Jaypee Cement at it again
Sets up clinker yard at Dehni without PPCB permission
Kiratpur Sahib, July 19
Jaypee Cement here has again defied all orders and rules of the Punjab government and has set up their clinker yard at Dehni village without any environmental clearance or permission from Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

COMMUNITY

Chandigarh, July 19
Are wards or spouses of those who sought political asylum in western countries eligible to get visas to visit their relatives and friends in India?Until recently, there were reportedly unwritten instructions to all missions abroad that applications of such wards should not be entertained. But now, there is a change in the policy.

Kuljeet Kaur Chahal of the US, whose father had taken asylum in the US on the plea of political persecution back home, has been given a visa to visit India by the Indian Consulate-General in California.

“I have been raising the issue of ‘black list’ for a long time,” says Tarlochan Singh, MP, maintaining that he had been in regular correspondence with both the Home and External Affairs Ministries on the subject.

“For me, Chahal case was a test case and I am happy that ministries have seen reason and decided not to hold wrongs of asylum seekers against their wards,” he adds.

Tarlochan Singh says that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco refused a visa to Chahal, who wanted to take ashes of her husband to Kiratpur Sahib in Punjab to fulfil his last wish of immersion of his ashes as per Sikh traditions. Traditionally, these are immersed in the Satluj in Punjab at Patalpuri in Kiratpur Sahib.

The reason for refusal of a visa to Chahal was that her father had taken political asylum when Chahal was a child. How could a child be penalised who has not violated any law and is a US citizen? She is being punished just because her parents migrated to the US, says Tarlochan Singh.

“I was pained and anguished to read a letter Chahal had written to me and found that this was entirely a wrong policy being adopted by the Home Ministry,” Tarlochan Singh said. He wrote to the Home Minister and pleaded for a review.

“I hope you will kindly call for this case and issue instructions because there may be many such cases where innocent persons may be suffering like Chahal,” wrote Tarlochan Singh.

Subsequently, the Indian Consul-General asked Chahal to furnish a copy of the death certificate of her husband before granting her a visa.

Tarlochan Singh is hopeful that others like Chahal can now expect to get a reprieve and visas to visit India and holy shrines as well as their relatives back home.k

Dubai, July 19
Hundreds of Indians languishing in various jails in the seven states of United Arab Emirates (UAE) have now pinned hopes of their release on impending visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh here.

Though the total number of Indians in various jails runs into a couple of thousands, those who have completed their sentences or have been convicted on minor charges like drinking, drinking and rioting, overstaying or violating other local laws are hopeful of a general clemency by the head of the UAE on the eve of Indian Prime Minister’s visit.

Though no official dates or confirmations have been given, it is expected to take place after the Ramadan.

Dr Manmohan Singh will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the UAE after Indira Gandhi visited here in 1981. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was the last Indian Head of State to visit the UAE in 2004.

India and UAE have strong bilateral trade links. Besides, more than 1.2 million Indians are at present living in the UAE. In fact, Indians are the single largest community of expatriates followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

After recession hit the world a couple of years ago, more than 150,000 Indian expatriates have returned home. According to initial estimates and a study conducted by a Kerala-based organisation, 70,000 Keralites have returned because of slowing down of economy. Twenty to thirty thousand Punjabis, too, have returned because of shrinking job market, reduced wages and lay offs.

Though the legal experts do not foresee any possibility of Indian boys facing death sentence or facing trial in serious or heinous crime cases getting any relief, those who have completed their sentences but could not be released from prisons here on technical grounds may get a reprieve.

Those facing capital punishment may be just a few hundreds. Khaliwallis are the largest group who have either been ordered to be deported or are facing trials leading to their deportation besides payment of fine varying between 1000 and 10,000 AEDs. Many of them have no money to pay the fine and hence could not be released even after completion of their jail terms.

Also in many cases, those facing trials or after convictions, have no legal documents, including a valid passport or travel document to return home.

There are a large number of Indian workers who have allegedly been denied their rightful salaries and dues by their employers. They have been left with no money to even buy their tickets to return home.

“We are hoping that when Indian prime Minister comes here, authorities here will show some laxity and clemency towards those who have been in jails for minor offences,” says a member of the Indian community hoping that India and UAE may also sign a treaty under which those convicted in the UAE can request for shifting to India for undergoing their imprisonment there.

“Because those in jails come from poor family backgrounds. Their blood relations have either no money or even passports to come and pursue their cases here. In one case, a family had taken a loan of Rs 80,000 to pay to the manpower agent to get a visa for their agent. The family is paying interest at the rate of 2 per cent a month i.e. 24 per cent per annum. And since their ward has been in the jail for 30 months now, the family has been starving with debt mounting by day,” adds a leader of Indian community here.

Chandigarh, July 19
Punjab has decided to impress upon the Centre to allow it to use a part of the Rs 2,300 crore Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) in its possession for flood prevention measures, even as it has released only Rs 50 crore from this fund for flood relief activities till now.

The state also wants the Centre to revise the rates of compensation under the CRF to Rs 10,000 per 
acre from the present Rs 1,600 per acre.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal will request Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to allow the state to use Rs 100 crore from the CRF annually for flood prevention measures. Manpreet, who is meeting Pranab on July 21 to make this request, said he was optimistic that it would be allowed.

The Finance Minister also said that while Rs 50 crore had been released to provide food, medicines and essential services to the flood hit, more money would be released once the Revenue Department submitted proposals in this regard. He said the state was committed to distributing money from the CRF when required. “This fund is with us in fixed deposits and treasuries,” he said when asked whether a part of it had been diverted. He claimed that it was not possible to divert money from this fund for other purposes.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding an increase in the rates of compensation under the CRF in cases where loss to crops is more than 50 per cent. The CM said the old norms of Rs 1,600 needed to be revised due to an increase in input costs. The revision in the norms would also offset the burden from the state that has decided to provide relief of Rs 5,000 per acre to farmers whose crops have been washed away in the floods.

Ropar, July 19
Twenty-four passwords, deleted files and special software used for encryption of messages were found in the laptop of Russian national Olga Timoshik arrested for being accomplice to a German spy.

The lady has been a tough nut to crack and has repeatedly chosen to remain silent instead of answering the Ropar police’s question. Interestingly, while in police custody, Olga has seldom talked to her parents and instead called her friend Sergy. “Sergy is the same person to whom she has made maximum calls during her stay in India. Her call detail report verifies this,” the police officials pointed out.

Olga’s laptop was expected to yield much-needed information. On investigation, the police found that a lot of data has been deleted. When the Ropar police team went to arrest Olga from her home in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur, on June 22, the team carried a photostat copy of the arrest warrant. Olga refused to let herself be arrested asking that the real copy of the warrant to be produced.

“This gave her time to manipulate data in her laptop. She knew that once arrested, the police will go minutely through her laptop,” the investigating officers pointed out.

The help of experts at the Computer Emergency Response Team India, Delhi, was also being taken to recover the deleted data as well as decode the encrypted messages.

Olga’s arrest has evoked response from the Russian Embassy in India, too. Sources in the police pointed out that a few days back, a Russian visited DGP, Punjab’s office pertaining to Olga’s arrest.

”The visiting officials were under impression that Olga has been arrested merely for her overstay in India, as her visa has expired and not been extended. After going through the case, they realised that there is much more in arrest than meets the eye,” the officials pointed out.

The police have come across three bank accounts of Olga, including one each in Citibank, Indian Bank and ETRADE Bank. All these accounts have large amount of money transacted from foreign sources.

With a whopping expense of Rs 2 lakh per month, Olga has failed to substantiate her source of income before the police. She has repeatedly changed her stance from first, claiming herself to be a freelancer to last being a gems dealer, whereas as per the police records, she does not have any valid work permit for the same. As per details of her bank account in Jaipur, she claims herself to be pursuing interests in textile industry. 

Kiratpur Sahib, July 19
Jaypee Cement here has again defied all orders and rules of the Punjab government and has set up their clinker yard at Dehni village without any environmental clearance or permission from Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

This is the second time that Jaypee Cement has set its clinker yard without any permission. Earlier, it had set up a yard at Bikkon village in Ropar posing danger to lives of people living around.

Following reports carried in The Tribune, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) denied permission to Jaypee Cement, which ultimately lifted its clinker yard from Bikkon.

Sources in the PPCB revealed that Jaypee Cement have sought permission of environmental clearance for setting up the clinker yard in Dehni.

Officers of the PPCB conducted a survey of the area on Saturday and are supposed to submit their report soon. Without any permission, loading and unloading of the clinker has been in full swing at the site.

Confirming this, PPCB environmental engineer Samarjit Goel said his office was aware of this violation. “In fact, we have prepared a comprehensive report that will be submitted to the PPCB chairman. We will also point out that this is for the second consecutive time that Jaypee Cement authorities have started functioning without any permission,” added Goel.

The cement plant is all set to face the music from the Forest Department authorities too. After shifting from Bikkon, Jaypee Cement officials started functioning at Dehni and violated the rules of the Forest Department.

Accordingly, divisional forest officer lodged a complaint with the police. Senior vice-president of the group Brig AK Talwar and Jaiprakash Associates, Bagheri, were booked under Sections 29, 33, 52 and 63 of the Indian Forest Act-1927, under Sections 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act-1980 and for damaging public property on May 15.

DFO Vishal Chauhan confirmed that the department was again filing a case against Jaypee Cement for violating Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA).

“We will appeal the court to grant us stay on the matter. The Jaypee Cement authorities have blatantly violated the forest norms and have continued working on the site despite repeated requests to stop their functioning,” Chauhan added.

Advocate Davinder Kaur, a resident of Dehni, added that she was filing the public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court against pollution emanating from the cement factory. She has already written to the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and other dignitaries apprising them of the pollution and health hazard due to the plant.

Chandigarh, July 19
School education is certainly not among the priority areas of the Punjab government. Hundreds of government schools across the state are working with barely half the teacher strength simply because the government has been, for seven months now, dithering over a decision regarding reservation of posts for women teachers in these schools.

Other than the fact that thousands of students are going to make do without teachers for yet another session, over 7,600 candidates who were selected by the government to join as teachers last year are waiting for someone to take a final call on the matter.

The government had advertised 7,654 posts of lecturer and master cadre teacher in September 2009 in accordance with the Punjab State Education Class III (School Cadre) Service Rules, 1978. The rules stipulate preparation of separate merit lists for male and female teachers after dividing the posts equally among male and female candidates with a view to reserve at least 50 per cent posts for female candidates.

The counselling of the two sets of candidates was completed and the teachers were to be given appointment letters and join schools from this session.

However, on January 8, 2010, deciding a matter pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a division bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Jora Singh ordered a change in the rules. The judgment stated, “A combined merit list of all the candidates is required to be prepared. If on such merit, women candidates are not selected to the extent of posts reserved for them, only then women lower in merit will be selected and appointed to fill the requisite posts meant for such women candidates. Such course alone will be an act of horizontal reservation and in accordance with the mandate of Articles 14 to 16 of the Constitution of India.”

“All the previous appointments shall not be reopened or can be said to be invalid on the basis of law declared by this judgment but all future appointments shall be made on the basis of merit in the manner discussed above,” added the judgment.

Since the process of selecting 7,654 candidates was under way but not completed, it was felt that the judgment would have a bearing on the selections. All that was required to be done was to revise the lists in accordance with the high court decision and hold fresh counselling.

But it has been seven months and the Education Department is dithering over what is to be done. Sources state that the Education Department was initially advised to file an SLP in the Supreme Court against the high court judgment and await its outcome.

Now, it seems the Education Department has proposed to revise the lists and hold fresh counselling. It has issued an advertisement calling upon more applicants for the counselling.

Sources, however, add that a final decision on the matter has still not been taken. While the Education Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, wants to go ahead and revise the lists as also withdraw the SLP against the high court orders, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal wants the final decision to come from the Cabinet. 

Nabha, July 19
The stadium of Government Ripudaman College, famous for holding all-India events like Liberals-All-India Hockey Tournament and Gurdarshan Memorial All-India Football Tournament, has turned into a lake as rainwater from nearby areas has entered the stadium.

Efforts by the college administration are proving futile, as pumping out water from it is a tough task due to the low level of the ground. The authorities have put sand bags at the places of the entrance of water.

The reason of its sorry state is the elevation of the ring road on its one side. On its other two sides, roads are under knee-deep water as Punjab Public School has raised the area in front of the school following which water has no exit from this road except for the stadium.

Sportspersons, who regularly come here for practice, rue that no one from organisers of sports events as well as from the administration come forward to rescue the lone stadium of the town.

The Principal of the college when contacted said they were trying their best to stop the entry of water in the stadium. He said work to close all water entering points would start soon.

He said due to heavy rains on July 5 and July 12, a tree fell which broke a wall of the stadium. He alleged that the MC and the Forest Department had failed to remove that tree despite repeated requests. He said the broken wall could only be repaired after the tree was removed.

Chandigarh, July 19
A community policing project, Sanjhadari, is set to take off in the state this month which will not only involve citizens in policing but also empower them like never before.

The Sanjhadari project, which is a four-tier system of policing in partnership with the community, aims to take community policing to the grassroots level.

Giving details of the project during an interaction here, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the project would focus on police-public cooperation. He said all committees, which would be convened by police officials, would have a civilian as a co-convener. All decisions, including the withdrawal of money, could be taken only jointly, he added.

The project, expected to be unveiled this month, envisages creation of a community affairs division (CAD) at the state level. Below these will be 23 district-level community centres followed by 76 subdivisional centres and 284 police station-level centres. All these centres will have forward and backward linkages.

The Deputy CM said the government wanted community policing to work effectively and that a nodal officer of the rank of the ADGP would be appointed to implement and monitor the scheme. Sukhbir said as far as the district centres were concerned, guidelines had been framed as to who could become their members. These would include police officials, district health and education officials, representatives of educational institutions, advocates, NGOs and representatives from commerce, industry and trade unions.

He said among the unique features of the centre was a crime counter, which could be approached for getting copies of FIRs and also track the status of cases. He said people could also approach the victim assistance unit for advice on how to deal with the criminal justice system. He said the centres would also have a separate NRI cell, which would provide needed services to them in a time-bound manner.

The Chairman of the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission, Dr Pramod Kumar, said the Sanjhadari project had enhanced the scope of community policing in the state. He said community police centres were established in some districts earlier but they had limited responsibilities. He said now efforts were on to make their functioning professional.

The centres would have expert lawyers and counselors at their service to deal with matrimonial or other disputes besides a victim relief centre, which would include ambulance services.

He said an important feature of the community centres would be the grievance redressal counter.

Muktsar, July 19
Muktsar, the home district of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, is earning a bad name for being a drugs sale market run by womenfolk, thanks to the “callous” attitude of the district administration.

Earlier, women were introduced as carriers for being less likely to arouse suspicion but now finding it an easy way to earn quick bucks to afford luxuries of life, some women have adopted it as a profession.

An investigation made by this correspondent has revealed that such women belong to Bathinda, Mansa, Patiala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Hanumangarh (Rajasthan) and Dabwali (Haryana) areas, who frequently come here and supply a consignment of three drugs -smack, opium and poppy husk - not only to the youth but also to some elderly people.

The customer base of suppliers is said to be a stable one as taking all precautions, they entertain new customers only through reference of their old client.

Though the state government claims high of working upon an anti-drugs campaign named, “War against drugs”, the apparently callous district police is marring the spirit of the campaign, as it could not even kept a vigil on the district border, which proves as the entry gate of drug suppliers.

Sources in the police said earlier, a group of women involved in drug trafficking was a smaller one that too belonging to the weaker section of society. But now the trade had also been adopted by women of middle class.

“Most of the women join this trade as their husbands are involved in it while some do this to augment the family income. Some took the charge after male members of their family were either arrested or fled away,” said a senior police official.

The district police recently nabbed three women, Gindi and Chhinder Kaur of Narinder Pura village in Mansa district and Manso Kaur of Muradwala village in Patiala district, when they came here to supply smack.

Though the trio was booked under various sections of the NDPS Act, the police reportedly failed to conduct proper investigations in tracing their source as well as customers.

Worried over the fact that a large of women were indulged in drugs trafficking, Muktsar SSP Inder Mohan Singh said: “Though it is tough to recover contrabands from women as they conceal them in their clothes, we nabbed many and seized drugs from their possession.”

Tarn Taran, July 19
Traffic remained paralysed this morning on National Highway No. 15 for more than six hours when a truck overturned on the Harike head works bridge. As a result, the Majha region was disconnected from the Malwa belt. After hours of hard work by the Tarn Taran and Ferozepur administrations, the normal traffic was restored at about 11 am.

It is learnt that as soon as the truck overturned on the bridge at about 5 am, the passing of the vehicles got obstructed from both sides. A long queue of vehicles stood for miles on the road.

The administrations of Tarn Taran and Ferozepur districts led by their senior officials reached the spot and the traffic was diverted through Makhu, Lohian, Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib and vice-versa.

The vehicles had to cover more than 70 km in excess because of the accident.

Ludhiana, July 19
A youth of Peeranwali village in Jalandhar district, who was taken illegally to Turkey recently, got killed in police firing on the Turkey and Greek border, when he along with five other Indians was trying to cross the border illegally.

Sukhwinder Singh, the deceased, along with Sarabjeet Singh, another youth of Dulwan Kalan village near Amloh in Ludhiana, Guninder Singh from Jalandhar and Balwinder Singh from Nangli village in Amritsar were among the six Indians, who were being illegally taken to Greece 
by a travel agent through Turkey.

According to Avtar Singh Mullanpuri, Lok Bhalai Party leader, who spoke to Sarabjeet in Turkey today after his father came to the political party's office, said he was told Sukhwinder was killed in firing and his body was being kept in Turkey as the authorities there did not know where to send it back.

Mullanpuri said the parents of the victim were not even aware of the incident that took place on Thursday and they lost their son to the cruel hands of fate. “I am shaken after talking to Sarabjeet that Sukhwinder's body was waiting to be sent back home.

We will try to locate the family and help them,” said Mullanpuri.

He spoke to Sarabjeet, when the latter's father, Bhajan Singh, visited the LBP office here today and asked him to find the whereabouts of his son. Mullanpuri called up the number given by Bhajan Singh.“Sarabjeet told me that he, too, would have died in the firing when they were running for cover while crossing the Turkey and Greek border. He got stuck in a marshy area and the police caught him. Sukhwinder did not stop and was killed,” said Mullanpuri.

The four along with two Haryana-based youths were taken to Turkey from the Amritsar airport by a travel agent 15 days ago. The travel agent promised them jobs in Greece. He told them they would be sent to Turkey from where they would be sent to Greece by road. But now Sarabjeet is in jail and he does not know anything about the rest of the four,” said Mullanpuri.

He added he would be taking up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs and try to rescue them.

Fatehagarh Sahib, July 19
Fatehgarh Sahib police traffic in-charge GS Sikand has been transferred after he challaned Mandi Gobindgarh-based VIP and close aide of an officer on special duty (OSD) of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Sikand alleged that the man was driving an Innova car without fastening a seat belt on Thursday. “Instead of cooperating with us he took out his mobile phone and ordered us to speak with an OSD of the Deputy CM. The OSD, too, instructed us not to challan the vehicle and if we do so then we will have to pay it from our own pockets,” said the traffic police officials.

Sikand, while talking to The Tribune, admitted that he has been transferred immediately after challaning the VIP, after a simple phone call by a local leader. “I urged the OSD not to listen to the VIP, as it was merely a seat belt challan. By the time, the VIP made me to speak to the OSD, challan was already been entered in book number 181 and its challan number is 16,” said Sikand. The traffic police officials said they would bring this matter to the notice of the senior police functionaries in monthly crime meeting. The officials said the incident has left them feel dejected. “We should be transferred as per our work performance and not on political orders,” they said.

SP (headquarters) Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said he was not aware of the matter as SSP executes transfers. “The SSP is on leave till July 30. It is wrong if the transfer is done after challaning a VIP,” he said.

The traffic police officials said they would give a written complaint in this regard to CM Parkash Singh Badal tomorrow during the sangat darshan at Khamano.

Chandigarh, July 19
If allegations in a petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court are to be believed, a proclaimed offender-cum-accused in a murder case has been nominated as a market committee chairman. He and his co-accused, enjoying a senior Akali minister’s shelter, are roaming about freely, petitioner Major Singh Dhariwal of Tarn Taran has further alleged.

Taking up the petition, Justice SS Saron of the high court has issued notice of motion to the state of Punjab, the SSP and other respondents. The case will now come up for further hearing on October 4.

In his petition, Dhariwal alleged Gurdip Singh had been nominated as the Patti Market Committee Chairman, even though he along with two others were accused in a murder case and were declared proclaimed offenders.

Going into the background of the controversy, the petitioner has claimed his wife Randhir Kaur was contesting the panchayat elections for the sarpanch’s post on March 26, 2003, when Gurdip Singh and several others reached the spot. In the firing incident that ensued, the petitioner and his wife sustained serious injuries, and another person, Chanan Singh, was killed.

A first information report on the incident was registered for murder and other offences under Section 302 and other Sections of the IPC on June 29 the same year. Gurdip Singh absconded and was declared a proclaimed offender. The other two also were subsequently declared proclaimed offenders.

The petitioner went on to allege it was an open secret that “they were under the shelter of Akali leader Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, who was a Cabinet minister”.

Seeking protection of life and liberty for himself and his family, Dhariwal added directions should be issued to the state and other respondents to provide him with protection by the Central Reserve Police Force. The petitioner added they were apprehending danger at “the hands of the private respondents” as security cover earlier provided to them was withdrawn. A probe by the CBI was also sought.