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People throng Muktsar for Maghi Mela
Five officials held in paddy scam
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Weapons seized near border
Bhattal fit for Rajya Sabha: Capt
Rana Sodhi Case
Parho Punjab Programme
Engage young Indian-Canadians in creative work, says Malhi
Body of woman killed in Oz cremated
Term ‘headmaster’ includes persons of both sexes: HC
Ropar gets project on swine flu
Health gadgets in demand
Canadian Speaker not in favour of any anti-defection law
Freedom fighter dead
City Centre case adjourned to Feb 6
Defamation
Suit
Sidhu to contest plea on 2009 election
Ludhiana Violence
Corruption Charges
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People throng Muktsar for Maghi Mela
Muktsar, January 9 However, ignoring sentiments of the people about the system, politicians are “excited” about their conferences to be held here on January 13, when they will use the fair as “a platform to set scores by mudslinging over each other”. Moreover, turning a blind eye to sentiments of the crowd thronging the city from various places to celebrate the mela, the administration could not yet earmark any permanent site for holding the mela. With the passage of every year, the mela site is getting away from the main gurdwara of the city. Adjusting according to circumstances, sometimes the fair goes to the Malout road, then it shifts to the Barkandi road and sometimes moves to the Bathinda road. The prestigious four gates of the city, constructed in 2004-05 by the state government through the construction wing of the Markfed, were named on the names of Bhai Daan Singh, Bhai Maha Singh, Mata Bhag Kaur and Bhai Langar Singh. However, after the change of the government, the gates (each worth about Rs 18 lakh) were taken as nobody’s baby. The stone of the gates and steel-made alphabets of the names of the reverential Sikh martyrs have fell down, but no one paid attention towards the menace. Dedicating it to the 300 years of the martyrdom of the 40 Muktas, former CM Amarinder Singh had inaugurated the Mukte Minar (a memorial of 40 muktas), near the district administration complex, on May 4, 2005. Despite spending crores of rupees from the state exchequer, neither the Congress nor the SAD (B) government could take care of its maintenance. Moreover, against the public wish, the governments could not give it the due respect as neither any politicians reportedly visited there nor it had been included as a destination of the mela. Taking a cue from the then ruling Congress, Bibi Jagir Kaur, the then president of the SGPC and Parkash Singh Badal, who was the president of the SAD (B) at that time, had laid the foundation stone of a martyrs memorial outside the Tibbi Sahib Gurdwara. Dedicating it to the 300 years of the martyrdom of 40 Muktas, Badal had said that the design was approved and crores of rupees would be spent there to build a great wall, where the portraits of all martyrs (Muktas) would be installed. However, even after passing more than four years, the foundation stone is standing alone and the issue of construction has been “dumped” by the government. A few days ago, some migrant labourers were witnessed setting their makeshift huts and burning stoves around the lone foundation stone. However, when the issues were discussed with the SDM, Muktsar, Dalwinderjit Singh, he assured to look into the matter and take it up with the higher authorities.
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Five officials held in paddy scam
Ferozepur, January 9 Police parties have been pressed into service to arrest him. Sukhdev has already been placed under suspension. Those who have been arrested are Arwinder Kumar, Baljeet Singh, Rajesh Chander, Kabul Singh and Rajan. The SSP, SPS Parmar, said a look out circular had been issued in connection with Sukhdev Singh, Swarnjit Singh and Balwinder Kumar, who were also involved in the scam and were yet to be arrested. Over two lakh paddy bags worth about Rs 7 crore were siphoned off allegedly by Satwinder Singh, the owner of Noor Rice Mill, located near Kasubegu village here, his associates, Inderneel Singh and his wife Devinder Kaur, and a section of truck operators and labourers in December 2009. A case was registered against Satwinder Singh and his two associates in the first instance. However, officials of the DFSC, along with Sukhdev Singh, were also named in the FIR later after the police found their “involvement” in the scam. Ever since, a case in connection with the scam was registered on a complaint of Sukhdev Singh, who kept on alleging that the police was not recovering the paddy bags, which were taken away from Noor Rice Mills by its owner and his associates and were traced by him in the presence of a police party. The SSP said Sukhdev made to store paddy bags on the premises of the mill despite the fact that the mill was not given permission for storing paddy by the higher department authorities. Not only this, a section of officials gave no objection certificate to the mill for milling paddy notwithstanding it was not having power connection and was not fulfilling other conditions also.
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Weapons seized near border Ferozepur, January 9 On December 29, a party of BSF, on receiving a tip-off, recovered more than 3 kg of heroin, buried under a tree near the Dona
Telu (DT) Mal border outpost area near the Indo-Pak border. SPS Parmar, district police chief, said here today that arms and ammunition were recovered when a source said that some unscrupulous elements, who were trying to foment trouble in the country, had hidden the same near the canal bank near Bare Ke village. He added that immediately a police party went to that place and recoverd assault rifles, including AK-47 and AK-56, along with four magazines and 70 cartridges of AK-47. Besides, two .30-bore pistols along with five magazines and 65 cartridges were also recovered. A case in this connection has been registered at Sadar police station. Meanwhile, the BSF authorities have intensified patrolling alongside the zero line.
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Bhattal fit for Rajya Sabha: Capt
Ludhiana, January 9
So, who could be better suited than her to be a part of the politics at the Centre, he quipped. He was responding to a question put by mediapersons that recently Bhathal, Leader of the Opposition, had stated that he was the fittest person to be shifted to the politics at the Centre. The Captain demanded an industrial package for Punjab. He was making this demand in the context of the extension of an industrial package to Himachal Pradesh by the UPA government for the next three years. He was talking to mediapersons here today after attending court proceedings in the City Centre Scam. He said he was not against the incentives or extension of industrial package to Himachal Pradesh or other neighbouring states but pleaded that Punjab had a similar claim.
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State Cong chief meets Sonia
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 9 The Congress high command had summoned Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to the union capital yesterday to seek his explanation on the Jaipur episode. Rana Sodhi met Mohsina Kidwai and gave her his version of the story. The sources say the party high command has taken a serious view of the case and ordered a high-level inquiry into the episode. Reports from Jaipur are also awaited before a final decision is taken. Since Kaypee was away to Sirdi in Maharashtra on the day the Jaipur episode was reported, the party wanted him to hold a preliminary inquiry and submit a report.
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Parho Punjab Programme Chitleen K Sethi Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 9 Districtwise, students of Ferozepur have recorded the highest jump in the learning of languages. Here the result of the baseline test conducted in July 2009 was barely 25 per cent while the November results have been recorded at almost 67 per cent. The other districts that have shown a remarkable improvement include Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa, Mohali and Faridkot. Resultwise, more than 74 per cent of primary students of SBS Nagar can now read and write Punjabi and English, which is the highest in Punjab. Fatehgarh Sahib comes second at 72 per cent followed by Bathinda at 69 per cent and Ropar at 67 per cent. In mathematics, primary students of Fatehgarh Sahib have shown extraordinary progress. Starting with only a 16 per cent result in July 2009 the district registered a 69 per cent result in November 2009. The district also ranked number one in the overall result in the state. Districts like Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Mansa, Jalandhar and Bathinda have also shown a lot of improvement and are also among the top districts on the basis of the ability of primary students in knowing basic mathematics. When contacted, Director-General, School Education, Punjab, Krishan Kumar said the next set of tests under the Parho Punjab programme would be held in March. “This programme attempts to build a strong base among children in learning languages, which includes reading, writing, comprehension and communication, and arithmetic, which includes number recognition, tables, addition-subtraction, multiplication-division, etc,” he said. “The results have been calculated on the basis of children who have achieved the predetermined goals of this programme. The aim is that every child studying in government primary schools in Classes I, II and III acquires reading, writing and basic arithmetic skills,” he added. Dr Davinder Singh Boha, assistant state project director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, added that teachers tested each child to gauge reading, writing and arithmetic competence. “This becomes the baseline of the school and is recorded in the Parho Punjab Register. The baseline was done right after teacher training in July 2009. This data is collected centrally to create school, block, district and state report cards,” he said.
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Engage young Indian-Canadians in creative work, says Malhi
Chandigarh, January 9 “The young community needs to be guided and its energies channelised effectively and constructively than being wasted in destructive and illegal activities,” warns Gurbax Malhi saying that the “cultural gap between two generations of Indian-Canadians has been increasing alarmingly. Community elders should spend more time with their children and encourage them to take to volunteer work, extracurricular and other constructive activities. Unfortunately, parents are not spending quality time with their children. Besides, they are allowing too many liberties and freedoms, including late nightouts that are luring our young generation to the wrong track, he adds. Quoting the example of the Ahmadiyya community in Toronto, Gurbax Malhi says the Punjabi community should learn a lesson from it on channelising youth power in a positive and creative way for the overall welfare of the Canadian community in general and their own community in particular. Gurbax Malhi, who was the first Sikh with turban to enter the Canadian House of Commons in 1993, says that encouraging youngsters with scholarships, awards and other incentives for their excellence in academics, sports and extracurricular activities, including volunteer work, should help us keep them aligned to the mainstream than going astray. The exploitation of brides and bridegrooms for immigration purposes, he says, is another major problem facing the Indian community in general and the Punjabi community in particular. “I have introduced a private member’s bill for a time-bar on spouse visa sponsorship. If an Indian-Canadian boy or girl marries someone in India and wants to sponsor his/her spouse, he or she should be time-barred from any new sponsoring for a minimum of four to five years”. Talking about the problems Canada-based Punjabi NRIs face, he says property disputes are the main problem. Disputes in matrimonial alliances or arranged marriages are another major problem facing the community. The parents on either side do not make enough pre-marriage inquiries.
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Body of woman killed in Oz cremated
Moga, January 9 Meanwhile, the police authorities have sought a legal opinion in this case, whether a criminal case could be lodged here or not. The woman died at Brisbane in Australia on December 26. Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, a former Union Minister and President of the Lok Bhalai Party, also attended the cremation and assured the family members that he would approach the authorities concerned in India and Australia for legal action. The parents of the deceased woman, Amanpreet, agreed to cremate her body only after the post-mortem examination and an assurance given by the police authorities that they will take legal action in the matter. Yesterday, they had threatened not to cremate her body until action was taken by the government in the case.
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Term ‘headmaster’ includes persons of both sexes: HC
Chandigarh, January 9 The ruling came in connection with a bunch of seven petitions by Neelam Rani and others. They had challenged the creation of separate cadre for “male masters, lecturers and headmasters under the Punjab State Education Class III (School Cadre) Service Rules, 1978”. The Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Jora Singh observed: “In respect of posts which are said to be meant for men category, we are of the opinion that women cannot be excluded from competing against the posts specified to be filled from amongst men.” “Neither Article 15 nor Article 16 contemplates reservation of posts in favour of men. Such posts are required to be filled on the basis of merit alone and if on the basis of merit women are meritorious, they are entitled to be appointed against the posts described as reserved for men to the extent of posts meant for women”. Referring to judicial pronouncements, the Bench asserted: “A combined merit list of all the candidates is required to be prepared. If on such merit, women candidate are not selected to the extent of posts reserved for them, only then women lower in merit will be selected and appointed to fill the requisite posts meant for such women candidates. Such course alone will be an act of horizontal reservation and in accordance with the mandate of Articles 14 to 16 of the Constitution of India. “Therefore, we read down Rule 3 and the Appendix A to mean that posts other than the posts meant for female candidates are required to be filled on the basis of merit, without any classification on the basis of sex. Thus, the words - headmaster, lecturer (male) and masters wherever they appear in the rules will include the persons of both sexes. However, such declaration of law is without examining the extent of reservation in favour of women and that whether such extent of reservation violates any law.” The Bench clarified: “It is since the year 1955, rules prescribe separate cadre of men and women. Such cadres have been found to be not tenable. Therefore, principles laid down in this judgment shall be applied prospectively. All previous appointments shall not be reopened or can be said to be invalid on the basis of law declared by this judgment, but all future appointments shall be made on the basis of merit in the manner discussed above.”
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Ropar gets project on swine flu
Ropar, January 9 Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Priyank Bharti said the district would be initially designated as the nodal centre for coordinating with other districts and creating awareness as regards swine flu. “All appointments have been made through the nodal office set up at Chandigarh. Most of the hired people are associated with the health sector,” he added. An extensive project would be planned for laying blueprint to fight swine flu at the district level. Training programmes would be organised for health volunteers, health workers and community members, he added. Three officials have been appointed to run the project for a year. These include the district project coordinator, the district communications and reporting officer and the district finance and planning officer. All these officers have been enrolled on monthly salary basis. This is a USAID-supported project through the International Federation of Red Cross.
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Health gadgets in demand
Patiala, January 9
"In today's busy schedule, everyone wanted to overcome stress and exhaustion. With these gadgets, one can not only relax but also stay fit and healthy," he said. Modern-day health gadgets were innovative and backed by scientific research, he added.
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Canadian Speaker not in favour of any anti-defection law Chandigarh, January 9 Some time ago, Canadian MPs had unanimously decided to hold 130 sittings a year. However, for the second consecutive December, Stephen Harper has opted for the prorogation of Parliament thus cutting down the number of sittings besides leaving a large number of government bills introduced since January last year pending for approval. “I am a Speaker and a neutral person. I am not supposed to comment on the second consecutive prorogation. But governments have the right to do it even if it is for the wrong reasons,” said Peter Milliken at an informal interaction with select mediapersons at the Chandigarh Press Club this afternoon. He was accompanied by five-time MP Gurbax Malhi. Both Peter Milliken and Gurbax Malhi belong to the Liberals, the main Opposition party to the ruling Tories. “Personally, I feel that legislative business should be gone through in the scheduled manner,” he added. “At times when international conferences are going on and to facilitate the participation of Ministers there, the House can be prorogued for a week or two. This time since Vancouver will be playing host to the winter Olympics, the House is now unlikely to meet before the first week of March,” says the seven-time MP from Kingston and the Islands. On January 29,2001, he was elected the 34th Speaker of the House of Commons. He is incidentally the third Speaker in the history of the Canadian Parliament to be chosen by secret ballot. Since then, he has been the Speaker. Besides, he is also the Chair of the Board of Internal Economy. He is not in favour of any anti-defection law. “I do not believe that if a Member of Parliament joins another political party, he should resign and go back to the electorate to seek their fresh mandate. But this is my personal opinion. Some time back, Herb Dhaliwal, then member of the House, had introduced a private member’s bill on defections,” recalled Peter Milliken. Talking about successive minority governments in Canada, he said it was an interesting concept where members got to have their say as well as their importance felt. The ruling minority party felt handicapped in getting some of its legislative business approved by the House. It had to take the support of one party or the other to get going. It was definitely an interesting political development and not at all a bad idea. Minority governments had to negotiate, get into compromises and get on their side at least one other party on important issues of public interest. Last year, three of the major Opposition parties were thinking of forging an alliance as an alternative to the minority Tory government in Canada. But it did not come through. “Personally speaking, I do not prefer a national government to a minority government. All parties may not agree on a national government in the case of no party getting a majority in the House,” he said while agreeing that frequent elections were a major financial burden on the state. “No one likes frequent elections,” he added. He complimented MPs of Indian origin on their role in the House of Commons. “It is my first visit to India and I am really impressed by the hospitality. The Taj Mahal in Agra, the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Chandigarh as a planned city have been very interesting and impressive for me,” he concluded.
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Freedom fighter dead Ludhiana, January 9 Referred to as the patriotic politician of Punjab, he also held the offices of the Secretary, PPCC; President, District Congress Committee, Ludhiana, and was also a member of the managing committee of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and managing committee of Arya College, Ludhiana. He was a founder member and secretary-general of the Indian National Trade Union Congress and persuaded the people to join the organisation to serve the country. Dewan joined the freedom movement at the age of 16 years. He was imprisoned for the first time at the age of 17 years and appeared in his Class X board examination from the Central Jail, Multan. He was also the president of the Students’ Union of Ludhiana and organised various meetings and protests against the British. During his long years of imprisonment, a case of criminal conspiracy was slapped against him and Kishan Singh, father of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. He was also imprisoned for four years for taking part in the Quit India and Civil Disobedience Movements. CHANDIGARH: Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has condoled the death of the veteran freedom fighter. In a condolence message, Badal described Dewan an embodiment of sacrifice, selfless service and struggle who had made a great contribution during the freedom struggle.
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Ludhiana Violence Ludhiana, January 9 ‘‘I cannot identify the vested interests here but the government knows about it. All reports are with the government,’’ he said. Gill was in the city today to address a function organised to build confidence among migrants. Following a query that the violence was failure of intelligence also, the DGP said they were revamping their intelligence system to check any situation like this in future. Citing shortage of police staff, the DGP said though the population had increased manifold, the police vacancies had remained almost the same for the last many years. He announced that the police would recruit 1,400 constables in the current financial year and 1,100 during the next year. The top cop also said that he would meet the migrants personally to bridge a gap between them and the police. ‘‘They have been living here with complete mutual harmony. It was just one bad day and things have improved sooner than expected,’’ he said.
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Staff up in arms against official
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 9 The employees added that they had written to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the minister concerned, Sucha Singh Langah, the Vigilance Bureau chief and Managing Director of the corporation Iqbal Singh Sidhu quoting specific instances of corruption, but no action has been taken against the official. They added that they also met corporation Chairman Alvinder Pal Singh Pakhoke a few weeks ago and gave affidavits against the official. Pakhoke said he had received complaints against the official and he had asked the corporation MD to look into the complaint. “But I have not received any report from him,” he said, adding that the aggrieved employees should meet him again and give him a more detailed complaint. The MD of the corporation, Iqbal Singh Sidhu, said he had asked another manager in the corporation to look into the complaints and report to him. “The inquiry is yet to begin. These things take time,” Sidhu added. The employees also pointed out that a vigilance probe had indicted this official for having caused a loss of over Rs 3.16 crore to the corporation when he was posted as the district manager at Sangrur in 2001. An FIR was lodged in the scam at Dhanola in Sangrur in this regard and a case is still going on. Despite this, the corporation has not taken any action against him, they add.
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City Centre case adjourned to Feb 6
Ludhiana, January 9 This happended when the Special Public Prosecutor was adressing his arguments. A defence lawyer strongly objected to the recording of the proceedings of the court, terming it to be contempt of court. Thereafter, certain other defence lawyers also raised a hue and cry. Under these circumstances, the Special Public Prosecutor tendered an apology to put an end to the controversy and said that he was not having a malafide intention. He had full respect for the court. But the defence lawyers were in no mood to skirt the issue. Later, Capt Amarinder Singh's counsel Trilok Singh Sood and two other defence lawyers moved an application in writing for initiating contempt proceedigns against the public prosecutor. But the court observed that he had already tendered an apology and disposed of the application. Meanwhile, the Special Public prosecutor completed his arguments for framing charges against the former CM. He also accused Hapreet Sandhu, former additional advocate-general, for acting as a 'representative' of the former Chief Minister for striking a deal with Today Homes. Sandhu's lawyer refuted the allegations and stated that his client was a victim of political vendetta. He was handling the Orbit resorts case against the Badal family in the official capacity of being Additonal Advocate-General. But he was implicated falsely. Meanwhile, all accused, including former Local Bodies Minister Choudhary Jagjit Singh, Raninder Singh, Raminder Singh, GK Gambhir, managing director of Today Homes company, were present during the court hearing.
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Badal appears in court
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 9 Referring to the election campaign, Badal alleged Capt Amarinder Singh had stooped to a new low by indulging in malicious campaigns during election days. It must be mentioned here that Badal, who is a prime witness in the case, had sought Rs 5 crore as damages, along with interest, for being allegedly defamed through advertisements in newspapers on August 12, 2002. He had alleged that the advertisements wrongly conveyed a message that he had mortgaged the state’s interests in the SYL canal case, besides the future of Punjab farmers, to Haryana Chief Minister in lieu of a gift of 22 acres in Gurgaon, worth around Rs 500 crore.
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Sidhu to contest plea on 2009 election
Chandigarh, January 9
Accepting his prayer, Justice Surya Kant fixed January 15 as the next date of hearing on the petition filed by defeated Congress candidate OP Soni. He had challenged Sidhu’s victory on the ground of adoption of corrupt practices by the respondent, including misuse of government machinery to promote his electoral prospects. The hearing on another election petition against the victory of Congress candidate Santosh Chaudhary from Hoshiarpur (reserved) parliamentary constituency was adjourned postponed to January 22 by Justice Hemant Gupta.
Bench to be restructured
With a judge opting out of the full Bench constituted for hearing an appeal filed by Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara against the Punjab government’s order of banning his book Bhav Sagar Granth, the high court will now have to reconstitute the Bench. The full Bench initially comprised Justice MM Kumar, Justice Surinder Singh Saron and Justice Jitendra Chauhan. But, with Justice Saron rescuing himself, the matter has been referred back to Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal.
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Celebrations of the historical and religious Maghi Mela have started taking place, but all is not well here.
Ill-maintained monuments have been baring the reality of politicians and bureaucrats, for whom the fair has apparently become just another source to gain benefits.
If one takes the round of the city, which has been waiting its official status as a holy city from the past couple of years, the state of affairs will itself be exposed.
Chandigarh, January 9
Ludhiana, January 9