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Fierce lobbying for RS seats
Ripples in state BJP
Amended Nanakshahi calendar to be released today
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Polytechnics: Rural students goaded on to sit for test
BSF proposes metalled road along cobra fencing
’84 riots: Sukhbir for day-to-day trial of cases
Prosecution of top officers pending
PPSC Scam
Potato glut troubles farmers
Teachers’ Recruitment
Politicians, bigwigs pay scant regard to traffic rules
Farmers’ consortium submits memo to Governor
Murder Case
HC allows plea of Dabwali fire victims
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Fierce lobbying for RS seats
Chandigarh, March 13 In the Congress, while the general seat in all likelihood will go to the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr Manohar Singh Gill, the second seat that may go to the reserved category has thrown open the contest as the number of aspirants has been in double figures. Different groups have been lobbying on different lines, quoting the demographic factors, population figures and representation to their communities in Parliament and state Assembly. One of the lobbies has been for award of the party ticket to a Mazhabi Sikh. The argument given is that of all three MPs belonging to the reserved category in the Lok Sabha, all belong to the Ramdasia community. While the Ramdasia community has 40 per cent of total Scheduled Castes votes in the India, Mazhabi Sikhs are a dot higher at 41 per cent. “But there is none from the Mazhabi Sikh community representing Punjab in Parliament. Santosh Chaudhary, Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Sukhdev Singh Libra belong to the Ramdasia community. The only nominee of the Mazhabi Sikh community in the last Lok Sabha election who contested unsuccessfully from Faridkot was Sukhwinder Singh Danny, son of former Punjab Excise and Taxation Minister Sardool Singh. “It is time to give Mazhabi Sikhs representation in the Rajya Sabha,” argue members of the community. Besides Sardool Singh, others in the run include former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, who also is a Ramdasia Sikh. Others in the run include Ch Jagjeet Singh and Ch Santokh Singh, brothers, who represent the Doab belt and have been long standing Congress men. Another contender for the Congress ticket has been Raj Kumar from Amritsar. Since the Congress high command has been busy with the Women’s Reservation Bill, little attention has been paid towards finalising the names of candidates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. “The Congress takes its decisions only at the last minute,” says a party source, maintaining that Congress candidates for the March 26 poll will be probably announced on the 15th. Akalis have besides former Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Gurdev Singh Badal and a few others in the run. The choice of the party candidates has been left to the Badals. Charanjit Singh had lost the last Lok Sabha election to Sukhdev Singh Libra, who had left the Dal to join the Congress. Sukhdev Singh Libra had defied the party whip and voted for the Congress on the nuclear deal issue in Parliament. For the general category, Akali candidates in the run include Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal, Dr JS Bajaj and a few others.
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Ripples in state BJP
Bathinda, March 13 This has annoyed several senior leaders of the BJP who have not relished the state party leadership ignoring Vajpayee on the folder that carries pictures of BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, LK Advani, CM Parkash Singh Badal, BJP leaders Balbir Punj, Manoranjan Kalia, Kiran Ghai and Ashwani Sharma (state party chief). A senior BJP leader, who did not want to be identified, remarked there was no reason to forget Vajpayee as besides being the topmost surviving leader of the party, he had remained close to Mukherjee and had seen him off at Madhopur on May 11, 1953, when Mukherjee was arrested for entering there without a permit. He never returned as he died in Srinagar jail on June 23, 1953. It is learnt that a large number of party activists have pointed out the error to various leaders in Punjab. However, the invitation in the shape of a folder continued to be distributed by the district units of the BJP. Veteran BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon said the matter had come to his notice and fresh invitation folders with Vajpayee’s picture would be printed.
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Amended Nanakshahi calendar to be released today
Amritsar, March 13 The amendments were effected and announced by the Akal Takht Jathedar on January 7 irrespective of the world-wide opposition of any such move and also allegedly keeping in view the forthcoming SGPC polls, wherein the SGPC top leadership were seemingly in need of the Sant Samaj support. The original Nanakshahi calendar was much simpler and easy to comprehend by the masses as it was based on solar movements unlike the Bikrami calendar that worked on the basis of lunar movements. The biggest advantage of the original calendar was that there was hardly any change of dates in respect of important days of Sikhism even as there were certain grey areas wherein some dates were yet to be fixed. Earlier, six “sangrands” (start of a new month) were fixed as per the Bikrami calendar and the other six according to the Purewal’s Nanakshahi calendar, but now the amended version lacks clarity on this very issue.
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Polytechnics: Rural students goaded on to sit for test
Chandigarh, March 13 This year, however, things may be different with the board already dispatching teams to government schools in rural areas to make the students aware of the upcoming test as well as to provide any help if required in filling up the requisite forms. Board Chairman Suresh Kumar said the joint entrance test to 90 affiliated polytechnic colleges would be held on May 22. He said there was a feeling that while five lakh students appeared in Class X examinations, the number of students appearing for the JET was comparatively less. Suresh Kumar said while only 32,000 students appeared for the test last year in the state, one lakh students sat for a similar test organised by Haryana. Taking this into account, Kumar said, an awareness programme had already been launched by the board. He added DCs had also been requested to urge parents of wards to make them appear in the JET rather than dropping out after completing matriculation. He said awareness was also spread about the pass outs from polytechnics who had their own establishments like auto workshops, computer centres and mobile repair shops. Board secretary Dr Amarpal Singh informed that the JET would be an objective type test and that admission shall be through online counselling. He said 150 scholarships and full fee concessions were available for meritorious and economically weaker sections. He said Scheduled Caste candidates from the state were exempted from fee to be paid at the time of admission, provided they fulfilled the eligibility criteria for consideration.
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BSF proposes metalled road along cobra fencing
Ferozepur, March 13 Official sources said a proposal for the road known as the “lateral road” had been accepted by the ministry and now it was lying with the Union Ministry of Finance. If the Ministry of Finance gave its approval to this project, the construction of the road would start shortly. The lateral road would cover the 553-km-long border from Naje Ke post in the Abohar area of Ferozepur district to the Madhopur area in Gurdaspur district of the state. Almost all villages falling in the border pockets would be connected to the lateral road with the axial roads. The metalled road would be fitted with high-class electronic gadgets, closed-circuit cameras and thermal imagers to sanitise the entire border. The BSF personnel have been facing a number of problems while carrying out patrolling alongside the fencing wire on the border due to its zigzag nature, coupled with muddy and dusty pathways. With the construction of the metalled road, which would be wide enough to accommodate two heavy vehicles at the same time, the BSF jawans would be able to make the vehicle, foot and mounted patrolling alongside the border in a more efficient manner. The jawans would be free from the problems, which they would be facing during the rainy season when the patrolling vehicles get trapped into slush. They would be having more visibility alongside the border during the foggy season due to the construction of the metalled road fitted with floodlights. Besides the Border Security Force, the road would also benefit villagers as it would enable them to transport their agricultural produce to nearby markets in an easy and efficient manner.
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’84 riots: Sukhbir for day-to-day trial of cases
Amritsar, March 13 Sukhbir also lashed out at the CBI and said the people had lost faith in the impartiality of the top investigating agency. “The Shiromani Akali Dal will request the Supreme Court to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the cases, collect evidence, provide protection to witnesses and also pursue cases till perptrators of the heinous crime are punished,” he said. He was here to attend the 104th annual convocation of Khalsa College. Badal said his party would soon approach the apex court seeking immediate cancellation of bail to Sajjan Kumar as he, through his musclemen and agents, was threatening witnesses to withdraw or change deposition against him in the case. “I wonder how a dreaded man like Sajjan Kumar has been let loose to pressurise, induce, influence and threaten the witnesses, who are already suffering since the last 25 years. The CBI as a prosecution agency has half- heartedly opposed the bail plea without putting forward relevant evidences to ensure smooth bail for Sajjan Kumar.” Commenting on refusal of the Union Finance Minster to roll back oil prices, Badal said by ignoring pleas of even its allies and the Opposition, the Congress was showcasing its arrogance and “big brother” attitude. Criticising the Centre for ignoring Punjab’s interests in the Budget, Badal said non-declaration of Punjab as a special agricultural zone and also not including it in the second green revolution had made Punjab a highly taxed island amidst tax-holiday enjoying neighbouring states. The deputy CM also said Punjab was seeking drastic changes in the age-old formula of devolving Central tax shares to the states as it was biased against performing and less populated states like Punjab.
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Prosecution of top officers pending
Sangrur, March 13 Even the Central government has also not set a positive example as it too has kept a request by the CBI/ACB for prosecuting an IAS officer pending for the past more than two years. As per information provided by the SP (CBI/ACB), Chandigarh, under the RTI Act, of the 12 requests made by the CBI/ACB for prosecution of IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS officers under Section 197 of the CrPc, the Centre has kept pending a request for prosecution of an IAS officer. The information adds that of the three requests made by the CBI/ACB to the state government for prosecution of IAS and IFS officers, it has declined the request in case of IAS and IFS officers whereas it has kept pending the request for prosecution
of another IFS officer for more than two years. The information further says the request for prosecuting KB Sidhu (IAS), the then Chief Administrator, PUDA, Mohali, is pending with the Centre whereas the state government has kept pending the request for prosecution of Harsh Kumar (IFS), the then Deputy Conservator of Forest, Planning and Investigation, Hoshiarpur. The information further states that in case of the prosecution of Punjab-cadre IAS officer KBS Sidhu and IFS officer JS Samundri, the state has declined the request of the
CBI/ACB.
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‘50% marks for interview against SC norms’
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13 He pointed out that allocation of 50 per cent marks for interview in selection to the public offices is against the principles laid down by the Supreme Court of India. According to an apex court judgement, maximum marks for interviews in selection to the public offices are 17.5 per cent. Beyond this, it becomes arbitrary. Allocation of 50 per cent marks is, therefore, unlawful and liable to be struck down on this ground alone. Dr. Jagwant Singh said it was shocking that the Punjab Public Service Commission and its members were not aware of this judgment. The state government and the commission must take corrective and immediate measures keeping in view the principles laid down by the Supreme Court of India.
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Potato glut troubles farmers
Jalandhar, March 13 But, it seems that no monitoring process was in place to prevent the repetition of the previous year’s problem. A visit to the countryside revealed the crop had been stored in the fields under tarpaulins with anxious farmers doing the rounds of mandis and running after agents for selling their crop. Compared to last year, there have been no buyers West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh who bought potatoes from Punjab in huge quantities. An affected farmer from Nasirpur village near Kapurthala, said there were no buyers even after a month of harvesting. Normally, the buyers contacted us in the first/ second week of February and the going was so good last time that they bought the standing crop itself, he added. But the situation was getting grimmer this year. Most farmers in this belt are marginal ones who have taken land on rent to sow the crop. If the crop is not sold soon, they will not even recover the input costs ruining them further, he lamented. Similar sentiments are echoed by Surjit Singh, another farmer from Rangilpur village. The crop was raised even in the face of inclement weather and peak power cuts. The price of fertilisers, diesel and insecticides had spiralled putting a further burden on us, he added. In fact, the labourers picking the crop have refused to lower their rates as compared to last year adding to our production costs, he said. The average expenditure of one acre of crop comes about Rs 20,000- 25,000 per acre and many farmers have already begun to sell their crop for Rs 300-325 per quintal that was just half the rate than the last year, he added.
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Teachers’ Recruitment
Amritsar, March 13 The recruitment process, according to Krishan Kumar, was so fair that there was no chance of any bungling or fudging and, moreover, the lists going for counselling did not mean declaration of final results or selection of a candidate. “The final scrutiny is to be done and the initial list should not be taken as the final result. It is for the first time that we have not retained any marks for interview only to ensure that the selection is fair. Merely calling a candidate for an interview does not mean selection that is to be done after an exhaustive and “fault-free” checking and verification. If one goes through our official website carefully, one can see red entries marked against candidates filing online applications in a wrong way,” said Krishan Kumar. The Director-General said the department faced a great deal of difficulty as a large number of candidates had filled the online application wrongly. “Most of the candidates, we feel, have filled the online applications at cyber cafes and, in the process, they have made wrong entries. We have made the system so foolproof that we cannot even enter or delete anything from the filled online application form,” said Krishan Kumar. The uploaded merit list, according to the Director of the C-DAC, was only a list for the candidates in merit and to attend to the counselling, experts from the said department will verify the documents and then reject or confirm a candidate. The counselling and the selection process is done by the department.
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Politicians, bigwigs pay scant regard to traffic rules
Patiala, March 13 Though traffic cops have time and again reiterated that violators of the Motor Vehicle Act are being dealt with strictly, the situation on the ground speaks otherwise. It has come to light that major chunk of the vehicles violating the norms pertain to the “bigwigs” and “politicians”. As per the orders issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the ADGP, Security, Punjab, and to the IG Chandigarh in 2002, the permission for the use of black filming on the vehicles in Punjab was cancelled. Subsequently, use of black filming with zero per cent visibility on vehicles was banned completely and it was made mandatory that only the vehicles with special stickers, issued by the security wing of the Punjab police, would be authorised for the filming. But paying scant regards to the rules, a large number of four wheelers plying on the roads are having black films. Interestingly, majority of these vehicles pertain to politicians and sons of big businessmen. In the recent past, many vehicles with black films had been caught for smuggling and other crimes in various districts. Apart from this, the red beacon atop the vehicles is another serious violation going on unnoticed. Again, majority of them belong to political figures, who are either chairman or president of the various committees of the district administration. “Most vehicles that are violating the norms by having black films and red beacons atop are of the political personalities and it is really difficult to stop them for obvious reasons,” said a traffic cop. However, SP, Traffic, NS Sekhon said they had carried sustained drives in the past to check the above mentioned traffic violations. “The traffic police is strictly dealing with unauthorised red lights atop the vehicles and black filming on the glasses. Challans are being issued on daily basis,” he further said.
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Farmers’ consortium submits memo to Governor
Patiala, March 13 “The Centre should give Constitutional status to the Agricultural Cost Commission of India because the present Agricultural Cost Commission does not have any legal authority and its proposals are not binding on the Centre”, the memo reads. Behru said they had also urged the Centre to extend the subsidies provided to the agriculture sector through industrialists directly to the farmers. “They are causing loss of millions to the Central government by showing the excess production of fertilisers in papers only,” Behru alleged.
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No threat from Jagir Kaur, says complainant
Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 13 As the hearing in the case begun today, Kamaljit claimed that he had always maintained that he is having threat from those, who are against Bibi Jagir Kaur. Interestingly, when the CBI counsel produced some documents pertaining to the case, in which he had stated otherwise, Kamaljit said, “My signatures were taken on some blank papers and I have no idea about the contents put up on those papers later on.” Kamaljit also refused that he filed any petition in the Supreme Court for the speedy trial of the case. Now, the next date of hearing in the case has been fixed for March 25 and 26.
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HC allows plea of Dabwali fire victims
Chandigarh, March 13 In the petition through advocates Anju Arora and Aditi Girdhar, directions had also been sought to the state government to pay for allied expenses like travelling and
attendant expenses spent by the victims getting treatment at different places. What came as a good news to victims
was that Haryana Additional Advocate-General Randhir Singh informed the bench that the Association’s request had
been accepted by the state government.
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