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26 mini-power plants sanctioned
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal after inaugurating the biomass-based project in Channu village of Muktsar district on Friday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma
Farooq wants amnesty for Sikh militants
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Mann for scrapping of ‘black list’
Amarinder fails to make it to Beant anniversary
PAU 201 gets Centre’s nod
Kila Raipur Rural Olympics
Dismiss SAD-BJP govt, Cong to Guv
Common village land can be vested in revenue dept
Punjab Bhawan Controversy
Hawala money used to buy explosives
Farmers flay new fertiliser policy
NREGS
CPI opposes Centre’s proposal on water resources
Driver dies as truck falls into canal
Pbi varsity ‘facing’ shortage of funds
Anganwari union stages protest
Moga scientist gets award
Only Singhs & Kaurs eligible for SGPC scholarships
Dead Man Walking
Widening of NH 95
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26 mini-power plants sanctioned
Channu (Muktsar), February 19 Encouraged by Punjab’s fast march in the area of renewable energy, his ministry had sanctioned 26 more such mini-power plants besides sanctioning pilot projects in the area of solar, hydel and wind energy, Abdullah said. He said his ministry under the pilot project was planning to provide solar and wind run water pumps to the farmers of Punjab in which farmers would contribute minimal amount. He said, if successful, it could save Rs 3,500 crore power subsidy being provided by state to the farmers. He appreciated Sukhbir Singh for having set an example before the country by making determined forays in renewable energy sector with the target to generate 500 MW in next two years. He said the residents of the villages around such projects would be benefited, as their agricultural waste would be procured for generating electricity. Speaking on the occasion Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh said 29 such plants would be operational all over Punjab in next 18 months. He said each plant would buy agricultural waste to the tune of Rs 30 to 40 crore from the farmers in its 30-km radius. He said the farmers economy was set to get a boost as they would be earning Rs 900 crore by selling agricultural waste which was earlier burnt by them. Badal said the plant would utilise agricultural wastes like cotton and rice husk, cow dung, straws and stalks of paddy, cotton and wheat to produce electricity. He said Punjab was committed to generate 10 per cent of installed generating capacity from renewable energy sources. Badal said he had launched three-pronged strategy to realise mission of making Punjab Power surplus. Sukhbir Singh said this same company would setup two more plants in Ferozepur and Mansa at the cost of Rs 250 crore. He said with 20 lakh million tonne agricultural residue being generated every year, Punjab can produce over 1,000 MW power from agro waste alone. Bipin Bhardwaj adds from Binjon (Hoshiarpur): After generating power from hydel, thermal and solar projects, the union government would focus on wind energy. The next step to generate power would be from underground gases. The UPA government will do its utmost to tap maximum natural resources of new and renewable energy, said Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Dr Abdullah was here to lay the foundation stone of a 10 MW biomass power project being set up by Green Planet Energy Pvt Ltd, a Maharashtra-based company at a cost of Rs 68 crore.
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Farooq wants amnesty for Sikh militants
Channu (Muktsar), February 19 Abdullah, who was here to inaugurate a biomass-based power project, said “a thorough screening would be done of each militant who wants to surrender”. He made it clear that “we will not open the gates for all ultras to return to Jammu and Kashmir”. Abdullah was reacting to the controversy that has been triggered following Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement during his recent visit to Jammu that the amnesty would be for only Kashmiri ultras and would not cover the Sikh militants. Abdullah said a modified surrender policy was being planned since a long time and it was not a sudden development. One of the five working groups on Kashmir that was headed by Hamid Ansari before he became the Vice-President of India, had strongly recommended that one-time amnesty should be given to the Kashmiri youth who had gone astray and picked up the gun. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed these groups after a meeting with all political parties of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the “nitty-gritty” of the proposed plan would be worked out before the surrender policy was rolled out. Initially, Abdullah refused to talk on the issue and told mediapersons that either Chidambram or Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was in a position to comment on the proposed policy. However, when persuaded, he responded to questions on the issue. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was present on the occasion, strongly criticised the Centre for discriminating between the militants of Kashmir and Punjab. “We condemn the decision and the policy should be for all.” Sukhbir Singh said the Centre should not differentiate between the misguided youth of the two states and the proposed surrender policy should be for all.
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Mann for scrapping of ‘black list’
Amritsar, February
19 He said the policies of the Centre must reflect the same treatment to all communities, whether majority or minority. He said the names of those leaders and persons who took part in the anti-Sikh riots and those who demolished Babri Masjid were not added in the ‘black list’. He flayed the
SAD-BJP coalition government in the state for empowering police commissioners to take any decision, including that to order firing, which was earlier vested in an executive magistrate. He said the coalition government had released powers to its leaders who had developed their private forces. He claimed that it was apparent from the broad daylight murder of farmer leader Sadhu Singh Takhtupura at Ajnala subdivision recently. He announced that he would contest the SGPC elections on the issue of
Khalistan. Reiterating his demand, Mann said he would work for the attainment of the objective through democracy and vote power and the same message he would try to send across the Sikh voters.
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Amarinder fails to make it to Beant anniversary
Chandigarh, February 19 A section of the Beant Singh family headed by his grandson Gurkirat Singh had made claims in the media that Capt Amarinder Singh would attend the function. Amarinder’s aide Karanpal Sekhon contacted TNS to say that Amarinder had promised Gurkirat that he would attend the function but that he had been asked to stay put in Delhi by the Congress high command. While Congress watchers claim that not much should be read into Amarinder coming to the function or not, they are clear that it is Gurkirat who needs Amarinder more than the other way round. It had been earlier speculated that Amarinder needed to secure the support of the Beant Singh family to brighten his prospects of becoming the Pradesh Congress President. Congress sources, however, say the Beant Singh family has since long switched over to wooing Amarinder and that Gurkirat had been courting him for a long time. Meanwhile, an impressive function was held to mark the 87th birth anniversary of the late Chief Minister. Both Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil and Haryana Governor Jagan Nath Paharia attended the function that included a prayer meeting as well as a blood donation camp. As many as 115 persons donated blood at the camp organised by the Congress Legal Cell. There was an overwhelming response from the Congress even as Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla of the BJP also attended the function at which family members of the late Chief Minister, including his widow Jaswant Kaur, son and former minister Tej Prakash Singh, grandsons Gurkirat and Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu were present. Senior Congress leaders including PPCC President Mohinder Singh Kaypee and CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal lauded the supreme sacrifice made by Beant Singh in the interest of national security. The leaders said Beant Singh’s contribution to turning back the State towards peace and prosperity after a decade of militancy would always be remembered. Besides MPs Santosh Choudhary and Sukhdev Singh Libra around 15 legislators attended the function including Avtar Singh Brar, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Rana K.P. Singh, Lov Kumar Goldy, Darshan Singh Brar , Amarjit Singh Samra, Sadhu Singh Dharmsot, Jasbir Singh Khangura, Surjit Singh Dhiman, Harmohinder Singh Pradhan, Ajit Inder Singh Mofar and Sukhpal Singh Khaira. Other prominent leaders included Choudhary Jagjit Singh, Ved Prakash Gupta, Vishnu Sharma, Col C D Singh Kamboj, Ramesh Singla, Mohinder Singh Gill and Harnek Singh Gharuan.
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PAU 201 gets Centre’s nod
Jalandhar, February 19 Confirming this, Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal said today that he had informed the Secretary, state Food and Supplies, in this regard. Asked whether rice millers had been told to go ahead with the milling of the variety, Aggarwal said he had told the Secretary to take appropriate steps in this regard after talking to the minister concerned. However, it is not clear yet that whether the Centre had conveyed about the results of samples in writing or otherwise. Millers had not started its milling for the past four months as the FCI had raised objections with regard to its quality, especially regarding black spots on its grains besides high percentage of discolouration and damage of its grains. About 40 lakh tonnes paddy of this variety was procured by government agencies. It was stacked with millers, who were upset as neither the Centre not the state government was taking any decision with regard to the starting of its milling. Following refusal by millers to shell this variety and objections raised by the FCI, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and BKU president Balbir Singh Rajewal had met Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to resolve the issue. On Pawar’s instance, the issue was referred to the Health Ministry for check that whether rice prepared from it is fit for human consumption or not. Teams of experts deputed by the Centre had drawn samples of this variety from various places for testing. A few days ago, Badal had spoken to the Union Health Minister for earliest testing of the samples. As it is a very high-yield variety, farmers preferred to transplant it.
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This bullock is fed on dry fruits, milk
Kanchan Vasdev Tribune News Service
Kila Raipur, February 19 Starting from buying a pair by shelling out a princely sum to feed them with almonds, raisins, milk and desi ghee everyday, owners are ready to do anything to be a proud possessor of a pair. A bullock worth Rs 7 lakh remained the attraction of Kila Raipur rural olympics this year, where many participants offered double the price of the chosen bullock-named Bagga that stood fourth in the time trials yesterday by completing a 100 m lap in 20.90 seconds. Belonging to farmer Bachan Singh of Dhandri Kalan village, the bullock was purchased by him from Moga last year, where it had stood first in a rural sports festival. “I was offered anything for the bullock today, but I refused. For a farmer, a bullock is like a son. And if it is an athlete, it is more than a son. Will anybody sell his progeny?” he asked. “For a complete one year, I have fed it with almonds, raisins, grams and milk by spending at least Rs 500 everyday. We do not give them green fodder as it makes them put on weight. They are given a body massage everyday which makes their skin shine. You can well imagine how much is it worth,” he said. Being too attached to the bullock that has brought name for Bachan Singh, who is popularly known as Bachna Bagge Baulad wala (Bachan-he owner of Bagga bullock), he does not make him participate in the heats. “Bullocks can get injured badly as many others participate in the same round. This game is not for my cherished bullock,” he adds. His another bullock is also worth Rs 1.20 lakh while normally bullocks are sold for anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000. “My bullocks are not for agriculture. They are only to run,” he says with pride. Another participant, Gurmeet Singh had spent nearly Rs 2 lakh to buy a racing bullock. “Named Manuka, the bullock was the winner of Kila Raipur games in 2007. I bought it there and then. Now, it is with me and it is worth much more. But it is not for sale,” he said. Balwinder Singh Vicky, a farmer from Sayya village, said they purchased bullocks from mandis of Nagaur and Deedoana in Rajashan for a few thousand rupees. “It was made to exercise and practice. It was only after their performance that they are sold for lakhs,” he said.
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Dismiss SAD-BJP govt, Cong to Guv
Chandigarh, February 19 The Punjab Congress, which submitted a “charge sheet” against the government to the Governor led by its Legislature party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, said recent ‘riots’ in Bathinda, an inefficient manner in which incidents were handled in Ludhiana as well as violence surrounding the elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions were itself a reason for the immediate dismissal of the government. The “charge sheet” said the government had let loose a reign of terror on Congress workers, who were being roped in false criminal cases in thousands. Similarly, it said neutral and fair administration was not being given to the people with the police administration and jurisdiction of police stations being recast on the basis of political units like assembly constituencies. It said the government had “failed” to give any direction to the administrative machinery and no policy decisions were being taken. It said there was no policy for agriculture and for farmers. Shortage of power was increasing and power cuts were becoming longer and adversely affecting the growth of industry in the state, it added. Claiming that the government did not have the required resources at its command, it said nearly 80 per cent of the income of the state was spent on salaries and other committed liabilities. It said the debt stock of the state had increased to Rs 62,000 crore and that the state was not resorting to borrowing to the extent of Rs 8,000 crore every year. The “charge sheet” further said the farming sector was in total disarray. Productivity was going down and farm indebtness had gone up to Rs 35,000 crore and that the per farmhouse hold debt was now Rs 42,000, the highest in the country. It said there was no qualitative and quantitative improvement in the infrastructure related to health and education. Seventy per cent of the rural dispensaries, particularly in backward and border areas, were without doctors and nearly 1,200 schools were without Principals. The delegation comprised Darshan Singh Brar, Avtar Singh Brar, Harminder Singh Jassi, Tej Parkash Singh, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Isher Singh Meharban, Harmohinder Singh Pardhan, Randeep Singh Nabha, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Gurdeep Singh Bhaini and Madan Lal Thekedar, all legislators and MLAs, former PPCC President M S Gill, party spokesman Fatehjang Singh Bajwa and General Secretary Parminder Singh.
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Common village land can be vested in revenue dept
Chandigarh, February 19 The letter issued to heads of the district administration is based on the recommendations and opinion of the Advocate General HS Mattewal and reads, “It has come to the notice of the government that there are several misgivings pertaining to the Mushtraka Malkan or Jumla Malkan land and Shamlat land. The Section 42 of the East Punjab Holding (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act is only applicable to that land that was kept aside for common use at the time of consolidation. Further, as per the Section 42-A such land has to be kept for common use and cannot be divided further”. It has been further clarified that all such land will be owned by “Village Property Body”, be reflected as Jumla Mushtraka Malkan land in revenue records and its possession will be vests with the Panchayat. Elaborating on it, Mattewal, said there was a lot of litigation pending in courts with people claiming ownership of such land. “This would mean that at least 40 per cent of disputes over village land in various courts will come to an end.” Mattewal further clarified that the Shamlat land is governed by the Punjab Village Common Land Act, 1961, and is owned by the Panchayat of the village. The letter by the Revenue and Rehabilitation Department has been circulated to all deputy commissioner so that instructions can be brought to the notice of the revenue courts. He further said in case any mutation was required to be entered on the basis of an order of the court or authority and was presented for decision to a revenue officer, he has to decide the matter in accordance with Section 42-A of the “Consolidation Act”.
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Extend full courtesy to guests: Chief Justice
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 19 Less than 24 hours after Punjab Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal placed New Delhi-based Punjab Bhawan’s General Manager Sanjay Sharma under suspension for not showing due courtesy to Justice RK Garg of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Justice Mudgal has shot off a communication. In his letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, the Chief Justice has asserted he had already looked into the matter and was of the view no further action, penal or otherwise, was required to be taken “with respect to the incident”. The Chief Justice also asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that officers/officials deputed at Punjab Bhawan are required to observe due care in attending all guests, including “the judges of this court”. The suspension orders had come after the issue was taken up with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Available information suggests the Judge had gone to New Delhi on January 29. But at the Punjab Bhawan, he was neither accorded any special courtesy required in accordance to protocol, nor did any official bother to tender an apology for the oversight.
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Hawala money used to buy explosives
Patiala, February 19 Police officials have also said possibility of the recovery of more explosives can not be ruled out. During the course of investigations, the police has also ascertained that financial transactions for the purchase and subsequent planting of the explosives were made through Hawala from Jalandhar district. “Bakshish Singh, one of the main accused in the case, got the money required to purchase explosives through Hawala transactions,” said Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra, while adding that Pune based-firm Deccan Chargers had manufactured the explosives that were recovered yesterday. Besides, the police has also ascertained that in the recent Pune blast, ammonium nitrate was used in addition to other explosives, whereas ammonium nitrate recovered from different parts of Punjab yesterday was the “base” of the bombs. Sources said though the police had zeroed on to Jasbir Singh Jassa and Darshan Singh, accused of planting the improvised explosive device near Air Force station, Halwara, but Bakshish Singh and his accomplice Pargat Singh of Palwan village in Dhuri were still not traceable. “Raids are being conducted across the state to nab them at the earliest,” the police said. Sources said the police was questioning a person suspected to be involved in the case in Raikot and another one in Ludhiana.
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Farmers flay new fertiliser policy
Patiala, February 19 State president of the union Balkar Singh said, “State farmers are already facing many problems because of the financial liabilities and this decision will now put farmers under an immense financial burden.” Union leaders further pointed out that 10 per cent increase in the price of urea would put a burden of Rs 122 crore on state farmers. “Farmers are committing suicides and the new announcement will aggravate the problem,” said union press secretary Jagmohan Singh, urging the Centre to review the decision. He said various farmer unions of Punjab would convene a joint meeting on February 21 at Ludhiana ,where a comprehensive strategy would be chalked out to deal with the matter. Meanwhile, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra announced that besides the party, farmers across India would oppose the decision. “Increase in the expenditure on farming will further deteriorate the financial condition of farmers, who are already under huge debts,” he said. He alleged that by increasing the price of urea, the government had committed a mistake as inflation would further shoot up. “If the government failed to review the decision, it should be prepared to face an agitation,” Chandumajra announced.
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Rs 1.66 cr for 6 dists
Sushil Goyal/TNS
Bathinda, February 19 In a communication sent yesterday to the DCs and ADCs (Development) of Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Gurdaspur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) and Hoshiarpur districts, the Commissioner NREGA and Special Secretary, Punjab government, stated that the Governor of Punjab had sanctioned Rs 1.66 crore as 10 per cent state share of the Central assistance under NREGS for their district rural development agencies (DRDAs). Out of this, an amount of Rs 20.87 lakh has been released for Bathinda district while a sum of Rs 34.63 lakh for Muktsar district and Rs 3.82 lakh for Mansa district has also been released. A sum of Rs 39.20 lakh has been released to Gurdaspur district, Rs 15.97 lakh to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Rs 51.88 lakh to Hoshiarpur district. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Rural Development has released Rs 2.36 crore as Central assistance to Bathinda district as next instalment for the implementation of NREGA during the current financial year 2009-10.
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CPI opposes Centre’s proposal on water resources
Bathinda, February 19 Talking to TNS, a member of the national executive of the CPI, Dr Joginder Dayal, said the proposal was also an attack on the federal system of the country. He said the Centre was giving this proposal as it felt that water table in the states was depleting rapidly and this step would be helpful in checking its depletion. Dr Dayal further said the states could play a vital role in checking the depletion of water table as compared to the Central government. He said though the states had been seeking more financial powers for a long, the Centre was not ready to give up its control over the same. On blacklisted Sikhs living abroad, Dr Dayal said there should be a screening of blacklisted Sikhs. “During screening, those found to be involved in heinous crimes should be treated as per the law of the country while remaining should be given amnesty so that they could return to the country,” he added.
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Driver dies as truck falls into canal
Amritsar, February 19 The police team fished out the body from the canal and initiated proceedings under the relevant sections of the IPC. The incident took place around 12 noon. The truck was coming from Ajnala to Amritsar. The driver apparently lost balance while driving and the truck slipped into the canal. However, the exact cause of the mishap is yet to be ascertained, said the police authorities. They said the people gathered at the site remained mute spectators due to powerful currents in the canal. Two head constables, Amarjit Singh and Lakhbir Singh, had a narrow escape when they were fishing out the body as the truck turned turtle after they moved the body out of the water. Deva Singh, additional SHO, Rajasansi police station under Amritsar rural police district, said investigations were on.
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Pbi varsity ‘facing’ shortage of funds
Bathinda, February 19 In an interaction with The Tribune, Dr Jaspal Singh, who was here to attend the annual function of local SSD girls’ college, said the university had a budget of Rs 129 crore but it was getting grants of Rs 24 crore, which was too less to manage the system. “At one side the university did not see any hike in the grants and on the other hand, we implemented the recent pay scale in paying salaries to the teaching staff. This had emerged as an extra burden of crores of rupees upon the varsity,” said the Vice-Chancellor. He said the university had written to the state government about the requirement of about Rs 70 crore.
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Anganwari union stages protest
Sangrur, February 19 They have been demanding hike in monthly honorarium, regularisation of ICDS scheme and services of workers, grade III to anganwari workers, grade IV to helpers, filling of vacant posts of supervisors on basis of seniority list, pension and gratuity for workers and reservation in ANM and ETT posts. Union president Usha Rani said the demonstration was held to remind the government of promises made by it at a meeting of the union with Union Minister Krishna Tirth last month.
— TNS
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Moga scientist gets award
Moga, February 19 Dr Goyal is actively involved in identifying and delivering novel therapeutics agents, design of novel drug delivery strategies to improve vaccine efficacy and their mechanistic aspects.
— TNS
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Only Singhs & Kaurs eligible for SGPC scholarships
Amritsar, February 19 SGPC chief Avtar Singh said the decision was taken at a meeting of the Dharam Prachar Committee held here today. The SGPC is running many schools and colleges. He demanded that a special scheme extended by the Center for the Kashmiri youth, who had crossed over to
PoK, must also be replicated to the Punjabi youth. — TNS
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Dead Man Walking Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 19 Jagsir’s “body” was found in a canal and was duly identified. There was also an “eyewitness” to the murder and the prosecution had also relied on extra-judicial confession by implicated Nachhatar Singh and two others. During the trial, two police officials had also appeared as prosecution witnesses. The prosecution had claimed Jagsir’s body was recovered on June 6, 1996, from a canal in Gharauli. Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Jitendra Chauhan had also directed the initiation of perjury proceedings against two cops and at least 12 others, including Jagsir Singh, in whose murder case Nachhatar Singh, Sira, Amarjit Singh, Nikka Singh and Surjit Singh were implicated. Dismissing the bail plea, Sangrur Additional District and Sessions Judge Kamaljit Lamba observed: “The specific allegations against the present applicant are that he being maternal uncle of Jagsir Singh identified the body of an unknown person to be that of Jagsir Singh in the inquest proceedings”. The Judge observed: “The facts stated in the inquest report are relevant facts at the trial of murder. Therefore, a witness to the inquest during investigation at least becomes a possible witness of some relevant facts at the trial. Although, applicant did not appear before the court during the trial proceedings, his statement recorded during inquest proceedings was part of the investigation. “Had he made the statement after being sure of the identity of the body, maybe the outcome of the case would have been different.” “Since false implication of innocent persons is followed by presentation of fabricated evidence before the court, neither the serious nature of the charge, nor the antecedents of the applicant, who made attempts to fabricate evidence and create false clues, justifies the grant of bail to him at this stage. Consequently, bail application is dismissed.
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Court notices cause panic among residents
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 19 “As many as 561 residents with residential and commercial establishments have been served notices. This is being done to widen the proposed road in order to accommodate the increased volume of traffic. These encroachers have violated various norms,” said Ropar PWD SDO Kirpal Singh. He said residents of Khamano area under Fatehgarh Sahib district, which comes under PWD Ropar, too, have been served notices for violating norms. As per rules, there could be no construction within 30 meters of the road. Those violating the norms and not adhering to the department’s instruction can face three years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10, 000. The department also published public notices in newspapers directing the encroachers to vacate place or face the music. PWD officials said those who have constructed their buildings before 1995 have been directed to submit proofs. Under the norms, those having constructions made before this time period would be spared. “Many families have their commercial establishments and these units are sole bread winners for them,” said Paramvir Singh, resident of Sanghol. He said final notices had been served and drive might begin soon.
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Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, today formally
inaugurated a 14.5 MW biomass electricity generation plant in this village that had remained waterlogged in the past.
