Amritsar, September 30
Hundreds of residents got a shock of their life as they were forced to wake up to a powerful blast of a boiler in a milk processing unit, that not only rocked the entire the Guru Ram Das Avenue area on the Rajasansi Airport road but also left more than 12 persons injured.

The blast which occurred in one of the boilers of the Healthaid Milk Factory was so powerful that its impact was felt by people in a radious of about one km. Window panes of a number of houses and other buildings got smashed. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported.

Enraged over the blast, many residents came out of their houses and blocked the traffic on the Amritsar-Ajnala road to lodge their protest.

They were angry at the district administration’s inability to get the hazardous industrial units out from residential areas. They alleged that the authorities had been acting as a mute spectator to their plight and it had failed to take any action despite their long struggle to get the factory shifted out of the area.

“ The administration, it seems, has never responded in a responsible way on the issue. Even today, the blast could have claimed so many precious lives,” said a group of women sitting on dharna. They alleged that it was not that the factory was a threat to their lives but it has also been polluting the area.

“We are fed up of registering our protests with the administration as we have had to resort to blocking of traffic a couple of times but, without any tangible results. All the administration officials and politicians have done so far in this case is that they have made numerous promises but have never fulfilled them.”

The area municipal councilor Harbhajan Kaur threatened to launch an agitation in case the factory was not shifted out of the area immediately.

The landing of fireballs from the explosion even led to breaking of fire in another cloth factory where, three fire brigade engines managed to douse fire after a lot of efforts.

Four workers of the factory also sustained burn injuries and Karmjit Kaur, a housewife also got injured in the fire.

SDM Sandip Rishi, who, reached the spot tried to pacify the agitated residents and said the incident would be subjected to a magestrial probe. He indicated that the entire factory could be sealed if it was established in the probe that the factory management had acted in an irresponsible manner DC KS Pannu said the area SDM had been asked to conduct an enquiry and submit his report within 15 days.

Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (ad hoc) president Jagdish Singh Jhinda addresses mediapersons in Amritsar on Wednesday.Photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, September 30
While Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (ad hoc) chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda has slammed political parties for trying to get political mileage out of the “most emotional” issue of a separate SGPC for Haryana Sikhs, Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh and the four other Sikh high priests will pronounce their edict on Jhinda and his four associates after their crucial meeting tomorrow.

Giani Gurbachan Singh and the other Sikh high priests had deferred their judgement regarding Jhinda and his associates on September 19. Jhinda and his associates-Avtaar Singh Chakku, Hazoor Singh Nambardar, Kanwaljit Singh, Joga Singh and Bibi Ravinder Kaur-were summoned to appear before Akal Takht to explain their conduct in the light of the Kurukshetra gurdwara row.

While Bibi Ravinder Kaur was exonerated by the Sikh clergy on the basis of her plea that she was not present at the Kurukshetra gurudwara on September 13, Jhinda and his other associates had pleaded not guilty on the grounds that they had just resorted to a “symbolic protest” by taking over “sewa sambhal” of the gurdwara to highlight their grievances against the SGPC management.

This apparently had some impact on the Sikh clergy which decided to hold an enquiry into the incident as had been demanded by Jhinda and his associates before the pronouncement of any verdict by it.

There is speculation that Jhinda and his supporters may not be let off easily and may get punishment just short of excommunication. A group of “pro-SGPC” Haryana Sikhs had recently approached Akal Takht and urged the Sikh clergy to take stern action and excommunicate Jhinda and his supporters as they had “indulged in violence and tried to tarnish the image of the Sikhs apart from violating maryada”.

On the other hand, Jhinda said Akal Takht was supreme for him and for other Sikhs of Haryana and expressed his resolve to accept any punishment given by the Takht to them. “For us, Akal Takht commands the greatest respect and has the utmost importance and this will remain so in future also irrespective of the edict,” said Jhinda and his associates, who reached the Golden Temple complex this evening.

He trained his guns on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, SGPC chief Avtar Singh and at the same time did not spare the Haryana Congress either which has included the issue of a separate Sikh body for the Haryana Sikhs in its election manifesto. “Badal is opposing a separate SGPC for Haryana merely due to political compulsions. Similarly, the Congress and other parties are trying to get mileage from the issue which carries huge emotional value for Haryana Sikhs,” said Jhinda and his associates, who are likely to appear before Akal Takht around 12 noon on Thursday.

Bathinda, September 30
A scheduled hearing of the Punjab Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) regarding the reported presence of uranium in Bathinda water was held today in Chandigarh where the Punjab Pollution Control Board was directed to upgrade the pollution control instruments meant for groundwater.

Kulwant Singh, XEN, PPCB, Bathinda, who was present, said the next hearing would be on December 17.

“Before the next hearing, we will be taking samples of groundwater from Bathinda and checking the amount of uranium and other pollutants present in the samples. After checking the levels, the reasons for it will be ascertained. We have also been asked to upgrade all pollution control instruments being used by us for water,” Kulwant Singh said.

It is surprising that the authorities from the Pollution Control Board, Bathinda, were not aware that a team from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, had come to Faridkot to collect samples of water, soil and vegetation for checking uranium levels.

The Pollution Control Board authorities here said the PSHRC had got sampling done from a private source. “Now, we will be collecting samples from here and checking these for uranium levels,” they said.

Sources said the required reports and documents that the PSHRC had on uranium, reported to be found in and around Bathinda, were today handed over to the Pollution Control Board office in Bathinda.

Kulwant Singh had recently told TNS that a team from the forensic lab in Patiala had arrived to take water samples from Bathinda. Kulwant Singh said the report had been received but he was yet to see it. 

Chandigarh, September 30
Agri experts and scientists of Punjab Agricultural University today ruled out the contamination of rice variety PUSA 1121 by some heavy metals.

The Standard Institute of Industrial Research, an Iranian Government laboratory, had earlier claimed that Indian basmati contained traces of heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium and lead. However, the Iranian Hygiene Ministry gave a clean chit in this regard.

According noted farm scientist and Chairman of the Punjab Farmers Commission G.S. Kalkat, PUSA 1121 is an evolved variety of basmati and is not a genetically modified one. He said there was no poisonous chemical in the grain of PUSA 1121.

PAU Director, Research, P.S. Minhas said paddy soils and irrigation water used in the country were the best in the world and there was little chance of any contamination, especially in grains. He said the Iranian Government laboratory report did not seem to be based on facts because plants naturally filtered out contamination at the root and shoot levels and the maximum heavy metals were retained in the roots and the minimal in grains.

Head, Department of Soils, PAU, Yadvinder Singh said soil scientists were undertaking surveys regularly but heavy metal contamination had not been noticed so far. “This year also we will identify the hot spots, if any, and analyse the samples to decide the future course of action”, he added. 

Patiala, September 30
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has announced that the state government will soon frame a policy under which cooperative societies will be provided with tractors and agricultural equipment at subsidised rates.

Badal said this move would facilitate farmers across the state to get tractors and agricultural equipment on a rental basis, which, in turn, would reduce the expenses incurred by them.

Addressing a function at the Mini Secretariat, after former Akali MLA Surjit Singh Rakhra took charge as chairman of the District Planning Board here this morning, Badal said under the proposed policy, the Punjab government would set up agro centres in the state. "The agro centres will give tractors and agricultural equipment to the cooperative societies at 33 per cent subsidised rates. The farmers can get tractors and equipment required for sowing and cultivation from these cooperative societies on rent. In this manner, the agricultural expenditure of the farmers will come down", said Badal.

Asserting the need for diversification, the Chief Minister said apart from wheat and paddy, the farmers must grow vegetables and fruits besides exploring the option of dairy farming. "If the farmers continue to grow wheat/paddy, the ground water level will go down further and soil fertility will also be adversely affected", said Badal, while exhorting the farmers to shift from the traditional wheat/paddy cultivation. 

Chandigarh, September 30
Faced with an acute financial crunch which may warrant the imposition of fresh taxes in Punjab, the BJP today came out openly to state it would not stand for the reimposition of octroi and that if any subsidies were reviewed these would be done in toto and not piecemeal.

The BJP apparently is miffed by indications from the SAD that it may be difficult to generate funds without reimposing octroi even as it is adamant that farmers should continue to get power free of cost for agricultural operations. The speculation has become so strong among traders that the state BJP president today came out with a statement saying the issue was not even being considered.

Though a two-member committee constituted by the SAD-BJP alliance to go into the entire gamut of subsidies and resource mobilisation is yet to meet with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal holidaying abroad, there is talk of important decisions under review without taking the BJP along.

Meanwhile, the state BJP president tried to allay fears on this front by stating that “the SAD-BJP government is in no mood to reimpose octroi in the state” and went on to say: “If at any point of time subsidies are reviewed these would be done in toto and not for octroi or for that matter any other subsidy separately”.

Sources said the state BJP president had come out with the statement to put appropriate pressure on the alliance government, which is contemplating imposing fresh taxes to generate funds. The party feels any change in the government policy on octroi will adversely affect its electoral chances in any future election.

Local Bodies and Industry Minister Manoranjan Kalia, who is the BJP representative on the committee constituted to look into the issue of subsidies, when contacted, said a meeting of the subcommittee would take place once the Deputy CM returned from his trip abroad.

State senior leader Balramji Das Tandon, when contacted on the issue, said the issue of all subsidies would be decided only after the two-member committee submitted its report to the alliance coordination committee. He said only after the report was submitted any comprehensive decision would be taken both on the issue of subsidies as well as resource mobilisation. 

Jalandhar, September 30
Even as the government has turned its back on former spies, a Maharashtra resident has come to the rescue of such families by raising funds and providing for the education of their wards.

Dinakar Atma Ram Surte, a cotton trader, travelled more that 2,000 km to Mirzapur village located on the Jalandhar-Jammu highway near Pathankot in Gursapur district, to meet the families of Kura Ram and Bishan Das.

The plight of the spies was highlighted in these columns in 2008 and was red by Surte on the Internet edition. Moved by the poor economic conditions of the families and callous attitude of the intelligence agencies and the government, he decided to help the families whenever he visited Punjab.

Accompanied by Chaman Lal, a Bathinda-based trader, Surte reached the village and surprised the villagers when he enquired about these families.

He was shocked to see the abject poverty in which the family of Kura Ram was living. He was not able to provide two square meals to his children.

Surte gave demand drafts Rs 11,000 and one shawl each to the families besides clothes to their wives and children. Surte also distributed sweets among the villagers and asked the neighbours to assist the family of Kura Ram in one way or another.

Talking to The Tribune, Surte claimed that he was depressed to see the condition of the families. He assured that he would support the education of children of Kura Ram. He said he would appeal to fellow traders in Maharastra to raise funds for the family of Kura Ram and certain other spies living in pitiable conditions.

“I will also collect substantial amount, which can be deposited on the name of Kuran Ram so that he can live off the interest,” claimed Surte.

He also expressed displeasure over the government’s attitude for ignoring these spies who faced police atrocities in Pakistan jails for their motherland. The government instead of boosting their moral by taking care of the families has forced them to starve, he said. 

Chandigarh, September 30
Qatar Airways, a 13-year-young five-star airline, is all set to link Amritsar with the Middle East, Europe, Africa and North America by introducing an Amritsar-Doha flight from October 11, says Ali Al Rais, Senior Vice-President, Commercial, of the airline.

“Though we have a licence to operate the Amritsar-Doha flight seven days a week, we are initially operating four flights a week. Amritsar will be our ninth operational hub in India. And by the end of October, we also intend to introduce a Goa-Doha flight to take our ex-India flights to 64 a week against the sanctioned 70 flights a week.”

At present, Qatar Airways operates out of Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Cochin and Kozhikode.

Talking to The Tribune here today, Ali Al Rais said the Amritsar flight would have only three hours’ transit for passengers flying to Washington to Houston in America.Canada was on the future expansion list.

“I do not want to give a philosophical answer to the worldwide recession. But I can tell you that we are expanding fast and acquiring one aircraft every month. By 2013 we will have 110 aircraft and will be touching 120 destinations worldwide. At present, Qatar Airways has 82 destinations with a fleet of 69 aircraft.

“We take pride in claiming that our economy class travel is one of the best. Incidentally, we are the first scheduled international airline to operate out of Amritsar,” he added.

Naveen Chawla, Regional Manager, says that at present there are one lakh Indians in the Gulf who will benefit from the new flights being introduced by Qatar Airways.

An initial market survey indicates that the Amritsar and Punjab market has tremendous potential as “we will be offering convenient connections to Europe, America and Africa besides other destinations in the Middle East through the Amritsar flight,” adds Naveen Chawla.

Akbar Ali Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar, Naveen Chawla says, will visit Punjab in November for a formal launch of the Amritsar flight.

Jalandhar, September 30
An incident in which certain Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) officials bypassed the stipulated regulations by engaging public sector consultancy firm WAPCOS to draft a report on “restoring” the Nangal hydel channel (NHC) has caught the government authorities concerned off balance. The channel, which delivers water from the Nangal reservoir to the Bhakra mainline canal (BMC) at Ropar, is part of the canal network that supplies water from Punjab to Haryana and other states.

“We were upset to find the procedure laid down for such an important matter had not been followed,” said a senior government official.

However, what has further disturbed the officials concerned is that the decision to sign on WAPCOS to draft the report was taken even though there was no apparent need to “restore and rehabilitate” the Nangal hydel channel.

Official sources said a BBMB executive engineer, who was not at all connected with the issue, put up the proposal to engage the PSU. Approval for the proposal was secured from a top BBMB official without seeking prior advice, which is otherwise mandatory, of the financial advisor and chief accounts officer concerned.

Later, the draft report submitted by WAPCOS was forwarded to the Bhakra dam chief engineer who informed the BBMB secretary that the technical problems highlighted by WAPCOS in its report were already being taken of. WAPCOS had not suggested any remedial measures to solve those problems, he further told the secretary.

In fact, finding fault with the WAPCOS report, the chief engineer pointed out certain observations in the draft report had been made without going through the site conditions and facts. He concluded there was no need to engage WAPCOS at all.

The official sources said had the chief engineer’s observations been noted BBMB would have saved from making the 40 per cent payment to WAPCOS.

State government officials are now trying to find out who gave instructions to the Bhakra dam executive engineer, who was in no way connected with the matter, to engage WAPCOS’ services and why was a meeting of BBMB chief engineers not called before going ahead.

Patiala, September 30
The mid-day meal scheme may have increased enrolment and ensured retention of children in primary and elementary schools in other districts, but it has failed to produced desirable results in Patiala.

The enrolment of school children has improved merely by 1 to 2 per cent, varying from school to school and even when it comes to the drop-out rate, the changes are insignificant.

The government had started the mid-day meal scheme to attract more kids to school but to no avail. Being the food basket of the country, there are no takers for the scheme, says Shalu Mehra, headmistress of Government High School, Baran.

“The scheme is aimed at bringing a drastic change in attendance and also encourages more kids to continue school even after primary level but the purpose has not been achieved. It’s not that kids don’t eat their meals but food has never been a primary concern in the state. There are other important factors like child labour, due to which the students drop out and begin working. Though child labour is legally banned but practically we can see that there has been no change and children continue to work at houses, dhabas, shops, etc.,” she adds.

Another teacher from a school feels that though the scheme is beneficial, it is indirectly affecting the teaching process. The teachers have been given the duty to make the receipt of foodgrains, procurement of vegetables and condiments, supervision of cooking and serving of meals, which lead to the loss of valuable teaching time.

He says, “The government must employ a few persons who would take care of the entire process. It will serve two purposes. First, unemployed would get jobs and second, the teachers would be able to devote more time towards teaching.

Also, the children who can afford to get their own food bring their tiffins along. They do not eat the meal for reasons better known to them. As a result, the number of students eating at schools is almost half of their actual strength. By and large the quality of the food is good and timely inspections are conducted to check their standards.

Headmistress of Government Senior Secondary School, Lang, Tarwinder Kaur further adds though there has been a very minor improvement in the attendance of the kids, there academic results have definitely improved.

“Earlier, the kids were half-fed and could not concentrate on their studies. In this regard, this scheme has been beneficial. We recently held a medical check-up camp for our kids and I am glad that the number of anemic children have decreased and also their overall health is better. I hope the scheme might be more fruitful in the long run. Moreover, the satisfaction of feeding hungry kids is what that really matters,” she says.

Moreover, the mid-day meal scheme has badly been hit by the sky rocketing prices of pulses and vegetables. Therefore, the teachers have to time and again make some adjustments like exchanging one surplus food item for one that is required to continue the scheme.

Chandigarh, September 30
A mobile phone apparently rang trouble for Balwinder Kaur. It has, in fact, left the Nawanshahr district resident poorer by Rs 25,000.It so transpires from the Punjab and Haryana High Court records that Balwinder Kaur filed a habeas corpus petition for release of her husband Sohan Lal and his sister Kuldeep Kaur. She alleged sub-inspector with Banga police station Dilbagh Singh, along with other police officials, picked up the two on September 10.

In the petition placed before Justice LN Mittal, Balwinder Kaur claimed the next day she and “two or three others” went to the police station and found both the detainees there. They requested Dilbagh Singh and a deputy SP to ensure the release of the two detainees, but were unsuccessful.

As the matter came up for hearing, the high court directed the appointment of a warrant officer to secure the release of the alleged detainees, if they were being held illegally. It was during the trip from Chandigarh to Banga with the warrant officer that Balwinder Kaur dialed problems for herself. She remained in constant touch with her husband Sohan Lal as they proceeded towards Banga.

In his order after receiving the warrant officer’s report, Justice Mittal took note of the fact that the constant calls “aroused suspicion in the mind of the warrant officer that the alleged detainee could not have been in contact over the mobile phone, had he been detained”.

The officer’s apprehensions were substantiated after Balwinder Kaur took him to Jhungia village near Garhshankar, instead of Banga police station.

Justice Mittal asserted: “Perusal of the report, as well as the statement of the petitioner’s husband Sohan Lal, reveals that Balwinder Kaur made false averments in the petition to secure the appointment of a warrant officer…

“It has become manifest that the petitioner has taken this court for a ride by making patently false averments in the habeas corpus petition and by seeking the appointment of the warrant officer. Consequently, I intended to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the petitioner…. However, on request of counsel for the petitioner, Balwinder Kaur is being let off with the burden of exemplary costs…. Dismissed with exemplary costs of Rs 25,000”. 

Sangrur, September 30
Additional Sessions Judge (Ad hoc), Fast-Track Court, Sangrur, Sarbjit Singh Dhaliwal, today sentenced Pargat Singh (28), resident of Patti Beer Chottian Sheron village (Sunam), to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined him Rs 5,000 for the death of his father under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC. The Sunam police had registered a case against Pargat Singh on May 27, 2008 under Section 304 of the IPC.

As per the prosecution’s case, Raj Singh, resident of Patti Beer Chottian Sheron village, was an agriculturist while his elder son Pargat Singh was residing with him. On May 20, 2008 Pargat Singh came from outside in a drunk condition and caught hold of Raj Singh from the neck and threw him onto the ground. Thereafter, Pargat hit him on the back of the neck while another blow hit the wrist of his right arm. When Raj Singh raised the alarm, he was rescued from the clutches of Pargat by other family members. After that Pargat ran away from the spot with a stick. Raj Singh was admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in Chandigarh where he succumbed to his injuries on May 27, 2008.