded SGPC bus overturned outside the Hall Gate around 6 .30 am.

The deceased has been identified as Gulzar Singh of Herkalan village. Satpal and Ram Swarup received serious injuries.

The bus was ferrying pilgrims from the Golden Temple to the Railway station when the mishap took place.

Passengers alleged Gurpal Singh, driver of the bus, was attending failed to negotiate sharp curve. Bloodstains and splinters of windscreen and windowpanes were scattered all over the road.

Passersby helped the injured and many of them were brought out from the bus after removing windowpanes. Some persons received fractures in legs as they were reportedly hanging on the footrest of the bus.

SGPC president Avtar Singh said the driver of the bus had been suspended. He announced Rs 1 lakh relief for the family of the deceased and free of cost treatment to the injured at Guru Ram Das Hospital.

ASP PK Yadav said the driver had been arrested and a case registered under Sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC against him.

Chandigarh, September 17
The Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association (PSVOA) at a meeting of its state executive here today urged the Punjab Chief Minister to implement the recommendations of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission on grant of NPA to veterinary surgeons of the state at the rate of 25 per cent of basic pay.

Dr Ashok Kumar Sharma, president, PSVOA, said the Pay Commission had recommended pay parity of vets with medicos be maintained. NPA at the rate of 25 per cent of basic pay has also been recommended by the commission to vets, keeping in view the NPA being paid to their counterparts at the Centre and also veterinary universities and also in Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh.

The state executive body thanked the CM for notifying the NPA of PCMS doctors and demanded ,to remove resentment among the cadre of vets, NPA should be notified to them also.

Union leaders Dr Sukhdev Singh and Dr G S Walia said other allowances like 'rent-free accommodation', 'rural area allowance' and other admissible allowances should also be paid in revised scales. The body has served one-month notice on the government for meeting its demands.

Ludhiana, September 17
Manhole covers akin to those in Chandigarh have been found at several places in the city. These have the map of Chandigarh on them, but the Municipal Corporation here has no idea that these have heritage value.

Designed by Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier’s associate the model of manhole cover has been preserved at the Government Art and Museum Gallery, Sector 10, Chandigarh.

Nobody knows how these covers reached Ludhiana; when these were put up.

“If the manhole covers, designed by Pierre Jeanneret, are original, price of one cover would be close to Rs 5 lakh. These are very important artefacts and I would request the Municipal Corporation ,Ludhiana to restore them,” said nodal officer of Le Corbusier Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, VN Singh.

“These manhole lids are vanishing from Chandigarh; many of these have been stolen and replaced with concrete slabs . It would be exciting if these lids are the ones which were stolen,” he added. The municipal authorities here expressed ignorance about manhole covers here. “We purchased gutter covers from two Chandigarh-based companies.

I do not know whether these covers has map of Chandigarh as we purchased them through bulk orders,” said XEN AK Gupta.“It has been years since these manhole covers have been here. These are in dilapidated condition . If these covers are original, these should be preserved,” said Maj Gurdial Singh.

Chandigarh, September 17
Launching austerity measures in the state, the Punjab government today decided to lower the vehicle category entitlement for officers, including Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries, Financial Commissioners, Administrative Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

The Motor Vehicle Board that met under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal here today took decision in this regard.

The Chief Secretary, earlier entitled to Toyota Camry, will now be given Toyota Corolla. Most other officers are now entitled to use Honda City or Maruti SX4. Instead of Ambassador car, officers can choose between Swift DZire (diesel) and Tata Indigo (diesel).

The decision was taken at a meeting by DS Guru, Principal Secretary to CM, DS Jaspal, Principal Secretary, Transport, AR Talwar, Principal Secretary, Home, Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary, Finance, MS Sandhu, Secretary, Printing and Stationery, Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary, Expenditure and R.Venkatratnam, State Transport Commissioner.

The decision will reduce the cost of running government vehicles by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

Dera Bassi (Mohali), September 17
Several housing projects in Dera Bassi, approved by the Punjab Local Government Department have run counter to the master plan of the Dera Bassi local planning area.

The housing projects apart, several industrial units and realtors have also taken strong objections to the proposed land marked by Singapore-based consultant of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

While the Dera Bassi MC claims that whatever exists at the site had been in consonance with the existing land use (ELU), officials in the Town Planning Department maintain that the proposed land use (PLU) was based on the planning norms and existing status.

Till September 9, the last date of filing objections and suggestions to the master plan, at least 24 objections by industrial units, realtors and Dera Bassi MC have been filed with the Punjab’s Town and Country Planning Department. The master plan had been on public-display at the different government offices.

Sources reveal that one of the major objections had been relating to the free economic zone (FEZ). A number of industrial units have raised voice against shifting of existing industrial units out of the industry-mix-zone in the FEZ, health of residents not being kept in mind while permitting residential use within industrial mix zone and reducing the distance norm between industry and the nearby residential area from 500 metres to 100 metres at cost of the residential area.

One of the objections filed by Sindhi Sweets, Chandigarh, relates to setting up a hotel in an area marked for industrial and commercial use in the ELU. The new master plan has marked the area as institutional. The area where brick kilns have been operating along the Barwala road has been shown as residential.

Sabbo Coatings, Sector 8, Chandigarh, has suggested that the distance between existing industries and the proposed residential area in the industry mix zone be mentioned.

For shifting out of the industrial mix zone, the industry has sought incentive for seven years and not three years due to recession. The affected units should be provided same chunk of land at confessional rates. Several other objections relate to marking of the residential area instead of institutional, industrial and commercial.

The EO, Dera Bassi, MC has pointed out that along the Haibatpur road, where various housing projects have been approved, the area has been shown as industrial mix zone. On the right side of the Mubarakpur road, the industrial zone should be marked as residential.

While pointing out that master plan had been made without consulting other departments, the EO has also sought institutional zone instead of residential along Gulabgarh, Issapur and College roads.

Sangrur , September 17
The breach in Ghaggar near Makror Sahib village (near Moonak) was today plugged at 3 pm. Due to this breach , water had once again entered standing crops on five villages, Moonak, Phuld, Surjan Bhaini, Salemgarh and Makror Sahib. Ghaggar water had entered standing crops on about 3500 acres in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, water in Ghaggar river was touching 745.5-foot mark at RD-460 at Khanauri this evening as water in Ghaggar has started receding. Yesterday evening the water in the river was touching 748-foot mark at RD-460. Due to plugging of breach and receding Ghaggar, situation today started returning to normal.

Moonak SDM R.P.S. Walia said he had convened an ‘Open House; on September 22 at Makror Sahib village for transparency in special girdawari in the affected villages. He said besides the common people, sarpanches and panches, officers from the departments of Revenue, PSEB and Mandi Board also took part.

Chandigarh, September 17
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday directed the Punjab State Electricity Board chairman to provide hotline to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, being run from the Polytechnic College as makeshift arrangement. Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, Prof MK Surappa who called on him at the CM’s residence this morning was assured of this .

Taking up problems with the Chief Minister, Surappa urged Badal to hand over the possession of remaining 100 acres of land of 500 acres to the institute to take up construction of compound wall on priority.

He also raised the issue of the early completion of the four-laning of the Ropar-Kurali Road and the flyover. 

Chandigarh, September 17
The Punjab and Haryana High Court believes that menace of “kaburtarbazi” can only be put to an end by a series of successful prosecutions and has asked the police to do its job of conducting inquiries thoroughly.

The Division Bench of Justice KS Garewal and Justice Nawab Singh have asserted: “The kind of travel arrangement that unscrupulous agents and touts make for gullible village folk are often referred to as kaburtarbazi. This is a big menace. People lose their hard earned money and often sell land to pay-travel agents.”

“A number of cases have come to our notice where people had paid money without the person being sent abroad. If he was sent then he often had to return because he was unable to settle down in the country of his destination due to lack of employment or incomplete documentation.

“When police arrests a so-called agent, it must conduct proper inquires and collect all the corroborative evidence of the agent's activities, if the agent's prosecution is to succeed and he is suitably punished. The menace of kaburtarbazi can only be brought to an end by a series of successful prosecutions.”

The observations follow an appeal against the state of Punjab by Ramu. The allegations are that Rs 3 lakh was paid to domestic help Ramu for sending Parmatma Singh alias Pamma to a foreign country, probably Italy. He was later found dead.

The Bench asserted: “There is a strong desire among young men of Punjab to go abroad for work. Clandestine trafficking of youth looking for a better life abroad has been prevalent in Punjab for many years. Parmatma Singh (22) was a victim of unscrupulous travel agents.

“Parmatma Singh's dead body was found on June 13, 1999. Ramu was arrested for his murder and sent up for trial. He was found guilty of murder and for destruction of evidence. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. The judgment of the Sessions judge, Hoshiarpur, dated September 13, 2000, is the subject matter of the present appeal.”

Before parting, the Bench added: “In the present case, we find that the evidence against Ramu was not sufficient to record conviction. Consequently, the appeal 
is allowed. The appellant is hereby acquitted of the charge.

Chandigarh, September 17
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that it wanted to hear only the Punjab DGP on the issue of local rank promotions.

Moga, September 17
Three persons, including one child, travelling on a bicycle, were killed on the spot when a car coming from the opposite side hit them near Madoke village in the district, last night.

The deceased were identified as Resham Singh, Baljit Kaur and their one and a half years old son Seeta. Baljit Kaur's other son was unhurt. They were going from Madoke to Butar Kalan village.

Eyewitnesses said the car dragged body of Baljit along the road and ‘tore’ it into two pieces. The driver of the car fled the spot after the accident.

The Mercedes car (UP-14-AR-0001) that hit the bicycle is said to be owned by a owner of chain of private professional institutes of the area.

Soon after the accident, local residents gathered on the spot demanding registration of murder case against the car driver. They also blocked the Moga-Barnala road for five hours at midnight. Angry at the attitude of the police in registering case of murder, agitators burnt the car left by the driver.

Senior civil and police officials reached the spot and assured people of registering a case against the driver, protesters lifted the blockade at 2 am.

The police has registered a case under Section 304 of the IPC against Harry, son of Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Dhudhike village, driver of the car.