Amritsar, September 28
Finding “thought-sharing” partners within the state Congress unit, including Shamsher Singh Dullo and Jagmeet Brar, who have criticised publicly the “artistocratic and anti-Dalit stance” of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, MLA Bikram Singh Majithia has said the Congress high command did not need any more proof about “raja’s aristocracy” after the uttering of senior party leaders.

Majithia was commenting on the statements of Dullo and Brar on the sidelights of a demonstration held by PPCC President Mohinder Singh Kaypee at Jalandhar on Friday.

Majithia alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh believed in “oneupmanship” not only in politics but also in his personal life, whereas a true politician prayed for the wellness of all, irrespective of caste and creed.

He further said every Punjabi, who believed in communal harmony and secularism, felt suffocated under the regime of Capt Amarinder Singh. “And this is the frustration of his own fellows that was being exhibited by them in public gatherings,” said Majithia.

Majithia called upon the people of Punjab, especially the youth, to rise to the occasion and expose Capt Amarinder Singh in every possible way

Hoshiarpur, September 28
Following the instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to dispose of 200-old cases each of civil and criminal nature pending in courts since long, 24 per cent such cases have been settled in the first quarter of the current year of 2009 in the district.

Disclosing this to mediapersons here, Justice Arvind Kumar of the High Court hoped that old cases of similar percentage had also been cleared by the courts in other districts of Punjab. The step had been taken to clear the backlog of cases in the courts of Punjab.

These cases had been pending due to a shortage of judicial officers, said Justice Arvind Kumar, appealing to lawyers to extend their regular 
cooperation to finalise cases to provide speedy justice to litigants.

Ansering a question regarding setting up of an NRI court in Hoshiarpur, he said he would take up the issue with the higher authorities.

Earlier in response to the main demand of the District Bar Association for a new judicial complex in the district, Justice Arvind Kumar said during his inspection of the sessions court complex, he found the pitiable condition that it was in as seven judges were holding courts under a constant threat to their lives as well as of the litigants.

He said he would call the authorities concerned to finalise the case for constructing a new judicial complex at Hoshiarpur.

Earlier District Bar Association chief R.P. Dhir pleaded for the construction of a new judicial complex adjacent to the mini-secretariat and setting up of an NRI court here.

Jalandhar, September 28
The festival of ‘victory of truth over evil’ was celebrated with great fervour in different places in the district today.

Dressed in colourful attires, people of all ages thronged the Dassehra venues and saw the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna, and Meghnada go up in flames.

People were seen perched atop their houses and buildings adjoining the venues to have a clear glimpse of burning effigies in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Phagwara, Phillaur, Nakodar, Adampur, Bhogpur, Kartarpur and many other places.

The festival was also celebrated in the villages where residents besides greeting each other also shared sweets among themselves.

Earlier, processions were also organised in different cities, towns and other places.

Interestingly, people still believe in the myth that brining home a small piece of the material used in the making of effigy will protect them against bad luck. Scores of onlookers rushed towards the burning effigies which forced the cops to chase them away and to prevent any untoward incident.

Scores of residents flooded the city thus chocking the roads and streets. The traders had a brisk business on the occasion.

Amritsar: This time Dussehra celebrations at Chheharta Area saw a bit of change. For the first time ever, Defence personnel were made part of the celebrations organised jointly by the Amritsar Citizens’ Council and Radha Krishan Committee.

Brig Dilawar Singh while inaugurating the occasion emphasized on the mutual cooperation between the Defence forces and the civilians to curb the terrorism especially from across the border.

“It is for the first time that Army personnel have become the part and parcel of the festival along with the civilians. This festival which depicts victory of good over evil should be taken as a new beginning to work together for eradication of terrorism in the interest of the nation. We seek cooperation especially from those residing in Border areas”, he said.

Meanwhile, the friction over the festival celebrations could be controlled by the authorities whereas it has been learnt that one night prior to the festival, a tiff occurred between two groups --- the Congress party one led by ex-Mayor Sunil Datti and Raman Bakshi.

Batala: Dassehra was celebrated with religious fervour and gaity in Batala today. Though the main function was organised at opposite Chitti Grounds, the festival was also celebrated at 12 other places in the industrial town and nearby areas.

Tight security arrangements were being made on the occasion. The festival of triumph of good over evil was celebrated by putting three demon effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnad on fire. Special jhankis depicting different gods and goddesses were also part of the celebration. The festival was also celebrated at Quadian, Dera Baba Nanak, and Fatehgarh Churian.

Hoshiarpur: 10-day-long heritage fair on the occasion of Dassehra was concluded at local Ram Lila Ground here today. More than one lakh people from the city and its adjoining areas thronged the ground to witness the final day of the celebration. The fireworks arranged by the Sri Ram Lila Committee was the main attraction of the concluding ceremony.

Jalandhar, September 28
Punjab units of All India Youth Federation and All India Students Federation organsied a march from Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall to mark the 102nd birth anniversary of martyr Bhagat Singh. Thousands of young men and women from all over Punjab gathered and took out a march through the city in red uniforms.

This celebration marks the beginning of the third phase of Ruzgar Prapti Muhim or Movement to Secure Employment. While addressing the gathering, Prithipal Singh Marhimegha, ex-president of All India Youth Federation, said, “All men and women above 18 should be given the right to employment by charting out the plan for the entire available manpower.”

This rally also passed the resolution to achieve full employment for everyone and working hours should be legally restricted to 6 hours. While endorsing the resolution, Jagroop Singh, chief advisor of Ruzgar Prapti Muhim, said, “If length of the workday won’t decrease it will lead to further unemployment and economic inequality.”

Other resolutions were also passed demanding equal wages for identical jobs, to provide free books, bus passes, medical aid and high-quality diet for children between 8 to 14 years, to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in employment opportunity and to meet the rising demand of job cards and unemployment allowance under NREGA. Concrete policy against drug abuse and drug peddlers was demanded in sixth resolution.

Batala, September 28
A one-day seminar on “Consumerism: A global phenomenon” was organised by the Christian Institute for Religious Studies (CIRS), BUC College, in which more than 70 persons, including lecturers, parents, rural and urban citizens, participated.

Dr A.C. Lal, ecumenical coordinator, Earth Centre, Dalhousie (Vice-Chairman, Baring Union Christian College Association) and Rev R.M. Chaudhary, Director, CIRS, were the principal organisers of the seminar.

The main speaker at the first technical session Dr Anup Singh, vice-president, Punjabi Sahitya Academy and prolific writer, enlightened the participants on the concept and origin of consumerism. He felt the present-day global economic capitalistic order was responsible for the tremendous growth of greed and buying of frivolous and dubious products for consumption, thus benefiting the MNCs.

The second technical session included three plays by students of colleges depicting consumerism in the family, socio-economic and educational institutes and rural life.

Before starting a panel discussion, Neeraj Sharma of the college described consumerism as a chronic conditioning of people which generated “false needs” in human mind resulting in “greed of possession and brands” affecting the human relations, influenced by advertisements through various media.

Mukandpur (Nawanshahr), September 28
In his keynote address at a national seminar held on the topic of foreign direct investment (FDI) at AS Shergill Memorial College here, Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu said the FDI prospects were set to remain gloomy during the current year but recovery inflows were expected next year.

Dr Sidhu, who is a professor in the Commerce and Business Management Department at GND University, Amritsar, said continuous operation of neo-liberal policies, such as FDI, had led to more income inequalities at the global level as well as at the national level.

The 82.7 per cent share of the world GDP was held by top 20 per cent of people and 11.7 per cent of the GDP was with next 20 per cent people. The third layer of 20 per cent people had 2.3 per cent of the total GDP whereas the fourth layer of 20 per cent owned 1.4 per cent and the last layer (poorest) of 20 per cent owned only 1.2 per cent of the world GDP.

There were about 82,000 TNCs (transnational corporations) with 8.10 lakh foreign affiliates. These companies played a major role in the world economy.

For instance, the exports of foreign affiliates of TNCs were estimated to account for about 33 per cent of the total world export of goods and services and the number of people employed by them worldwide were about 77 million last year.

Meghna Aggarwal, in her paper, said there were advantages and disadvantages of allowing the FDI in the retail sector in India. She said with the allowing of FDI in the retail sector, there would be greater efficiency and improvement in the standard of living of the masses in the long run and that would lead to greater integration with global economy.

However, there would be labour displacement which would lead to the traditional retail sector being demolished. Livelihood of small shopkeepers and vendors would be most affected. Creation of monopoly was the biggest threat posed by the international retail chains.

Prof M.S. Sidhu of Punjab Agricultural University said there were no chances of the FDI in Punjab because it was a landlocked state, away from ports. No one would like to invest in the state. Most of the FDI were coming to the coastal states, he added.

With the opening up of the Wagah border for trade with Central Asia, there could be the possibility of FDI in Punjab but at this stage it appeared to be just a dream since Punjab was in a pretty disadvantageous position in view of its location, he added.

Earlier, S.S. Dhindsa, a dairy farm owner, who came to Punjab from the UK, while inaugurating the seminar, said though NRIs had not made direct investments in Punjab at a big scale, they had made a significant contribution to the state’s development.