 |
|
|
Five more villages inundated
Floods in Patiala |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indians On Death Row Lawyer hopeful boys will walk free ‘We have a very strong case and are confident of a positive Dubai, July 15 She emerged as a ray of hope for the 17 Indians sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani man in the UAE. She believes in their innocence and the fairness of the justice system.
Appropriate, but delayed step: Sikh bodies
SAD-BJP govt against Dalits: Karimpuri
Passport of German ‘spy’ still missing
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
‘Super 30 Punjab’ launched
Docs protest Bill on private clinics
Docs protest against Bill
Several hospitals get new swine flu vaccine
Vets not to protest in wake of floods
God-woman Case
CCTV cameras for 3 cities
Rulda Singh murder: Bail for 4
Laying of pipelines leads to traffic chaos
HC paves way for continuation of teachers beyond 60
‘Harassment’ of Whistle-Blower
Make state child-labour free: HC
|
Five more villages inundated
Bathinda, July 15 The district authorities also sought help of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while men of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army were already deployed in the flood-hit areas. The villages that faced the fury of the flood last night are: Mirpur Kalan, Mirpur Khurd, Bhagwanpur Hingnan, Alipur and Bern. Sardulgarh town was facing a fresh threat of getting flooded. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, accompanied by his wife and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Rajya Sabha Member Balwinder Singh Bhunder, today again visited the flood-hit areas of Sardulgarh where he reviewed the devastation caused by the fury of Ghaggar that was aggravated by the artificial barrier of Hansi-Butana canal. After conducting an aerial survey, he asked the district administration to expedite evacuation and relief operations besides taking preventive steps to stop water overflowing to more areas. Sukhbir said the Punjab government was committed to provide total support to the people in distress and had started supplying saplings of early-maturing paddy and basmati crop besides seeds of alternate crops to the farmers where water had started receding. He said the challenge before the administration was to prevent an outbreak of epidemic once the water level receded. The Health and Animal Husbandry Departments were vaccinating the people and livestock besides distributing chlorine tablets to the victims. Sukhbir said loss to the crops over an area of 3.25 lakh acres in Punjab was estimated at Rs 480 crore whereas it may cost Rs 1,000 crore to repair the road infrastructure washed away due to the floods. He said loss to the infrastructure was to the tune of Rs 200 crore. Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, Kumar Rahul, said that over 8,000 acres of land had been fully submerged in the Sardulgarh area and 15 villages had been severely affected by the floods. He said the district administration had set up 15 relief camps where over 550 persons were taking refuge. The district administration had also distributed 485 tarpaulins to the homeless people besides providing ration and potable water.
|
|
Floods in Patiala
Patiala, July 15 He said all SDMs had been instructed to complete the process of girdawri for assessing the damage to crops, roads, houses, tubewells etc by July 16 so that compensation to the affected persons could be disbursed without any delay. After holding a meeting with officials of various departments, the DC said reconstruction of damaged roads would be administration’s priority. “Officials of the Public Works Department have been asked to make sure that the roads are laid at the earliest,” he said. The DC said around 2,250 quintal paddy, 200 quintal moong, 200 quintal maize and 30 quintal toriya seeds would be needed for re-sowing of crops in the districts. “Officials of the District Agriculture Department have been asked to ensure availability of the seeds, so that farmers do not face any problem,” he added. The DC has also directed Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Sham Lal Mahajan to ensure proper coordination with the district administration, so that medical aid could be provided to the needy in an efficient manner.
|
|
|
Indians On Death Row
Dubai, July 15 Bindu Bindu S. Chettur, the only Indian lawyer defending the boys in the Mishri Khan murder case, is convinced that they were denied fair, natural justice and is hopeful that Her confidence stems from the success she met in the first-ever case she handled a day before these 17 boys were held guilty this March. She got another Indian expatriate S. Chakroborty, sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping and murdering a woman, acquitted. The Appeal Court’s orders also quashed the possibility for prosecution to file an appeal in the UAE Supreme Court. “Initially, the boys thought they were being tried for minor offences like bootlegging and fighting and they would get away with minor punishments,” says Bindu Chettur, who visits the boys for a couple of hours every Wednesday with Anshul Sharma, a Consul in the Indian Mission here. “They are happy and relaxed and plead innocence,” she tells. According to Bindu Chettur, only two of the 17 boys pleaded not guilty in the trial, though on record there is only one who pleaded innocence. “But when I talked to them, they all maintained that they were innocent. They were provided legal assistance by the court in their defence,” she says. She says that the defence, supported by the Indian Consulate, was prepared to bring any type of papers, including their past record, before the Appeal Court. She resents those who are politicising the case for their personal and vested interests and urged them not to issue statements that could be detrimental to the interest of boys and natural justice. “It is no stage to talk about blood money. We have a very strong case and are confident of a positive outcome,” she says. Her assertion that every accused or suspect has the right to be heard in his own language may have some substance as the Appeal Court has adjourned the case three times in a row for want of a proper translator or interpreter. Bindu Chettur, who besides being Masters in Law also holds an MBA degree from the US, has also been volunteering her services to the Indian Consulate here. “The Consul-General has weekly meetings where cases of Indian expatriates are discussed. Even the Consulate-General has been visiting various jails and meeting undertrials and convicts and extending legal help and assistance. I am sure the Consulate has complete information about the exact number of Indians facing trials or serving sentences in jails of all seven member states of the UAE,” she says. Incidentally, no death sentence has been executed for more than five. Invariably, death terms are converted into 25-year imprisonment but only recently an Indian boy sentenced to death was acquitted. The current trial is being held at the Sharjah Court Complex, an ultramodern, four-storey and fully air-conditioned building. Each courtroom is computerised and has a visitor area where relatives come and wait for the case to come up. There is an information kiosk, a bank counter and refreshment dispenser on each floor. Normally, hearings begin on time. Unlike Indian courts, undertrials or convicts are brought to court through a separate enclosure out of bounds for the public. The undertrial box is a glass enclosure where only bailiffs are allowed. Each court has a translator, normally equipped to translate from Hindi, Urdu and English to Arabic, the court language, for the judges and jury.
|
|
Directive to Call ’84 Riots ‘Genocide’
Amritsar, July 15 The Shiromani Panthic Council, headed by veteran Akali leader Manjit Singh Calcutta, has urged the Sikh high priests to also direct the Punjab government to order a high-level probe into the contentious issue of 25,000 bodies allegedly cremated as unclaimed between 1984 and 1995. On the other hand, the Dal Khalsa has asked the Punjab legislators to follow suit and adopt a resolution in the Assembly on the same lines. “Though the ruling SAD has been promising to ensure justice to the 1984 genocide victims before the Assembly and Lok Sabha poll, it failed to even reach out to such victims in an effective manner. The ruling party could not disburse the Rs 250-crore grant among the victims. On the other hand, the Canada-based group, Sikhs for Justice, has done a commendable job despite its roots being in a faraway country,” said Manjit Singh. He also pointed out that the forms meant for enrolment as voters for the forthcoming SGPC elections were devoid of the definition of a Sikh. Kanwar Pal Singh, general secretary of the Dal Khalsa, said after 26 years of the 1984 riots, Akal Takht had finally corrected the wrong done to the Sikhs and directed the community and others to call it a “genocide” instead of “riots” as was being “widely and deliberately done by the mainstream media, historians, scholars and political leaders.”The SAD-led Punjab government should convene a special session of the Assembly and put up a resolution referring to the 1984 riots as “genocide” for adoption,” he said. Various organisations and groups have already been terming the series of unfortunate events as genocide across the world, said Manjit Singh and Kanwar Pal.
|
SAD-BJP govt against Dalits: Karimpuri
Jalandhar, July 15 BSP’s state president Avtar Singh Karimpuri, while blaming the UPA government for hike in the petroleum prices that had a cascading effect on all items of daily needs, also blamed the SAD-BJP government in Punjab for imposing new VAT on the commodities. He said like the Congress, the SAD-BJP government was also against the Dalits and does not want to appoint any Dalit at any prominent post in the state. Playing Dalit card, Karimpuri alleged that the Centre and the state government have desecrated the community as no efforts have been made to bring the Vienna-based killer of Sri Sachkhand Baba behind bars even after one year of the killing. He also alleged that the state government has failed at every front and the law and order situation has worsened during the regime of the SAD-BJP government. Cases of atrocities on Dalits have increased manifold, he claimed. Demanding a Rs 25 lakh as compensation for each one who died in the recent floods in the state, Karimpuri said the compensation should also be given to those shopkeepers and labourers whose belongings were damaged due to government’s irresponsible behaviour during the floods. National general secretary and in charge of the BSP, Punjab, Narinder Kashyap said by increasing the petroleum and cooking gas prices for the third time, the UPA government has broken the backbone of the general public, who was already bearing the brunt of the price rise. He said by de-regularising the government’s control over petroleum, the Congress-led UPA government has shown that it was just making the big companies happy and doing little for the ‘aam aadmi’.
|
|
Passport of German ‘spy’ still missing
Ropar, July 15 While Olga continues to claim herself innocent, the police is busy detecting many loopholes in her story. In presence of a five-person committee at Anandpur Sahib court, Olga had claimed that she handed Thomas’ passport to her acquaintance Australian national Jerry. Her intention of handing over the passport is under scanner. At the same time, the possibility of Olga selling off passport to some unscrupulous elements is not being ruled out. Public prosecutor has told the court that identity of a foreign national, whose photograph was placed on registration certificate issued in the name of Thomas Kuehn by the Superintendent of Police-cum-foreign registration officer, Bangalore, is also being investigated. Even the authenticity of all documents and visa issued under the SP Bangalore is being minutely looked into. “It seems that Olga or her accomplice has forged documents to get visa, registration certificate and other documents in the name of Thomas Kuehn from different places, whereas Thomas claimed that he had not been in touch with Olga since July 2007,” police sources pointed. The police is not ruling out possibility of Olga being involved in money laundering activities in India considering large inflow of money in her bank accounts in India from doubtful sources under investigation.
|
|
|
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
Chandigarh, July 15 This is the first time that such a large number of government schools children have managed to clear the all-India test conducted by the CBSE for the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. Under the Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme, poor but talented students are picked up from rural areas across India and admitted in Class VI to residential Navodaya Vidyalayas where they are groomed for higher studies. The living and education in the Navodaya Vidyalayas is free. Director-General, School Education, Punjab, Krishan Kumar said the National Policy on Education 1986 had led to the setting up of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas with an aim to bring out the best of rural talent. The aim was to enable students from rural areas to compete with their urban counterparts on an equal footing, he said. “Very few students from government schools in Punjab made it to these schools. Last year however we decided to coach Class V students for the entrance test. Special classes were organised in the schools for all Class V students and they were encouraged to appear in the entrance test. The results we got this year have been astounding,” said Krishan Kumar. As many as 73 students from Moga alone have got admission in the Navodaya Vidyalayas while another 70 from Fatehgarh Sahib cleared the test. As many as 69 from Nawanshahr and 65 students from Jalandhar have made it. Krishan Kumar said the merit test was conducted at the block and district levels. “In fact, in some districts, 90 per cent of the total seats kept aside for them in the school have been bagged by government school students,” he said.
|
|
|
‘Super 30 Punjab’ launched
Chandigarh, July 15 Gurukul Vidyapeeth pioneered the innovative concept under which 30 meritorious but poor students would be picked up for free coaching every year to become engineer. Every second student in India wants to study in the IITs but poverty comes in the way. The programme will take care of the need of the poor, who want to become top technocrats,” Gurukul Vidyapeeth CEO Manmohan Garg said at the launch. In fact, the first batch of the students comprise those from diverse backgrounds, including wards of rickshaw puller, brick-kiln worker, landless farmer and roadside vendor. ”The residential programme under which the students will be enrolled for Class XI and XII is part of the corporate social responsibility of Gurukul Vidyapeeth,” Garg said. Saying that the programme was inspired by famous Super 30 of Patna founded by Anand Kumar, whose 30 students recently scored in hat trick in getting through the IIT-JEE examination, the chartered accountant-turned-educationist said it would take a few years to replicate the Bihar’s success story. ”However, we had made a beginning in starting the innovative programme -- the first of its kind in North India,” he remarked. Urging the government and non-governmental organisations to sponsor the deserving students for the programme, Garg asserted that the group wanted the best students so that the dream of the talented underprevileged students to study at the best institutes in the country could become a reality. Prof. IK Kataria, MD, claimed that if the hard work of these students was aided by expert guidance, success would be within their reach. In fact, the success of the first batch would have spiralling effect on other poor students, who will subsequently follow in the footsteps of the successful candidates,” Des Raj Thakral, director, trust, added.
|
|
|
Docs protest Bill on private clinics
Patiala, July 15 Chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the IMA Punjab Dr D.S.Bhullar, along with other doctors, also submitted a memorandum, addressed to PM Manmohan Singh, to the Patiala DC Dipinder Singh. Meanwhile, general secretary of the Senior PCMS Association, Punjab, DC Sharma also attended the protest rally on behalf of the association and assured full support to the demands of the IMA.
|
|
|
Malerkotla, July 15 General secretary of the association Dr Rakesh Arora said, “The government should have asked the medical fraternity before introducing the Bill, as there were apprehensions that it will only cater to the needs of the people, but it should meet the needs and concerns of both, the doctors and the patients.” Dr Charanjit Singh said the sections of the Bill were disagreeable and undesirable as laws like the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, Biomedical Waste laws and Consumer Protection Act already regulated the doctors. The members shared that it would result in remarkable increase in the fee of the treatment due to expenses required to complete the provisions of the Bill. — OC
|
|
Several hospitals get new swine flu vaccine
Ludhiana, July 15 Nasovac, the intra nasal swine flu vaccine that was provided to hospitals in various cities, including Patiala, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Mohali yesterday, is already being administered to the people. The fresh cases of swine flu followed by more than a dozen deaths in India this year have put the Union Health Ministry on high alert. Dr Deepak Bhatia, the state nodal officer for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, stated that the Centre had intimated the state about the vaccine in the recent past, but there is no fresh communication on the subject. — TNS
|
|
Vets not to protest in wake of floods
Chandigarh, July 15 The state executive held a meeting under the chairmanship of the President of the association, Dr Ashok Sharma, wherein a decision to this effect was taken. Dr Sharma stated that some parts of state were worst affected by the deluge and although water had started receding, there were chances of outbreak of an epidemic and scarcity of fodder.
|
|
God-woman Case
Ludhiana, July 15 The fact that Jaspreet Singh, brother of Dubai convict Kuldeep Singh, based in Khukhrana village in Moga district, received calls on his cell phone from a number having French ISD code-0033, has made the police look for French angle into the entire conspiracy. ‘‘We are procuring the call details of the complainant. At the same time we are waiting for the accomplices of the God-woman to be arrested. She seems to have no details about the French number or she is a very hard nut to crack. We will soon find out,’’ said a senior police official of the Ludhiana rural police. He added they were not sure whether a SIM card bought from France was used by the cons or whether some resident of France was involved in the crime. ‘‘We are just exploring the possibilities. Let the investigation proceed. We will step on interesting aspects,’’ he said. Meanwhile, the investigative officer (IO), Sub Inspector Tehal Singh ruled out the involvement of woman’s husband in the case. He, however, said Sarabjit’s husband Charanjeet Singh and convict Kuldeep Singh’s father were working together in a factory in Rataul village, near Zira. Her husband Ranjeet Singh often used to talk about the tragedy being faced by the family after their son was sentenced to death by a Sharjah court. The God-woman somehow procured the number of the convict's family from her husband and arranged numbers of all 17 families from him. ‘‘All this was done so discretely that Ranjeet Singh did not come to know about the conspiracy at all. He was shocked to find out all that his wife was up to,’’ said Tehal Singh. The police yesterday arrested the God-woman from Zira bus stand in Ferozepur district, when she came dressed in a burqa to accept Rs six lakh from the family of Dubai convict Kuldeep Singh to ensure his release. She was nabbed red-handed as the police laid a trap with the help of Lok Bhalai Party leader Avtar Singh Mullanpuri.
|
|
CCTV cameras for 3 cities
Chandigarh, July 15 The aim is twofold, says Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal during an interaction here today. He said besides curbing traffic offences, the CCTV cameras would also help in crime detection. Sukhbir Badal said an effort was on in all three Commissionerate cities to manage traffic in a better manner. He said accordingly the traffic police was being given specialised training and a policy of zero tolerance towards traffic offences had been put into effect. “This has already reduced travel time in the cities, particularly in Ludhiana, where travel time from the outskirts to the core city areas has been reduced by half an hour”, he added. Ludhiana Commissioner Ishwar Singh said the Greater Ludhiana Development Authority would install the equipment for the camera project. He said the Rs 2 crore project would ensure the CCTV cameras were linked with the new control room which would become functional in a fortnight. He said following this traffic management could be overseen from the control room itself. The Commissioner said the cameras would also act as surveillance agents with the police now having the liberty to fine persons jumping the traffic lights by despatching challans to their houses. Meanwhile, a vehicle-activated traffic light system is being installed in Ludhiana for the first time in North India. Giving details of the system, the Deputy Chief Minister said 13 new traffic lights, which would function according to the intensity of the traffic on the road, were being installed in Ludhiana. The new system would be introduced in other cities also in a phased manner. In Jalandhar Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia has initiated a pilot project under which CCTV cameras are being installed at 30 locations.
|
|
Rulda Singh murder: Bail for 4
London, July 15 Leader of the Sikh Sangat Rulda Singh was shot dead outside his shop on July 29, 2009. He had reportedly visited the UK and other countries to urge Sikhs to return to India. Detective Superintendent George Tracey of the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit said, “The investigation into the murder Rulda Singh is a complex one and further complicated by the fact that it took place overseas. We have further investigations to conduct here and in the Punjab.” “We are continuing to work very closely with the Indian authorities with the clear intention of bringing the offenders to justice,” he said. Two of the four men arrested are from Wolverhampton and two from Coventry. All are British subjects and aged between 27 and 36. — PTI
|
|
Laying of pipelines leads to traffic chaos
Kotla Bhaika (Fatehgarh Sahib), July 15 After the laying of pipes, the PWD (B&R) had covered the pipes with soil, which apparently got washed away due to recent rains, leaving potholes behind. Light and heavy four-wheelers were seen stuck-up. Long queues of vehicles with confused commuters could be seen enquiring about alternate routes on the link roads leading to Sirhind, GT Road and Patiala bypass. The PWD (B&R) officials said there were around 200 such road cuts made by them to drain out water and the work of the laying of pipelines was still on. The officials said it would take a day or two more for the smooth functioning of traffic, as the soil used to cover these pipelines was wet and vehicles were getting stuck in the mud.
|
|
HC paves way for continuation of teachers beyond 60
Chandigarh, July 15 The directions by Justice Permod Kohli came on a petition filed by Dr Devinder Kumar Joshi and four others. Taking up the petition filed through counsel Sameer Sachdeva, Justice Kohli fixed August 24 as the next date of hearing, while asserting: In the meanwhile, those petitioners who are yet to retire may be allowed to continue. However, they will not be entitled to any salary/emoluments beyond the date of their original retirement till further orders. Two other similar cases were also placed before Justice Kohli, but the stay orders are applicable only to two petitioners, as other teachers have already retired. In his petition against the state of Punjab, the Director Public Instructions (colleges), the University Grants Commission, the Union of India, Guru Nanak Dev University and three other respondents, Dr Joshi and others had earlier alleged that the state was “illegally and arbitrarily not notifying the retirement age of the teaching staff like the petitioners up to the age of 65, thus encroaching on their valuable right.” Going into the background of the controversy, the petitioners had asserted the state of Punjab issued a notification dated September 2, 2009, notifying revised pay scales for teachers and equivalent cadres in university, along government and aided colleges, in terms of notification issued by the Government of India on December 31, 2008. The Centre’s notification was based on recommendations of the University Grants Commission. But “instead of adopting the Government of India notification in toto in its true spirit and intention as a composite scheme,” the state did not notify the enhanced retirement age. The petitioners added as such the Union of India and the UGC should be directed to issue strict instructions to the state of Punjab and the DPI (colleges) to forthwith implement the entire scheme as per the 2008 notification, instead of adopting it on a piecemeal basis”.
|
|
‘Harassment’ of Whistle-Blower
Chandigarh, July 15 As the case came up for hearing, the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari directed state counsel Rupinder Khosla to verify the facts in the news item and report to the court within 10 days. The Bench also fixed July 27 as the next date of hearing in the case. In a related development, Justice Gurdev Singh of the high court granted interim anticipatory bail to two relatives of “harassed whistleblower ” Samdeep Mohan Varghese. Justice Gurdev Singh also issued notice of motion for August 10 on the petition by Dr KA Koshy and Nalani. In their petition filed through counsel Puneet Bali, the petitioners --- doctors by profession --- had expressed apprehension regarding arrest in the case registered by the Punjab police against Varghese. Bali contended the petitioners had nothing to do with the alleged offence. As a result of political pressure, the Punjab police wanted to harass them. Bali also asserted that they failed to understand why the issue raised by Varghese, the petitioners’ brother, was pinching the state government. In his orders taking suo motu cognizance, Chief Justice Mudgal had earlier asserted: “The news report highlights the highhandedness of the Punjab Police, which is out to help Jay-Polychem, a politically influential company, which has filed a complaint against ex-employee Samdeep Mohan Varghese with the Rajpura police, who had dared to make a complaint against company, disclosing instances of money laundering, circular trading in diamonds and other financial irregularities committed by company”.
|
|
Make state child-labour free: HC
Chandigarh, July 15 In the first-of-its-kind judgment by the high court here, Justice Ranjit Singh also directed the state to ensure the release of “full wages for the period they have worked,” if they were paid less than the minimum wages. The directions came on a petition filed by Akil Ahmad. He was seeking the quashing of three notices issued by a Ludhiana-based labour inspector. The notices were issued for paying less wages to the children. He was also directed to pay Rs 20,000 for offending the provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The counsel for the petitioner stated all these children were closely related to Akil Ahmad and “were present there not as worker or child labour, but were students of Chanda Barai Madrasa Jamia Bilalia”. After hearing the arguments, Justice Ranjit Singh held: “I am not inclined to accept the reasoning. This is only a stand of convenience taken to make an approach through the petition and the same is rejected. “It is to comply with the directions issued by the Supreme Court that the labour inspector has issued the impugned notices and the letter requiring the petitioner to pay. “ There is no reason or a cause made out to interfere in the action taken by the labour inspector, which was not only to ensure the implementation of the Act, but also to ensure compliance with directions issued by the Supreme Court”. Declining the plea, Justice Ranjit Singh said: “Notice of motion is issued to the state for August 23 to ensure that the directions issued by the Supreme Court are complied with meticulously by all the labour inspectors and other functionaries”.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Patiala, July 15
Slams UPA govt over price rise
In a bid to replicate the success of Bihar’s famous “Super 30” in the region, an education group today launched the “Super 30 Punjab” to train students from the economically weaker sections of society to crack the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Exam
(IIT-JEE) examination.