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‘Trapping’ of Moga Drug Inspector
SAD-BJP alliance improves tally in RS |
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CM flays Centre over meagre hike in paddy MSP
Punjab, a withering state, says Kanwal
Opening of poppy
husk vends sought
Class X, XII Semester Exams
Teachers stage protest atop water tank
New visitors’ gallery for Hussainiwala
User Development Fee
Haj pilgrims
Audit Dept takes possession of Citrus Council records
Voter forms in bulk ‘unacceptable’
Selection of Medical Officers
Labour Pangs: Irate farmers beat up JE
Re-employment benefits sought
German govt seeks free legal service for
Kamaljit gets interim relief
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‘Trapping’ of Moga Drug Inspector
Chandigarh, June 10 A Vigilance team had “caught” the drug inspector “red- handed” at his office while “accepting” a bribe from complainant Sukhdev Singh. The trap was corroborated by a shadow The action against the SSP and the DSP has been taken because they failed to inquire into the case and stood by the story of an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) who had allegedly taken Rs 4.50 lakh from two dealers of psychotropic drugs. Both officers were asked to have a re-look into the case after Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla and even the Moga Deputy Commissioner pleaded the case of the drug inspector. A DIG-level officer visited Moga to inquire into the case and indicted the brother duo of Pawan Goyal and Krishan Goyal, charging them with conspiring to frame Luthra because the drug inspector had conducted seizures in their area. According to the police officers’ report, both brothers had used the services of Sukhdev Singh, a hardened criminal, who was their employee. Sukhdev is accused of approaching ASI Jarnail Singh of the Vigilance Department to fix the drug inspector. The report says Jarnail Singh involved one Jagmohan Singh, who agreed to be the shadow witness in the case. Following this, Jarnail came up with a cassette recording in which an official working under the drug inspector was shown boasting that he could get the work done for a fee. The special team appointed after the Moga Vigilance SSP stuck by the ASI’s story found discrepancies in the complainant’s story. When asked how he had handed over the money, Sukhdev said he handed it over under the table. The inspector invited the Vigilance team to his office to inspect his table which did not allow any such handing over. It was subsequently revealed that the money had been pushed into Luthra’s shirt pocket forcibly. Kulwinder Sandhu adds from Moga: In a set-back to the state Vigilance Bureau, the special court of Mohali has on Thursday stayed the arrest of ASI Jarnail Singh who was booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 193, 195 and 120B of the IPC and 7, 8, 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989, along with seven others for allegedly “manipulating” the arrest of Luthra in a graft case. The special designated court of additional sessions judge Rajinder Aggarwal, while deciding the anticipatory bail application of the ASI, granted stay on his arrest and fixed June 16 as the next date of hearing on his bail application. Meanwhile, the two chemists, Pawan Kumar and Krishan Kumar, who were arrested in this case on June 7 have been sent to police remand for another one day. Stating this, Ramesh Grover, legal counsel of the chemists, said the special court had asked the bureau officials to produce the chemists in his court before 2 pm on Friday. The bureau officials filed an application in the court, seeking extension of remand on the plea that they were yet to recover the mobile phones and SIM cards of the chemists, which would help in collecting evidence in this case.
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SAD-BJP alliance improves tally in RS
Chandigarh June 10 Both the SAD and the Congress got three seats each, the seventh and the last seat went to the BJP. Elections were held in two phases, depending upon retirement of outgoing members. In the first phase, elections to five seats were held, of which three went to the SAD-BJP alliance and the remaining two to Congress. While the Congress retained all three sitting members — Manohar Singh Gill, Ashwani Kumar and Ambika Soni — Akali Dal made two changes besides bringing in Avinash Rai Khanna against the additional seat it got on the basis of the strength of the legislators of the SAD-BJP combine in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The Congress had to drop Dharam Pal Sabharwal. The SAD brought in both of its general secretaries — Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Balwinder Singh Bhunder — in place of Rajmohinder Singh Majithia and Varinderpal Singh Bajwa besides retaining Naresh Gujral. All seven elections this time have been unanimous. If one looks at the age profile of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, all seven are in the 60 plus category. Even last time, Ambika Soni was the only woman to represent Punjab in the Rajya Sabha. Interestingly, all three Congress Rajya Sabha members from Punjab have never been represented in the Lok Sabha, while from among Akalis and the BJP, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Avinash Rai Khanna were members of the previous Lok Sabha. Unlike the Lok Sabha, where there are reserved constituencies, Dalits of Punjab will remain unrepresented in the Rajya Sabha for the next six years. Going by the record, Ambika has been the longest standing Rajya Sabha member from Punjab. It will be her fourth term, though two of her previous three terms were short or truncated. Ashwani Kumar has his third term, while for Dr Gill, it has been his second successive election to the Rajya Sabha. Bhunder, too, has got into the Upper House of Parliament for the second time. Meanwhile, Kusumjit Sidhu, Chief Electoral Officer, declared Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Ambika Soni elected .
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CM flays Centre over meagre hike in paddy MSP
Chandigarh June 10 The Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister pointed out that the Centre’s decision was more shocking in view of the prevailing conditions. They said the decision of the Congress led UPA would badly hit the state farmers. They appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to personally intervene to get the MSP enhanced at least to Rs 1,500 per quintal. Listing the initiatives of the state government to bail out the farming community reeling under huge debt, they said the SAD-BJP government was providing Rs 75,000 subsidy on the purchase of each paddy transplanter, besides making elaborate arrangements for sufficient power and canal water supply for timely sowing of paddy. They urged the PM to review the decision of meagre hike in the paddy MSP keeping in view the significant contribution of state farmers in ensuring country’s food security.
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Punjab, a withering state, says Kanwal
Jalandhar, June 10 “The most distressing truth about the state was that no one is keen to live in the state. Its old and young, talented people waste no opportunity to settle in Canada, America, Australia and elsewhere. To achieve their goal of settling abroad, they sell the land and their ancestral property and much else,” said 91-year-old Kanwal, who has authored several novels and other Punjabi books. Punjab was melting like an ice cube, he added. “Our political leadership has failed us. It has stabbed Punjab in the back. Politicians of all hues were responsible for the fall of the state,” he added. Kanwal, who had come here to release Jasbir Singh Sheeri’s Punjabi novel, “Khali Ghori”, said the people of Punjab made the largest contribution in the freedom struggle of the country, but they were never rewarded suitably. Later, farmers also made a huge contribution to make the country self-sufficient in food, but even they were not given their due. “Now, farmers have been committing suicide, most of the youth have become drug addicts and Punjab as a state is burdened with a debt of over Rs 70,000 crore,” he said. Talking about Punjabi literature, Kanwal said in the existing circumstances, it had no future. The number of readers of Punjabi literature was going down. “Punjab is a tree, the roots of which were dying,” he said. Asked how Punjab’s old glory could be restored, he said first talented people should be stopped from going abroad. “They should be motivated to stay back and work for their motherland. There should be a struggle by all to get Punjab its due,” he added. Earlier, he said Sheeri’s novel, though primarily a love story, also mirrored various social realities faced by the state.
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Opening of poppy
husk vends sought
Zira (Ferozepur), June 10 “The step is being taken for saving youths from falling prey to the addiction of life-taking drugs. As poppy husk is not life taking, it can help reduce the menace of addiction of drugs,” she added. On one hand, it would generate additional source of revenue for the state and on the other it would save youths from unnatural deaths occurring due to addiction of inorganic intoxicants, claimed Jauhal, who is closely related to Badal. Vajinder Kaur Verka, former general secretary, Istri Akali Dal (B), said elderly people had also been demanding the same whenever she approached them during election campaigns. When asked were they promoting drug addiction by raising the demand, both Jauhal and Verka said they were only trying to make the state government understand to adopt this method to deliver a fatal blow to the evil of addiction.
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Class X, XII Semester Exams
Patiala, June 10 The forms will be submitted without late fees till June 14. In between June 14 to 21, the fine will be Rs 1,000 per student and after June 21, the fine is Rs 3,000. This June deadline has not gone down well with government school principals and teachers because of multiple reasons. The foremost reason is that the result of class X has not been declared yet. There are many students who fail every year, so how will schools fill the form for such students on time. Also, many of those who have already taken admissions to these classes are out of station because of holidays. It is same for many students of class VIII and XII who have failed in exams, but has not taken admissions yet. “We were given these instructions regarding admission forms on the last working day. Many of our colleagues got to know about it in holidays. So how does the board expect us to inform students about fee submission in holidays. “Though I tried to convey messages to almost every student to come to school for paying the fees but still I could not get in tough as students are out of station. I do not know how to arrange for their fess now,” rues one of the principals. Moreover, many students who failed in Class XII have not yet taken admission. Also the continuation fee for Class IX has to be sent but the schools have not received the DMCs of Class VIII results. Another major problem that teachers are facing is that the board had directed that the students being admitted to class X should have done their class IX from affiliated schools. Now, how to find whether the school is affiliated or not. Also, the teachers are complaining about the fact that they have been asked to come to the school in holidays.
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Teachers stage protest atop water tank
Buladhewala (Bathinda), June 10
They were demanding the notification of their admission to the Elementary Teachers’ Training (ETT) course, without any entrance test. The drama began at 1 pm when more than 100 volunteers of the AIE Teachers' Union reached the water works, located at Buladhewala village in a clandestine manner. Earlier, protesters had assembled at the Teachers' Home in Bathinda and having chalked out a strategy there, left in groups towards their destination. The intelligence wing of the state police received the information only when some of the protesters climbed atop the water tank carrying a container filled with petrol. However, the police intercepted a group of seven women volunteers of the union and rounded them up. On the other hand, after receiving information about the police action, some of the protesters, who managed to reach the spot, blocked the Bathinda-Muktsar road. The Bathinda DC and the SSP also reached the spot and held a series of negotiations and finally, at 7.30 pm, the protesters climbed down the water tank, when the administration gave a written assurance for fixing their meeting with the CM. Swarna Devi, state president of the union, said: “We will wait for June 14. If the meeting remains fruitless or the police harasses any of our volunteers, we will not only lodge protest again but also intensify it.”
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New visitors’ gallery for Hussainiwala
Hussainiwala, June 10 DC KK Yadav said the drawing of the proposed gallery prepared by engineers of the Central Public Works Department was approved by Principal Secretary (Home and Justice), Punjab, AR Talwar, who along with Commissioner (Ferozepur division) Raminder Singh, visited here this evening. He said the gallery would have all modern facilities. It would be constructed at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore, which would be given by the Centre. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had cleared this project.The construction work will start within two months. The existing visitor gallery is having a capacity of about 700 persons. It is learnt that the Centre had been working on a project to develop the JCP as one of the major attractions for domestic and international tourists.
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User Development Fee
Jalandhar, June 10 The ministry has levied a user development fee that would be charged at the rate of Rs 150 per head from domestic passengers and Rs 910 per head from international passengers departing from Amritsar airport. Airlines concerned would collect the fee on the behalf of the Airport Authority of India. The charges will be applicable from June 15. Cheema questioned that if the user development fee was to be collected from passengers then what was the role of the Union Aviation Ministry in building the airport at Amritsar. He said instead of giving subsidy to passengers opting to board flights from Amritsar, the Centre had taken a step to discourage passengers from catching flights there. He said one way to lighten the passenger burden at the international Airport at Delhi was to encourage people to board flights from airports such as Amritsar. Cheema has asked Union Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill and other ministers from Punjab in the Union Council of Ministers that whether the charges on passengers had been levied with their consent. He said all ministers, who represent Punjab in the Union Ministry, should tell the Aviation Ministry to withdraw the user development fee. Cheema said the Centre had been collecting thousands of crore of rupees by way of direct and other taxes from people. “Where that money was disappearing when people were made to pay for using even airports and national highways where huge money is collected in form of toll tax”, asked Cheema.
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Haj pilgrims
Malerkotla: Qurrah (draw of lots) for the selection of Haj pilgrims from Punjab was held by the state Haj committee here yesterday. Of the total 786 applications received by the Punjab Haj Committee, 330 were selected for the pilgrimage. Members of the Haj committee from different parts of Punjab and representatives of the Central Haj Committee were also present on the occasion. — OC
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Audit Dept takes possession of
Chandigarh, June 10 The team, led by Joint Director Nirmal Singh, visited the office of the council here and started the process of examination of the records. Sources disclosed that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered an internal audit inquiry into the case yesterday. The specially constituted team has been asked to submit its report by June 28. The council came under a cloud two months ago following revelations that its top management had indulged in lavish expenditure besides details like using of buses and scooters to transport vermin compost. — TNS
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Voter forms in bulk ‘unacceptable’
Amritsar, June 10 Addressing a press conference, he said a notification in this regard could be issued anytime after November 9. He said a meeting with DCs and district police heads of Gurdaspur, Nawanshahr, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and others was held to review all arrangements and streamline the process. PTI adds: Brar directed state government officials not to entertain politicians coming with vote registration forms in bulk for the upcoming SGPC elections. Now this practice would not be allowed in order to prevent fake registration of votes, Brar said. New voter had to himself appear before the electoral officer to submit his form so that all young people above the age of 21 could become eligible to cast their vote, he said.
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Selection of Medical Officers
Chandigarh, June 10 The bureau is looking into the allegations of corruption and irregularities in the selections following a preliminary inquiry conducted by the Chief Secretary. A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High court, including the Chief Justice Mukul Moudgil and Justice Jasbir Singh had asked the PPSC to hand over the records to the government to facilitate the probe. Sources in the VB said the PPSC had refused to part with the records on the pretext that since the bureau was not a party to the said petition, it has no claim whatsoever over the records. Sources add that the VB had written to the Chief Secretary and the Health Secretary to call for the records from the PPSC and hand it over to them. Chief Secretary SC Agrawal, who is also Secretary (Vigilance), and Health Secretary Satish Chandra have now written to the PPSC but a response is awaited. “PPSC Chairman Sanjit Sinha and now another member of the commission Satwant Singh Mohi have taken a stand before the court that the selections were conducted in a fair and transparent manner. If that is true then why the PPSC has a problem in handing over the records to the bureau?” pointed out a senior government official. Sources in the vigilance have also denied allegations levelled by Mohi in his petition. Mohi along with his family members had alleged that the VB tortured his friends and security men. “Mohi had opened bank accounts in the name of his gun men and in order to check whether he had used these to do any financial transactions the VB had quizzed the gun men. If simple fact finding moves of the VB are going to be construed as torture then no inquiry can ever be conducted,” said a senior government official. The official added that the VB had found that a car which Mohi was reportedly using was “bought” by his friend. “Interestingly, a son of this friend was selected by the PPSC as an SDO not too ago,” he added. Sources also stated that the VB had written to the civil surgeons to send call letters to the selected candidates for a meeting with VB officials. “VB officials simply asked the selected candidates details of their PAN numbers and those of their relatives. This has been done to ascertain if large amounts of money has been withdrawn during the days when selections were going on,” said the official.
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Labour Pangs: Irate farmers beat up JE
Sirhind/ Rajpura, June 10 “I have been hunting for labourers for the past two days. Until two years ago, migrants used to plead for work, but now it’s the other way round,” said Charanjit Singh, a farmer of Ghavdan village in Sangrur, who awaited labourers at the Rajpura station. At Sirhind railway station, irate farmers beat up a junior engineer (JE), when he tried to intervene in the altercation between labourers and farmers. A complaint in this regard has been lodged with the police and the hunt to nab the farmers is on. A farmer said if they failed to get labourers before monsoon, transplantation would get delayed and they would have to spend more money after rains. Farmers also rued the state government had failed to introduce paddy transplanters properly and only influential farmers having more than 20 to 30 acres had access to this facility. GRP Incharge, Harvinder Singh at Rajpura railway station said the situation, so far, was under control and no untoward incident had been reported during the past two days.
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Re-employment benefits sought
Patiala, June 10 Gupta, an octogenarian, wrote that the state had extended re-employment benefits to freedom fighters in the state services until 60 years, but the said concession had not been extended to children and grandchildren of freedom fighters. “The denial of this benefit to their children and grandchildren is not justified as the freedom fighters are not alive or have already surpassed the age of 60,” the letter reads.
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German govt seeks free legal service for
Ropar, June 10 Letter also rebukes Thomas for indulging in unlawful activities on foreign shores and not seeking German Government’s help in seeking visa. The entire letter is written in German language while appeal to the Ropar police for providing free legal service is mentioned in English. Ropar police officials said arrest of a Russian girl, accompanying Thomas, is essential for getting more details in the case. Efforts are on to nab this Russian national as well.
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Kamaljit gets interim relief
Chandigarh, June 10 Kamaljit is the complainant in the case registered against Harpreet’s mother, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, and others. Indications are that Harpreet’s husband Kamaljit only recently turned hostile before the trial court in Patiala. Taking up his plea against the non-bailable warrant issued due to his non-appearance before the Special Judge court in Patiala, Justice Ajay Tewari - holding the court during the HC vacations - directed him to appear before the court there; and asked him to furnish a surety of Rs 1 lakh. As the case came up for hearing, CBI counsel Ajay Kaushik and RK Handa informed the court that Kamaljit was habitual of delaying the proceedings. They asked the court to direct the deposition of heavy surety in case he was to be granted relief. The amount should be forfeited in case he erred again in the future, they added. Kamaljit was initially granted exemption from the court hearing on May 20, as his father was unwell. On the next date of hearing, he did not appear before the court but sent a fax in the court stating he could not attend the court hearing again because of his father’s illness. Thereafter, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against Kamaljit. Bibi Jagir Kaur, the main accused in the case, was present during the court proceedings Just 19, Harpreet had died under mysterious circumstances on the night of April 20, 2000. Claiming the absence of a “foul play”, the police did not conduct Harpreet’s postmortem and she was cremated in a hurried manner on April 21. A few days after Harpreet’s death, Kamaljit of Kapurthala district claimed he was Harpreet’s husband and the father of Harpreet’s stillborn child. After the police refused to register a case, Kamaljit approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. On June 9, 2000, the HC directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within four months. On October 3, 2000, the CBI registered an FIR under provision of the IPC against Bibi Jagir Kaur.
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Jalandhar, June 10
Chandigarh, June 10
