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Jor Mela: Political leaders trade charges
Cong leaders flay Badals
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MSP Issue
SAD president does a first, wears jeans
‘Panj Piaras’ submit Darshan Singh’s clarification
Power pangs spell trouble for industry
Protest over shortage of LPG cylinders
Tributes paid to Shaheed Udham Singh
ESIC hospitals to have 2 more wings
Pranab to address Ahmadiyya conference
Jor Mela
ETT teachers sent to judicial custody till Dec 31
Thrashing of ‘eve-teaser’
Two killed in road mishap
‘Charge Rathore with murder’
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Jor Mela: Political leaders trade charges
Jor Mela (Fatehgarh Sahib), December 25 The Chief Minister was apparently referring to Delhi Akali leader Paramjit Singh Sarna, whom he derided for soliciting Congress support. Reminding the people of efforts made by erstwhile Congress Chief Ministers to weaken the SGPC, he alleged the Congress was again trying to create disturbance in the state. Badal even accused the hardline Akali factions of falling for the Congress bait. “I am, however, sure that history will repeat itself and such parties will be defeated”, he said while choosing to speak last at the conference despite running fever since last night and clearly uncomfortable on the stage. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar also spoke on similar lines reminding the people that the Congress represented the attack on Harmandar Sahib. He said the hardliners also wanted to weaken the SGPC as they stood for a separate committee for Haryana. Makkar clearly indicated that the SGPC would make efforts to woo Dalit Sikhs, saying a “jagriti yatra” would be taken out from Nanded in Maharashtra from where Banda Bahadur had started for Punjab to Chappar Chiri, near Mohali, where he took on the Sirhind Governor and defeated him in battle. He also announced that the SGPC would celebrate “Fateh Divas,” marking the 300th anniversary of the battle for Sirhind, on May 12, 13 and 14 this year. Earlier the Chief Minister, while responding to the SGPC president’s speech, said the government would set up a Banda Bahadur museum or memorial here besides creating two memorials in Gurdaspur and Sangrur to commemorate the two “ghallugharas.” Ministers chose to give a miss to the SAD conference with lone minister Hira Singh Gabria arriving very late. Senior Akali leaders who lost in the last elections, including Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Tota Singh, Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur and Bibi Jagir Kaur and even Lok Sabha losers like Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema were, however, present. The other political conferences at the Jor Mela witnessed SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann calling for the creation of “Khalistan” by peaceful means besides demanding government intervention to bring down the rise in the prices of essential commodities. At another conference the Khalsa Action Committee, the SAD (Panch Pardhani), the Dal Khalsa, the Panthic Council and the Sikh Students Federation joined hands to project a joint front against the SAD. Blaming the CM and the Deputy CM for the Ludhiana shooting, the KAC chairman, Bhai Mohkam Singh, urged the Sikh world to boycott the Akali ministers. Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh gave a clarion call to the Sikhs to reject the “dera culture”. Conference convener Harpal Singh Cheema and Panj Pardhani chairman Daljit Singh were among the speakers.
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Cong leaders flay Badals
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 25 However, former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh remained conspicuous by his absence despite his “tall claims of mass contact programmes”. The Captain missed the Jor Mela conference for the second consecutive time while his supporters kept on waiting for him. Senior Congress leaders, including person in charge of state affairs Mohsina Kidwai; Fatehgarh Sahib MP Sukhdev Singh Libra; PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee; Shamsher Singh Dullo, Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, member of Congress Working Committee Jagmeet Singh Brar, and district Congress president Lakhbir Singh Rai, were present on the occasion. Interestingly, except for two speakers, who spoke about the younger Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh, rest all others flayed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and talked about state politics. “Badals have never raised a genuine demand for Punjab at the Centre. All they have done is to promote their family members and reserve political berths for them. Even money spent on BPL families in Punjab is provided by the Centre and there is hardly any role of the state government in promoting the poor and needy,” alleged party general secretary Mohsina Kidwai. MP SS Libra claimed that it was the Congress that had promoted the Dalit leadership in the state. “While the Congress has been promoting deserving people, the SAD’s only policy is dynastic rule,” he alleged. Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal alleged that the financial condition of the state was deteriorating since the Badals took over the charge of the Punjab Government.
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Farmers threaten to ‘choke’ Delhi
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 25 They have decided to “choke” the Union Capital before their next crop --- wheat --- comes to the market. “We are left with no choice but to tell the nation of our plight. This is the only way to force the Union Government to review its MSP policy and make the necessary corrections in it so that farmers get their rightful due,” says Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the Punjab unit of the BKU. “It has been proved time and again by reports of various farm experts that the Union Government has squeezed Punjab farmers by unremunerative procurement prices. Punjab farmers have been poorer by Rs 62,000 crore because of a low MSP,” adds Rajewal. Leaders of the Punjab and Haryana units of the BKU, who met here today, were unanimous in their opinion that the Union Government had been “befooling” the public and farmers by maintaining that the upward revision of the MSP over the years was the root cause of inflation and rising prices. “We condemn this argument as it is without any logic. See the rising cost of various inputs, from seeds, fertilisers, diesel, insecticides and pesticides besides the minimum wages. “And this time, the Union Government has announced a nominal increase of Rs 20 a quintal in the MSP of wheat. It is ridiculous,” adds Rajewal Farm leaders maintained that the growth rate in the agricultural sector had been showing a downward trend. Farmers were becoming paupers as their debts had been mounting at a rapid pace. Because of their depleting financial resources, farmers in Punjab and Haryana are unable to provide quality education or healthcare to their wards and others members of their families. Besides, they themselves had been living a stressful life.They worked hard work and had been feeding the country. They held that both Punjab and Haryana collectively contributed 90 per cent of wheat and 65 per cent of rice to the national pool. Still they were being denied their rightful due. If the MSP of wheat was not reviewed and revised to the expectations of the farmers, the BKU threatened to “choke” the Union Capital in the first week of March, well in time for the marketing of wheat.
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SAD president does a first, wears jeans
Jor Mela (Fatehgarh Sahib), December 25 Sukhbir wore his jeans with a fashionable thick black jacket underneath which he wore a light blue shirt, a dress combination which is rarely seen on Akali stages and till now was never worn by any SAD president. The Deputy CM carried off his style with ease and delivered a speech that was well received. Sukhbir spoke early as he was scheduled to travel abroad and many people rose after he spoke, forcing former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra to get up to appeal to them to wait for Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s speech, too. Sukhbir’s dress sense, however, has not affected the Akalis with veteran leaders sticking to the age-old ordinary kurta-pyjamas and blue turban. Chandumajra was the only exception in a tight churidar pyjami on the pattern of that worn by his Patiala Congress counterpart, Capt Amarinder Singh. He teamed it up with a designer-like black achkan-style long coat. Veteran leader Gurdev Singh Badal wore a dark steel grey woollen kurta-pyjamas that looked slept in, former MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder was in his trademark simple terrycot kurta-pyjamas while former ministers Tota Singh and Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur were in simple cotton affairs. Both the Chief Minister and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar chose to wear simple woollen kurta-pyjamas over which they wore overcoats. Former SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar was the only one who was a little formally dressed in a bandgala suit. Sukhbir carried his different image to his speech also. While Akali leaders usually choose to make emotional political speeches at religious stages at the mela, the Deputy CM chose to focus on modernisation as well as mega development. Sukhbir Badal dwelt on the initiatives in the power sector, particularly four thermal plants awarded to private parties by the government. He also spoke about the international airports coming up in Mohali and Ludhiana, which he said would bring in “thousands” of IT companies to the state besides the establishment of institutions like the Indian School of Business in Mohali and the World Sikh University here. He also unwittingly differentiated himself from his father by highlighting the latter’s unique facets saying, “He is the first Chief Minister to do the sangat darshan programme in villages”. Sukhbir also chose to discourage slogan raising, asking Youth Akali leader Sanjiv Malhan, who got up to raise “Sukhbir Singh Badal zindabad” slogans, to pipe down.
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‘Panj Piaras’ submit Darshan Singh’s clarification
Amritsar, December 25 Akal Takht has called a meeting of the five Sikh high priests to discuss the
written clarification on December 28. The ‘Panj Piaras’ were Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Giani Kewal Singh, Prof Manjit Singh, Giani Charan Singh and Giani Narinder Singh. Giani Kewal Singh said there were certain issues of the community which must be sorted out by forming a religious panel.
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Power pangs spell trouble for industry
Chandigarh, December 25 Despite Punjab’s new industrial policy announced this year to attract investment, there is hardly any optimism in the business circles. Though the new industrial policy has targeted IT and agro sectors, there is no way the government can provide the required power to these sectors. The announcement about doing away with the mandatory requirement of change of land use for using agricultural land for industrial purpose, there has been some increase in real estate value but this hardly come as a booster for the industrial investment. The current year has seen Punjab’s industry facing unscheduled and long power cuts, restriction on peak load hours and weekly load shedding. Besides, there has only been a promise of an “inspector free raj”, but this is yet to be implemented on ground. Punjab’s new industrial policy announced this year has been in the pipeline for long, which was drafted after seeking suggestions from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. The thrust of the new industrial policy-2009 is to facilitate potential investors, mainly in the private sector and under the PPP mode, create dedicated fund for the development clusters, common facilities centres and providing infrastructure support under the initiatives of the Centre and the state government. The Punjab Cabinet has already cleared the one-time settlement scheme for the revival of sick units in the state, besides helping in debt restructuring. To further help the industry become competitive in comparison with the neighbouring states, Punjab has given several concessions to information technology and other industry. This includes exemption from stamp duty and registration fee for IT industry that can now be set up in residential areas as well. Further VAT on all IT products rationalised to be on a par with the minimum floor rate of 4 per cent. For the agro sector, Punjab has decided to provide a subsidy on interest at the rate of 5 per cent for 5 years, subject to a ceiling of Rs 20 lakh per year per unit. Further a dedicated fund of Rs 150 crore per annum has been created for creation and upgradation of industrial infrastructure and for contribution as state share in Central schemes like cluster development, common facility centres, R&D, etc. Some of the money spent from this fund could see some improved infrastructure available to the industry in the coming year. The Railway Ministry has announced its plan to connect Ludhiana with Kolkatta through freight corridor, which will help trade in the state. Punjab is demanding the extension of this corridor up to Amritsar so that trade could improve with the CIS nation linked with the Rajasansi International Airport at Amritsar. If that happens, goods produced in Ludhiana, Amritsar and other industrial hubs of Punjab could see a rapid rise in export volumes. However, this too may not become a reality during the coming year. Punjab has set up special boards for the promotion of trade and industry through which a capital subsidy of Rs 250 crore has been disbursed to industrialists, besides giving major concessions on VAT and turnover tax worth over Rs 300 crore. However, none of the major projects or power generation units or even Bathinda Refinery is expected to become functional during the next year.
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Protest over shortage of LPG cylinders
Bathinda, December 25 However, they expressed resentment against the police by alleging that it had not been allowing them to protest as police personnel got gas supply from the agency without any difficulty. Mohinder Kaur, a resident of Nawin Basti, said she had got booked gas with the agency many days ago, but she was still waiting for the same. The protesters urged the district administration to initiate necessary steps to ensure the proper supply of LPG cylinders. They also asked the administration to check the misuse of domestic LPG cylinders by the people for other purposes.
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Tributes paid to Shaheed Udham Singh
Amritsar, December 25 National chairman of the front Manjinderjit Singh Bitta said there was need to organise functions and competitions at the national level in colleges and schools in order to commemorate the martyrs. Regarding the recently mooted idea of holding light and sound show at Jallianwala Bagh, Bitta said, “All such proposals should be kept above politics. About 13 years ago, funds to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore were sanctioned for revamping the Jallianwala Bagh, However, till date, the sanctioned amount could not be utilised due to political rigmarole.” Citing disrespect to great general of yesteryear Shyam Singh Attari, Bitta said his statue, which was installed two years ago at the Gateway of India, Chheharta, should be inaugurated. He said in fact it should be brought inside the city.
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ESIC hospitals to have 2 more wings
Chandigarh, December 25
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Pranab to address Ahmadiyya conference
Chandigarh, December 25 The Chief Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in India, Mohammed Inaam Ghori, said the three-day convention had attracted 20,000 delegates from all over the world. Community’s external affairs secretary Syed Tanvir Ahmad revealed that the Indian Government had granted 5,203 visas to delegates from Pakistan to attend the convention. Chief organiser for the convention Shoaib Ahmad said a special train service had also been started between Amritsar and Qadian to handle the rush of the delegates. Adequate security arrangements have been made in the town for the smooth conduct of the proceedings. Several temporary shelters have been constructed to accommodate the guests. The supreme Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, will address the concluding day of the conference live from London through the community’s free-to-air channel- Muslim Television
Ahmadiyya.
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Jor Mela
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 25 “Despite the presence of large number of police officials, traffic management was poor,” said Darshan Singh, resident of Sangrur. He added that more than 40 % of roads were occupied by roadside vendors, who had doubled up the parking lot into a market. The residents also revealed that the vendors had already paid rent to shopkeepers, who allowed them to put their material for sale in front of their shops. Health officials said they did not expect any eventuality during religious functions. They, however, added that nothing could be done in this regard. “Since the civil hospital is situated in the center of the city adjoining Gurdwara, the administration should create a separate path for patients,” said Tarlochan Singh, a resident of a nearby village who had come to the city for treatment. “How can I assure the cops deployed at naka that I am sick and need to go to the civil hospital. They are not allowing me to enter the area with my vehicle,” he rued. “No serious patient can be brought upto the hospital in this commotion and if one fails to get treatment in time, it can prove fatal,” said a doctor. He added that it was all upto the higher authorities to look into such problems.
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ETT teachers sent to judicial custody till Dec 31 Ropar, December 25 The lawyers asked the teachers if they could be of some help. They refused saying they were fighting for their cause. The teachers presently fall under administrative set up of the zila parishad. They have been demanding that they should be brought under the wings of the state Education Department. ETT teachers are not considered government employees and hence do not draw benefits. Even their promotions have been stalled due to this reason. Intensifying their campaign, the ETT teachers had even gheraoed the residence of Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia last month.
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Thrashing of ‘eve-teaser’
Patiala, December 25 The matter, which came to light today, has become a major issue in Sunam, which falls under
Sangrur district. Though Sangrur SSP Naunihal Singh could not be contacted, Sunam cops have refuted all allegations. Sunam City SHO Jaspal Singh also rejected the allegations levelled against him. “We have not resorted to any unlawful act. These allegations and wrong”, he said. Narrating the incident, Prof Dhaliwal alleged: “On December 24, the Sunam city SHO Jaspal Singh resorted to Taliban style against an alleged eve-teaser, Babbu. Cops mercilessly thrashed Babbu, blackened his face and paraded him all over the city in a police van. They also made him stand with hands folded and raised. Subsequently, Babbu announced that he would commit suicide.” Prof Dhaliwal said if Babbu indulged in eve-teasing, he deserved punishment. However, under the relevant provisions of law, no punishment should be given arbitrarily. Prof Dhaliwal further said infuriated, a group of citizens of Sunam, under his leadership, took out a procession in Sunam yesterday. “But the criticism of such a deplorable act was too much for Sunam SHO Jaspal Singh as he thrashed me as well in a full public view,” he alleged. Prof Dhaliwal alleged that later, cops took him to the city Kotwali, where they allegedly beat him up. He alleged that cops kept him in illegal confinement for the whole night and only released him this morning. “Now, on December 26, we will take out another rally against the police excesses and will demand action against erring cops”, he said.
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Two killed in road mishap
Bathinda, December 25 According to information, a tractor-trailer, which was going towards Deon village, hit a bicycle due to which the cyclist sustained serious injuries and later died. However, the tractor-trailer also fell into a ditch and its driver buried under it. On receiving information, workers of an NGO reached there and extracted the body of the tractor driver. The cyclist was identified as Angrez Singh of Buladhewala village and the tractor driver as Iqbal Singh of Deon village.
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‘Charge Rathore with murder’
Chandigarh, December 25
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Jor Mela (Fatehgarh Sahib), December 25
Capt gives party conference a miss
Chandigarh, December 25
Bathinda, December 25
