Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Declare Punjab, Haryana SEZs, says Sukhbir
New Delhi, January 9
Looking to take advantage of Special Economic Zones, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said that the states of Punjab and Haryana should be declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for agriculture and the food-processing industry should be a part of it.

Tribune Impact
Reports of harassment at Patiala tehsildar office to be probed
Patiala, January 9
A day after the problems faced by the general masses at the office of the tehsildar in Patiala were highlighted in these columns, the Divisional Commissioner Patiala Range GS Grewal has sought a detailed report from the Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dipinder Singh.

Mohali, January 9
The PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh, today declared an all-out war against members of the Badal family for various alleged acts of commission and omission if the Congress voted to power in the next Assembly elections.

Having remained relatively soft with the Badals till now, the PPCC president while addressing a public rally organised by Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu said all wrongdoings, including the alleged monopolising of liquor, sand mining, cable network and transport trade by the Badals, would be thoroughly probed. “We already know how it is being done and we will make it public”, he said.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur and Bikram Singh Majithia, Amarinder said nobody knew who was running the show. The Akalis had pushed the state to the brink of bankruptcy with the state debt rising at an alarming proposition, Amarinder added. He spoke in support of Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu whom, he said, had been implicated in a false case of murder.

Replying to a query that the Akalis were claiming to contest the elections on the issue of development in the state in the past four years as compared to that of the Congress, Amarinder said, “Parkash Singh Badal is the Chief Minister and I am former CM. Let him come and debate with me and let the debate be moderated independently at some institution like Panjab University. Everything will be clear as who did what.” “Punjabis want change and good governance,” he added.

Stating that the Congress leadership at the Centre had taken on corruption as one of its minister (A Raja) had resigned and an inquiry had been marked (into the 2G scam), Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said in Punjab, the government was being run by a coterie of four persons. Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, senior Congress leaders Rajbir Singh and Deepinder Dhillon also spoke on the occasion.

Lal Singh, Harnam Dass Johar, Chaudhary Jagjeet, Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, Arvind Khanna, OP Soni, Rajbir Padiala, Deepinder Singh Dhillon, Charanjit Singh Channi, Tej Parkash, Jagmohan Singh Kang, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Laly Jawandha and Darshan Brar were also present.

Jalandhar, January 9
It was another frosty day in the region, which continued to battle bitter cold waves. With a sharp decline in the maximum temperature, the region today witnessed extreme cold conditions coupled with a thick blanket of fog and mist during the morning hours. Unabated cold waves during the day led to even more chill.

The region remained clogged with a thick blanket of fog leading to poor visibility in the morning. However, a mild sunshine in the afternoon came as a little respite for the people but freezing cold waves made things difficult.

Mercury plummeted at many places with Bathinda recording the lowest temperature of 0.1°C. The maximum temperature was recorded at 9.5°C. Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 1.0°C followed by Amritsar, which saw a low of 1.8°C. Both Chandigarh and Amritsar recorded a maximum temperature of 12.7°C and 8.7°C.

Among other cities of the state, Halwara recorded a low temperature of 2.5°C and Adampur saw a minimum temperature of 3.3°C. At Pathankot mercury remained at 5.7°C while, the maximum temperature was 10.6°C. In Haryana, Ambala saw a low of 3°C with a maximum temperature of 7.8°C. In Jammu and Kashmir, summer capital Srinagar saw a low temperature of 0.1°C and the maximum temperature was recorded at 4.6°C.

At Udhampur, mercury recorded a low of 1.4°C. In the upper reaches of the valley, Avantipura saw a freezing low of minus 1.4 °C with a maximum temperature of 5.6°C.

However, at Leh, mercury witnessed a considerable rise as the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 13°C with a maximum of minus 0.2°C. The past days have seen mercury plummeting to a freezing low of minus 23°C bringing normal life to a halt and cutting Leh from the rest of the country. The Met Department at Adampur Air Force station predicted a cloudy to mainly overcast cloud with fog and mist during the morning and evening hours during the next 24 hours. 

Ludhiana, January 9
Pension beneficiaries need not make rounds to banks to get their pensions as the state government will now provide these at their doorsteps.

The government is making arrangements with the banks through which bank representatives will go to villages to provide pensions to senior citizens. The facility will be provided at the doorsteps to senior citizens within two months. This was stated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while distributing cheques to poor and needy under various schemes at Guru Nanak Bhawan here today.

Badal distributed cheques amounting to Rs 1.58 crore under Shagun Scheme to 1,050 beneficiaries. Besides, he distributed welfare grants amounting over Rs 3.23 crore to 1,048 below poverty line families for construction of new houses and repair of old ones. An amount of Rs 5 lakh to 50 beneficiaries were provided under National Family Welfare Schemes.

Condemning the successive Congress governments at the national and state levels for their “pro-rich” people policies, Badal said their ulterior motives had led to poverty, illiteracy, economic backwardness and hunger in the country. He lamented that even after 64 years of Independence, 40 per cent of the population of the country was below poverty line.

“It is due to the short-sighted policies of the Congress government at the Centre that the black money has accumulated in the hands of just 3 per cent of the rich in India. The Congress has done nothing for the welfare of the poor and the needy, instead poor were being exploited through slogans of Aam Aadmi and Garibi Hatao,” Badal said.

He said the Punjab government had embarked upon a programme of Rs 2,111 crore for cleaning of River Sutlej, Beas and the Ghaggar, besides approving Rs 68 crore for strengthening of Budha Nalla and Rs 185 crore for the utilisation of treated waste water for irrigation purposes through this project.

Later, Badal held a sangat darshan at Sihar village and Mallaud in Payal Assembly constituency and distributed cheques worth Rs 3 crore to 44 panchayats for improving civic amenities in villages. He will also hold sangat darshan programmes tomorrow in Doraha, Bilaspur and Payal to listen to public grievances and distribute development grants to various panchayats.

New Delhi, January 9
Looking to take advantage of Special Economic Zones, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said that the states of Punjab and Haryana should be declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for agriculture and the food-processing industry should be a part of it.

Speaking at a special session on Punjab, Sukhbir said he had spoken to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on the matter and asked him that both states should jointly petition the Centre on the matter. “We are specialists in agriculture…we do not get support for agriculture that we should get…. this region must get all incentives to the agriculture sector and agro-processing industries as given to industrial sector located in SEZ,” Sukhbir said. Later talking to reporters, he said his idea included declaring the entire area of both the states as SEZ that would allow investors to come in to process foodgrain. At present the companies first buy grain and products from here and then process it. This would be a permanent solution for food security of the country.

He also revealed that the University of Columbia in the US was keen on setting up a campus near Ludhiana. He said they had tied up with an investor in India and would soon submit a formal proposal. It would be a world-class campus, he added.

Touching upon the issue of deserted Non-Resident Indian (NRI) brides, Sukhbir said Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal and Home Secretary AR Talwar were studying the issue of having a law to deal with people who desert Punjabi girls. The aim was to enable punishment and extradition of people from foreign lands for such crimes.

Answering a question from a participant, Sukhbir said the state was gradually removing official obstacles in registration of vehicles. He asked the NRIs to take advantage of moving into Punjab and earn as the multinational companies were doing.

Patiala, January 9
A day after the problems faced by the general masses at the office of the tehsildar in Patiala were highlighted in these columns, the Divisional Commissioner Patiala Range GS Grewal has sought a detailed report from the Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dipinder Singh.

The matter was highlighted by TNS on January 8 that the common public coming for their property records transferred at the tehsildar office in Patiala, situated right next to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Patiala faces a lot of inconvenience and had to pay bribes to get their work done.

The concerned tehsildar Subhash Bhardwaj had refused all allegations, despite the common man suffering in his office, which works directly under the supervision of the Patiala DC. According to an official memo letter shot to the Dipinder had asked the DC to conduct an inquiry and submit a time-bound report regarding all transfer of records that happened in the tehsildar office in the past two years. “A report on the land registries that took place in past two years should be sent to me after probing that how many of the total cases were charged, over and above the government fees,” reads the official letter, a copy of which is with The Tribune.

In Punjab, many revenue officials hide the rule that when a landowner gives land to his or her successor in the rural areas, only one per cent of total registry is charged, as transfer government fee. Area residents had demanded a detailed inquiry into this, as despite government guidelines, the people were allegedly being made to grease the pals of those working at tehsildar office.

While Bhardwaj had denied all allegations, the inquiry ordered in the whole scam by Grewal had asked the DC to explain as to how Bhardwaj continued in office in Patiala, despite being transferred out, a few days back. “The entire report should be sent to me within four days,” reads the letter sent to Dipinder by Divisional Commissioner. Despite repeated attempts, Dipinder could not be contacted. He even did not respond to the sms sent on his official mobile. 

Patiala, January 9
Notwithstanding the directions of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to the Patiala administration to stop the use of pressure horn within 100-metres radius around hospitals, educational institutions and courts in Patiala, nothing has been done to check this unhealthy practice.

After the matter was taken by an NGO - the Society for People’s Welfare and Awareness Patiala (SPWAP) few months back, the PPCB authorities had sent a letter to Patiala SDM Gurmeet Singh on October 13, 2010, directing him to make sure that the use of pressure horn by various categories of vehicles around Government Rajindra Hospital situated on the Patiala-Sangrur road must be stopped.

SPWAP secretary general Dr DS Bhullar said, “Vehicle drivers are not following the permissible norms and have become a big source of noise pollution, using pressure horns, which is not only a cause of concern to the patients but also a source of nuisance and noise pollution for medical students and teachers as well as a source of disturbance and health hazard.”

The other office bearers of SPWAP, including KS Jatana, Dr Jaspal Singh, JL Singla, Kamar Manjit S Dhaliwa, Kaka Singh and IPS Saini said health hazards of noise pollution on human body are very dangerous. “After convening executive body meeting of our society recently, we have sent a request letter to the Patiala SDM to implement the instructions issued by the PPCB at the earliest possible otherwise the society will be compelled to launch a protest besides exploring a legal option to deal with this crucial matter,” they added.

Patiala DC SDM Gurmeet Singh said: “I will inform the Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh about the matter and orders under Section 144 of the CrPc, prohibiting use of pressure horns in within 100-metres radius around all Patiala hospitals, will be issued soon. We will also direct the Municipal Corporation authorities to put up sign boards near hospitals mentioning that use of pressure horns near hospitals is banned.”

Patiala, January 9
By the end of March this year, confided the PSPCL (Punjab State Power Corporation Limited) chairman-cum-Managing Director KD Chaudhuri to The Tribune, he expected all electricity meters to be shifted out of the premises so as to minimise chances of tampering with them. With the corporation also phasing out old meters and replacing them with electronic meters, it would become even more difficult to steal power in Punjab, he said.

The CMD, however, felt that power theft in the state is much less than many other states. While it is 10 to 14 per cent in Delhi, he points out, in Punjab it is still in the region of 6-8 per cent. This would come down to 4 per cent when all electricity meters are shifted out of the houses and establishments.

"The electronic meters retain memory for 70 days and, therefore, if the meter is somehow tampered with, it would be detected quite easily," says Chaudhri. Another hopeful sign, he says, is the increase in the number of applications for meters from slums.

"In Punjab there are 32 lakh consumers in rural areas and approximately 15 to 16 lakh consumers in the urban areas," notes the Chaudhri. He, however, blamed the unauthorised colonies and slums for the rise in theft.

Asked whether big sharks are being allowed to get away with power theft, Chaudhri replied in the negative and pointed out that a stiff penalty of Rs 4.33 crore had been imposed on JTG Alloy, a Mandi Gobindgarh based unit, and Rs. 2.09 crore had been imposed on RK Welds at Rajpura. "We are following a zero-tolerance policy towards power theft and we will not buckle under any pressure," claimed Chaudhri.

But why is no action taken against colluding officials or employees, the CMD was asked. He explained that suitable action is initiated only if the engineer or official has been posted for more than three months in the area where large-scale theft is detected. "I have been given full authority to deal with erring employees and I would welcome information about power theft," said Chaudhri while lamenting that public appeals for information in the past yielded poor or no response.

PSPCL claims that establishment of anti-power theft police stations in the state since February, 2009, has also contributed to the decline in pilferage of electricity." Earlier, it was cumbersome to even register FIRs against power theft but with these dedicated police stations, procedures have become faster. They also act as a deterrent," said Baljeet Singh, in charge of the police station at the PSPCL headquarters here.

Penalty realised for stealing power in Punjab is likely to go down this year, admit sources in the PSPCL. While Rs 300.86 crore were realised in the year 2009-10 ending in March last year, in the first seven months of the current fiscal year till October, the penalty realised was just Rs 142.59 crore, informs AK Verma, Director (Distribution).

While the PSPCL top brass attribute the declining figure to effective steps taken to stop power theft, others say it is due to waning enthusiasm following the unbundling of the state electricity board.

The Doaba region, North zone in PSPCL parlance, comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala reported the highest number of cases of power theft in both 2009-10 and also the first half of 2010-11. Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib also recorded a rise in cases this year while the Malwa belt or the West Zone, which includes the home district of the Chief Minister, reported the least number of cases this year though the figure was second highest last year. 

Amritsar, January 9
The Amritsar Central Jail is in news for wrong reasons. In a raid conducted by a high-powered team consisting of seven magistrates and over 400 police personnel at the jail premises today, at least 10 inmates were caught in inebriated conditions.

Apart from this, the raiding party led by Deputy Commissioner of Police AS Chahal and Additional District Magistrate Parneet Bhardwaj recovered as many as 12 mobile phones, 100 gm of bhuki (poppy husk powder), syringes, needles and tin foil papers to inhale smack.

The raid continued till 7 pm in the evening. A detailed report has been prepared by the Additional District Magistrate and it will be handed over to the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner tomorrow.

Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu said: “We had information about the forbidden activities prevailing in the jail premises. Today, a major action plan was chalked out and a raid was conducted in the jail premises. It is very likely that such a massive anarchy could not be materialised without the involvement of the jail staff. Action would be taken once the report is received by me,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police AS Chahal said recovery of mobiles and intoxicants speak volumes about the lawlessness prevailing in the jail premises. “We would find out mobile call details that would establish call details. This would help us in nabbing those who have been in touch with the inmates.”

Ludhiana, January 9
Nearly 1,000 BEd teachers in the state have been without salaries for months. Transferred between May and August last year, as part of routine transfers, on posts lying vacant for long periods, these teachers rue that there is no budget sanction for their salaries due to which they have not received their pay since July 2010.

Talking to TNS, Prabhjeet Singh, general secretary, BEd Teachers Front, Punjab, said, "Budget sanctions for posts lying vacant for six months are cancelled. These are to be sought again if the posts are to be revived.However, even though these posts were revived in May 2010 and we were transferred on the same, the files relating to the sanctions are pending with the district education officers. Seven months have passed and we have not received a single penny," he rued.

Another teacher, Radhe Krishan Sharma, serving in GMS, Haripur Khalsa, Phillaur, said, "Owing to the government's apathetic attitude, we are on the verge of penury."

"It is very difficult to survive without salary for so long," lamented Sukhjinder Singh, GMS, Kohala Julana.

Prabjeet Singh said there were 214 teachers in Jalandhar alone who had not been given their salaries since July last year.

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 9
Forest Department employees in Fatehgarh Sahib bare accused of pocketing bribes in lieu of issuing NOCs (no objection certificates) to petrol pumps seeking pathway on the highway passing through the forestland.

As per the rules of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, petrol stations proposed on highways are supposed to obtain the NOCs before making a pathway on forestland. “If any of the trees are damaged or axed to make a pathway then the department does not issue the NOC,” said forest official.

However, a section of Forest Department employees got the trees axed on Patiala-Sirhind road, which stood on way of a petrol pump’s entrance. “The records show that no tree ever existed on this site,” said the officials. The employees have submitted the report stating that there were no trees or any other hindrance on the way to the Forest Department.

In his complaint to the Punjab Chief Minister and to the Forest Minister and senior Forest Department officials, Sharanjit Singh, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib, alleged that undue benefits were being given to petrol pump owners. “The lower officials have given wrong and fudged reports,” he claimed. Sharanjit alleged that a forest guard, a block officer and range officers are involved in issuing the NOCs through unfair means.

He said information obtained under the RTI Act revealed that trees shown in the department’s record were marked non-existent to issue the NOC to a petrol pump in Fatehgarh Sahib. Many trees were axed and damaged by putting salt or acid in the roots of trees. He demanded stringent action against the guilty and thorough checking of all NOCs issued to petrol pumps.

District Forest Officer K Kannan admitted that he had received complaints in this regard and an inquiry is pending. He added, “Employees accused of tampering records have now been transferred to other places and this has delayed the process of enquiry. I have stopped issuance of the NOC to one petrol pump wherein similar discrepancy was reported.”

He pointed out that owner of an established petrol pump had locked horn with another pump owner, who is now setting up his venture nearby. None of the guilty officials in the Forest Department would be spared, he said.

Patiala, January 9
Notwithstanding the repeated claims that the Patiala Municipal Corporation (MC) would not allow buildings, whether residential or commercial, to come up in violation of the building bylaws in Patiala, buildings flouting the civic norms are mushrooming fast in the city on a rapid pace. What is shocking is the fact that top brass of the MC has so far not initiated any concrete action to check this unhealthy practice.

With Patiala MC authorities turning a blind eye towards violation of building bylaws, buildings are flourishing in completely unregulated manner in various city areas. Commercial builders are showing scant regard for the building norms and are committing all sorts of conceivable violations with respect to the building bylaws. The situation has become serious to the extent that municipal councilor of ward number 7 Sarita Gera has stated that buildings in violation of building bylaws had been constructed in Patiala and more such buildings are coming up.

A considerable number of buildings are being constructed in a whimsical manner, with little or no enforcement of the rules and regulations in areas like Bhupindra Road, Model Town, Mall Road, Nanak Colony, YPS Chowk, Tripuri and Leela Bhawan area, sources informed. “Though practice of violating the building norms by commercial builders is not new but from past couple of years, number of commercial buildings in violation of building norms has acquired alarming proportions,” said Tripuri residents Jasdev Singh and Atul Ahuja.

“There has been so much widespread building bylaws violation that now even the municipal councilor’s have started applying for information under the RTI that whether the construction work of buildings coming up in Patiala are carried in conformity with the sanctioned building plan”, said a civic official.

After a thorough perusal of applicants received by the MC PIO under the RTI, TNS found an RTI Application submitted by Gera that had mainly sought information about the buildings coming up in ward number 4 to 8. “Whether all construction work has been carried out in compliance with the approved building plan and the building bylaws,” reads the application.

Municipal Commissioner Manjit Singh Narang said, “As and when any violation comes to their notice, suitable action is taken. If the building is compoundable, the violations are regularised by charging the requisite fee and in case of non-compoundable buildings, the structure that have come up in violation of sanctioned plan is demolished.” Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli said they had already asked the MC staff to remain vigilant to ensure no building comes up in violation of the building bylaws. 

Chandigarh, January 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered an inquiry into the allegations of tampering with official records in a Punjab medical officer’s promotion case. The directions by Justice Ajai Lamba of the high court came on a petition filed by Dr Rama Garg against the State of Punjab and other respondents. In her petition, Dr Garg had sought directions for quashing the action of the official respondents “in upgrading the annual confidential reports of respondent Dr Manjit Singh, a medical officer, and promoting him to the post of Assistant Professor, Department of Gynaecology”.

Directions were also sought to the respondents to promote her as Assistant Professor in the department with effect from September 15, 2008, in place of Dr Manjit Singh.

Justice Lamba observed: “In the petition, it has specifically been pleaded that on information having been obtained under Right to Information Act, 2005, it transpires that the seniority list pertaining to Dr Manjit Singh had been tampered with and entries in the annual confidential reports of the respondent were upgraded with hand written additional corrections. It has been pleaded that no notice of tampered record could have been taken while promoting the private respondent.“Affidavit of Anjali Bhawra, IAS, Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Punjab, has been filed in Court…. Counsel for the respondents, in the facts and circumstances of the case, contends Dr Manjit Singh, as also the petitioner, would be given a detailed hearing. The said persons would be at liberty to file representations. The issue would be considered afresh and appropriate orders as required, in the facts and circumstances of the case, would be passed. “In view of the statement given on behalf of the respondents, the petition is disposed of. It is, however, made clear that the respondents would also conduct an inquiry in regard to the allegations of tampering in the official records. In case the fact is established, appropriate measures as required by law would be adopted”.

Bathinda, January 9
Irked over his married sister’s “illegitimate” relations with a neighbour, a man along with his wife allegedly hacked his sister and her paramour to death at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar locality in the wee hours here on Sunday.

After killing them, the accused reportedly placed their bodies on the Bathinda-Bikaner railway track to make the incident look like a train accident. However, a railway gangman witnessed the accused placing the body on the tracks.

Jagdish Kumar, the gangman, informed the police that he was going to attend his duties when he saw his neighbour Santokh Singh quarrelling with someone at his house. At about 2.30 pm, when he was on duty at a nearby railway crossing, he found Santokh dragging something. On seeing Jagdish, Santokh dumped the body in the middle of the tracks and fled away. Taking a closer look, the gangman identified the body as that of one Tony Kumar of the same locality.

Jagdish immediately informed the police, Railway officials and volunteers of an NGO, who reached there. While investigating the spot, they also found a woman with multiple injuries inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon in a critical condition. She was identified as Santokh’s 24-year-old sister Anju. Volunteers of the NGO rushed her to Civil Hospital, Bathinda, where she succumbed to her injuries.

During investigation, the police found that Anju was married to one Raju, who was in jail for the past two years. Meanwhile, Anju had developed relations with her neighbour Tony Kumar and finding that Santokh was not happy with their relations, she eloped with Tony about 10 months back.

They returned on Saturday and went to meet Santokh at his house, where they had a quarrel that led to the incident. “Santokh was irked over his sister’s relations with Tony as Anju was already married. In a fit of rage, Santokh allegedly committed the heinous crime,” informed SHO, Canal Colony police station.

A case has been registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC on the basis of the statement lodged by Jagdish. The accused were still at large at the time of the filing of the news report.