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Sekhwan’s name cleared for Cabinet
Non-Lifting of 201 Paddy
Drip Irrigation |
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Missing PSIDC File Case
CM’s Sangat Darshan in School
State to give 88 lakh tonnes of rice to central pool
100th birth anniversary of Dr Thapar today
PSEB inks power pact with US firm
RTI Act covers Gymkhana Club
‘Bikrami calendar will create confusion among Sikhs’
Punjab told to appoint Chief Town Planner
Amritsar MLA-SSP row reaches HC
5 pistols seized from Sachkhand Express
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Sekhwan’s name cleared for Cabinet
Chandigarh, October 23 Highly placed sources in the CM’s office said Badal had send the letter to the state Governor for the final nod. Shekwan was chosen as the MLA from Kanhuwan in the last bypoll after the Kanuwan seat had fallen vacant, following the election of Pratap Singh Bajwa as member Parliament. In 2007, Sekhwan had lost to Bajwa, but won the seat this year by defeating Bajwa’s brother Fateh Singh. The ministerial berth had fallen vacant following the death of former Cooperation Minister Captain Kanwaljit Singh earlier this year. Shekwan’s induction completes the 18-member cabinet of the state. He is likely to get a portfolio from among the ones held by the Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister. Shekwan’s induction also means the entry of a third minister from Gurdaspur, a district which now has the maximum representation in the cabinet and among the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs). Other than the Vidhan Sabha speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, who is the MLA from Fatehagarh Churian in Gurdaspur, the Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah and Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal are also MLAs from the district. MLA from Batala Jagdish Sahwney is a CPS. A move is also on to induct another MLA as a CPS. The names in the fray include MLA from Sri Hargobindpur again in Gurdaspur Balbir Singh Baath among others.
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Non-Lifting of 201 Paddy
Khanna, October 23 The farmers, who had been camping in the Khanna mandi for the past one week, were eagerly awaiting for the Minister to narrate their tale of woes but his visit turned out to be a disappointment. The minister got down his car and was taken to a specific heap of paddy in the market that is facing a glut-like situation. He refused to speak to the farmers and went straight to the office of the Administrator of the market. There he had his breakfast and held a closed-door meeting with the officials of the district administration for 15 minutes and went away. A representative of the Ludhiana District Rice Millers Association, Nirmal Parkash Sofar, however, managed to meet him and hand over a memorandum demanding a ban on sowing of paddy of the 201 variety. Several farmers and arhtiyas, who were waiting for the Minister since morning, said they were disappointed at the Minister not giving them a hearing. Babu Ram, a Doraha-based arhtiya said he was waiting for the Minister but he was not even allowed to see him. Jagtar Singh, a farmer of Rattanheri village, said he had grown the 201 variety in 20 acres in his fields. He was waiting for it to be lifted for more than a week in the mandi only. ‘‘I wanted to talk to the Minister. Why have they recommended the variety if it has to be treated like this? But there was no luck this time,’’ he said. Another farmer, Jasbir Singh of Gaggarwal village, said though his produce was weighed six days ago, it was not being lifted. ‘‘I am waiting here and cannot go back home. The mandi is filled to the brim and there is no room for more produce. I had thought the minister was a man of masses but it proved to be otherwise,’’ he said. Rajpura: Union Minister Sharad Pawar’s visit to the Rajpura grain market for overseeing paddy procurement drew flak from various farmers’ body on Friday. BKU (Rajewal) activist Ghuman Singh Rajewal said the Union Government did not pay farmers as per the MSP recommended by the Commission for Agriculture and Cost Prices (CACP). Talking on behalf of the farmers, Chandumarja urged Pawar that the Union Government should release bonus on the previous and present crops soon. Pawar said Punjab’s farmers contributed maximum to the central pool and it was the duty of the government to keep the interests of farmers in mind before taking any decision. Chandumajra said the Union Government should give a special bonus to the Punjab farmers, as despite facing a drought-like situation, farmers had been able to produce a good crop. He also demanded that the MSP of paddy be fixed at Rs 1,400 per quintal.
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Drip Irrigation
Banur, October 23 The Chief Minister has given cheques for Rs 2 crore to panchayat members of nearly 62 villages of the Banur constituency for different development works. He said the government had decided to open agro-centres in every village under which villagers could buy tractors and other farm-related machinery. A large number of farmers grow vegetables in Banur and adjoining areas and it had been decided that a centre would be opened near Banur, wherein fresh vegetables could be collected and packed neatly for sale in adjoining areas. This would help farmers in marketing vegetables, he said. He also demanded that the farmers of Punjab should be given a special bonus, as despite low rainfall, the state had contributed maximum foodgrains to the central pool.
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Missing PSIDC File Case
Chandigarh, October 23 In a strongly worded note, the Chief Minister has asked for fixing responsibility and strict penal action, showing perhaps for the first time that he had adopted a hard-line posture against bureaucrats. The incident, pertaining to a case in which certain officials of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) had apparently exceeded their brief to help a Sangrur-based private company, had come to light soon after the SAD-BJP alliance came to power. After certain irregularities came to the notice of Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia, he marked the file to the Chief Minister, who asked the then Chief Secretary to probe the matter. But the file went missing, only to be traced after the Chief Minister gave the babus 15 days to locate the file or face action. Sources in the state government told The Tribune that the matter pertained to 1986 when the PSIDC signed an agreement with Sangrur-based industrialist RK Garg for jointly setting a unit titled Acrylic Staple Fiber Project. The PSIDC was to hold 26 per cent equity in the project. But soon Garg set up a new company in 1994 and called it Indian Acrylics Ltd and wanted that the already signed project be converted from assisted sector to joint sector. For this, he signed a supplementary agreement that was also approved by the PSIDC project approval board (PAB). The company management then approved the PSIDC for an increase in its equity. After the amended agreement, the PSIDC has stakes in the company to the tune of Rs 18.33 crore. Subsequently on Garg’s request, the PSIDC, without taking PAB into consideration, approved the advancing of Rs 5 crore to Garg’s request. The PSIDC officials paid a token amount of Rs 1 lakh as confirmation of the approval. But when the matter came to the knowledge of PAB, it objected and stopped further payment. PAB asked the then PSIDC managing director, PSIDC, PS Bajwa and Principal Secretary Industry IS Bindra to explain a modification in agreement without the PAB’s approval. Meanwhile, on not receiving the promised money, Garg went in for arbitration and got an award of Rs 11.20 crore in his favour. Garg was also asked to return the Rs 18.34 crore invested by PSIDC to the corporation. When the matter came to government notice in 2007, the file went missing. Badal asked Advocate General H.S. Mattewal to take up the matter in the high court, where a stay has since been obtained on the arbitrator’s award. In his note Badal has said that responsibility should be fixed on the officials who have caused the state a loss to the tune of Rs 100 crore. The said file has since been located, but the government is yet to take action against the officials found erring.
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CM’s Sangat Darshan in School
Banur, October 23 Not only was a working day declared holiday, even the compound wall of the school was knocked down to make way for 10 feet wide open entry for the public from the security point of view of the Chief Minister. Sources said Deputy Commissioner Patiala Deepinder Singh reached the school in the morning and directed the school authorities to declare holiday for today. All students were asked to leave the school, while teachers were ordered to stay back. It is learnt that even the attendance of teachers was marked for today as “present”. Pleading anonymity, teachers said students were being prepared for the December exams. “Declaring an unscheduled holiday is not healthy for studies. Government schools are already in focus for poor results and such political ‘interventions’ just add to the chaos,” remarked a teacher. The teachers said nobody dared to speak against the “verdict” of the senior officials. Talking to TNS, they said that the function could have been held on Sunday. Some students, who had come to get their forms attested from the school authorities, were not allowed to enter the school premises and were told to stay away from both entrances of the school. Policemen, deployed at the spot, dissuaded these students from entering the school. There are a total of 768 students in the school, studying from class VI to XII. The children of the adjoining elementary school were also told to go back home due to the sangat darshan. Principal of the school Karam Chand Sharma admitted that holiday was declared, but he had done this following directions from senior officials.
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State to give 88 lakh tonnes of rice to central pool
Jalandhar, October 23 Media persons were not allowed at the meeting. A discussion was held to find a solution to the problems caused by the rice prepared from the 201 variety of paddy that was procured last year. About 7.5 lakh tonne of rice prepared from this variety was lying with rice millers and the Food Corporation of India has refused to accept it for the national pool because of a high percentage of damage and discolour. Consequently, rice millers are avoiding to lift fresh stocks of the 201 variety of paddy procured during recent days in various markets of the state. “When pressure is built on rice millers, they lift some part of the stock. Otherwise, it is piling up in various grain markets,” said a commission agent of Khanna. As a large area, even up to 70 per cent in districts like Mansa, has been brought under this variety of paddy this year, the problem with regard to the acceptance of the rice prepared from it would get further complicated in the coming months. Responding to issues raised with regard to the 210 variety, Pawar directed his ministry’s Joint Secretary to hold a test milling of this variety under the supervision of a team comprising officials of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the PAU, Ludhiana. As the BKU president, Balbir Singh Rajewal, intervened to tell that joint testing would take a long time, Pawar told his official to get it done in the shortest possible time. Pawar was worried about the steep fall in the price of the 1121 variety of superfine paddy, which has been categorised as basmati. Last year, it sold in the range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per quintal whereas this year it is selling at Rs 1,800 per quintal. Rajewal told Pawar that India rice export lobby was behind bringing down its price. There was a lot of demand for the rice prepared from 1121 in the Middle East but the export lobby was keeping everything under the wraps to keep its price down.
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100th birth anniversary of Dr Thapar today
Moga, October 23 His father, Lala Telu Ram Thapar, started his business here after shifting from Ludhiana. He received his education at MDAS High School in the town. He was a leading scout of his school and gave up his studies for a year, when he was in Class VI heeding to the call of non-cooperation given by Mahatma Gandhi. After a year, he resumed his studies. Under the guidance of Dr Mathura Das Pahwa, he joined the Medical College at Amritsar. In 1931, he started his medical practice at Moga. He entered the freedom movement in 1935. After organising the Indian National Congress at the grassroots level, he took part in the Satyagraha movement, started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1941 and was sent to jail for 15 months. In 1942, he took part in the Quit India movement. After Independence, he took active interest in social activities. He started working for the uplift of Harijans. In the early 1950s, he joined the Sarvodaya movement. He remained a member of the All-India Congress Committee for many years. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1964 for a period of six years. He was appointed Deputy Minister for Medical Health, Food Supplies and Taxation departments in the first elected government after the re-organisation of Punjab on linguistic basis in the year 1966. In recognition of his selfless service to the nation, he was awarded the ‘tamra patra’ by the union government. He expired on April 25, 1975, leaving behind a legacy of Gandhian ideology.
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PSEB inks power pact with US firm
Patiala, October 23 Speaking on the issue, PSEB chairman Harinder Singh Brar said while the project had been allocated by the Punjab Energy Development Agency
(PEDA) on July 14, 2009, the implementation agreement was signed on October 20. “The plant is being set up under NRSE Policy-2006 of Punjab government and the expected date of its commissioning is January 2010,” he said. Officials revealed this was the fourth solar photovoltaic power plant being set up in Punjab and the biggest in its class in Punjab. One such plant of 200-KW capacity had already been commissioned in Khatkar
Kalan. Besides, the PSEB had also signed power purchase agreement with M/s Azure Power, which is setting up 2-MW Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant at
Ajnala, Amritsar, which is likely to be commissioned in November. Another such agreement was signed with M/s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for 1-MW plant in
Mohali. On behalf of PSEB, Member/Generation GS Sra signed the PPA. M/s Enterprise Business Solutions,
Jalandhar, president and CEO Jassie Singh signed the agreement on behalf of his firm. Meanwhile, PSEB chairman Harinder Singh Brar has said during the first half of the current fiscal the board had augmented its power capacity by 916
MVA. He said 11 new sub-stations had been constructed and commissioned whereas the capacity of 44 existing sub-stations had been increased while nine others had been upgraded.
Brar said four 220-KV sub-stations at Baghapurana, Ajitwal, Majitha and Sector 80,
Mohali, each with 100-MVA transformer, had been constructed and commissioned, which will give relief to the overloaded power systems of
Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Amritsar and Ropar districts. “Besides, new 132 KV and 66 KV sub-stations had been commissioned at Gholian
Kalan, Seh Banwala Anuka, Hoshiar Nagar, Burj Dhilwan, Kahnewala and
Pringari. The board has already taken up work of augmentation of capacity in areas that are facing low voltage problem,” the PSEB chairman asserted.
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Subedar Joginder Singh remembered
Moga, October 23 Hailing from Mahla Kalan in the district, Subedar Joginder Singh served in the First Sikh Regiment. He was posthumously given Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award of the nation. Brigadier Vinod Kumar of the 29th Infantry Brigade, Colonel Yudhvir Singh, Commanding Officer the 21st Punjab Regiment, District Magistrate Satwant Singh Johal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mohinder Singh Kainth, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajay Sood and many retired Army officials were among those who paid floral tributes at the war hero's memorial. Kulwant Kaur, daughter of Subedar Joginder Singh, participated in the ceremony and was honoured by Army officials. Four widows of ex-servicemen were given financial assistance out of the Flag Day funds. A grant of Rs 1 lakh was also given to Paramjit Kaur, widow of Shaheed Gurtej Singh, of Himmatpura village. During the 1962 Indo-China war, Subedar Joginder Singh commanded a platoon in the Tawang sector of North East Frontier Agency. On October 23, the Chinese launched an attack on the Bum la axis. He and his platoon stood firm like a rock. Singh, despite a wound in his thigh, did not leave the spot. He manned a light machine gun and killed a large number of enemy soldiers. When all ammunition with his platoon exhausted, he and his men charged at the advancing enemy and bayoneted many to death. Subedar Joginder Singh was killed in the battle.
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RTI Act covers Gymkhana Club
Jalandhar, October 23 Following this, the club will be liable to reply to queries regarding its functioning to the public. The issue came to the fore through an appeal filed by a city resident, Lt Col SS Sohi, who sought information about the functioning of the club under the Act. The administrators of the club denied the information to Sohi, who is also a member of the club, claiming that the club was not a public authority. In his detailed order, the bench of Lt Gen PK Grover ruled that from the available facts the factum of there being millions in the kitty of Gymkhana Club is directly attributed to the land and subsequently development of infrastructure. In the instant case, the club may boast of earning millions on its own, being a private club, but the question that stares one in the face is what has enabled the club to create huge amounts of wealth. It is obviously the land and development of infrastructure on the prime land provided at a paltry sum of Rs 889 per annum by the state of Punjab, stated the bench. Interestingly, the government leased out 21,63,44 sq ft of prime land, contiguous to the residence of Commissioner, to the Gymkhana Club at a token rental of Rs 889 per annum contiguous to the residence of Commissioner. However, the administrators of the club failed to submit any details of this lease agreement. Moreover, it is not clear from the record of the Commissioner’s Office and Xen, PWD, B&R, that with whose office such lease agreement took place. The bench also noted that as per the revenue record, the land was in the name of Commissioner Residence Jallandhar Division and the club was depositing lease money every year with the PWD Department, meaning thereby that they might have had some agreement with the department. The Information Commissioner also forwarded his observations on performance of duties by the functionaries of the state in the clubs to the Chief Secretary for necessary action.
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‘Bikrami calendar will create confusion among Sikhs’
Amritsar, October 23 This warning comes from Pal Singh Purewal, the Edmonton (Canada)-based designer of the Nanakshahi calendar that has again come into the limelight for the alleged efforts to effect changes in it or replace it. In fact, it was Purewal who was behind the very concept of a solar-based calendar, conforming to the length of the tropical year, thus fixing the Gurpurbs and important Sikh festival dates in the calendar. The calendar was approved by Akal Takht and was subsequently implemented by the SGPC in 2003 even as it was adopted by a large number of gurdwaras across the world from 1998 onwards. Purewal was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the UK-based World Sikh University for his work. It is a different matter that the calendar had raked up controversy once again after the Akal Takht Jathedar and Sikh high priests announced that it could be subjected to some amendments, invoking strong reactions across the world.
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Punjab told to appoint Chief Town Planner
Chandigarh, October 23 As a Public Interest Litigation on preparations of master plans of Punjab towns came up for hearing before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Mahesh Grover, state counsel Rupinder Khosla said the chief town planner was the designated planning agency. In the absence of any incumbent to head the agency, there would be delay in the entire process of finalising the master plans. Khosla said a Single Bench of the high court has in a regular second appeal stayed the appointment of the chief town planner. He added though the state government had moved an application for the vacation of the order and permission to fill up the vacancy, it has not been taken up for consideration. After recording his assertion, the Bench ruled: Keeping in view the urgency of the matter and the difficulty expressed at the Bar, we request the Single Judge seized of the matter to expeditiously dispose of the appeal/ applications for the vacation of stay so that the ongoing process of finalising the master plan is not indefinitely delayed.
Dera Bassi, Zirakpur masterplans
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that publications of Dera Bassi and Zirakpur master plans be finalised by December end. Taking up a public interest litigation, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Mahesh Grover asserted: All that we need to say is that the entire process for consideration of objection and publication of master plans for Dera Bassi and Zirakpur shall be finalised by end of December 2009. “We further direct that while doing so, the competent authority shall examine in particular the necessity/feasibility of prescribing a minimum distance between the red category industries and the residential colonies, and take suitable action on the same”. Before parting with the orders, the Bench also directed that the notification of master plans for Kharar and Banur shall also be issued for inviting objections in terms of the relevant Act expeditiously, at any rate before December 31. The petition filed by Dharam Chand of Dera Bassi in this regard will now come up for further hearing on February 9 next year.
Alleged misuse of MC funds
The functioning of cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia and ex-MLA Madan Mohan Mittal has come under the High Court scanner. In a petition, a Nangal resident and another petitioner have alleged the funds of Nangal MC were being misutilised by Mittal with the active support of Kalia, who is a cabinet minister in the ruling government. Taking up the petition, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Mahesh Grover asked the state counsel to “what is process by which funds distributed among NGO like clubs and other such entities are sanctioned”. The Bench also asked for information as to “whether any verification as regards to the genuineness of the clubs and other entities, who are beneficiaries of such grants is made”.
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Amritsar MLA-SSP row reaches HC
Chandigarh, October 23 The petition has been filed in public interest by Ropar-based All India Human Rights Association; and has made the state through homes secretary, the DGP and MLA Anil Joshi as parties. Going into the background of the controversy, the petitioner contended the SSP was ensuring the compliance of the high court directives issued in 2002 in the traffic regulation and pollution control case on the removal of illegal hoardings and advertisements on municipal spaces including public toilets and kiosks. A news report carried in these columns on April 19, 2002, was enclosed along with the petition. The association added during the festive season, the SSP directed the removal of “all such illegal hoardings including those of the politicians” aimed at “political publicity”. Some of the politicians did not take it gracefully, and it left MLA from north Amritsar Anil Joshi “enraged at the officer over the issue”. The petitioner added the police officer has been relentless in his efforts to ensure the compliance of the high court orders, but the MLA had “embarked on an illegal pressure building exercise” to have the upright police officer removed. He was even threatening the government to go on hunger strike from October 26, if Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh was not transferred out. Referring to a press conference by the MLA, the petitioner said Joshi spoke ‘disparagingly about the SSP and would ensure he would go back to Bihar on foot. The association added unless public servants were insulated, protected and prevented from being disgraced in public perception, they would find it tough to perform their duties. “If the courts do not protect the upright bureaucracy, who will?” the association questioned. The petition is expected to come up for hearing on Saturday.
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5 pistols seized from Sachkhand Express
Amritsar, October 23 The GRP has registered a case against an unidentified person, who had allegedly brought the consignment and kept it under a lower berth of a compartment . SHO, GRP police station, Dharmendar Kalyan said the police had intensified checking of the train that resulted in the seizure. He said it seemed that someone had brought the consignment, but in view of heightened security, the person left the bag containing the pistols in the compartment. He said investigations were on.
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