Ludhiana, June 25
A hike of Rs 2 per litre in diesel price will have an adverse effect on marginal farmers in the state, as the cost of Kharif crop cultivation will go up by Rs 300-500 per acre.

President of the PAU Kisan Club Pavitar Pal Singh Pangli said: “The cost of paddy cultivation will go up by Rs 500 per acre while the cultivation cost of other kharif crops, including maize and pulses, will increase by Rs 300- 400 per acre.”

He said Powercom had failed to give regular eight-hour power supply to state farmers. Also, there was no provision to compensate for a technical snag, following which farmers had to depend upon generators to water fields, he added.

Speaking on behalf of state farmers, Pangli called upon the government to increase bonus on paddy, adding that, “The MSP of Rs 1,090 per quintal will not suit farmers thus an additional bonus of Rs 150 should be given for the same. In case of the moderate monsoon, the bonus should be increased to Rs 200 per quintal,” he demanded.

Meanwhile, the PAU Kisan Club chief appealed to the government to monitor the loss of oil companies with a special emphasis on the restrained use of petrol vehicles in government departments.

Chandigarh, June 25
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today lashed out at the Centre for an unwarranted steep hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene oil announced today. He has demanded an immediate and total withdrawal of this hike.

The SAD also rejected the hike describing it as a deliberate step to crush hardworking peasantry, middle class and virtually every segment of society.

SAD chief and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that this “aam aadmi ki sarkar” was hell bent upon fleecing the common man to fill the coffers of multinational oil companies without caring for its cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities already piercing the roof.

He said a hike in petro prices would also increase transportation charges of all goods.

Describing Rs 3.5 per litre hike in petrol, Rs 2 per litre in diesel, Rs 35 per LPG cylinder and Rs 3 per litre in kerosene as a “daylight robbery”, the SAD chief said his party, along with NDA constituents, would strongly oppose this hike, seeking its immediate rollback. He said the UPA Government had shown its real face by stabbing in the back of the common man.

He said the SAD had been demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations of linking the MSP of agricultural produce with price index and freeing their marketing inside and outside the country without any government control.

Instead of decontrolling the marketing of agricultural produce to benefit 70 per cent population of the country, the government had deliberately deregulated the prices of petrol and diesel to benefit few multinational oil marketing companies, he added.

The CM said with a steep price hike of Rs 2 per litre in diesel and a meager hike in the MSP of wheat by Rs 50, the government had shown its real face.

Describing hike in kerosene and LPG prices as unprecedented, Badal said this government had failed to check the prices of essential commodities.

Demanding a White Paper on the opaque price fixation formula, Badal said people must be made aware that how oil marketing companies in connivance with the Centre was minting money by including imaginary cost factors while fixing the cost of petroleum products. 

Ferozepur, June 25
A “scam” worth crores of rupees has surfaced in this district following the detection of sandstones and sand in bags of wheat allegedly filled by a section of Punsup officials.

It came to the notice of officials of the Food Corporation of India when they were loading the bags in a goods train here today. Officials of Punsup have, however, refused to comment on the issue.

The district manager, when contacted over the phone, said he was busy and could not talk. Even some of the officials disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said a committee comprising the Deputy Director (Food and Supply), District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC) and the Ferozepur tehsildar had been constituted to probe the matter. A godown of Punsup had been sealed and a truck loaded with bags of wheat, along with sandstones and sand, had been impounded.

He said an inquiry report likely to be submitted by the panel on June 29 would be sent to the Secretary (Food and Supply), Punjab, for action against those officials who were found involved in the alleged scam. He said the movement of bags of wheat from the storage point of Punsup to the loading point of the FCI had also been stopped till the probe was over.

The DC said the examination of the bags was carried out after the FCI District Manager, Sandeep Kumar, gave him a report in connection with the presence of sandstones and sand in the same. About 161 bags of wheat, which were still lying in the truck, were found filled with sandstones and sand, along with wheat.

Later, a godown of Punsup was checked, where thousands of bags with suspicious matter were found. He said about 3.25 lakh bags of wheat were lying in the godown, which was hired by it from a private party for storing wheat bags. The FCI District Manager said it was shocking for them to know about the presence of sandstones and sand in the bags. About 11,000 bags of wheat, which had already been loaded in the train, were unloaded after the detection of sandstones and sand, he added.

He said he was not aware of the place where these bags were to be delivered, as it was yet to be disclosed by the FCI authorities.

Meanwhile, general secretary and media in charge of the PPCC Parminder Singh has demanded a CBI probe into the alleged scam.

Jalandhar, June 25
A government company laying a gas pipeline near Samrala was told today not to enter the fields till compensation was announced for farmers.

A meeting with senior officers of the company was held at Samrala. Besides senior officials of the district administration, representatives of farmers, including some sarpanches, were present.

The company is to lay the pipeline to Nangal via Raikot, Khanna and Samrala. The line comes from Ghaziabad, it is learnt. President of the BKU Balbir Singh Rajewal said the company had not announced any compensation for the crops which would be damaged due to the laying of the pipeline. Neither had it announced the payment of money for the land through which the pipeline would pass.

He said it was today resolved that besides compensation for the crops which would be damaged, farmers would also be given some money for the land through which the pipeline would be laid.

Rajewal said that without signing a written agreement with regard to the issues settled at the meeting, farmers would not allow the laying of the pipeline. 

Hoshiarpur, June 25
Setting an agenda for an all-party meeting on the river waters dispute tomorrow, the Dal Khalsa has asked the Punjab Government to set a deadline to get royalty from non-riparian states and scrap Clause 5 of the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004.

Addressing a press conference after presiding over a meeting of the executive committee here this afternoon, party chief HS Dhami and senior leader Kanwarpal Singh said Punjab was well within its right when it asked royalty from non-riparian states like Rajasthan and Haryana for using its river waters for the past many decades. However, they said without setting the deadline, the move would lose its steam, as it would take years to get royalty.

They reminded the Chief Minister of his poll promise: “Scrap Clause 5 of the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004, to stop the continued loot of river waters".

They said Punjab should strike a fresh deal with Haryana and other non-riparian states in case it had to give its water to them as a goodwill gesture. “There is no room for the Centre’s intervention as water is a state subject,” they said. They termed the current flow of river waters to the neighbouring states as “unconstitutional, illegal and the violation of riparian principle”.

Taking a dig at Haryana’s claim on Punjab river waters, they said the Haryana Chief Minister should first check the definition of riparian principle before asking for its share.

Contesting Hooda’s remark that Punjab was raking up a non-issue, Dhami said river waters were natural resources of Punjab and to safeguard and protect one’s resources was the primary duty of all Punjabis. They asked all legislators of Punjab to deliberate and evolve a mechanism to stop the loot of water.

Jalandhar, June 25
A committee set up by the BJP to take up important issues with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today held a meeting with BJP chief Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.

The committee members - Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manoranjan Kalia and Ashwani Sharma - also held a meeting with Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in the evening, who has reached New Delhi from the US.

Earlier, a meeting was held with the CM yesterday. Badal had told the leaders to discuss all issues with the Deputy CM, as most of these were related to decisions taken by the Sukhbir-Kalia committee.

The committee members held a meeting with Gadkari to brief him on issues raised by BJP MLAs at the two-day meeting of the party executive held in Jalandhar early this week.

The MLAs had expressed strong resentment against the non-allocation of funds for the development of their respective Vidhan Sabha constituencies and some of them had even threatened to resign in case the BJP leadership failed to get the funds allocated.

They alleged that while the SAD MLAs were getting a huge money for nursing their respective constituencies, BJP MLAs had not been given enough money for this purpose. The most important issues included the passing on of revenue collected from surcharge on VAT to the Local Bodies Department and also adjusting increased power tariff of the last year, which was later rolled back in future power bills.

The BJP had made a commitment with the people that it would get the hike rolled back and the increased tariff recovered from consumers would be adjusted in power bills to be issued in the future. Sources said Sukhbir had assured that all issues raised by the BJP leaders at today’s meeting would be resolved soon.

Patiala, June 25
In a major relief to industrialists, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has made the process of issuance of the No Objection Certificates (NOC) to the industries simple.

While earlier the power to issue the NOC was only vested with the board headquarters in Patiala but now it has decided to allow the field officers, senior environment engineer (SEE) and chief environment engineer (CEE) to grant the NOC to industries.

The power for issuing the NOC to green-category industries (non-polluting) has been vested with the SEE whereas for the orange (moderately polluting) and red (highly polluting) category, the CEE would be authorised to issue it.

Sources said apart from facilitating the industries, this would reduce the workload of the board administration, especially of the chairman and the member secretary, so that they could lay more focus on effective implementation to check the violation of the pollution norms.

Senior board officers told The Tribune that from now on, the industrialists making investments in excess of Rs 15 crore in their upcoming plant would not have to make endless rounds of the board headquarters in Patiala.

“The CEEs have been authorised to give the clearance. Simultaneously, officers would be accountable for ensuring that everything is being done as per the laid procedures,” a senior officer said.

PPCB chairman Rajat Aggarwal said: “This would not only decrease the workload in the head office but would also facilitate the industries.”

He further said this would also enable the officials to spare more time to keep a check on the violators of various pollution norms across the state.

As per the new norms, industrial unit, with an investment up to Rs 15 crore, would get sanctions from the zonal office whereas earlier, the zonal office had Rs 5 crore investment limit for issuing the mandatory clearance.

The officials said now 400-bed hospitals would get the NOC directly from the zonal office from an officer equivalent to the CEE rank while hospitals with a capacity up to 200 beds earlier had to move to PPCB headquarters for the clearance, either by the chairman or the member secretary.

Abohar, June 25
To thwart the nefarious designs of forces inimical to India, the Border Security Force (BSF) authorities have introdued four-layer security arrangements on the Indo-Pak border. For the first time, the existing three-layer security set-up has been strengthened by an additional security layer.

This exercise has been undertaken as intelligence inputs have revealed that the terrorists outfits operating from Pakistan could destabilise the peace process initiated by the governments of India and Pakistan through the ongoing foreign secretary-level talks and the coming foreign ministers’ meeting in July.

Official sources said under the four-layer security set-up, the BSF had been deployed in close vicinity of zero line, in the area falling between zero line and the cobra fencing, alongside the cobra fencing towards Indian side and about 800 metres deep inside Indian territory in the border pockets.

First, the BSF authorities alerted its troops when a joint operation against terrorists belonging to various outfits was launched in Lahore and its surrounding areas by the Pakistan Rangers, the Pakistan army and the police force about one month ago to flush out them from that area. Intelligence inputs revealed that terrorists might infiltrate into Indian soil to escape joint operations.

“Moreover, the incidents connected with unprovoked firing in the simbal skol area in Gurdaspur, rocket firing in Amritsar and firing in Fazilka sector few years ago do not allow us to use any kind of laxity while protecting the Punjab frontiers,” said Vimal Satyarthi, DIG, BSF, Abohar.

Additional troops have been mobilised from the battalion headquarters to make the four-layer security set-up a big success. 

Uppal Bhopa (Jalandhar) June 25
Grandchildren of the brother of Pooran Singh, whose story of mortal remains was aired by the Australian SBS Radio, have no idea about the last rites of their ancestor performed by the Australian Government 63 years ago. Pooran Singh had migrated to Australia 111 years ago for greener pastures.

Legend has it that Pooran Singh had shifted to Australia in 1899 and died on June 8, 1947. The owners of Gyett’s Funerals in Warrnambool, where his last rites were performed, are still searching for his family to deliver his ashes, which have been preserved by them for the past 63 years, as Pooran wanted his ashes to be immersed in the Ganga.

A Tribune team located Pooran’s family living in Uppal Bhopa village of Jalandhar district, which till today was not aware of any such “ash story”. Octogenarian Amar Singh, son of Pooran’s nephew Gurbachan Singh, said the family would be happy if anyone would accomplish the last wish of their great grandfather.

Narrating the story of Pooran’s family lineage, he said Pooran was engaged but marriage could not be solemnised. Pooran’s brother Sultani Ram had four sons - Gurbachan Singh, Milkha Singh, Chanan Singh and Kartar Singh, he said.

“The family of Chanan Singh shifted to England. He remained the village sarpanch from 1983 to 1991. Milkha Singh died issueless. Two sons of Kartar Singh are settled in India and one in England”, said Amar Singh, who is one of the four sons of elder Gurbachan Singh, who also served in the Indian National Army.

Naseeb Kaur, wife of Amar Singh, said the news of Pooran’s death came through a telegram in July 1947 and later on, some money had also been delivered to Chanan Singh in late forties. She said the family also performed Pooran’s last rites before Partition. “Chanan Singh renovated the parental home,” she added.

Patiala, June 25
A Nabha court today further extended the police remand of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) ultra Bakhshish Singh for three days. Bakhshish was today produced in the court and the Nabha Sadar Police sought his custody for 10 more days. The police asserted that it was extremely important to extract maximum information about his links with other terrorists.

Meanwhile, counsel of Bakhshish and General Secretary of Sikhs for Human Rights (SFHR) Lakhwinder Singh Kaliraun said the police sought to extend his remand in order to draw vital information from him though he had been in the police custody for 25 days. “In fact, the police is torturing my client, despite knowing that he cannot move properly. He should be sent for medical examination,” he told The TNS. Kaliraun said they might file a petition in the HC.

A source in the Intelligence Department said there was a possibility that Bakhshish might have hidden explosives in UP.

A resident of Nizamniwala village, Bakhshish, figures in the category of dreaded terrorists and has 28 cases pending against him in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi. Besides being the main accused of attacking Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his involvement in the terrorist activities came to light when the police announced that he was involved in planting the IED outside the LPG Bottling Plant, Nabha, and near the Air Force Station, Halwara. 

Chandigarh, June 25
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the fast tracking of trials against the runaway couples. The high court also made it clear that the runaway couples should be given “constitutional protection” available to all citizens, making it obligatory for the police to ensure their safety.

At a time when honour killings are bringing disgrace to the families of the runaway couples, Justice SD Anand directed the “trial courts” to conclude the trial within three months of the submission of the chargesheet.

The directions came on a petition filed by Jalandhar-based couple Manpreet Kaur and her husband against the State of Punjab, its functionaries and close relatives.

“The petitioners belong to the category of those who fall for each other and tie the knot without their respective parents being in know of the factum thereof,” Justice Anand noted.

“The issue focused is apprehension in the mind of the petitioners that the indicated non-official respondents, who are none else other than their close relatives otherwise, would hurt them on coming to know of the marriage entered by the petitioners without their consent.

“The counsel for the petitioners stresses the urgency and the requirement of the grant of protection by averring that there have been many instances across the country, wherein hurt, fatalistic or otherwise, had been caused to the couple or one of them….

“The matter is already engaging consideration of all segments of dispensation and it can be safely hoped that a solution acceptable to all concerned and capable of remedying the apparent malaise would emerge,” Justice Anand asserted.

The Judge also recorded the State counsel’s apprehensions on the act “hurting the moral psyche of the society”.

“The counsel, appearing on behalf of Punjab and Haryana, in a chord of concurrence, states that the factum of the parties having entered into matrimony notwithstanding, the couples are unmindful of the extent of hurt their act has caused to the psyche of their parental relations and further that their act is likely to send wrong signals to the people of their age group. The repetition of such instances, counsel proceeds to assert, might hurt the mortal psyche of the society at large, which derives essential sustenance from customs that are all the time aimed at maintaining morality and peace in the society,” Justice Anand noted.

Anandpur Sahib, June 25
The Ropar police arrested a female Russian accomplice of a German spy from Jaipur yesterday.

Thomas Kohan, a German, was arrested on suspicion of spying here last month, however, the police had been looking for his Russian accomplice, said to be a close aide of Thomas. The girl, identified as Oliga Timoshik, was arrested yesterday in Jaipur by the Ropar police team led by Nangal DSP HS Hundal.

Oliga was brought here today and produced in the court of Senior Divisional Judicial Magistrate Pushvinder Singh who sent her for three-day police remand.

The court allowed her to talk to relatives and lawyer twice a day in the presence of investigating officer. Her mobile phone, laptop and passport had been confiscated, the police said.

She was held after an evidence was obtained from the e-mail ID of a girl who had been using the ID for last few days. Her visa got expired and thus, she was living illegally in India. The police said vital clues were expected. The girl had told the police that she worked as a freelance journalist and used to send photographs and news reports to various newspapers.

The police further said Oliga had been looking for a rented accomodation in Jaipur and had told some people that she was married to a man named Thomas.