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Four killed as bus falls into drain
Now, irregular appointments in Baba Farid varsity
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CM seeks views of Excise Dept
Bathinda Refinery
47 Squadron to get President’s Standard
Cut area under wheat, Rajewal asks farmers
Allotment of paddy stocks to mill cancelled
Rural women prefer tackling problems to fighting for rights
Fake notes threaten economy: RBI
Costlier jaggery spells doom for bootleggers
Sweets turn ‘bitter’ this time
Govt mulls funds for Dasmesh canal project
Seechewal appeals against crackers
Docs in rural areas to observe ‘black Diwali’
Cops ignoring complaints, says Cong
Violation of bail orders by cops criminal contempt
High Court
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Four killed as bus falls into drain
Bhakana Kalan (Amritsar), October 15 The deceased have been identified as Jarnail Singh of Bhangali Kalan village, Sharanjit Kaur of Bhakana Kalan village while other two deceased women are yet to be identified. The bus, belonging to Shan bus service, was heading for Amritsar from Mahawa village when the accident took place. The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle, which smashed into iron angles of the bridge and fell into the drain. Sarpanch of Bhakana Kalan village Davinder Singh said after hearing the loud thud of the bus hitting the bottom of the drain, passersby and villagers rushed to the spot and rescued the injured. The deceased were sitting in the hind side of the bus. Six passengers sustained minor injuries, who were discharged after giving a first aid. The villagers had to cut open the front glass and windowpanes of the bus to take out trapped passengers. A recovery van from Amritsar took over an hour to pull out the bus from the drain. Meanwhile, senior police and district administration officials visited the spot to look after the rescue operation.
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Now, irregular appointments in Baba Farid varsity
Chandigarh, October 15 According to information gathered under the RTI Act by Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate HC Arora, the BFUMS has no rules of recruitment and no record of meetings of a selection committee despite having employed over a 100 persons on a contract and ad-hoc basis in the past two years. These include the post of registrar; controller of examinations; technical adviser; finance officer; law officer; deputy registrar; assistant registrar; superintendent; junior engineer (civil); supervisor and security officer. Besides, the university employed data entry operators, helpers, employees, assistants, laboratory attendants, clerks, library restorers, laboratory assistants, drivers, telephone operators, sever men and plumbers on contract. What was the procedure followed in making these appointments is also not known. “I was told by public information officers of the university that no meetings for these selections were held and that the rules and regulations regarding appointments have not been framed as yet,” said Arora. Interestingly, the university had given an advertisement in 2007 for recruitment. It is a common advertisement for the recruitment of a large number of posts to be filled on a regular/contract basis. The advertisement, however, did not disclose the number of posts to be filled against each category, neither does it say anything about the qualifications required for these posts. It also did not reveal as to which of those posts were to be filled on a regular basis and which on a contract. It also does not divulge the salaries payable. “Approximately 200 appointments were made and for each post more than one candidate must have applied. Based on the information, which I have got from the university’s PIO, it is nothing short of an incredible feat for any authority who single handedly interviewed all these candidates without preparing any records of comparative merits and can still state with confidence that they selected the best,” said Arora. “These glaring anomalies are serious irregularities and in law such appointments are called back-door entries. Such employees cannot be regularised on completion of any length of service whatsoever,” he added. Earlier, The Tribune had highlighted a plethora of such appointments made at the Rajiv Gandhi Law University in Patiala and the PTU, Jalandhar. Following public interest litigations, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the Punjab government in these two cases.
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CM seeks views of Excise Dept
Chandigarh, October 15 The Chief Minister had given an oral nod to the HMEL’s proposal to extend the loan due to it from the state government from the earlier Rs 250 crore for five years to Rs 400 crore for 15 years. The Excise Department has now been asked to examine the issue and give its recommendations. However, the proposal has met with flak from the BJP. A senior minister of the party has claimed that he was not even consulted on the issue despite the fact that he holds the industry portfolio. Industry Minister Manoranjan Kalia said he did not know about the oral agreement, as he was not involved in the meeting. “I also read about the issue in the newspapers only,” he added. Sources said doubts are also being raised on whether the concessions being sought by the HMEL can be extended by the state government. This is because the June 20 meeting, at which the concessions were discussed, was presided over by Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora while the earlier concessions had been freezed by the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting was attended by L N Mittal on behalf of Mittal Steel and Prabh Das on behalf of Hindustan Petroleum besides Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who represented the state. Meanwhile, in view of the precarious financial situation of the state, serious doubts are being raised on whether the state can give a loan of Rs 400 crore per year to the HMEL. It has been suggested by the BJP that the HMEL could be asked to keep VAT collections instead of giving these to the state. Those suggesting this say other states have also followed this pattern. Even as the Industries Minister blames the present confusion on the issue on a “communication gap”, Chief Minister Badal seems to be clear that the refinery has a just claim to an increase in the loan amount as well as delay in the repayment from the sixth year onwards to the proposed 16th year. The government is “happy” with the progress being made by the refinery on the ground with 45 per cent of the project having been completed. Officially, however, the concessions have still to be extended with the Chief Minister claiming that the state will sit down with the refinery management and try to “cooperate” as much as possible.
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Move to extend concessions draws flak
Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 15 “It would be a bad economic decision as well as against the interest of the state to extend any further benefit to the owners of oil refinery,” said an expert. He said instead of giving Rs 400 crore per annum interest free for 15 years to the HPCL-Mittals for refinery, it would be better for the state to offer to cotton mills to set up a cluster of 10 cotton and garment units at Bathinda. The government should offer Rs 40 crore as subsidy to each of the units. In five years, at least 50 units will come up in the Bathinda region, which is known for producing quality cotton and making a huge contribution to the state exchequer besides improving the economy of the state. Giving off Rs 400 crore free of interest means accumulation of approximately Rs 11,000 crore (principal plus interest) in 15 years on behalf of the Punjab government towards the owners of the refinery. And the owners would start returning that amount after 15 years in instalments without any interest . “If the state government is to give the benefit of Rs 11,000 crore to the refinery owners in 15 years, a better option to it is to ask Laxmi N Mittal to sell some part of the equity to the Punjab government, which should float a public issue against the equity to collect money from the investors,” said the expert. The HPCL-Mittals have just invested Rs 6,000 crore and raised a loan of Rs 12,000 crore for the project. In the equity of Rs 6,000 crore, both HPCL and Mittals were equal partners. That means each of the two parties will invest Rs 3,000 crore in five years (2008-2012) from their own resources. Of it, the HPCL-Mittals were asking for Rs 2,000 crore, Rs 400 crore every year, from the Punjab government. That means both joint venture partners will invest only Rs 2,000 crore each from their own resources in five years. By giving Rs 400 crore each year to the PSEB for five years, at least five thermal plants of 500 MW each could be set up in Punjab. Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader said the party was studying the issue carefully and consulting experts on this issue. “Already our senior leader and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had made his views known on the issue. He had opposed extending of any fiscal benefit to the refinery as it would not be in the interest of the state,” said the Congress leader.
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47 Squadron to get President’s Standard
Jalandhar, October 15 The squadron, also known as the Black Archers, was formed on December 18, 1959, at Halwara with the amalgamation of the best officers and men picked from various units of the Air Force. Ever since its inception, the squadron has operated from bases like Pune, Jamnagar, Chabua, Baghdogra and Hashimara to the present location in Adampur. It is owing to the high state of mission readiness, both in terms of aircraft and personnel during all these years, that the squadron has been selected for the award. The Archers moved into the supersonic realm on March 23, 1968, when they converted to MIG 21 FIs. Apart from this, the squadron was the first to convert to the Russian-built MiG-29S. In March 1997, the squadron was moved to the Air Force Station, Adampur, to safeguard the western skies. The squadron is now awaiting the arrival of the upgraded MiG-29S. The motto of the squadron, “My bow is stretched for its task,” was proved when the Archers undertook operations during the 1971 war. For its outstanding performance in the 1971 Operation, the Black Archers were awarded two VrCs (Vir Chakras), one VSM (Vashisht Seva Medal) and four Mention-in-Dispatches. The Archers were deployed during Operation Safed Sagar with their aircrew operating in the valley and during Operation Parakram.
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Cut area under wheat, Rajewal asks farmers
Jalandhar, October 15 Rajewal said the Congress leaders should be aware that last year the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices had recommended Rs 1,080 per quintal as the price of paddy.However, the Union Government had announced Rs 880 per quintal. Later it gave Rs 50 per quintal as bonus and that raised the price to Rs 930 per quintal. Rajewal said this year the commission brought down the price recommendation to Rs 980 per quintal after farmers had spent a lot on diesel and other inputs to save their paddy crop from the onslaught of drought. He said the Congress government had announced that it would give Rs 30 per quintal as bonus in 2002. However, only Rs 10 was paid and the remaining Rs 20 had not been paid so far. In the case of the cotton price, the Union Government had been discriminating against Punjab farmers. While farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan were being given a higher price, their counterparts in Punjab were given Rs 50 less per quintal. Rajewal said that because of the hurdles created by the Union Government with regard to the specifications for paddy, farmers had to face problems in disposing of their crop. The Union Government had been harassing Punjab farmers on one pretext or other. Rajewal said at the time of procurement, the Union Government would again create problems. So it would be in the interest of farmers to reduce the area under paddy and wheat every year. He said Punjab had been growing wheat and paddy for the country. It only needed 30 per cent of the wheat grown by it and the rest had been going to the central pool.
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Allotment of paddy stocks to mill cancelled
Gurdaspur, October 15 Langah took the step when a section of the farmers of Jode Chattran village lodged a complaint with him that the rice mill owners had allegedly been taking Rs 20 per quintal of paddy from them on the pretext that the moisture content in their stocks was more than the prescribed limit. They alleged that the mill owners were doing this despite the fact that the paddy stocks had been procured by the state agencies and stocked in that particular mill as per the allocation of stocks done by the authorities. The farmers also produced receipts for the “illegal cut” made by the rice mill owners before Langah. Langah, who made a tour of various grain markets to get the procurement of paddy speeded up, ordered officials take legal action against the owners of the mill. Later, Langah held a meeting of farmers, officials of the procurement agencies, commission agents and rice mill owners and urged them to help procure paddy as per the norms and in a proper manner. Meanwhile, Nirmal Singh, District Food and Supplies Controller, said the procurement and lifting of paddy stocks was being done within 72 hours of their arrival at the purchase centres and payments were being made to the persons concerned within 48 hours.
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Rural women prefer tackling problems to fighting for rights
Phillaur, October 15 This was evident today during a congregation of rural women organised at Phillaur on International Rural Women Day as the women talked about cattle, daily wages, discharging of sewage and the like when they were invited to discuss their problems. Activists of organiser NGO --- Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan --- had a tough time asking the women to talk about the violation of their rights and not go astray by discussing other issues. But this did not deter them from discussing how their cattle were taken away by landlords of their villages and how their children could not catch buses to go to cities. The women, who were invited on the dais, one after the other narrated a similar problem. “I am not getting employment under the NREGA scheme though I am trying my best,” said Manjeet Kaur, a woman from Jamarka village in
Mansa. For Gyan Kaur of Jhanda village in Mansa, her house on panchayati land that was considered an encroachment was an issue confronting her womanhood. “What are the women rights? For us there are no welfare schemes and no government. The biggest issue is arranging two square meals a day,” said Root Kaur of Tootan village in Patti, adding that she was working for Rs 20 every day as an agricultural
labour, so fighting for rights took a backseat when it came to overcoming her hunger.
Sukhdeep Kaur, another woman from Chhaipra village in Muktsar, said she had to bear seven children waiting for a son. “I had to have a male baby, so I had six daughters. My husband and mother-in-law wanted a son. Now I have got a tubectomy done,” she said, adding that she did not have enough money for getting her health check-ups.
Seero, another agriculture help, said she had no right to vote as she had to see who gifted liquor to her husband. “He has to decide about my right,” he said.
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Fake notes threaten economy: RBI
Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 15 “One can imagine the pain felt by a vegetable vendor or a rickshaw puller when his day’s income is lost by getting a fake note. As we cannot reach each and every citizen we seek cooperation from all quarters in spreading awareness about the security features of currency notes of all denominations,” said
Kaul. He said the RBI had already directed the managements of all commercial banks to file FIRs whenever any of their branches noticed a fake note being tendered. Admitting the central bank had received feedback that fake notes were being returned to those who had tendered them after defacing them, he stressed the practice should be discontinued immediately. Banks have also been directed to ensure cashiers do not staple currency packets or write anything on the notes. “Misuse of currency notes for decorative purposes should also be stopped”, said
Kaul.
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Costlier jaggery spells doom for bootleggers
Bathinda, October 15 Excise department data shows only one case against spurious liquor manufacturers has been filed in the area this year. Last year in the same period, the department booked scores of people producing illicit liquor. Said excise & taxation officer RS Romana: “The rates of jaggery have gone through the roof, sending bootleggers packing. This has led tipplers to go in for ‘country made’ liquor whose sales have jumped by about 20 per cent over last year.” Jaggery prices have skyrocketed by 40 to 50 per cent over those prevailing in the previous year - from Rs 24 per kg to Rs 32 per kg. Bacchus lovers, particularly those addicted to hooch, are now having a tough time to get their daily fix. The bootleggers are now clutching at the proverbial last straw in a bid to remain afloat. They have begun using a chemical- methanol- which when mixed with water and essence gives a taste of hooch. However, an insider disclosed methanol occasionally gets interchanged to ethanol, which, in turn, makes the hooch potentially lethal by damaging the liver and the nervous and digestive systems. In the adjoining district of Muktsar, too, the spiralling cost of jaggery is pushing bootleggers out of business.
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Sweets turn ‘bitter’ this time
Chandigarh, October 15 This year, sugar prices have been hovering around Rs 36 a kg. This is almost double the price prevailing at the same time last year. Unable to absorb this sharp hike in prices, the sweet shops have increased the prices of most goodies. Because of the low milk production in the state and a prolonged shortage, khoya has been in short supply. Officials in Milkfed informed The Tribune they have hiked the prices of most sweets because of the rise in input costs. But, they are still hopeful of doing brisk business. “Since, we use our indigenously produced khoya and paneer for sweets, we are hoping to see a growth of 25 per cent in our sweet sales this year. As against 75,000 kg of sweets produced last year during Diwali season, we are hopeful of selling 1 lakh kg of sweets this year. Since our retail price is still lower than the retail price of other sweet shops, we will do well,” said senior Milkfed official SK Dudeja. “We will also be introducing two new varieties, dal pinni and khoya peda during this festival season. Other than this, other sweets like soan papdi, dhodha and pinni will be manufactured at our plants in Chandigarh and Mohali,” he added.
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Govt mulls funds for Dasmesh canal project
Dera
Bassi, October 15 Both the Congress and the Akalis raise the sensitive issue during each election but have been failing to fulfil it. Interacting with the media during a ‘sangat
darshan’ here today, he said the project would facilitate irrigation in Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts. Earlier, he distributed cheques of Rs 4.9 crore to 80 out of 121 local village panchayats for the developmental work and 129 poor families for building houses under the Indira Vikas
Yojna. An amount of Rs 2 lakh to six needy and helpless persons from his discretionary funds. The CM said the remaining 41panchayat will be heard during the sangat darshan at Banur soon. He also informed the masses that polytechnic college in
Dhakoli, Zirakpur would be named after late Captain Kanwaljeet Singh and the construction work for the same will soon be initiated. To strengthen the educational infrastructure, the government had decided to recruit 25,000 teachers this year.
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Seechewal appeals against crackers
Jalandhar, October 15 Punjab was already facing serious problems on the pollution front and bursting of crackers every year further adds to them, said Baba Seechewal. He said now it had become clear from what kind of stuff most sweets were prepared. Planting of trees would save Punjab from an environmental catastrophe, he said. Punjab was a state that needed an extensive tree cover whereas its area under trees was just about 6 per cent, said Baba Seechewal. He said with the bursting of crackers, a large number of people, who suffer from various allergies, had to go through a lot of pain. Some of them suffer from asthma and other respiratory problems. Baba Seechewal has urged the farmers not to burn paddy husk.
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Docs in rural areas to observe ‘black Diwali’
Ludhiana, October 15 General secretary of the association Rishi Bhardwaj said the association had been fighting for the rights of doctors serving in rural areas. He alleged that the Finance Minister had refused to give them salaries on a par with that of the Punjab Civil Medical Services. He said, “The doctors will not celebrate this festival and this will be followed by mass agitation by medical officers serving in rural areas in all districts.” The salary package of Rs 27,000 finalised by the Finance Department has become a bone of contention between the association and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, which is reportedly delaying the renewal of a three-year contract of medical officers serving in rural areas.
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Cops ignoring complaints, says Cong
Chandigarh, October 15 In a representation to the Union Home Minister, a copy of which was released here, party media in charge Raj Pal Singh said PPCC president M. S. Kaypee had himself received threat letters besides other office-bearers. He said the matter had been brought to the notice of the Punjab DGP but no police official had cared to visit Congress
Bhawan. The representation said at present there were no proper security arrangements for Congress
Bhawan, which housed the state headquarters of the party. Senior leaders, including former Chief Ministers, frequently visited it but there were only three constables on duty in the vast building. It requested that the security arrangements should be beefed up. The PPCC also demanded that the DGP should be issued directions to make proper security arrangements. Besides, the threats should be investigated by a central agency.
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Violation of bail orders by cops criminal contempt
Chandigarh, October 15 Prima facie holding that a sub-inspector had committed criminal contempt by violating the directions issued by the court in a case for anticipatory bail, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain of the high court also directed that the matter be placed before the High Court Chief Justice for appropriate orders on the case being heard by a Division Bench. The accused, Amrik Singh, Manjit Singh and Mohinder Singh, were granted interim bail on March 4, 2008, in FIR dated December 25, 2007, registered under Section 324, 323 and 34 of the IPC at Qadian police station. Section 308 of IPC was later added. Subsequently, an application was moved indicating that the petitioners were arrested by SI Gurmit Singh of the Qadian police station, despite stay on the arrest by the court. Taking
cognisance, notice was issued to the sub-inspector “as to why contempt proceedings be not initiated against him”. The High Court also marked an inquiry by the Chief Judicial Magistrate
(CJM). In his report, the CJM asserted that the petitioners were illegally detained by SI Gurmit Singh by violating the high court orders of March 4, 2008. Taking up the matter, Justice Jain asserted: “It is apparent that a show-cause notice for contempt was ordered to be issued against SI Gurmit Singh and inquiry was ordered to be conducted, in which the
CJM, Gurdaspur, held that SI Gurmit Singh, in order to help the complainant, had violated the orders passed by the court, whereby the petitioners were granted interim relief”. Justice Jain added: “This court is of the prima facie view that SI Gurmit Singh has committed criminal contempt in terms of Section 2 (c) (iii) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971…. Since he has, prima facie, committed a criminal contempt, therefore, this matter cannot be heard by a Single Bench and has to be placed before a Division Bench for adjudication”.
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PTU appointments: Notice to VC
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 15 Directions were also sought to regularise the appointments of 121 adhoc employees and 17 contractual employees, inducted without advertisement or inviting applications from the public. The PIL has been filed by Dr Rashid Mehtab and five other unemployed youth hailing from Patiala alleging these appointments as backdoor entries. State submits list of offenders Acting on a petition filed in public interest for directions to the state of Punjab, the civic body and other respondents to stop the misuse of residential premises for commercial purpose in Ludhiana city, the state of Punjab on Thursday submitted a list of officials against whom proceedings had been initiated for violation of rules. The list placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Mahesh Grover contains the names of six inspectors and other officials. Honoured The SGPC today honoured advocate Pavit Singh Mattewal at a function held at Fatehgarh Sahib. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, SAD general-secretary Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and senior Akali leaders honoured Mattewal for “his assistance and contributions made in recent cases pertaining to an important Sikh issue.
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Four persons were killed and a woman and her three-year-old son sustained serious injuries when a bus fell into a drain, near here, this afternoon. 
