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Badal, ETT teachers reach ‘compromise’
State urges Centre to cut outturn ratio of PAU-201
BJP’s Mantra to Contain Inflation
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SGPC Takes Up Task
Sikhs not on ‘Taliban hit list’
Healthcare facilities to be upgraded: Sud
Cancer Patients Multiply
Cops’ English baffles scribes
Mistaken identity creates chaos
42 GPS vehicles for police control rooms
Jail guards go on indefinite strike
PU Russian dept to help in spy case probe
Murder of NRI Girl
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Badal, ETT teachers reach ‘compromise’
Chandigarh, June 30 The CM has also announced a mercy chance to clear eligibility test in six months to the agitating computer teachers. They have also been allowed to remain in service for the next six months. Sources told The Tribune that two factions of ETT diploma holders, one who have received their diplomas from institutes in Punjab and the others who studied in Jammu, met the CM at his residence late last night and discussed their problem. After the meeting, both factions reportedly agreed to the suggestion that 3,428 vacancies of ETT teachers should be filled on the basis of merit with 70 per cent posts reserved for those who had passed from Punjab and 30 per cent to those from Jammu institutions. It was further decided that in case there were not enough candidates to take up 70 per cent jobs reserved for those who had obtained ETT diplomas from Punjab, these jobs would be thrown open to those who had studied in Jammu. The state Education Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, has been calling for a ban on recruitment in government jobs for those who have passed ETT diplomas from institutions in Jammu. Even in her communication to Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, she has asked the Centre to derecognise Jammu-based institutions giving ETT diplomas as these were merely “teaching shops”. The Centre, however, expressed its inability to act against these “teaching shops”, as they were recognised by Jammu University. Meanwhile, Upinderjit Kaur has said that she received complete support on the issue and the entire government machinery was unanimously of the view that students of Jammu institutions were not well trained as those who passed from colleges in Punjab. She added that the Punjab Cabinet had unanimously passed the filling of 3,428 posts of ETT teacher and that she had full support of her Cabinet colleagues on the issue. The Punjab Government was not filling the posts of the ETT teachers as two warring factions from among job aspirants (one from Punjab and other who studied in Jammu) had set up different pre-conditions for the selection. Students, who studied in Punjab, said students from institutions in Jammu scored much higher grades because these institutions allotted marks for monetary consecrations rather than based on exams. But at the same time, they had not agreed to an entrance test for the selection. While the issue appears to have been resolved, there is no official word from either of the ETT groups accepting or denying the formula suggested by the Chief Minister.
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State urges Centre to cut outturn ratio of PAU-201
Chandigarh, June 30 Out of the 26 lakh tonnes of paddy lying unmilled in Punjab, 17 lakh tonnes is of the PAU-201 variety. This variety, whose transplantation has been banned this year, is known to suffer pin damage as well as break during milling due to which millers are reluctant to process it. Punjab Food and Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, who had taken up the issue of extending some further concession to stop this paddy from being further damaged in Punjab during storage, is going to Delhi again tomorrow. The Food Ministry is set to decide on two proposals given by Punjab. One includes reducing the outturn ratio from the present 67 per cent of the total paddy given for milling to 62 per cent. The other proposal is to allow the state to export this paddy as pin damage does not reduce the selling price of rice as per international specifications. Talking to TNS, Kairon said the case for further steps to save paddy lying in Punjab from damage were proposed after the Food Ministry gave all possible concessions in the case of the variety. He said the damage content permissible had been increased from 3 per cent earlier to 4 per cent and finally to 4.75 per cent in April. However, the damage content continues to be more and FCI (Food Corporation of India) officials are reluctant to take rice delivery. Kairon said Punjab’s proposals, including that of export, were likely to be put before the empowered group of ministers. “We have to solve the problem”, he said while speaking about his department that he said was not a member of the committee, which approved PAU-201. According to available information out of the total of 95 lakh tonnes of rice due to the FCI, Punjab has delivered 62 lakh tonnes. As much as 26 lakh tonnes is still to be milled despite the milling season usually coming to an end by this time.
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BJP’s Mantra to Contain Inflation
Jalandhar, June 30 Citing the inflation percentage in various countries that was below 3 per cent compared to 11-12 per cent in the country, he said the price rise was not part of an international phenomenon as was being claimed by the government. He said the party would demonstrate against the price rise in front of the DC offices at 25 places in India while a nationwide bandh will be held on July 5. Flaying BSP leader Mayawati and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for supporting the UPA during the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Nadda said: “Both leaders had sold interests of the people down the river.” He criticised the UPA for going in for deregulating the oil sector that would further place essential commodities out of the reach of the people. TNS adds from Bathinda: Protesting against price rise in the country, members and activists of the BJP, led by district president (urban) Sham Lal Bansal, on Wednesday held a demonstration outside the mini secretariat here. They also clanged utensils and raised slogans against the Central Government to lodge their protest against rising prices. They demanded a rollback in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. The party leaders also submitted a memorandum against price rise to the Deputy Commissioner for forwarding the same to the President of India. In this memorandum, the party appealed to the President to ask the Central Government to control prices.They also held a rally at Ambedkar Park.
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SGPC Takes Up Task
Amritsar, June 30 The Army is yet to return valuable items like manuscripts, paintings, books and other important articles of the library after it had allegedly removed these items from inside the Golden Temple complex in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar in 1984. The SGPC has been urging the Central Government to facilitate an early return of the Sikh treasures since 1984, but all its pleas have failed to yield any result so far. The assurances extended to the SGPC by the former President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam, and by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, regarding ensuring return of the valuable articles to the SGPC during their visits to the Golden Temple, too, are yet to be honoured. After waiting for too long, now the SGPC has taken upon itself the task to resurrect the library by installing a couple of computers and constructing a fumigation chamber for the preservation of handwritten manuscripts and other books of historical and religious importance. “Our efforts have started bearing fruit. Baba Narinder Singh, Chief Manager of Gurdwara Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Chhoti Jawaddi in Ludhiana, has offered 30 handwritten “Saroops” of Guru Granth Sahib and 29 other handwritten books to the SGPC. These have been installed in the library as per Gursikh Maryada,” said the SGPC Secretary, Dalmegh Singh. The SGPC Publicity In Charge, Bhai Ram Singh, said the SGPC had issued an appeal to the Sikhs to come out with any handwritten or other articles and hand these over to the SGPC on payment or donation basis so that these could be preserved in the library for the benefit of future generations.
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Goodwill Gesture
Attari, June 30 Release of the four Pakistani prisoners, all hailing from the Sindh province of Pakistan, was seen as a goodwill gesture on behalf of India in reciprocation of Pakistan’s action of releasing 17 Indian prisoners on Wednesday. The release of the Pakistani prisoners identified as Mishri Mal, Bham Raj, Jethu and Birji Shivaji, all in their thirties, who were held for crossing over into India illegally over the past about 10 years and were subjected to serious charges of spying in India, was ordered by Union Home Minister P Chidambram. They remained lodged in various jails of Gujarat at Junagarh, Keshbhuj and Ahmedabad after their arrest from different points along the international border, shared by the state of Gujarat in India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. For Mishri Lal, returning to his home after a gap of about 10 years was nothing short of liberation. “I am going to get rid of all the stress I have been carrying about with me all these years. I didn’t have any contact during the past 10 years with my four brothers, one sister and parents. Like others, I had gone to my fields and strayed into Indian territory at the age of 17. It proved to be a point of no return for me,” said Mishri Lal. Bhamraj, 30, said he, too, had crossed the border inadvertently about two years ago in 2008. “The most painful thing was that I was arrested for spying. What might have happened to me, you can imagine. Innocent people, who crossed over to India and Pakistan inadvertently, should be released on the same day after verification of their antecedents,” pleaded Bhamraj. Birji Shivaji, too, asserted that he was arrested for spying on frivolous grounds for which he had to spend two precious years of his life in Junagarh prison in Gujarat. “I was falsely implicated. I am a simple farmer who loved working at his farm. I know nothing about spying or any such activities. I have learnt a few lessons of life during my term in jail,” said Birji, seeking timely release of prisoners from the jails of two countries.
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Pak Sindhis for liberal visa regime
Amritsar, June 30 A group of about 250 Pakistani Sindhis landed at the Attari border check post today. They will be visiting the Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi and other places in India before their return to Pakistan on July 25. They have also urged India and Pakistan to include the issues of grant of liberal visa to the people of the two countries and open trade between the two countries in the list of issues to be discussed during the forthcoming talks between the Pakistani and Indian Foreign Ministers on July 15 and 16. “Pakistani tourists face an array of problems as they are granted city-specific visas by the Indian Government. Instead, they should be accorded permission to visit the entire country. This can act as a strong confidence-building measure,” said Shankar, a Sindhi tourist. Similarly, Bhag Chand, another tourist, sought better trade exchange between the two countries as increased trade could break the ice between the two countries. “Better trade ties have the power to bring closer the people of the two countries. It has happened in the case of a number of countries the world over,” said another tourist, while expressing hope that the day was not far off when people of the two countries would be able to visit India and Pakistan freely.
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Sikhs not on ‘Taliban hit list’
Amritsar, June 30 Talking to The Tribune over the phone, the PSGPC chief said: “We cannot appreciate activities of any militant group. At the same time, we can easily make it out that Sikhs have never been the target of the Taliban or any other radical outfit allegedly operating in Pakistan. No Sikh has ever been harmed by radicals here so far. I must clear the air that there is no animosity between the Taliban and Sikhs here.” Meanwhile, the Pakistan Government has installed CCTV cameras in many Sikh shrines, including the Lahore-based mausoleum of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose 171th death anniversary was observed in Lahore
yeaterday. “Besides the CCTV cameras, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s mausoleum has got new gates and a new look with a fresh brickwork,” said Sham Singh. Intriguingly, not even a single Sikh from any other country, except India, reportedly turned out at the mausoleum to pay homage to Maharaja Ranjit Singh this time. Pakistani Sikhs too preferred to stay away from the anniversary function. Only about 140 Sikhs were part of the SGPC-organised jatha which returned to India via the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost today after paying obeisance at Sikh shrines here. “Sikhs from Peshawar and other parts did not come under apprehension that they might not get Indian visas if they laud the role of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the political reshaping of the subcontinent,” alleged the PSGPC chief.
Amarjit Singh Bhalaipur, leader of the SGPC jatha, said though the security was tightened by Pakistani agencies this time, Sikh pilgrims did not face any problem on this account. He said the jatha members were satisfied over the quality of ongoing repair work at various Sikh shrines.
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Human trafficking goes unchecked in Punjab
Chandigarh, June 30 Former Punjab Police DGP AP Bhatnagar said there was a need to appoint special police officers to combat human trafficking and said the community police stations could be very beneficial in that regard. ICA Deputy Director Dr Upneet Lalli said there were few NGOs and rescue homes for women in both Punjab and Haryana. Moreover, women became accused themselves whenever any human trafficking case was busted, she said. “Persons running the racket usually go scot free,” she added. The seminar, which was attended by 41 police officers from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, saw a lively debate on whether prostitution should be legalised or not. A number of police officers, including HP ASP Veena Bharti, called for legalising prostitution saying women were becoming victims in the present system and that legalising prostitution would allow agencies to look after the women. Other police officers, however, felt the Indian society was still not ready for such a step. Former SSP and Senior Director of the NHRC Ashok Chakraborty apprised participants of the national and international dimensions of the problem of trafficking. The participants were not only briefed about the law and procedures relating to human trafficking but also on human rights dimensions and problems of rehabilitation of the trafficked victims.
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CRPF jawan killed in Naxal attack
Fazilka, June 30 The deceased’s nephew, Baljeet Singh, received a phone call from Chhattisgarh late last night from associates of Jarnail Singh in
connection with his death in an ambush laid down by Naxals in the Mahimagabdi area, which was about 3 km away from the base camp of CRPF jawans at Thodai in
Raipur district. However, no official of the state government had reached to his house till the filing of the report. Jarnail Singh is survived by his parents Hansa Singh and Veera Bai, wife Jagir Kaur and two teenage daughters -Jasbir Kaur and Rajwinder Kaur. Baljeet Singh said Jarnail was recruited as a sepoy in 39 battalion of the CRPF about 21 years ago. He said though he had been making calls to number from where he received the call last night to know about the whereabouts of the body of Jarnail Singh, no one responded. He said that so far, the family had not received any message in connection with the death of Jarnail Singh from the CRPF authorities.
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Anandpur Sahib jawan killed in J&K
Anandpur Sahib, June 30 A pall of gloom descended on the village on hearing the news of Hardeep’s death. His body is expected to reach the village tonight. The martyr will be cremated tomorrow morning. His mother has not been told about the death yet. Earlier also, a jawan from the Kiratpur Sahib area in Ropar district had sacrificed his life for the country on May 14. 23-years-old soldier Sangat Singh from 30 RR was also posted in the Kupwara sector. A resident of Cheekna village, he was the only male member in the family.
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Samrala Encounter
Rajpura, June 30 Rajpura city SHO Bikramjit Singh Brar said the DGP encouraged the morale of the cops and assured to extend all possible help for medication. The DGP also assured to give a cash prize or promotion recommended by the Patiala SSP. Eleven cops from Rajpura city police station, one of them in uniform and
others in plain clothes, chased five hardcore dacoits wanted in different heinous
crimes yesterday. City SHO Bikramjit Singh Brar was leading the team and followed the gang members, who were in two different cars. The cops chased them up to Ludhiana and intervened them when they were coming towards Samrala from Ludhiana. To evade the arrests, the accused fired gunshots at the police and cops also fired and managed to arrest three of the five accused. The arrested accused were identified as Dimple, alias Dimpy, of Amritsar, Balram, a resident of Ferozepur and Sandeep, alias Sandy, of Kapurthala. Bikramjit Brar said efforts were on to nab the two absconding and would be arrested soon. He added that the accused were wanted for various heinous crimes in various police stations of Punjab.
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Healthcare facilities to be upgraded: Sud
Patiala, June 30 He said in order to end the problem of the staff scarcity, as many as 181 staff nurses, seven radiographer and 136 class IV employees had been recruited for Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. Addressing the gathering after handing over the appointment letters to the these fresh recruits at the central library here today, the Minister said: “The appointment of the staff is a clear vindication of the efforts being made by the state government in the health sector. Also, the appointments have been purely made on merit basis.” Lambasting the Congress for ignoring the health and education sector, Sud stated that it was the utter failure of the previous Congress government because of which the two most important areas of health and education in Punjab are in shambles. “But our government is making earnest efforts to upgrade the health infrastructure. Funds amounting to Rs 150 crore have been sanctioned for setting up of the Mother and Child Care Centre at Amritsar Medical College. Funds to the tune of Rs 68 crore and Rs 30 crore had been given for the Baba Farid Health Sciences University and Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, respectively,” he added. Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Sital Singh, also lauded the step to appoint the staff for the Hospital. “The state government is really concerned about the commoners, because they are the ones who are maximum visitors to the government hospitals and government is making all efforts to ensure that there is no staff scarcity in these hospitals”, he claimed.
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Cancer Patients Multiply
After testing, the board officials would submit a comprehensive report to the Central Water Commission for the perusal of Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister for Water Resources. The PPCC general secretary Ram Pal Daipai had approached Bansal for getting the water samples tested from some government agency. The samples will be tested to find out the level of toxic substances such as metals, chemicals and uranium in the water. Presence of uranium and other toxic substances in the water as well as in the soil was proved earlier also. Recently, a German lab had also confirmed the presence of a high level of uranium in the Malwa belt. However, its source has not been ascertained as yet. Even the Punjab Pollution Control Board and the State Council for Science and Technology in their various reports have also confirmed a high level of toxic substances in the state’s environment, including river waters, soil, etc. “I have met the Punjab Governor, Shivraj Patil, the Union Ministers, Ambika Soni and Pawan Bansal, with a request to set up a cancer research and treatment institute at Mansa,” said Ram Pal Daipai. Conceding my request, Bansal has written to Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, requesting him to set up the institute at Mansa to fight the scourge of cancer and reduce the sufferings of the people of the area, said Daipai.
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Cops’ English baffles scribes
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 30 The crime report released to media, which is also submitted to all senior police officers from the rank of DSPs to DIG’s, is so confusing that at times one fails to understand the exact meaning of the sentence. The crime briefing released today stated that “The above said accused not lying the soil near road and under possession the earth of govt. No arrest so for.” A number of investigating officers provided the above crime briefing refused to comment, saying that they were not aware of any such case. Earlier also, a number of investigating officers said the information was erroneously printed on the report. The matter was brought to the notice of senior district police officials, including SP (D) Preetam Singh, a few days ago. The SP assured to look into the matter, but nothing has been done to improve the language or to provide correct information to senior functionaries and the press. Interestingly, sentences remain incomplete with self -invented words. There is hardly any single report in crime briefings, which is complete with information. Besides providing names of the complainants, accused and the investigating officer (IO), the crime report also mentioned contact number of IOs, who were not even aware of cases being handed over to them. The entire report, which was released by the Police Department is always in capital letters and at times carry amusing and surprising sentences. At times the entire crime is submitted in a single sentence like this one “the above said accused attempted the grave the land of the complainant. No arrest so far.” The police officials said that the control room set up at the district headquarters released this information to the press and senior police functionaries. The officials, however, stated that only police officers are able to understand the crime report properly. The cops stated that former Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Dr Kaustubh Sharma used to go through the entire crime report before releasing it to senior officers and press.
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Mistaken identity creates chaos
Kiratpur Sahib, June 30 While some of the occupants of vehicle sauntered away looking for a mechanic, three of the youths went to a nearby school in Himachal Pradesh. DSP Sant Singh Dhaliwal said there have been rumours in HP area about a gang active in kidnapping children. Three youth, who went to the nearby school, started talking to school students casually. The youths were from Punjab and were surprised to find that while Punjab schools are closed for summer vacations, schools in HP were opened. On hearing the questions, students informed people around that members of a gang have come to the village. The villagers beat up three youths and later informed the police. The mob blocked traffic on the NH-21, near Kiratpur Sahib-Manali road, for around four hours. At last the mob convinced that the youths caught were not a part of any gang. DSP said it turned out to be case of mistaken identity. “We informed the HP police, as the area falls under their jurisdiction. DS Thakar, SP, Bilaspur, reached the spot.
— TNS
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42 GPS vehicles for police control rooms
Chandigarh, June 30 Speaking at a brief ceremony after flagging off the vehicles at the Police Headquarters here, the DGP said he was aiming to upgrade the communication infrastructure of the Punjab Police to the world-class level so that all control rooms could act in complete synergy to respond to any crisis in any part of the state. He said each police control room would be under the direct supervision of a DIG-rank officer.
— TNS
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Jail guards go on indefinite strike
Hoshiarpur, June 30 According to police sources, after receiving the order for the transfer of Sukhwinder Ram to the District Ropar Jail, the latter was relieved today. Annoyed, all security guards went on an indefinite strike and were staging a dharna on the jail premises till the filing of this report.
— OC
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PU Russian dept to help in spy case probe
Ropar, June 30 SSP Ropar LK Yadav said: “The head of the department, Pankaj Malvi, has agreed to help us as an interpreter. He has been on the job from today onwards and would help us communicate with Olga as well as know her in a better manner.” The police has now, booked Olga under the Foreigners Registration Act, 1939, Section 5. As per the Act, a foreigner should register himself or herself within 180 days of landing on the Indian land. Olga did not registered herself and has been consequently booked. Olga is currently on a 10-day police remand. The police has also approached the Income Tax, Jaipur, for investigating her source of income. Olga’s overseas friend Sergy has arranged a counsel for her from the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the counsel from the free district legal services authority refused to take up the case. The police is also investigating the aspects of Olga living in the country without any visa.
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Murder of NRI Girl
Amritsar, June 30 “The victim was strangled to death before hanging her by a ceiling fan by her stepfather, Mehtab Singh, to show the family that she had committed suicide. The police has recovered a leather strap attached with a suitcase that was used for strangulating the girl besides the ceiling fan and other material,” said Police Commissioner Varinder Kumar. He said so far the involvement of the mother had not been established. Meanwhile, Lakhwinder Singh, boyfriend of the victim, has emailed to the police claiming that he was having an affair with the girl, adding that her stepfather was against their relationship and had even threatened to kill her. However, Lakhwinder Singh and the deceased were assured that a grand ceremony for their engagement would be held after the latter’s family returned from India, he confided. The girl was to attain 18 years of age in August 2010. Lakhwinder Singh suspected the involvement of the girl’s mother Rajbir Kaur and more persons of the family in the crime. He alleged that circumstantial evidence against Rajbir Kaur was being ignored. The police could not garner concrete evidence as the body of the victim was cremated hurriedly and the mortal remains were swiftly disposed of to erase any kind of proof. The police arrested Mehtab Singh for murder and registered a case at the cantonment police station. Amritpal, living in Belgium, belonged to a Jat Sikh family while Lakhwinder Singh belonged to another caste. Mehtab Singh along with his wife, a son, a daughter and stepdaughter arrived in Amritsar on June 26. A hurriedly organised cremation of the girl aroused suspicion among relatives who informed the police. Mehtab Singh was the brother of her father, who had died in an accident. The family had married off her mother, Rajbir Kaur, to Mehtab Singh after the death of her father.
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Hawara’s accomplice arrested
Jalandhar, June 30 Sukhdev Singh, alias Sukha, of Tarn Taran district was arrested by the police for his alleged activities and a case under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, was registered against him on June 15 in Amritsar. The AIG said a CI team also seized an AK-47, three magazines and 72 live cartridges from Sher Singh’s possession. The seized AK-47 is a part of the consignment of AK-47s and AK-56s seized from Sukhdev Singh, who was instrumental in planting RDX in a car in Amritsar. The AIG said Sher Singh was also involved in cases of bomb blast in Delhi, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Chandigarh. He is also an accused in the Burail jailbreak case. Sher Singh was a close associate of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the main accused in the Beant Singh assassination case and the mastermind of the Burail jailbreak case. Sher Singh has already served around six years in jail for his involvement in various cases. The police today produced him before a Amritsar court, where the judge sent him in police custody till July 6.
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Jalandhar, June 30