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Damage-Control Exercise
Sukhbir appeals for collective prayers
Cong factions gear up for battle of the ballot
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Two farmers killed in firing cremated
Saragarhi Battle
Farmers unhappy over rice import
Women writers’ conclave concludes
Sutlej bridge to be closed to heavy vehicles
A view of the bridge over the Sutlej which is to be closed to heavy traffic for 20 days. Photo: Vicky Gharu
Immigration in Italy
Indian Overseas Congress President SS Rana hands over a memorandum to Congress Legislature Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Manoj
Mahajan
MLAs skip camps on governance
Sikh of the Year award for Preneet
An area adjoining Ekta Colony in Amritsar. Photo by writer
Martyrs’ houses to be preserved
Case against Sidhu adjourned
3 booked for burning paddy straw
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Sukhbir appeals for collective prayers
Chandigarh, November 4 In a statement issued here today, Badal said it was matter of great concern that even after a struggle of 25 years, the victims of the riots had not got justice. He appealed to the people having faith in different religions to stand by the families of the victims of the riots. He hoped that the collective prayer of all people from all over the world would expedite the justice delivery system and provide solace to the families of victims besides peace to the departed souls. According to the press note issued by the party spokesman and secretary, Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, the party has requested all religious organisations and political parties to collectively pray on November 8 at their religious places.
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Cong factions gear up for battle of the ballot
Chandigarh, November 4 The huge number of forms that have already been taken by Congressmen is in stark contrast to the last such drive during Congress rule in the state in 2005. Then only 14.85 lakh forms had been filled in the state. Loyalists of PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee claim that the membership drive is a direct reflection on the latter’s functioning in contrast to former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who they claim did not have the same enthusiasm as far as the building of the party was concerned. Kaypee has taken up the membership drive as a prestige issue and an answer to those who claim he is a “weak” leader who is not able to assert himself on the same scale as Amarinder Singh. Whatever may be the truth, the senior leadership of the party, including Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and senior leaders Jagmeet Singh Brar and Partap Singh Bajwa have aligned themselves with Kaypee to bolster him up in the face of reports that he is being replaced by Amarinder Singh. The entire group is focusing on the membership drive and hopes to have its people in place at both the block and district levels so that the challenge by Amarinder Singh can be countered in a “democratic” fashion. Amarinder supporters, who recently boycotted a meeting held by Kaypee to discuss the ongoing drive, are also gearing up to join battle and claim that a majority of the legislators are with the former Chief Minister. They claim that with the help of these legislators as well as senior leaders and former legislators in the districts they will win the battle of the ballot if it comes to that. The election will be difficult to stage manage although the ruling group has an advantage with all current block and district presidents reporting to Kaypee. The ruling group denies anyone had any advantage. CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal says anyone can approach any of the Congress offices for membership forms, which are not being denied to anyone. Bhattal said besides this the party has made it mandatory for all members to have their photographs on their applications, which besides weeding out fake members, will also ensure people residing in a particular block can apply for membership from that block only. Kaypee, meanwhile, disclosed today that the membership drive was being launched on November 10 and would continue till November 30 when the progress of the enrolment in different districts would be reviewed. He said the drive would close on December 31 with the elections being held before March 31.
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Two farmers killed in firing cremated
Khanna Chimayara (Gurdaspur),
November 4 Both Kashmir Singh and Balwinder Singh had suffered injuries due to gunshots. As many as 10 persons were also hurt when workers and staff members of the SGPC opened fire on them yesterday, in their bid to take possession of a piece of land belonging to Teja Kalan Gurdwara from a local farmer Baljeet Singh. Meanwhile, the incident has triggered off a war of sorts between state Vidhan Sabha Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar. Kahlon, in whose assembly segment this village falls, condemned the action taken by the SGPC for getting the possession of land belonging to it on the basis of orders of the court. On the other hand, Makkar justified the action of workers and staff members of the SGPC. He claimed villagers started attacking them when the SGPC workers were trying to take the possession of the land, which they were doing in a peaceful manner with the help of Kanungo and Patwari. Hence, what they (workers and staff members) did was done in self-defence. Kahlon, on the other hand, said he had taken up the matter with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday. He added Badal, while expressing his disappointment over the incident, had promised that state government would do the needful in this matter. Kahlon said he would press the SGPC to give suitable compensation to kin of those who had lost their lives and suffered injuries in this incident. He said he would meet the SGPC president in this matter. Makkar, however, said how the SGPC could give compensation to such people who had been possessing the land belonging to the Teja Kalan Gurdwara in illegal manner. He added the SGPC was not planning to give compensation to the kin of the deceased or those who had been injured in the incident. He said he had spoken to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and explained his position. He added a high-level probe by a senior police officer could reveal the truth about the yesterday’s incident. He said he was also surprised over the fact that why Kanungo and Patwari, who were taking the possession of land on the court’s order, took the help of the police despite the fact that the SGPC secretariat had asked the DC, Gurdaspur, SSP and SP, Batala for the necessary help in the same connection. DP Singh, SSP, Batala, said five persons had been arrested in this connection.
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Martyr’s descendant to trace kin of other war veterans
Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 4 He has instituted a permanent Saragarhi Shahidan Scholarship fund at Khalsa College and sought contributions from Punjabis for perpetuating the memories of the brave hearts who made the land and its people proud. His maternal grandfather, Nand Singh, a sepoy in the British Indian Army, was one of the martyrs out of the 21 who had sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. All of them belonged to the 36th Sikh Regiment, currently the 4th Sikh Regiment. They were awarded the Indian Order of Merit Class III (posthumously), considered equivalent to the present day Vir Chakra. Ranu, a Professor of Plant Pathology and Cell and Molecular Biology in Colorado State University, said he had contacted the district administration, Ferozepur, where a memorial in the memory of the gallant 21 soldiers was erected by the then Maharaja of Faridkot, for identifying the names of their villages. Besides, he was trying to explore archives and books written on the battle to search for the names of villages of these soldiers. He also made an appeal to the descendants of these soldiers to register their names and addresses with Khalsa College here. Born and brought up at Jallan village in Sangrur district, Professor Ranu went on to acquire a PhD degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He said the Saragarhi Shahidan Scholarship fund would finance the studies of deserving descendants of all soldiers. In case of absence of descendants or deserving candidates in the families, the scholarship would go to deserving candidates of their villages. Earlier, Professor Ranu had donated over Rs 2 lakh to Khalsa College for creating a permanent fund last year under which scholarships to its two students were awarded annually. The Principal of the college, Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon, said the Havildar Ishar Singh scholarship was granted to Mahinder Singh, a student of Bachelor of Food and Science Technology and Sepoy Nand Singh scholarship to Kanwardeep Singh, a student of BSc (Bio-technology).
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Farmers unhappy over rice import
Jalandhar, November 4 Farmers said the prevailing price of the A-grade rice with 5 per cent broken grain is in the range of $520 per tonne in Thailand. That means it would cost Rs 24.50 per kg. Besides, the Centre has waived 70 per cent custom duty on it. In addition to it, the Union government has also decided to give incentive to the traders, who would import the rice. Even the rice, with 15 per cent broken rice, would cost in the range of Rs 23 per kg to the government in Thailand. Its price is higher in the US market. While the Union Government is ready to pay Rs 24.50 per kg to Thailand, it paid only Rs 1,030 per quintal of paddy. If it is converted into rice, that means about Rs 15 per kg. Why such discrimination with Punjab farmers who had to spend a lot to save the paddy crop this year from the onslaught of drought-like
situation. Balbir Singh Rajewal said the Union government was ruining the agriculture sector in the country with its policies. He said state farmers would be depressed as they had got only half of the price that would be given to farmers of those countries from where rice would be imported. He said even the super basmati in the international market was selling at $2,000 per
tonne. That means Rs 94 per kg. Normal basmati, say of 1121 type variety, is fetching a price of $1,800 per tonne which means Rs 82 per kg. However, in India, especially in this region, farmers were being offered a very low price Rs 1,700-1,800 per quintal of the 1121 variety of paddy.
Rajewal said farmers would have to unite to save their interest.
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Women writers’ conclave concludes
Patiala , November 4 Writers from 21 states took part in the conference. Stressing on the need to be strong and independent, the participants narrated their life experiences and how they fought odds. The discussion were held on range of topics, including the changing role of women in society, problems faced by Indian women and what should be the approach of women towards life. Poetry based on life experiences was also recited. The poems based on women issues widely appreciated by the audiences. Noted litterateur and vice-president of the Sahit Academy, New Delhi, Dr Sutinder Singh Noor, said women writers can play a pivotal role in healing the wounded psyche of females. Dr Sukrita Pal Kumar highlighted that western feminism had unleashed male-female polarities which has disturbed the Indian-specific entry point of feminism for its articulation and furtherance Dr Singh, while addressing the gathering said, women, all along, had been subjected to immense social, cultural and spiritual discrimination and upheavals, causing their exclusion from the world of letters and reducing them from subjects to objects. The parental tutoring in India was also the cause of pushing them into the backyards of intellectual horizons, leaving little scope for them to compete with their male counterparts. Secretary of the Sahit Academy, Agarhar Krishnamurty, shared his ideas about the growing concern for the feminist culture in India.
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Sutlej bridge to be closed to heavy vehicles
Ropar, November 4 During the period, only light motor vehicles will be allowed to ply on the bridge whose one side would remain open, while the other would be barricaded for repairs. The repair work of the bridge had been due for some time. Being an old structure, it vibrates when the load increases during the peak hours. Central Works Division XEN Karnail Singh said by tomorrow boards indicating traffic diversion would be installed in the areas of Mohali, Morinda, Machhiwara, Neelon Bridge, Nawanshahr and other places. It is expected that private bus operators might announce a hike in fare charges in order to meet with increased expenses of petrol. Also at the same time, the trucks ferrying goods on this route might ask for more money than usual to deliver consignments. The worst hit would be LPG supply to the city. Godown of a gas agency of the city is situated at Bhindernagar village, which is across the bridge on Ropar-Nurpur Bedi road. This gas agency has 22,000 connections in the city. Earlier, during a meeting of district officials held on October 13, the CWD officials had proposed complete closure of the bridge. Thereafter, on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti, it was suggested that one side be remained open for light motor vehicles.
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40,000 have become eligible: Overseas Cong
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 4 Rana, who was in the city along with a delegation of the Overseas Congress leaders, visited the residence of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and credited her with taking up the issue of illegal immigrants, who had been languishing in Italy for years, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Rana, who was accompanied by Karamjit Singh Dhillon, President, IOC, Italy, besides others, said these illegal immigrants had now been issued passports by the Indian embassy in Italy. The delegation of IOC leaders is also likely to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister and request them to address the long-pending issue of scrapping of the ‘black list’ of persons who were being denied re-entry into the country, claiming most of those listed had gone abroad to earn a livelihood and were not a threat to national security. Besides this, Rana said the delegation would also raise the issue of restrictions on wearing of the turban in France. He said they would also request that Indians were not harassed at Indian embassies abroad and passports were issued as per the Indian law for a period of at least 10 years instead of one-year extensions. Bhattal assured the delegation of full cooperation and support to NRIs on behalf of the Congress and appreciated the services of the IOC.
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MLAs skip camps on governance
Chandigarh, November 4 The first part of a series of lectures on governance that started here today proved to be a flop. Organised by the Parliamentary Affairs Department, the aim was to bring legislators from both the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress to equip them better to participate in various stages of governance. But the Congress legislators numbering six outnumbered the MLAs from the ruling alliance (BJP 1 and SAD 2). Kahlon and Sud, who acted like hosts at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Public Administration, blamed yesterday’s Punjab bandh as the reason for the low attendance. But many other MLAs who were absent said they had not much role in governance, especially when they were not part of the government. Today’s lecture pertained to the functioning of various aspects of the Agriculture Department. Agricultural experts had been invited from PAU to give lectures. These included Director, Agriculture, Punjab, B.S. Sidhu and Dr G.S Kalkat who came to the venue prepared to brief the MLAs on the state of agriculture in Punjab, but had to return disappointed. Several documents, files and presentations made by the department over the past few days too could not be distributed among those for whom these were intended. Punjab Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah himself was conspicuous by his absence, even though the lecture pertained to his own department. Once the organisers realised that the function had flopped, they tried to keep the media out of the venue, but later sense prevailed and the media was allowed to witness the day’s proceedings. Besides Kahlon and Sud, the others who attended the lecture on governance today included Anil Joshi (BJP), Malkiat Singh and U.S. Wadali (SAD), Tej Parkash, Harmohinder Singh, Amarjit Samra, Love Kumar Goldy and Harchand Kaur (Congress).
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Sikh of the Year award for Preneet
Patiala, November 4 When contacted Preneet Kaur said, “I am thankful to the international Sikh Forum who has bestow such honour on me.” She expressed her gratitude to the ISF for this award. The award has been earlier conferred upon former Army chief Gen JJ Singh and deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh
Ahluwalia. The ISF in its letter written to Preneet Kaur, member of Parliament from Patiala for third consecutive time, cited her contribution to state of Punjab and Sikhs. She was chosen for her initiatives like sending officials to Italy and setting up special camps to help Indian migrants, most of them from Punjab, to get their immigration regularised by availing a time-bound amnesty scheme and resolving with the Spanish authorities, the issue of mandatory submission of Police Clearance Certificate
(PCC) by Indians in Spain.
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Slum dwellers have better immunity, so why bother?
Amritsar, November 4 Ekta Colony, said the CS, was an unauthorised slum and, therefore, it was nobody’s responsibility to improve sanitary conditions. Open toilets and uncollected and accumulated garbage raise a stink that is often unbearable. But then the slum, home to 209 families, has been there for 25 long years but the municipality has paid no attention to it. The unauthorised slum, however, boasts of electricity supply and each house even has a meter. The municipal corporation has also provided five tube wells for the residents. But for the CS and the civic body, it is still an unauthorised slum which does not deserve their attention. The paradox does not end there. The houses are reasonably clean and well maintained by the rag-pickers who live in them. But the open drain, the open toilets and the garbage dumped in the open spoil any chance residents have of leading a healthy life. UNICEF officials point out that the slum children are getting educated and seem aware of polio drops. And true enough the boys, when asked what Polio means, pipe up in
unision. “ Polio se bachcha apahij ho jaata hai” ( children get crippled when afflicted by Polio), they say. But the children seemed unaware of what caused Polio. “ Hamein bas yeh pata hai ki do boond zindagi
ke...,” said Sushil Kumar with a grin, referring to the popular radio and TV campaign for polio drops. Says social activist Brij
Bedi, “There are four such so-called unauthorised slums in Amritsar, namely
Anngarh, Maqboolpura, Rattan Singh Chowk and Ekta Colony, where people live under unhygienic conditions. But development funds seem to be spent only in posh areas like Mall Road and Ranjit Avenue.” A bitter Bedi complains that officials have never visited the slums. They have no time left after laying foundation stones everywhere, including the dividers on the road, he adds sarcastically. He went on to rue, “ If officials concerned cannot rehabilitate slum dwellers, what else can they do; What do they do with grants worth crores that they receive every year ?”
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Martyrs’ houses to be preserved
Patiala, November 4 “The state government has prepared a comprehensive project for preservation and renovation of the historical buildings, including the houses of the heroes of the freedom struggle,” Gabria said. The minister, who was in the city to attend a rally organised by the Youth Akali Dal at Grain Market on Sirhind Road, further said in the first phase, Patiala, Nangal, Sultanpur Lodhi and Anandpur Sahib would be covered under the project. “All the historical buildings in these cities would be renovated and developed from the tourism point of view,” he said.
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Case against Sidhu adjourned
A former MP today appeared on behalf of a present MP. As a petition against the election of Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar parliamentary constituency came up for hearing before Justice Surya Kant, former city MP-cum-senior advocate Satya Pal Jain appeared to seek time to file the reply. The case now stands adjourned to December 9.
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3 booked for burning paddy straw
Sangrur, November 4 Giving details about the orders issued by him, Upkar Singh, SDM, said he had booked three persons, including Avtar Singh and two others, under Section 188, CrPC, for burning paddy straw. He added that the District Magistrate issues orders under Section 144, CrPC, prohibiting burning of the paddy straw. “Since they violated the orders of the District Magistrate, I booked them under Section 188, CrPC, for burning paddy straw. They were, moreover, doing it at a place that lies adjacent to the IOC depot,” the SDM said. A source in the oil depot said lakhs of litres of oil was stored in the depot at any given time.
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Ropar, November 4
Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) President SS Rana today claimed that around 40,000 persons had been made eligible for grant of immigration in Italy due to the intervention of the UPA
government.
Patiala, November 4
