Chandigarh, September 1
The statements of all 17 Indian boys facing the death sentence in the Sharjah murder case were recorded today by a Sharjah Sharia Appeal Court after it accepted Mohammed Arif, a Balouchi, as translator-cum-interpreter.

Relatives of eight of the 17 boys were present in the court during the recording of the statements. Divided into three groups, the Indian boys, who could not be present in the court during the last hearing on July 14, preferred to make their statements in chaste Punjabi, denying all allegations made against them.

The proceedings lasted a little over an hour after which the case was adjourned till September 29.

Besides being charged with the murder of Pakistani boy Mishri Khan, the Indian boys are also facing charges for attack with an intention to murder three accomplices of the deceased. The third charge against them is their alleged involvement in the illicit liquor trade. Early this year, the Sharia Court had held them guilty on all three charges and convicted them before sentencing them to death.

The case has been hitting newspaper headlines as the 17 Indian boys were convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a Pakistani boy, who according to the prosecution, was also in the illicit liquor trade.A dispute over jurisdiction allegedly led to a clash between the two groups in which Mishri Khan was murdered and three of his accomplices, including his brother, were seriously injured.

The Indian boys facing the death sentence are Sukhjinder Singh, Sukhjot Singh, Ram Singh, Baljeet Singh, Daljeet Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Namjyot Singh, Satnam Singh, Dharampal Singh, Satgur Singh, Kashmir Singh, Sukhinder Singh, Suban Singh, Kuldip Singh, Arvinder Singh, Harjinder Singh and Tarnjit Singh.

Amandeep Singh (brother of Satgur Singh), Ranjit Kaur (wife of Dharampal Singh), Jaswinder Singh (brother of Kulwinder Singh), Balraj Singh (father of Arvinder Singh), Manjit Singh (brother of Sukhjinder Singh), Jaspreet Singh Sekhon (brother of Kuldeep Singh), Daljit Singh (brother of Baljit Singh) and Manjit Kaur (mother of Sukhjot Singh) were present in the court.

Since the appeal could not be taken up during the last two hearings on technical grounds, the courtroom was packed with relatives and friends of not only the convicted Indian boys but also with friends and relatives of the deceased and other victims.

The court also directed relatives of deceased Mishri Khan to produce a proper power of attorney before allowing them to become a party in the appeal against the death sentence.

Besides a battery of lawyers engaged by the Indian Consulate General in Dubai, some prominent members of the Indian community and the UAE Singh Sabha were also present in the court.

Besides Ansul Sharma (Consul for Sharjah) and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi (Congress MLA from Gurharsahai) were also present in the court during recording of the statements.

“Making of statements in Punjabi was a huge morale booster for the visiting relatives of eight of the 17 convicts. After the proceedings today, they looked convinced that their wards could convincingly plead their innocence comfortably in their own mother language and they would get justice,” says SP Singh Oberoi, who has sponsored them.

The visiting relatives were also satisfied with the conduct of the translator-cum-interpreter suggested by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Though a Balouchi, says SP Singh Oberoi, he spoke to the Indian boys in chaste Punjabi and interpreted their statements in Arabic for the jury hearing the appeal. On July 14 the court had rejected the plea of the lawyers representing the Indian boys for allowing a UAE-based Punjabi as translator-cum-interpreter.

Chandigarh, September 1
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has successfully persuaded the Congress high command to make key changes in the final 234-member Punjab Congress delegates’ list released today even as senior leaders were able to get their kin “elected” in the organisational elections.

According to sources Capt Amarinder Singh was able to make three key changes. He ensured former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna was nominated from Sangrur and not Dhuri as had been recommended by Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) Usha Thakkar. He also got the nomination of former Beas legislator Jasbir Singh Dimpa changed from Amritsar East to Beas. Amarinder Singh was also successful in getting the nomination of former Patiala Mayor Vishnu Sharma, who is not in his camp now, struck off from Patiala.

Amarinder Singh also had a free rein as far as the nomination of his supporters from Patiala was concerned. Loyalists who were nominated from Patiala included former Pepsu Road Transport Corporation Chairman Ved Prakash Gupta, former Improvement Trust Chairman K K Sharma and senior leader Brij Lal Goyal. He also got a close confidant, Lally Jawanda, nominated from Dhuri.

While adjusting Amarinder Singh on three key changes, the party high command has generally gone by the list submitted to it by Pradesh Congress President Mohinder Singh Kaypee through the PRO. Kaypee, when contacted, said the party high command had only made three changes in the list submitted by him. Kaypee’s confidants, including Manoj Arora and Parminder Singh, have been nominated from Jalandhar and Ferozepur city, respectively.

Meanwhile, the party high command seems to have adjusted all senior leaders in the list released today by election committee Chairman Oscar Fernandes. Both the son Rahul Sidhu and son-in-law Vikram Bajwa of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal have been adjusted from Lehra and Sahnewal, respectively.

Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa’s family has also been given due representation. Partap’s wife, Charanjit Kaur, has been nominated from the family seat of Qadian while his brother, Fatehjang Bajwa, has been nominated from Hargobindpur.

Family members of the late Beant Singh who have been adjusted included Gurkirat Singh (from Khanna) and Gurkanwal Kaur (Jalandhar Cantt). Other VIP entrants include Puducherry Governor Iqbal Singh’s son Abhay Singh. 

Patiala, September 1
Punjab Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon lost his temper when the lensmen of various newspapers started clicking his photographs, while he was coming out of the Court of Special Judge (CBI Cases) Balbir Singh at District Court Complex here today. Kahlon threatened a photojournalist not to click his photograph. A visibly perturbed Kahlon told the mediapersons that it would be better for them not to publish his photographs. The altercation between Kahlon and the mediapersons continued till Kahlon left the court complex.

Meanwhile, it is learnt, Kahlon appeared in the court in connection with his application seeking permission from the court to go abroad. On August 27, Kahlon’s counsel filed an application in the court stating that for attending the Conference of Assembly Speakers of Commonwealth Countries, Kahlon had to go to Nairobi in Kenya from September 5 to September 21. Today, the court granted Kahlon the permission to go abroad and asked him to furnish a security bond of Rs 5 lakh, which he did.

Notably, Kahlon is facing corruption charges. The trial in this case had started in the Court of Special Judge (CBI Cases) Balbir Singh in Patiala on August 17. 

Jalandhar, September 1
The Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) has blacklisted Indore-based pharmaceutical firm, Endo Labs Private Limited, which had supplied over 40,000 litres of substandard antiseptic solution to various hospitals in the state.

The solution caused irritation when applied on wounds. Later, after chemical analyses at two different laboratories, the authorities found that the solution contained acidic content above permissible limits and declared the entire stock unfit to use. It was also found that the quantity of solution in the bottle was less than that mentioned on the label. The bottle contained only 950 ml of solution while the label showed it as 1 litre.

Confirming this, managing director of the PHSC Raji P. Srivastva said the firm had been debarred from supplying its pharmaceutical products in the state for five years. “The company has already been told to withdraw the entire stock of the solution and the payment against the stock has been blocked,” she added.

Sources said earlier, the company had supplied approximately over 6 lakh substandard paracetamol tablets across the state 
in 2009.

On the other hand, Dheeraj Lula, director of the firm, who had claimed that the solution was not substandard and had challenged the test results of the samples, said the firm had sent a legal notice to the PHSC in this regard.

“Besides the antiseptic solution, the PHSC also procured other medicines from us. Although the cost of the solution was about Rs 14 lakh, the PHSC has blocked our payment against other items also that is nearly Rs 30 lakh”, he added.

Jalandhar, September 1
While the Punjab government has been sitting on its 10 per cent fee-waiver scheme for poor students in the PTU-affiliated colleges, the students who have taken admission are now a helpless lot.

There are over 2,000 candidates, who had taken admission in engineering colleges of the PTU, who are now repenting their decision.

Most parents have been complaining, “There is no hope as of now and we just do not know how we will manage Rs 5 lakh for the fee to be paid in the next three and a half years. The PTU had to hold counselling for us from July 19 but there has been no update ever since it was postponed.”

Seema Rani, a widow who works at a PCO booth in Ludhiana, says that it has been a tough time for her. “My son, Sumit Manchanda, has taken admission at the RIMT, Mandi Gobindgarh. We had hoped that we would get the seat for free. But that has not been the case. I have given away all my life’s savings to pay the fee.

“I earn just Rs 3,000 a month and I do not think I will be able to let my son continue with his studies if I do not get any aid,” the aggrieved mother rued.

Certain BTech aspirants like Kuljit Kaur from Mandi Gobindgarh, who did not fall in the fee-waiver scheme trap, are a happy lot today. Her father owns a workshop there and has not been able to earn well for the past few years. Her elder sister, Ranjit Kaur, claimed, “We knew that we would be in big trouble just in case the scheme did not materialise. So, we convinced her to forgo her dream to become an engineer and instead take up a BSc degree from a government college at Chandigarh.”

Dr Surinderbir Singh, a retired principal from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, too, has been spearheading the campaign for the benefit of deprived and intelligent students. Officials in the technical education directorate said they had fixed up a meeting to resolve the problem. 

Chandigarh, September 1
Punjab’s MP from Amritsar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, has asked that all natural water sources be declared as national assets to be managed jointly by the states and the Centre.

Emphasising the need to manage river waters across the country, Sidhu said, “The nation needs to prevent and prepare for floods rather than repent and talk of relief later.”

Talking to mediapersons here today, Sidhu said he had initiated a debate in Parliament under Rule 193 to draw the nation’s attention to the havoc created by floods in northern India, especially Punjab and Haryana. “The British prepared contour maps in 1925 and these were re-validated in 1965. After that no effort has been made by any government, be it the NDA or the UPA, to upgrade these maps or use satellite imagery to prevent damage from floods.”

He said, "Water is a national asset, but no effort has ever been made to manage the waters from the nation’s rivers.” The Centre had no specific prevention and preparation plan for conservation of water and its wastage due to floods.

Sidhu said the Central Government was “insensitive” towards the people and was offering Rs 20 as relief for food to a family and the same for cattle fodder knowing fully well that tomatoes were selling at Rs 75 per kg and pulses at over Rs 100 per kg.

He said even if one-tenth of the money given out for flood relief were to be spent on prevention, such floods could be avoided.

Jalandhar, September 1
Executive Chairman of the Cancer Council of India and a cancer specialist Dr Devinder Singh Sandhu said yesterday that at present, 50 per cent of the total cancer cases in the state were being reported from the Malwa region, 
especially the Mansa-Bathinda belt.

He said cancer was preventable to some extent and treatable to a large extent.

In Punjab, like rest of the country, focus should be on preventive measures and the early detection of the disease.

Having done training from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, Dr Sandhu said cancer was a lifestyle disease with only 5-7 per cent cancer cases had a genetic history.

Worldwide, nearly 7.6 million people died of cancer every year. In India, there were approximately 3 million cancer patients with 0.3 million cancer- related deaths reported every year. The US had a high incidence of cancer, he added.

Dr Sandhu, who will visit the UK to present a paper that highlights how regular prayer, meditation, yoga etc enhances patients’ willpower to fight the recurrence of cancer among recovered patients, said in Punjab, there was a need for regular yearly mammography after 40 years to detect breast cancer, regular Pap smear for cervix cancer, annual stool test for occult blood, yearly PSA for prostate cancer in addition to the regular physical checkup.

High fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, obesity, less intake of fruits and vegetables, use of pesticides, water pollution, smoking, alcohol intake, pollution and infections are the common risk factors for cancer. 

Patiala, September 1
Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khatra said here today that the Civil Lines police station had been granted ISO 9001:2008 certification by the Moody International Certification Limited for the period from August 27, 2010, to August 26, 2013.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the police station had been granted the ISO certification because of its outstanding performance, excellent infrastructure, quality management and excellent resource management. “The certification has added another feather in the cap of the Patiala police,” he added.

The SSP said the ISO certification system would help in better police-public interaction. “The system has certain set parameters for ensuring satisfaction of the common man,” he added.

Patiala, September 1
Punjab Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Ajit Singh Kohar has announced that with a view to make functioning of the Revenue Department speedy, the department would be made fully computerised and the entire data would be available online by March 31, 2011.

Reiterating the commitment of the government to computerise the functioning of the Revenue Department, Kohar said, “The Punjab Government is opening 156 “fard” centres across the state, so that farmers can have easy access to information pertaining to “girdawri”, mutation, “jamabandi”, “jard” and other records.” He was speaking after inaugurating the newly set up “fard” centre at Bhadson here.

He said farmers would be able to deposit their water, power and other bills at the “fard” centre. “For the smooth functioning of “fard” centres, 922 computer experts would be employed,” he said.

Kohar said computerisation of revenue records would not only bring transparency in the functioning of the department, but would also benefit the masses. He said instructions had been issued to department officials to make three copies of land registries executed by farmers and ensure that one copy of each registry was available at the “fard” centre.

Chandigarh, September 1
The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) has approved a budget outlay of Rs 2842.43 crore for the reconditioning, widening and strengthening of existing roads as well as the construction of new roads in the state.

This amount is expected to pay for the construction and reconditioning of roads running over 1148 km, including six high-level bridges (HLBs).

PIDB officials add that the new projects include the revamping of roads along irrigation canals (205 km), the four laning of 83 km along the Ropar-Nawanshahr-Phagwara road, four laning of the southern bypass, Ludhiana (26.9 km), construction of the Ropar bypass, including two HLBs to be constructed over the Sirhind canal and the Sutlej. These projects, add these officials, are likely to be completed by 
March 2012.

“An expenditure of Rs 34 crore has already been incurred on the four laning of the southern bypass, Ludhiana. The cost of this project is Rs 416 crore and will be shared by the PIDB with the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority on a 50:50 basis. The target date of completion has been fixed as December 31, 2011,” said MD, PIDB, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.

He added that the feasibility and detailed project report of the Ropar-Nawanshahr-Phagwara and Ropar bypass Phase II road had also been finalised. “ As the Ropar bypass is a new road, the land acquisition notification under Sections 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act ,1894, has been published.

The road from the Ropar headworks to the IIT, Ropar, is also nearing completion and will be thrown open to traffic by December 31 this year,” said Sandhu.

Sandhu added that the government had also approved three new road projects at a cost of Rs 87 crore. These included the four laning of the road from NH-I to NH-15, a two-lane road from NH-15 to Amritsar-Bhikhiwind-Khemkaran and the upgradation of the Amritsar-Ajnala road leading to Amritsar International Airport.

Other than these roads running over 683 km are to be constructed on a build-own-transfer format at a cost of Rs 924 crore.

These roads include the Batala-Mehta-Beas road, the Kotkapura- Muktsar road, the Morinda-Kurali-Siswan-Baddi road up to the Haryana border, the Phillaur-Nakodar-Kapurthala road and the Patiala-Nabha-Malerkotla road.

Jalandhar, September 1
As the Retreat ceremony at the Wagah border has been attracting a large number of tourists, the BSF has proposed steps to the Union Government to improve infrastructure and other facilities for them. Lack of facilities, especially proper seating arrangements, is a sore point that spoils the charm of the ceremony.

IG (BSF) Himmat Singh Gill said efforts were on to improve infrastructure there.

Sources in the BSF said three steps had been proposed to the Union Home Ministry to make tourists’ visit comfortable and to provide better and a close view of the ceremony to them.

One of the steps is to install LCD screens to show the ceremony live to those who fail to get a seat close the ceremony point.

Other proposal is to expand the seating capacity of the existing stand that is on the left side of the road leading to the post from 6,500 to 8,000. The third proposal is to build a new U-shape stand having larger capacity to accommodate 20,000 persons. Across the border, Pakistan has build horseshoe type impressive stands having better seating capacity. As an integrated checkpost (ICP) is being built at a cost of Rs 200 crore there to handle trade goods, traffic flow will shift to the ICP and more space will become available to beautify the area where the ceremony is held.

6 development authorities to look after more areas
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today approved the extension of the jurisdiction of six development authorities of Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala and Bathinda to cover the entire state. A decision to this effect was taken by him at a meeting with the Chief Administrators of various authorities held here at the CM’s residence this evening.

Taking part in the deliberations, Badal asked PUDA to soon launch a housing scheme for rural poor to provide them free residential houses in the state. He also gave approval to develop urban estate over 139 acres of land in Gurdaspur.

The Chief Minister was apprised by Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu that the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority would now also look after Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Rajpura in Patiala district besides Mohali. Likewise, the jurisdiction of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority had been extended to Moga, Nawanshahr, Ferozepur and Phillaur in Jalandhar district.

The Jalandhar Development Authority would cover Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. The Amritsar Development Authority would cover Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran; the Patiala Development Authority would encompass Patiala, Sangrur and Barnala and the Bathinda Development Authority would now have jurisdiction over Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepur apart from Bathinda.

It was also decided at the meeting that these authorities would now provide services to the public at the local level for the change of land use, licencing of colonies, completion certificates besides the disposal of grievances of plot holders and regulating the process of urban development in the respective areas.

The decentralisation of the development authorities would also enable the officers concerned to focus on the integrated growth of the areas in a cohesive manner. Earlier, it was difficult for officials in Chandigarh to take care of the entire state.

Badal further asked PUDA to constitute a landscaping panel within a month to facilitate PUDA to maintain all vacant land, parks and roadsides with proper tree plantation and green cover.

He further suggested that this panel would also assist other authorities in the state. It was also approved at the meeting that Kajoli waterworks be connected to Mohali and Zirakpur for providing drinking water. The CM also approved the staff reconstitution of PUDA according to the present requirements of all authorities.

Chandigarh, September 1
Less than a month after the Punjab Director, Health Services, was asked to conduct “raids at various privately managed de-addiction centres in the state”, a report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday revealed that approximately 75 per cent such centres in the state were functioning without licences.

Out of 98 such de-addition centres functioning across the state, just 23 have permission to operate.

In an affidavit placed before Justice TPS Mann, Punjab Director, Health Services, Dr JP Singh said only 24 such centres had qualified doctors to look after drug addict or patients.

In the affidavit, Dr JP Singh also asserted that the state Director, Health Services and Family Welfare, was the licensing authority for psychiatry homes or hospitals under the Mental Health Act, 1987. These centres also provided treatment to drug addicts. The case would now come up for further hearing on September 27.

The raids were ordered after a man accused his son of admitting him to a de-addiction centre following a dispute over property.

The matter was brought to the high court’s notice by Manjit Kaur of Alipur village in Nabha tehsil.

She had sought the release of her brother, Kuljeet Singh. She had alleged in her complaint on June 16, that Manveer Singh, alias Rodda, compelled his father Kuljeet Singh to accompany him to a marriage function. On the way, he made him consume liquor and left him at the Jeewanjot centre at Kharar.

In his report, the warrant officer had quoted Kuljeet Singh as saying that “he had been confined forcibly at the said place at the instance of his son Manveer Singh, who, along with his friend Gurpreet and two other persons, had left him there…he was neither suffering from any ailment nor was he a drug addict, but his son wanted to get him declared a drug addict in an endeavour to grab his property”.