 |
|
|
Dalit girl working as domestic help dies
Gupta Report on Incubator Fire
Nursing Student’s Death |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sukhbir-Kalia Panel
State BJP chief election today
Kidnapping of Youth
PCMSA: Govt should have raised retirement age
Sidhu blames bureaucrats for project delay
PTU to set up tech teachers’ training institute
A First
State ignores wildlife concerns
PSEB engineers await appointment
Saving Agriculture
Nephrologist gets Padma Shri
Mill shutdown to hit cane crushers
Relief sought
‘Keep boozers off Gandhiji’s ceremonies’
Sooty Ludhiana scrambles for carbon credits
HC allows access to court martial proceedings
|
Dalit girl working as domestic help dies
Moga, January 30 The girl identified as Veerpal Kaur is the daughter of a Dalit labourer Darshan Singh, a resident of Takhtupura Lohara village of the Nihalsinghwala subdivision of this district. However, the police as of now had not registered any criminal case against her “employers” probably under political pressure and had initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. It is learnt the girl consumed some poisonous substance at about 6 am. The owner of the house, Chamkaur Singh, where she was working as a domestic help immediately took her to a nearby private clinic. The doctor after noticing signs of consuming poison referred her to the district hospital. Eyewitnesses said when the girl was brought to the district hospital at about 7 am, she was crying loudly due to pain. She was admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital for treatment. She breathed her last at about 12 in the noon while under treatment. During about five hours, when she was battling between life and death in the hospital, the police did not record her statement for reasons best known to it. The senior medical officer, Gurmail Singh, while talking to The Tribune said a post-mortem examination of the body had been conducted, in which no external injury was visible. “However, we have taken a sample of her viscera that is being sent to the government laboratory at Kharar for chemical examination,” he said. Darshan Singh, the aggrieved father, and Naseeb Kaur, mother of the girl, who were present on the hospital premises while alleging that their teenaged daughter had died of consuming some poisonous substance, said she was either murdered or forced to commit suicide. “I am very poor, you tell me what can I do, if the police is not doing anything in this case,” cried the father of the deceased girl. With tears in her eyes, the mother said, “If I knew, she will die, I would never have sent her to the house of an upper-caste family.” The parents have demanded an independent inquiry into their daughter’s death from an agency other than the local police, which, they alleged, was working under political pressure to hush up the case.
|
|
Gupta Report on Incubator Fire
Chandigarh, January 30 Justice KC Gupta, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who conducted the inquiry, has stated in his report that the then Principal of the college and the then head of the department are also “vicariously responsible for the incident in their supervisory capacity.” Justice Gupta submitted the report to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here this morning. Six newborn children were burnt alive at the Neonatology Unit of Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, on January 31, 2009, following which a judicial inquiry was instituted into the incident. Other than the Minister for Medical Education and Research Tikshan Sood offering to resign on moral grounds, no serious action was taken by the government against anyone despite the fact that the incident, caused due to sheer negligence, had shocked the nation. Justice Gupta had been asked to inquire into the circumstances that led to the incident and also fix responsibility. However, Justice Gupta has not recommended any action against those found guilty as this was beyond the scope of the inquiry’s terms of reference. A spokesman of the government said Justice Gupta had also suggested a number of remedial measures to ensure that no such incident took place in the future. The report has pointed out that the hospital used archaic methods of keeping the room for the newborn children warm and for phototherapy which should be done away with and replaced with modern technology. The report adds that the whole neonatology ward in the hospital needed to be revamped to make it safe for the mothers and patients. It is learnt that the Chief Minister also passed orders to the Department of Medical Education and Research for strict compliance of Justice Gupta’s report. The state government claims to have already embarked upon an ambitious plan to upgrade Government Medical College Patiala and Rajindra Hospital at a cost of Rs 30 crore. Similarly infrastructure at Amritsar Medical College and
its associated hospitals is also being upgraded at a cost of Rs 143.5 crore.
|
|
Police issues look-out certificate for NRI
Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service
Moga, January 30 Stating this, ASI Hakam Singh, who is investigating the case, said the NRI was still eluding arrest even as the police had raided several places, his possible hideouts, during the past 24 hours. “I am hopeful that we will soon arrest him,” he claimed. The police had registered a criminal case under Section 306, IPC, on charges of abetment to suicide against him. A couple of criminal cases were also pending against him in the California state. Meanwhile, a three-member medical board of eminent doctors conducted the post-mortem examination of the deceased nursing student, Virpal Kaur, daughter of Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Mahesari village, on Saturday. She was doing the GNM course of nursing from the Indo-American School of Nursing here. The senior medical officer, Gurmail Singh, while talking to The Tribune said that no marks of visible injury were found on the body. “The doctors have taken samples of her viscera for chemical examination to ascertain the cause of her death,” he said. The doctors had also taken samples of her swab for laboratory tests to find out whether she was sexually abused or not. Meanwhile, Satpal Singh, brother of the deceased girl, in a statement recorded to the police had alleged that Jagsir had promised to marry his sister and had an affair with her. “Now, he refused to marry her and Virpal went to his house on January 28 at about 11 pm at Landeke village and committed suicide,” he alleged.
|
Sukhbir-Kalia Panel
Chandigarh, January 30 Dhindsa said the real audience that Amarinder was seeking was not the people of Punjab but the Congress High Command in Delhi whom he wants to impress by showing that he could go to more irrational extents in criticising the Badal government than the other Congressmen. “Their competitive politicking is the only reason behind such statements,” he added. The Akali leader said Amarinder had stabbed the state farmers in the back by inflicting power bills on them and re-introducing SAD’s policy of free power only when he saw that he was being voted out. As against this, the SAD
-BJP government has maintained free power for the farm sector throughout.
Dhindsa said Amarinder’s comments on the Sukhbir-Kalia committee were completely at variance with his observations that the recommendations and their implementation would put an unbearable burden on the common man. “The fact is that the gross fiscal management by the Congress and the nationwide spiralling inflation has made it mandatory for Sukhbir-Kalia committee to refrain from putting any additional burden on the common man. That’s why they chose to tax profit rather than profit and limit their proposals to raising resources by increasing the volume rather than the rate of taxes.”
|
||
|
State BJP chief election today
Jalandhar, January 30 Meanwhile, senior party leaders of the state unit have reached New Delhi to discuss the election with the party High Command. The tie for the state BJP chief’s post is between Ashwani Kumar and Kamal Sharma.
|
|
Kidnapping of Youth Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 30 The protesters lifted the gherao when the SSP gave them an assurance that the accused would be arrested within four days. BKU (U) district general secretary Jagjit Singh Bhunder said over the phone that they had lifted the gherao after the SSP gave an assurance to arrest the kidnapper within four days. He said in case the kidnapper was not arrested by then, they would block the Bathinda-Barnala road at Rampura for an indefinite period. Earlier on January 28, the Rampura police station was gheraoed by the activists of the BKU and the residents of Bhunder village. The protesters had lifted the gherao when a senior police officer reached there to pacify them. However, the protesters had announced that they would gherao the Rampura police station for an indefinite period in case the police failed to trace the kidnapped youth.
|
|
PCMSA: Govt should have raised retirement age
Hoshiarpur, January 30 In a press note issued here today, the president and the press secretary of the PCMS Association, Dr Hardeep Singh and Dr Ajay
Bagga, respectively, stated that the circular issued by the Personnel Department of the state government on January 27, 2010, had led to a lot of resentment among the employees particularly doctors who were going to retire after December 31. All employees retiring between January 22 and December 31, 2010, had been given an option to serve for one year more. It meant that an employee retiring on December 31, 2010, would serve up to December 31, 2011, whereas an employee who retired a day after, i.e. January 1, 2011, would not get an extension in service. This was discrimination and against the spirit of natural justice, they lamented.
|
|
Sidhu blames bureaucrats for project delay
Amritsar January 30 The Rs 360-crore Sri Guru Ram Das Development Project
(SGRDDP) was mooted in 2005 when Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board had come out with a detailed project report for ensuring water supply, proper sewerage lines and setting up of three sewage treatment plants for the city. The project, with a five-year deadline, was initiated in 2008 and Japan International Cooperation Agency had agreed to provide a low- interest loan of Rs 348 crore for the project, but it failed to move ahead allegedly due to lackadaisical approach of the officials concerned. So much so, the requisite land has not been acquired for setting up of the sewage treatment plants so far. “Not only this, the project cost has got escalated from Rs 360 crore to Rs 544 crore as the municipal corporation officials have included more sewerage lines in the estimate. Also, the proposed sewage treatment plant at Sultanwind and certain areas were excluded from the project by the officials,” the Amritsar MP said. “Those are responsible for the delay in executing the project and escalation of costs should be given exemplary punishment and should be subjected to disciplinary action. I have already taken up the matter with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh
Badal,” Sidhu said here today. The authorities, however, have said the Sultanwind plant would be set-up as a separate project now and hence does not include the original developemental project. Apart from the Sultanwind plant, the original project had mulled setting up treatment plants at Mahal and Fatahpur villages also.
|
|
PTU to set up tech teachers’ training institute
Jalandhar, January 30 There will be a provision for pre-service and in-service training programmes at the institute. “ We have earmarked Rs 10 crore for the faculty development programme for the next fiscal year,” said Dr Rajnish Arora, Vice-Chancellor, PTU.“ There will be short and long-term training programes at the institute,” he added. Under the faculty development programme, provision has been made for teachers’ exchange programmes in the country and abroad. PTU has also started working on skill-development programmes under which semi-literate youth will be imparted training. “There is a vast need for skilled youth in the market and we are developing models of various training programmes. The state government’s employment generation department will also be involved in this exercise,” said Dr
Arora.
|
|
A First
Chandigarh, January 30 Besides, a new Greenfield International Airport (aerotropolis) near Ludhiana would come up. It would be the first greenfield international airport in North India to be set up in the private sector. This was disclosed to the State Advisory Committee on Civil Aviation, constituted by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to look into the civil aviation affairs of the state, in its meeting that was held here yesterday. Presiding over the meeting, State Civil Aviation Minister Upinderjit Kaur said clearance to these projects signalled the entry of Punjab into a higher orbit of international air connectivity in South Asia. This would also propel the state into a zone of high intensity international trade and commerce, the minister said.
|
|
State ignores wildlife concerns
Jalandhar, January 30 Though the state Forest and Wildlife Department has no such record of wild animals that die after straying, wildlife experts claim that over 300-400 wild animals stray into residential areas annually and only 50 per cent could rejoin their flock in forests. The “ill-equipped” wildlife department enables to capture only 20-25 per cent strayed beasts, but methods used by officials to catch animals often result to their death. Experts claim that nearly 125-200 wild animals, including sambhar, deer, and pangolin, that stray into residential areas either fell prey to poachers or met with road accidents. Maximum cases of deaths are reported in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Ropar and Mohali. Besides villages along the Indo-Pak border, wild animals also stray into residential areas in Ferozepur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and parts of Moga and Kapurthala districts. Former honorary wildlife warden, Hoshiarpur, Gunraj Singh claimed that during the winter, the animals strayed into residential areas in want of fodder and water. “There is not even a single rescue centre for wild animals that sustain injuries when chased by human beings or stray dogs in residential areas. The animals released in forests after being treated by the department often fell prey to predators there,” claimed Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa, honorary wildlife warden, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur. Chief wildlife warden, Punjab, RK Luna, admitted of not having any rescue centre, where the injured wild animals could be treated. He added that the department had initiated a plan to maintain records of every animal that stray into residential areas.
|
|
PSEB engineers await appointment
Jalandhar, January 30 The PSEB had advertised posts to recruit about 125 AEs on January 12, 2009. The test was postponed thrice and held at last on September 13, 2009, and the result was declared on October 28. The documents and certificates of successful candidates were checked from December 15-17. However, selected candidates have not received appointment letters till date. Likewise, sources said, about 200 junior engineers were to be recruited. They were also waiting for the appointment letters.
|
|
Saving Agriculture
Seeto Guno (Ferozepur), January 30 Sekhon, who was here to inaugurate sub- tehsil offices in this and Khuian Sarwar towns, while talking to The Tribune said if corrective steps were not taken by the Central Government by giving the actual share of Punjab in the river water, the border state could head for desertification. Sekhon said a number of times, the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had approached Prime Minister and the Central Water Commission to carry out a fair distribution of water among the Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan states as per riparian principles and according to the actual quantum of water available now, but to no avail. He added that all these three states were getting a share in the river water by taking total stock of water as 17.5 million acres foot (MAF), which was available in Punjab decades ago. Now the total availability of water had come down to 14 MAF and hence distribution must be changed accordingly. He said the Punjab government had approached the Supreme Court to get justice and it was hoped that within a reasonable time, things would be decided in favour of Punjab. He added that if the Centre was willing to carry out redistribution of water, which was required after every 25 years as per law, the Punjab government could contemplate withdrawing the petition from the Supreme Court. Earlier addressing a function at the inauguration of the office of the sub-tehsil here, Sekhon said the Shahpur Kandi project, relining of Rajasthan and Sirhind feeders and remodelling of canals, distributaries and minors in Punjab would be a reality as adequate funds for these projects had been arranged.
|
|
Nephrologist gets Padma Shri
Chandigarh, January 30 Dr Bhalla told The Tribune that he never aspired for the honour, but had always remained committed to serving the people from his student days at Amritsar Medical College, where he received medals in four subjects and a merit scholarship. After moving to Delhi, he had remained involved in various charitable activities, including opening a charitable hospital in West Delhi for poor and needy patients and managing a free medicine camp. He specialises in vascular access surgery for haemodialysis and has innovated new techniques. The citation given to Dr Bhalla along with the Padam Shri reads, “Dr AK Bhalla, Senior Consultant Nephrologist, and vice-chairman, Department Of Nephrology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, is a specialist in Peritoneal Dialysis and has established the peritoneal dialysis services as a modality of Renal Replacement Therapy in India at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. He has been recognised as a pioneer in the field. Dr AK Bhalla is a Founder-Member of Peritoneal Dialysis Society of India”. Besides being President of the Delhi Nephrology Society, he is also currently the Director, Dialysis Programme, at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where he is also the Member of Board of Management.
|
|
Mill shutdown to hit cane crushers
Patiala, January 30 Stating this Punjab Cane Commissioner Mangal Singh Sandhu said the decision to close down the crushers had been taken to ensure that there was sufficient seed cane available for the next crop. The commissioner said there were 11 sugar mills across the state and the decision about the closure of the cane crushers would be applicable only if the crushers were located in the jurisdiction of these sugar mills. He said instructions had been issued to the respective DCs, SSPs and civil surgeons in the districts where the mills were located to ensure that there was no crushing of cane as the season comes to a close. Earlier, Sandhu had issued orders that the crusher owners would have to get a licence from the Cane Commissioner’s office, but they would not be able to use the licence to set up shop anywhere else in the state. There is no fee for applying for the licence. He also said the decision to regulate the number of crushers along the main roads had been taken following reports that the jaggery being sold was substandard and at times adulterated. He said his office had issued instructions to the health authorities to crack down against the cane crushers illegally doing business and also take samples.
|
|
Relief sought
Just about a month after the Division Bench headed by Justice Mehtab Singh Gill directed the payment of Rs 20 lakh each to five implicated in a murder case, an Amritsar resident has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for implicating her in a patently false case under the prevention of Immoral Traffic Act.
In her petition against the state of Punjab and other respondents, the petitioner has asserted proceedings were initiated against her for allegedly running a brothel.
|
|
‘Keep boozers off Gandhiji’s ceremonies’
Chandigarh, January 30 She came down heavily on such leaders and termed them as against the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. — TNS
|
|
Sooty Ludhiana scrambles for carbon credits Ludhiana, January 30 The industry, which is often blamed for creating pollution in the region, has been keen on reversing its reputation and be the first one to start carbon credit trading in the region. To give it a shape of reality, the forging and furnace industry here inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Bank to adopt carbon credit norms. However, the World Bank laid stringent conditions, which were not viable for the industry. As a result, the project fell through. “However, all is not lost and we have now tied up with Mumbai based TEPL that will buy the carbon credits from the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) (Ludhiana Hand Tools and Forging Envirocare Private Limited). The industry here would be selling its saved credits to the SPV,” said SC Ralhan, president of the SPV. He said that the project has been delayed as they would again have to prepare a detailed project design development report, before it can be implemented. According to sources, over fifty furnace units here have now adopted carbon-credit norms. These units plan to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the use of furnace oil. This oil, which has been the main pollutant, is being replaced by electricity and commercial LPG kits. Most of the units would make an upfront investment of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, depending upon the equipment that each unit would need.
|
||
|
|
HC allows access to court martial proceedings
Chandigarh, January 30 Not too willing to part with the details, the authorities had declined his request on May 28, 2001, on the grounds that there was no provision authorising the supply of proceedings to him. But now, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that it is unfair to deny the proceedings to a complainant in the era of Right to Information. Justice Ranjit Singh ruled: “In an era governed by the Right to Information Act, it will certainly not be proper to deny the copy of the proceedings to the petitioner or any information relating thereto. “The petitioner is a person, who had lodged the FIR. He is aggrieved father, who has lost his son. He had appeared as a witness before the district court martial as well…. The petitioner has a status of complainant. To deny him the court martial proceedings would amount to denying him his rights... Jaspal Singh had asserted FIR, No. 125, dated April 19, 1997, was registered at Civil Lines police station, Ludhiana, under Sections 279, 338 and 304-A of the IPC. His grievance was the respondent was responsible for causing death and answerable for offence under Section 304-A. Yet proper legal action was not initiated; and the respondent was let off with the award of severe displeasure.” Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “Since the request of the petitioner for supply of district court martial proceedings was declined, he is not fully aware of the proceedings and the manner in which the finding or sentence has been awarded. Accordingly, he has made a prayer for supply of the proceedings to enable him to take appropriate legal action thereafter.”
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
A graduate from Amritsar Medical College and a postgraduate in internal medicine and nephrology, Dr AK Bhalla has been awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution to medicine by the President of India. Currently a senior consultant and vice-chairman of the Department of Nephrology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr Bhalla has received the award for pioneering the technique of home Peritoneal Dialysis
(CAPD) in the country.