Chandigarh, October 28
The dyeing industry in Ludhiana, which is responsible for polluting the Buddha Nullah, has been asked to come out with clean hands on its discharge levels, besides working to the extent of making treated water fit for human consumption.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) chairman Dr SP Gautam did some tough talking with representatives of dyeing units, who were called to a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The dyeing units have been given 10 days to work out their discharges and talk with their proposed service providers as to what technology will be offered to them, while putting up three Common Treatment Plants (CETPs). The CPCB will then access the technology and give its recommendations to the government.

According to sources, the government focus is on ensuring that the polluted water does not go into the Buddha Nullah, which ends up at Harike and is used for the drinking purposes. Present treatment plants reduce effluents to 30 BOD (Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand) that makes the water fit only for irrigation. It is needed to reduce effluents to at least 5 BOD, to make the water fit for human consumption. For this expensive technology is needed both for primary as well as secondary treatment.

Three CETPs will come up to handle a total discharge of 130 million liters. While the first one would be on a 10-acre plot on the Bahadur Ke road and look after the treatment needs of 47 industries, the second would be on a 32-acre plot on the Tajpur road and look after the needs of 73 units. Scattered dyeing units in other areas would be accommodated in a third CETP for which land would be identified soon.

The CM authorised the formation of a committee consisting of industrialists of the dyeing units, member secretary of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and managing director of Sewerage Board under the chairmanship of member secretary CPCB JS Kamyotra to give recommendations for fixing norms at inlet and outlet of CETPs.

Jalandhar, October 28
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today told a delegation of the Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal) that there was a possibility of resolving the problems related to the 201 variety of paddy by next week. The delegation led by Balbir Singh Rajewal met Pawar at his official residence in New Delhi.

Stacks of 201 variety have piled up in various grain markets as most of the rice millers have refused to lift these owing high percentage of damage and discolour in the rice prepared from it. The FCI had last year refused to accept the rice prepared from it for the national pool.

“We were told by Pawar that he had discussed the issue of 201 variety of paddy with senior scientists of the PAU, Ludhiana, and the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi, yesterday and set up a high-level committee”, said Rajewal.

“After discussing the issue with scientists, Pawar had reached on the conclusion that the 201 variety was a high yielding and less water guzzling variety and its these features were good for state’s environment and farmers. Moreover, it could be sown late as it is a short duration variety compared to other ones,” said Rajewal.

“One solution worked out by Pawar is that the rice prepared from this variety should be further got tested from laboratories concerned to check that whether the damage to grains is caused by fungal infection or it is some other non-harmful nature. In case, it is proved that the damage is of non harmful nature for human beings, then the damage percentage would be allowed up to 7 per cent which is now 4 per cent,” said Rajewal.

During the earlier test, damage was found 7 to 9 per cent in the rice prepared from this variety. Damage to grains beyond 5 per cent is covered under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and such food grains are considered unfit for the human consumption. The committee set up by Pawar would submit the report after further testing the variety next week.

Amritsar, October 28
BJP MLA Anil Joshi and his 101 supporters abruptly postponed their three-day-long chain fast in front of the Hall Gate here after the state BJP president Rajinder Bhandari descended at the scene of a high political drama carrying a message from the senior BJP leaders Raj Nath Singh and LK Advani and assured the agitating MLA and his supporters that their demands, including, the transfer of the SSP Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, would be implemented within a week.

On the other hand, Joshi’s detractors within the BJP including the Navjot Singh Sidhu-led group, led by senior BJP leader Jugal Kishore Gumtala, dubbed the fast by Joshi as nothing but a “political stunt,” which had not only breached the party discipline but also resulted in immense damage to the party set-up.

Jalandhar, October 28
Appointment of the PCC chiefs is the prerogative of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and nobody knows when someone would be asked to take over the reins of the party in Punjab.

Mohsina Kidwai, AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab, told TNS that this issue was for Sonia to ponder and decide but refused to comment on the statement of AICC secretary RC Khuntia in Chandigarh yesterday where he had stated that there was no proposal to appoint the new state chief before the organisational elections slated for March 31.

However, she chose to remain mum on queries on the intense factionalism in the state unit. Both rival factions led by former CM Capt Amarinder Singh and CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal are camping in Delhi to plead their case.

Senior party leaders pointed out that the boycott by 37 MLAs yesterday had sent a strong signal to the party high command that the legislators were solidly backing Capt Amarinder Singh in whom they see someone who can take on the strong-arm tactics of the Akalis during the next elections.

Incidentally, the Youth Congress had already given their mind to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi during his visit that they wanted Amarinder to head the party in Punjab.

The sources revealed that a big reshuffle was in the offing in the AICC and the state units results of which were declared a couple of days ago. The outcome was being studied before a final decision was taken in this context.

A section of the party is of the view that a decision of the state chiefs would be announced in the first week of November, they added. On the other hand, the faction led by Bhattal is also camping in Delhi to plead their case before the high command. contenders for the PCC chief include MP Partap Singh Bajwa, Jagmeet Singh Brar and Mohinder Singh Kaypee. 

Jalandhar, October 28
The issue of boycott of the Tuesday meeting of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) by the Amarinder Camp has reached the Congress high command.

PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s loyalists have sent a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi demanding action against those MLAs who have boycotted the meeting convened in connection with the recruitment drive for conducting party organisational elections. Admitting that they have sent the letter to Sonia in this regard, PPCC secretaries Virendra Sharma, Ashok Gupta and Yashpal Dhiman refused to divulge its contents.

Chandigarh, October 28
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today indicated that he would make the alleged Akali high-handedness a public issue by stating “we will set the state on fire if harassment of Congressmen does not stop”.

The Congress leader, who submitted a memorandum against the ‘illegal detention’ of Congress legislators at Phul police station in Bathinda district to Punjab Governor Gen (retd) SF Rodrigues today, alleged that the rule of law had completely broken down in Punjab.

According to the memorandum, cops at the police station used derogatory and abusive language against the Congress legislators and kept them in illegal custody for more than two hours. It also claimed that there was a serious threat to the life and liberty of Gurpreet Kangar at the hands of SAD leader Sikandar Singh Malooka and his ‘stooges’. It demanded that Kangar should be given Z category security.

The memorandum also demanded that a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court should probe the high-handedness. Party legislators, including Kangar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Ajit Singh Shant, Joginder Singh Panjgrain and Makhan Singh Pacca Kalan accompanied Amarinder on the occasion.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, when questioned on the issue, said the police had not resorted to high-handedness as was being alleged by Amarinder. “In fact, the legislators were taken out safely after the police station was surrounded by supporters of a group opposed to them,” he said. He added that all police officers had been directed to give due respect to legislators and the same was being followed.

Badal claimed that it was in fact Amarinder who had followed a policy of persecution of political opponents during his tenure as Chief Minister. “He is now coming out with such allegations as he is frustrated after being robbed of all offices by his party,” he added.

Malhan (Muktsar), October 28
Punjab Governor Gen (Retired) S.F Rodrigues formally inaugurated the state of the art Electronic Health Point (EHP), a joint venture between the Hyderabad-based Naandi foundation, Health Point Services Private Limited and the Punjab Government, here today. ushered in a new era in health care in rural Punjab. Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, the man who has been the moving spirit behind this initiative, was also present.

Punjab Governor (retd) SF Rodrigues with Finance Minister Manpreet Badal at the inauguration of EHP at village Malhan in Muktsar district on Wednesday. Photo: Pawan Sharma

The EHP’s, being run as pilot projects in Kotbhai, Doda and Malhan villages of Muktsar district, cater to telemedicine. Telemedicine is the use of electronic information and communication technologies to provide quality health care when distance separates the patient and the doctor.

Keeping in view the success this endeavour, this venture is now being extended to other parts of the state.

“India is characterised by low penetration of health care services due to the fact that 90 per cent of secondary and tertiary health care facilities are in cities, far away from the rural areas in the state where 75 per cent of the state’s population lives. A large number of patients in the countryside will be given proper treatment by specialists without actually travelling to the cities where these professionals are based.,” disclosed a spokesman of the Naandi Foundation, an organization. To lend a guiding hand to the project, Dr Allen Hammond, chairman of Health Point Services Limited, was personally present. He said, “Services at each village EHP include safe drinking water, so necessary for the residents of this region, a licensed pharmacy and the capability to conduct a wide range of diagnostic tests on pay and use basis. The medical services will be provided through tele -medicine with doctors initially based at Bathinda and later at Mohali.”

Chandigarh, October 28
In a major embarrassment to the Punjab government, it has now surfaced that the state was given a chance to appoint a bureaucrat of its choice as the Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Election Commission, but it missed out on the opportunity.

A letter on this subject, dated February 5, 2008, from an Under Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, addressed to the Secretary, Department of Elections Punjab had asked the state to “consider appointing a civil servant as the Chief Election Commissioner as an additional responsibility, which has the added advantage of securing the willing cooperation of the lower formations at the district level, in matters such as the exercise of revision of rolls, conduct of election etc.”

This two-page letter was received in the office of the Department Of Elections on February 18 last year but seemed to have gone unnoticed and not even responded to.

This “missed opportunity” hits the government especially hard as the recent appointment of retired Judge JC Verma to the post has virtually been rejected by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) for being the first non-Sikh to occupy the post.

This letter has been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister who, it is learnt, has taken a very serious note of it. Sources add that he has asked Chief Secretary SC Agrawal to inquire as to why the concerned officials ignored this letter. The Chief Secretary has been asked to fix responsibility for negligence and submit a report within the next 10 days.

In the absence of any communication from Punjab regarding the appointment of a bureaucrat to the post, the Government of India on September 15 this year appointed Justice JC Verma a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the post. Terming it as “unprecedented”, the SGPC had earlier this month written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and asked him to “look into the matter personally and ensure that the corrective action is taken immediately and a Sikh is appointed as the Chief Commissioner, elections”.

“This has the potential to create a needless controversy especially in the context of recent developments, which have exercised the Sikh mind and about which you are well aware,” adds the SGPC letter to the Prime Minister.

“While the government can appoint any of those included in the panel as the Chief Commissioner and there is no question as to the competence and ability of any one included in the panel, yet considering the nature of the work and responsibilities, by convention only a Sikh has been appointed to this office” added the SGPC’s letter.

In the light of the fact that the Government of India had actually given the state a free hand in the appointment of the Chief Commissioner, elections, the SGPC’s response also now takes a beating.

The MHA letter of February 2008 had in fact also shown the state a way out of the Centre’s control on the appointment of the Chief Commissioner, elections. 

Amritsar, October 28
In an apparent bid to initiate confidence-building measures (CBMs), possibly aimed at easing the prevailing tension between the two countries, the Pakistan government has mooted to set up a memorial to the martyrs of the historical incident known as “Shahidi Saka Panja Sahib”.

The Pakistan government’s move is also being seen as an effort to woo two Pakistan-based minority communities - the Sikhs and Hindus.

The memorial, according to Dr Pritpal Singh, convener of the American Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (ASGPC), is proposed to be set up at Hasan Abdal near Islamabad. Having got nod from the Pakistan government, a delegation of Sikhs from different parts of the world, particularly, the USA, performed “ardas” at the historical site, adjacent to Panja Sahib railway station today.

A heroic incident took place at Hasan Abdal on October 30, 1922, when the “Guru ka Bagh Morcha” was being held by some Sikhs. Some Sikh prisoners were being transported in a train which was on its way to Miariwali Central Jail. Displaying the spirit of service pervasive in the Sikh philosophy, the Sikh Sangat of Panja Sahib arranged for food to be served to the prisoners at the Hasan Abdal railway station, but the authorities refused to stop the train at the place.

Agitated over the refusal, a group of Sikhs, led by Bhai Partap Singh, an employee of the gurdwara, and a pilgrim Bhai Karam Singh, sat on the rail tracks with the motive to stop the train. The train stopped, but not before mowing down a couple of peaceful agitators. Two of the injured Sikhs died after some time.

It is for the first time that “ardas” in memory of the martyred Sikhs was held at Panja Sahib. Hailing the decision for setting up the memorial, Dr Pritpal Singh said the assurance to build memorial for the Sikh martyrs was given by the the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) chairman Asif Hashmi and the board’s additional secretary Khurram Siddiqui to the group of visiting Sikhs.

There were around 170 Sikh shrines in Pakistan, but the Pakistan government allowed Sikhs from abroad to visit only about a dozen of these. 

Patiala, October 28 
The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, has appointed 68 Medical Officers (General) in the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Grade-1 category. While confirming this, secretary health Satish Chandra said the department has also issued appointment letters in this regard. 

However, the move has evoked a sharp reaction from the candidates who had appeared for the interviews for the posts. Arguing that it was wrong to fill up only 68 posts from the total of 106 for the general category, many of the candidates are contemplating challenging the decision in court. 

Interviews for the 212 PCMS posts (106 general category and 106 reserve) were conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) this year.

According to information, on the basis of the final results the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, has issued appointment letters to 68 successful candidates for the Medical Officers (General) in PCMS Grade-1 general category, whereas appointment of 38 has been kept pending.

Officials of the Health Department said all the posts have not been filled in wake of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions pertaining to a civil writ petition filed by some of the candidates who had completed MD (Diploma in Medicine) from Russia.

The officials informed that HC had ordered that at a given point of time, at least 36 posts in the cadre of Medical Officer (General) be kept unfilled. “We are only following the Court instructions,” said Satish Chandra. 

On condition of anonymity, many of the candidates who had appeared for the interviews, said: “When the Additional Advocate General, Punjab, had submitted in court that apart from 212 posts, there are 62 more post of Medical Officers (General), the department should have issued appointment letters for all the 106 general category posts. There is no defiance of the court orders if the department keep 36 posts unfilled from the additional 62 posts of Medical Officers (General), which are yet to be advertised.” 

Patiala, October 28
The three-day Punjabi University inter-zonal youth festival got off to a colourful start at the university campus. While inaugurating the festival, Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh reiterated his commitment to extend maximum facilities to the students bringing laurels to the university in various activities.

Patiala, October 28
In yet another successful operation, the IRB first excise battalion has impounded four trucks for evasion of tax and plying without necessary documents. 

The trucks, going from Ludhiana to New Delhi, were intercepted by a team of IRB officials near Libra village, Khanna, on Sunday night. The trucks were carrying hosiery goods, machinery and bicycle parts and belonged to the Patiala Transport owned by Karamjeet Libra and Amarjeet Libra. 

Led by IRB Excise Battalion Commandant Mandeep Singh Sidhu and Excise and Taxation Officer Prithpal, the operation was jointly conducted by the IRB and Excise Department Officials, Patiala. According to the information, acting on a tip off, the IRB and Excise officials managed to intercept four trucks near Libra village in Khanna. 

When the officials searched the trucks, they found hosiery good in two trucks, whereas rest of the two trucks contained bicycle and machinery parts. “When asked, the drivers of the vehicles failed to show the requisite documents. Some of the documents produced by the truck drivers were actually fake,” said IRB Excise Battalion Commandant Mandeep Singh Sidhu, while speaking to The Tribune. 

Meanwhile, sources revealed that during the search, the officials also recovered some paper slips, which mentioned that 11 trucks were going from Ludhiana to New Delhi and same number of trucks had to come back. However, on being asked about rest of the trucks, the officials disclosed that they managed to intercept four trucks and tried their best but could not trace rest of the vehicles.