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UAE Court Verdict
Kin meet Shahi Imam
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SAD to get tough on graft
Smooth Unbundling of PSEB
Sonia cancels visit to Amritsar
NRIs ‘themselves responsible’ for attacks in Oz
State to have lab to diagnose viral diseases
SAD leader accuses ex-ADC of insulting him
Now, pay challan on the spot
World Sikh varsity propels realty in Fatehgarh Sahib
Tussle over road-widening project
Govt’s decision on retirement age hailed
Property Dispute
Plea dismissed
Heroin smuggler flees from lock-up
Block president of YC ‘beaten up’
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UAE Court Verdict
Chandigarh, April 6 In a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh informed that he had also instructed the Minister of External Affairs and the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs to take all possible steps in the matter to ensure a positive outcome. It may be recalled that Badal had written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his immediate intervention by using his good offices with the UAE government to ensure justice for 17 Indian youths, including 16 from Punjab alone, who were on death row on the charge of murder of a Pakistani citizen. Badal raised the issue that 17 persons had been convicted for a single murder and therefore, we have to be more cautious to see that there was no “miscarriage of justice”.
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Kin meet Shahi Imam
Ludhiana, April 6 "With dreams in his heart my brother went to the foreign land to earn a better living. Never did he know that he will get involved in a case which will lead him to the gallows," said Manjit Singh, cousin of Kulwinder Singh, who has been sentenced to death in Dubai. "The family has been ruined with the news. I am sure my cousin is innocent and has been falsely implicated,” said Lakhwinder Singh, cousin of Manjot Singh, another convicted youth. Manjot, hailing from Kulla Patti, Raikot, is the only son of his parents. While his father is no more, his aged mother got the shock of her life after listening to the news. "He settled in Dubai three years ago and even after his arrest used to call his family and sent money and it was only now that they came to know about his arrest," Lakhwinder said. Kulwinder Singh from Bansipur village, near Sidhwan Beth, got attracted from some success stories from his village who were happily settled abroad. "His mother Daljit Kaur and father Baldev Singh wish their son had never gone to that foreign land," said Manjit Singh. While making a desperate appeal to save his brother, Manjit Singh said the family was helpless and had very meagre resources to save him. "We had even met minister Preneet Kaur, who has assured to help us in this regard,” he added.
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Another family finds its son among 17
Ludhiana/Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 6 The shattering news was broken to 50-year-old Harbans Singh, who does a menial job at Hero Cycles here, by none other than his 25-year-old son Satnam Singh, who is languishing in a Sharjah jail since January 2009. Despite that, the youth kept the family unaware that he was in trouble and kept on sending money back home. With his disclosure, the total number of youths from Ludhiana district facing gallows in the UAE has reached four. Only three youths were identified from the district as yet. After his phone call to the family from prison yesterday, their world came crashing down. “I wish he would have told us earlier. We could have at least prayed. Prayers can do wonders,” said his father. After the phone call, his mother has not eaten anything. She just looked blankly into the oblivion by turning her head on the other side whenever she was asked anything. “I am worried about my son there and his wife here. We are completely ruined. We had spent Rs 1.20 lakh to be happy forever,” said Harbans Singh, who left for Delhi to meet the Prime Minister tomorrow. The poor family, living in a small house in this small village, had dreamt of a better life when they had sent their 10+2 qualified son abroad. “I do not know whether he killed that Pakistani or not. But he told me that he was forced to confess to the crime he never committed. He was tortured, given electric shocks and even lashed by the authorities,” claimed his father. Satnam had sent Rs 25,000 in the past one year to support his younger brother, who is a student. He had also sent money to his married sister on Rakhi. “We could never know he was behind bars,” said Harbans.
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SAD to get tough on graft
Chandigarh, April 6 The CM himself admitted that there was urgent need to tighten up reign on corruption and supported Sukhbir’s move to launch an anti-corruption drive. The Deputy CM was particularly harsh on some officials of the Vigilance Department and said certain officials were “terrorising officials in the districts to give then protection money”. Sukhbir told the Core Committee that he had instructed the DCs to ensure that no money was paid to the officials of the Vigilance Department. “The DCs have also been told that they should caution officials against accepting bribe from the public”. It was said that the DCs with clean records have been appointed in all districts so that the drive was successful. There have been complaints that certain officials have been demanding up to Rs 1.5 lakh per month from certain department as “protection money” to allow continuing with corrupt practices. Besides vigilance, the traffic police also came under severe criticism, with senior leaders of the party agreeing that the traffic police “was doing little work. Sukhbir even pointed out that he had marked and identified the “most corrupt” among the police and administrative machinery and would soon initiate action against them. The SAD chief also raised the issue of “visible development” in the state, saying that certain amount of money should be given to each district for development that is complete and visible before the next elections. The CM , too, was in no mood to take the complacent attitude in the party lightly.
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Smooth Unbundling of PSEB
Chandigarh, April 6 The circular, issued by the state Home Department to all district magistrates, district police chiefs and Police Commissioners, makes the government’s decision to unbundle the state electricity utility before April 15 very clear. It says that according to government information, some employee organisations could go on strike and try to sabotage power supply and also stop traffic besides attacking government property. The Home Department has also supplied the list of organisations, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) and those affiliated to it besides names of specific leaders who could foment trouble. The district police chiefs as well as Police Commissioners have been asked to take pre-emptive action against persons suspected to hinder power supply in any way. Simultaneously, efforts are on to take the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) and other organisations on board. The Chief Minister’s Principal Secretray DS Guru, Additional DGP Intelligence Suresh Arora and SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra today held a meeting with representatives of the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) group. The government conveyed its plan to unbundle the PSEB and asked the kisan group to convey its apprehensions if any. The group has decided to hold an internal meeting before meeting the Chief Minister on this issue. In another development, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met representatives of the PSEB Engineers Association yesterday and assured them that their apprehensions would be addressed fully. The sources said the engineers demanded that the barest minimum be done to comply with the new Electricity Act, 2003. This translates into separating transmission activities and having distribution and generation as one unit. This will result in separation of only 2,500-odd employees for whom a separate transmission company would be created. The engineers also brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that junior-level bureaucrats were being appointed as heads of new companies so formed after unbundling of electricity utilities as has happened in Haryana. They demanded that engineers only should head the new companies and that they should be selected on merit. The engineers have also demanded signed assurances on the issue of common seniority, group provident fund and pension benefits. To take all employees on board, the Chief Minister has also fixed a formal meeting with various employees’ unions of the electricity utility on April 9. These include the Joint Forum of Workers that includes the Employees Federation and Technical Service Union besides others. A separate meeting has been fixed with the Council of Junior Engineers. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has called for an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of unbundling of the electricity utility. CPI leaders Dr Joginder Dayal and Bhupinder Samber today claimed the government should come clean on how it was going to unbundle the board as the party felt this would result in privatisation of the
PSEB.
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Sonia cancels visit to Amritsar
Chandigarh, April 6 The All India Congress Committee (AICC), which was organising this rally, has cancelled the same. Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed his inability to attend the function. According to sources, the Congress president cancelled her programme following reservations expressed by senior state leaders. The AICC was also advised not to hold a rally on Baisakhi day when lakhs of people are expected to congregate at Amritsar to pay obeisance at the Darbar Sahib. Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress chief spokesman Ashwani Sekhri said there were concerns that the Congress president’s visit to the Darbar Sahib would inconvenience people. Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who was slated to address two party meetings at Amritsar and another two in Batala and Khadoor Sahib today and tomorrow, also cancelled his programme.
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NRIs ‘themselves responsible’ for attacks in Oz
Jalandhar, April 6 Talking to The Tribune, Pandit, who is in Punjab nowadays to take part in the maiden World Cup kabaddi tournament, said that most of the attacks on NRIs in the recent past were not racial. In fact, the conduct of the NRIs was responsible for their fate in Australia, he added. Hailing from Makhand village in Jind district of Haryana, Pandit said, “Several NRIs not only create a nuisance by playing music at a high volume in their vehicles but they also ogle at young Australian girls. Such conduct invites an aggressive reaction from young Australians, resulting in attacks on the NRIs in several cases.” At the same time, he said, “Some isolated attacks on the NRIs may be termed racial.” Pandit had gone to Australia just two years ago and is now settled in Melbourne. He is the only NRI player in the six foreign teams, including Canada, Spain, America, Australia, Italy and United Kingdom, who hails from Haryana; the other NRIs are from Punjab.
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State to have lab to diagnose viral diseases
Jalandhar, April 6 The laboratory, which is classified as Bio Security Laboratory- Level III, will cater to the livestock load of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh. Dr HS Sandha, Director, Department of Animal Husbandry, Punjab said the laboratory would facilitate early identification of viruses and eventually the diagnosis of those deadly diseases, which transmits rapidly from animal to human population. “Earlier only two laboratories, located in Bhopal and Calcutta, were able to identify the type and nature of virus and had to bear the load of samples taken all across the country. Risk of human exposure to virus during transportation was high, and final diagnosis was also delayed. These factors will be negated once this laboratory starts functioning,” said Dr Sandha. The Foot and Mouth Disease Laboratory, Jalandhar, was able to conduct only preliminary tests of such diseases. Moreover, the load of samples can be seen from the fact that it had to send approximately 4,000 samples per month to Bhopal, during a bird flu epidemic for the confirmatory tests.
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SAD leader accuses ex-ADC of insulting him
Ropar, April 6 “He insulted me using a foul language,” said Bajrur. He told the minister, who is also chairman of the redressal committee that he had filed a formal complaint to the then Deputy Commissioner B Purushartha but nothing was done in
this context. Swarna Ram asked him to register his complaint again and directed Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti to inquire into the matter. Meanwhile, talking to the district officials at meeting, Swarna Ram reiterated the government’s decision to disburse pensions through banks instead of panchayats. He added instead of being given quarterly pensions, the beneficiaries would now be provided monthly pension. “Earlier, the procedure of pension disbursal used to get late through panchayats. In order to mitigate any kind of harassment to 18 lakh beneficiaries, we have decided to provide same through banks,” he added. He directed the officials to redress problems at lower level itself by taking both parties into confidence. Also, the officials were directed to present at the meeting themselves and avoid sending any representative. Swarna Ram directed Deputy Commissioner to take strict action against those officials who were absent from the meeting. Responding to a query of government buses not entering into Morinda bus stand, Swarna Ram directed general manager roadways to immediately redress the matter. Prominent among others present at meeting included SDM Anindita Mitra, SDM Lakhmir Singh and District Revenue Officer Paramjit Singh and others.
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Now, pay challan on the spot
Patiala, April 6 Inspector Daljit Virk informed that the facility was primarily for persons who either belong to other district or the state as they faced a lot of problems coming back to the city for its payment. But in case a local citizen wants to make the payment, he also could avail this facility, he added. He further informed that these challans were for 11 offenses, which include riding without helmet, not wearing a seat belt, jumping red light, using mobile phone while driving, fleeing despite traffic cops instructions of stopping, smoking, triple riding, wrong parking, use of black film, high beam while driving. The challan for each offense is Rs 100 each and if the offender repeats the mistake, he would be charged Rs 300 for every offense, he further added. By the filling of this report, traffic cops had collected the payment of challan from 25 persons at various places. This facility has been initiated as an experiment and if it succeeds it might be a regular feature. As of now only four challan books have been issued to the inspectors. This move has got mixed response from people. Some see it as a good step as this would save their time and effort for the payment of challan. Mandeep Singh who hails from Kharkara, Haryana, said he was challaned twice while he was in the city and had to come to the city again despite his busy schedule for the payment. This facility would definitely help people who come from outside the city, he added. On the other hand, a few city residents feared high handedness by cops. They felt cops might challan anyone with impunity just to show that they were very attentive. Since violation of traffic rules is becoming the order of the day in Patiala, the new scheme may act as a deterrent.
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World Sikh varsity propels realty in Fatehgarh Sahib
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 6 Even those willing to sell off their commercial and agricultural land have decided to wait for the prices to register more growth. “I have decided to hold back my two acres of land, strategically located near main road, till it fetches nearly Rs 1 crore per acre,” said Major Singh of Marofal village. Another Darshan Singh from Sirhind said his brother sold off two acres of land situated on prime land in lieu of just Rs 62 lakh last year. “Now I have been offered Rs 1.5 crore for my land at same the place but I am waiting for the university to get completed besides other major constructions at Fatehgarh Sahib. I am sure that once completed varsity would fetch handsome price for land,” he said. The land prices were around the 84-acre university area was Rs 3,000 per yard. However, it has increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 now. This state-of-the-art premier university under construction has attracted scholars, students, sportspersons and others from state capital Chandigarh. People have already started investing in residential holdings around the varsity. “I have been putting up in a two-bedroom house in Chandigarh for past 15 years. Now I have bought 400 yards plot and would soon start constructing my home,” said a former domestic cricket player. He added that the educational institutes in Fatehgarh Sahib have continuously been offering him a chance to train students in cricket and now with construction of university he finally decided to move there. Jaswinder Singh, a property dealer and resident of Sirhind pointed out that people believe cost of land in Fatehgarh Sahib will reach equivalent to the amount that Diwan Todar Mal spent to cremate younger Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh in 18th century. Interestingly, while the varsity is yet to become functional, area residents have already started making provisions for providing paying guest and hostel facilities for students to come.
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Tussle over road-widening project
Enchroachment on
Chandigarh-Kharar road
Kharar, April 6 Taking a serious note of the tehsildar’s flip-flop attitude over the issue of encroachments along the NH-21 stretch, CWD executive engineer (XEN) Karnail Singh has shot off a letter to the Mohali Deputy Commissioner and its copy to Technical Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Brig Dhaliwal (retd). Talking to TNS, Karnail said during the demarcation conducted in 2008, the tehsildar had marked certain constructions as encroachments. “Now in a survey conducted in 2010, the same tehsildar has marked the constructions not as encroachments, but as property of the encroachers. I have proof of the signatures of the same tehsildar on both reports,” Karnail rued. He added that this has led to unnecessary litigation and harassment for CWD officials. Even the common man and litigants are at the receiving end. In his communique, Karnail Singh has demanded action against the aforesaid tehsildar under Rule 8 of the Punishment and Appeal Rules for delaying work of public interest. “He should be chargesheeted for harassing so many people,” he said. Sources said these court cases had occupied the CWD officials so badly that the ongoing work at NH-21 was hardly being monitored. Karnail Singh alleged that while the officials at Dera Bassi and Khamano were supporting the department in expeditious execution of the task, officials at Kharar were delaying the matter. When contacted, tehsildar Malkit Singh said he had demarcated en encroachment on court orders last month, but not in 2008. Meanwhile, the XEN has also sent a reminder to DSP, Kharar, for registering case against a police employee who instigated mob at Mundi Kharar to demolosh the under-construction road divider on April 3. The work on the widening of this killer stretch has started eight years after it was being proposed. Its deadline has been fixed at September 4 this year.
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Govt’s decision on retirement age hailed
Patiala, April 6 Many feel additional two years would who have only meant a hefty bank balance for government employees but for youth it would meant a wait for another two years. Moreover, increase in induction age would enable thousands of students who somehow could not manage to get government jobs till the age of 35 for one reason or the other. Sunita, an MPEd student, says I am glad that the government has considered the problems of youth and not succumbed to the pressure of employees for vote bank politics. “We are studying hard for job and what’s the point if there are no jobs. I don’t understand why were these employees seeking extension when thousands of youth were facing shortage of jobs,” she added. “Unemployed youths are fighting hard to keep themselves hand to mouth. They are being forced to work for meagre salaries,” said Manu, a BEd student . Not only students but government employees are appreciating government’s stand. They believe this would send positive signal to youth.
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Property Dispute
Ferozepur, April 6 In the past few months, Prof Gurdial has become so fed up with his brother’s attitude that he found himself left with no other option than to slap a legal notice on him. Gurcharan Singh, who retired from a senior position in the ONGC, Mumbai, a few years ago, has authored a few books, including novel “Lok Kahaye Darves”. Talking to TNS here today, Gurdial Singh alleged: “Gurcharan Singh has portrayed me as a villain through the main character, Gurnek Singh in his novel Lok Kahaye Darves. He also showed that I have acquired the property of my near and dear ones through a fraudulent manner.” “I have sent a legal notice to Gurcharan to seek an unconditional apology failing which he will be liable for legal action and to pay claims of Rs 1 crore to me,” added Gurdial Singh. “Even names of various characters in novel “Anhoe”, authored by me in 1966, have been used by Gurcharan in his novel with minor variations,” he claimed. “I always treated
Gurcharan, like my son. I have never tried to usurp his share in any ancestral property. He never visited Jaitu since 1995 to settle the issue despite the fact that I have written him in this connection time and again,” he said. However, Gurcharan, when contacted, said he had received the legal notice and would reply to it. He declined to comment on the contents of the notice.
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Plea dismissed
Chandigarh, April 6 The general elections were held in February 2007. The petitioner had prayed for setting aside the election on the ground that the nomination papers of the returned candidate had been accepted wrongly by the returning officer.
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Heroin smuggler flees from lock-up
Fazilka, April 6 SPS Parmar, SSP, Ferozepur, while confirming that Lakhbir had escaped from the police station, said action had been taken against night ‘munshi’ and ‘sentry’ on duty. The role of the SHO in the incident would be examined by DSP Karamjit Singh, who had been asked to give a report. Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Gulaba Bahini village bordering Pakistan, was caught with 2 kg of heroin, worth Rs 10 crore in the international market, by a police party led by DSP Karamjit Singh at a special checkpoint near Hasta Kalan village. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. During the interrogation of Lakhbir Singh, it came to light that he (Lakhbir) had been working as a courier for two smugglers, Resham Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, who had already been arrested on March 30 by the local police. Parmar said it was being probed how Lakhbir managed to break open the window of the lock-up. He added that special police parties had been dispatched to various places where Lakhbir was suspected to be hiding after his escape.
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Block president of YC ‘beaten up’
Sangrur, April 6 Sources in the district Congress unit said block youth president of the Dhuri block Nirpal Singh, during a meeting called by the District Congress Committee to discuss the holding of medical camps for the poor in various blocks, started arguing with Darshan Kangra, husband of district youth president Poonam Kangra, and Jagtar Singh Tara, secretary of the youth wing of Dhuri Block, over the formation of various cells in Dhuri and Sangrur block. The sources added that Darshan Kangra allegedly accused Nirpal Singh of forming various cells in Dhuri, whereas Nirpal Singh made counter- allegations against Kangra. The sources added that things took a violent turn after Darshan Kangra and Jagtar Singh Tara allegedly started abusing Nirpal Singh, who also responded and started abusing them. The sources further said that after that Darshan Kangra and Jagtar Tara took him outside. While Tara started “beating up” Nirpal Singh in full public view, Kangra hurled abuses against him. Meanwhile, Darshan Kangra told mediapersons that “the allegations levelled by Nirpal Singh are not true”.
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