Gurdaspur, January 21
Former Chief Minister and PPCC chief Amarinder Singh indulged in his favourite pastime of Akali bashing using some of the choicest of Punjabi proverbs and idioms against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal at a public meeting held here today.

The event assumes significance as it was Amarinder’s first rally in the Majha region ever since he took over the reigns of the PPCC. “Today’s rally is a sure indicator to the fact that the Congress will improve its tally in Majha in the next Assembly election,” remarked PPCC spokesman Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa.

The rally also saw Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa, for long considered Amarinder’s bete noire, burying the hatchet with the PPCC chief. In his brief speech Bajwa said, “Congressmen in Majha may be a divided lot. But today all factions buried their differences to ensure the success of the rally.” The MP also went to the extent of announcing Amarinder Singh as the next Chief Minister.

Amarinder Singh directed most of his verbal volleys at the Punjab Chief Minister and his son, Sukhbir Badal, mocking them repeatedly.

He said, “Sukhbir Badal, I promise that a day will come when I will finish you politically. You and your cohorts are compromising Punjab’s interests for your own personal gains.”

Amarinder also spoke about formulating a new agriculture policy if his party came to power. “I want to take the farmers out of the vicious debt trap. This can be done only if a new agriculture policy is put in place.”

The former Chief Minister also pointed out that during his previous tenure he had ensured the commitment of big industrial groups, including the Reliance Industries, to invest in farming so that the income of the farmers could be enhanced. “But this government played petty politics and cancelled all those projects,” he added.

Senior Congressmen who were present included Partap Bajwa, Santosh Chowdhury, Rana Gurjit Singh, PS Bhinder, Arvind Khanna, Ashwani Sekhri, Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, Major Amardeep Singh, Tripit Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Naresh Puri, Harminder Jassi, Raman Bhalla, Raman Bahl, Aruna Chowdhury, SS Chottepur, Ajay Verma, Kartik Wadhera, Salamat Masih, Joginder Chinna, Neeraj Salhotra and Anu Gandotra. 

“You, Sukhbir, have looted Punjab. Your main aim is to successfully run your transport and hotel business. Have you ever spoken about the problems faced by the common man in Punjab?”
“Police cases have been registered against 30,000 of my Congress workers. I will take to task all those police officers who, under your influence, have got these cases registered.”

Khamano, January 21
Making his childhood dream come true, Navdeep Singh from Giddri village in Ludhiana, today landed from a helicopter in fields of Dholewal village to marry his NRI bride.

A XII pass out, Navdeep had always dreamt of going to wed his would-be-wife in a helicopter. The helicopter took off from Giddri village at around 10.50 am and reached bride’s village in just 25 minutes. Interestingly, the groom Navdeep had to wait for nearly one-and-a-half hours for rest of the wedding guests to reach fields (where helicopter landed).

The other wedding guests arrived in cars by road, which took them long to reach the fields, while groom Navdeep waited. The fields belonged to father of bride Manpreet Kaur. Though groom Navdeep and his family members evaded questions on expenses incurred in hiring helicopter, sources said the high ride costed him nearly Rs 50, 000 per hour. When calculated in total, the cost of this joy ride might had reached up to nearly Rs 6 lakh.

Delhi-based Monarch Aviation Company rented out the aircraft. As per the pilot Captain KK Singh the helicopter guzzled fuel of 120 litres per hour. Captain started his flight from Delhi on last night and stayed overnight at Giddri village. While Navdeep basked in the new found glory of riding in a helicopter for the first time, the amused villagers and students of nearby senior secondary school has a new source of attraction. Few students even bunked their classes to have a glimpse of the aircraft.

While groom Navdeep Singh is reportedly unemployed, Manpreet Kaur has recently returned from her uncle’s house in the US. Both the families have agriculture background and they have the NRI relatives. Pilot said the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is used in the helicopter, which is much superior in quality than petrol. He added that while on the way to wedding party, Navdeep was composed, to the way back to village neither bride nor groom could hide their ecstasy on flying high together.

Giving it a VIP twist to the landing of helicopter, men in khakhi donned the fields. The police had made elaborate arrangements in order to rule out any possibility of inconvenience from public. Also a special helipad was set up in the fields after seeking requisite clearances.

Chandigarh, January 21
The world that has been looking to finding an effective HIV/AIDS inhibitor could have the ancient Indian medicine come to its rescue. Supported by documents from the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune, and many other physicians in the region, the Punjab-based ayurvedic pharmaceutical company has claimed to have invented a wonder formulation to boost the body’s immunity to fight HIV and check AIDS.

Presenting patients before the media here, Dr Praveen Jain from Ludhiana, who is behind the “invention”, showed reports where the CD4 count of patients that had fallen to around 160 had steadily risen to between 250-600 in a short time. Patients, both male and female, said the symptoms of AIDS like fever, tuberculosis, fungal growths were controlled and they had gained anywhere between 15 to 25 kilos of weight within months.

Dr Jain prefers to call the formulation a “herbal mineral immunity enhancer” that paralyses and removes the HIV virus without any toxicity in the body. She had supported her claim with reports from NARI and Shriram Institute for Industrial Research (SIFIR) that certified that the formulation had no steroids. The herbal medicine, SIFIR says, was tested for non-clinical laboratory studies.

Ludhiana-based ayurvedic pharma company Nixon Biotech has applied for FDA and their approvals. The Punjab Government, based on the claims, has constituted a three-member committee to look into the authenticity of the claims, Dr Jain said.

Dr Jain claims in her clinical findings on 70 patients over two months that she found a major improvement in patients. Among these patients, 25 per cent were diagnosed as HIV positive but were asymptomatic, 65 per cent had mild to severe symptoms and 10 per cent had major complications, including secondary infection from tuberculosis.

She said that her herbal preparation had come as a blessing for many HIV positive people who had to undergo extreme physical trauma during later stages of the infection. After a short treatment, a majority of the patients, some of whom were presented here, had become healthy enough to take care of themselves. She claimed the samples of about 90 per cent of patients became asymptomatic. About 8 per cent patients felt much better and their weight and CD4 level increased in one month.

Chandigarh, January 21
Rebel Akali Manpreet Singh Badal will launch the second and final phase of his ‘Jago Punjab yatra’ on January 23 which will culminate at Khatkar Kalan, the native place of martyr Bhagat Singh on the latter’s birth anniversary on March 23. The second phase of the yatra has been preceded by the launch of a ring tone for mobiles which has the famous song “mera rang de basanti chola’ which is interspersed with Manpreet saying “Jago Punjab Jeeve Punjab” as well as dialogue “vaqt de sach da saath dayo, khushali zaroor milegi”.

Sources said Manpreet was likely to build up a patriotic frenzy in the state in the run-up to the final rally at Khatkar Kalan. The former Finance Minister has been emphasising on patriotism as well as the need to cleanse the present system at the rallies addressed by him as part of the first phase of the yatra.

The second phase of the yatra will see Manpreet crisscrossing the state with the important halts being at Patiala on February 2, Majithia on February 13, Jalandhar cantonment on February 14.

Chandigarh, January 21
The much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre has not really gone down well with the people of Punjab in general and Congress workers in particular. Technically, Punjab may be fairly well represented in the union ministry with four ministerial berths, but in realty most of these ministers are virtually non-resident Punjabis and have little or no base in Punjab.

The mood in the party can be gauged from the statement of a senior leader who said, “They may not even be having a Punjab address for formality’s sake”. Out of the four ministers that have found way into the Union Cabinet, only Perneet Kaur, Union Minister of State for External Affairs (who represents Patiala) can be considered the only real representative of the people of Punjab.

All three remaining ministers, Ambika Soni, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, MS Gill, now the Minister of Statistics and Policy Implementation, and Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Science and Technology, are members of the Rajya Sabha and are hardly seen in the state.

Party workers and leaders maintain that MS Gill, who is a Cabinet minister against Punjab quota, has been away from Punjab for long. He is not at all connected to the party workers anywhere, nor is he seen at any party functions. “Rather he considers himself more of a bureaucrat than a leader,” remarked an aggrieved party leader from Jalandhar.

Similarly Ambika Soni and Ashwani Kumar, both of whom trace their origins to Punjab, have little to do with Punjab as they remain preoccupied in Delhi and with party affairs. Their visibility in Punjab is seldom.

Several Punjab Congress leaders said Santosh Chaudhary was a two-time MP and a known face, so was Mohinder Singh Kaypee who had served as the PPCC president as also Manish Tewari, the most prominent and visible face of the Punjab Congress at the national level by virtue of being the national spokesperson.

“People like MS Gill, Ambika Soni and Ashwani Kumar hardly have any stakes in Punjab, so it hardly matters to them what happens here,” remarked a senior party leader.

Patiala, January 21
Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, today launched scathing attacks on former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. While interacting with mediapersons after attending the bhog ceremony of Balwant Kaur, mother of SS Sekhon, OSD to the Punjab CM, Dr Cheema claimed that when Manpreet was the part of the government, he was against the subsidies but now he is advocating for giving more subsidies.

He said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is a 90-year-old political party and history speaks that whosoever has deserted the SAD, has to regret later. “Let the next Assembly election in Punjab come. Then Manpreet will realise that he made a big blunder by leaving the SAD. “The speeches being delivered by Manpreet during the rallies being addressed by him in various parts of the state clearly reflects the double standards of Manpreet,” he said. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 21
Punjab Food and Supply Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon today condemned the Centre for sanctioning storage for only 4.5 lakh tonnes to the state against its demand for storage capacity of 50.52 lakh tonnes across the country.

Addressing mediapersons at Chandigarh Press Club, Kairon said, “We want the Centre to pay attention to our storage requirement as shortage of adequate storage capacity could lead to heavy losses.”

Kairon said, “Out of the total bids (for creating 50.52 lakh tonnes of additional storage capacity) submitted by the state, the Centre has approved bids to create mere 4.5 lakh tonnes and bids for 14-15 lakh tonnes have been put on counter offer and the rest is pending.”

He said Punjab had received 521 bids for creation of 50.52 lakh tonnes of new storage space in the state.

He said, “The centre is aware that Punjab needs 80 lakh tonnes of storage capacity but it decided to build only 70 lakh tonnes of new capacities. The Centre decided on paper that Punjab needs not 70 lakh tonnes but only 50-52 lakh tonnes. At the same time it allowed Punjab to create 4.5 lakh tonnes of additional storage.”

The state is facing a shortage of storing 80 lakh tonnes of foodgrain storage capacity against the present capacity of 200 lakh tonnes of storage comprising 95 lakh tonnes of covered space and rest as Covered Area Plinth (CAP).

Kairon said the state had approached the Planning Commission to review the list of BPL families in Punjab.

He said only nine per cent of the total population are BPL families, which adds up to 4.62 lakh.

Ludhiana, January 21
Punjab Education Minister considers the practice of giving private tuition lessons as a service to the nation.

Education Minister, Punjab, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, came out in support of teachers giving private tuition lessons while presiding over the convocation of Devki Devi Jain Memorial College for Women here today. He told mediapersons said the teachers are doing no wrong and are doing the nation a service.

Parents of students have, however, condemned the Minister’s statement.

Commenting on the statement, a local resident Virander Bhakoo said, “While the central government has taken measures such as scraping the Class X board examination, the Education Minister is encouraging such teachers. He should look for reasons why the students need tuition classes after spending the whole day in school.”

Sekhwan said the state government is committed to implantation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Punjab.

He said schools which do not give admission to students belonging to the weaker sections would face action.

He said a high-level sub-committee has been constituted under SP Singh, former Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, to finalise education policy for the state.

Patiala, January 21
Divisional Commissioner, Patiala Range, GS Grewal, conducted surprise raids at various state government offices, here today. During the raids besides three officers, as many as dozen employees were found absent from the office. As per the information, at around 2.45 pm, Grewal conducted surprise raids at the office of Chief Agriculture Officer, Patiala, Dr Subhash Chander Khurana, and found that he was not present in his office. Besides, Office Superintendent Manjit Kaur, Harshinder Singh and Rajwinder Singh (both clerks) and Kamal and Gurbhachan (both helper) were missing from the duty.

Grewal also went to the Head Office of the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, office of Senior Architect North and Senior Architect South. “When I was told that Dr Khurana has additional charge of the Chief Agriculture Officer, Fatehgarh Sahib, I immediately called up DC Fatehgarh Sahib Yashpal Mahajan and asked him to send a report that whether Dr Khurana was present in his Fatehgarh Sahib office when the raid was conducted at Patiala office,” said Grewal.

“Following the instructions of the state government that general masses have to face difficulty on account of government officers and employees, who go missing from their duty during working hours, we have started conducting surprise raids,” Grewal said. 

Sangrur, January 21
The age profile of drug addicts in Punjab is getting younger and younger.

A 12-year-old boy seeking help to get rid of his addiction for dry cannabis (Sulfa), points to the extent to which the evil has penetrated the society. The boy is undergoing treatment at the local de-addiction centre.

Realising that drugs were harming him, the child reached out to his parents for help.

Son of a tea stall owner on Ubhawaal Road in Steel Colony, the boy began smoking ‘beedi’ at the age of 11. He then got addicted to dried cannabis.

He was a student of Class VII at a local government school when some addicts, working with his brother at a local egg plate making factory here, began using the child to ferry drugs to escape the eyes of the police.

“Initially, I used to smoke 10 cigarettes of dried cannabis a day, which later doubled. I used to get out of my house in the morning and left my studies because of the addiction. My brother’s co-workers used to give me some cigarettes of Sulfa in lieu of my services as a courier boy,” says young Suraj. He also began consuming alcohol, he says.

His mother, a sweeper in a government department, persuaded him to get admitted in a de-addiction centre to save his life.

“Realising that drugs may kill me, I asked my mother to get me treated,” he says.

“I have not smoked for the last 11 days and want to continue with my studies,” he says. He says he wants to tell others like him that drugs can lead to death.

Mohan Sharma, Project Director, Red Cross Drug De-addiction Centre, said, “He is out of danger as patients who go without drugs for more than five days are considered safe.”

Dr Pradeep Kumar and Dr DV Prashar, psychologist at the centre, said the child was responding to treatment and counselling very well.

“We receive 10 to 15 per cent of the addicts belong to the age group of 10 to 15 years and are mostly addicted to softer drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes,” says a doctor from the Civil Hospital.

Chandigarh, January 21
The Punjab Government has demanded a minimum 50 per cent share in the central taxes on the plea that state governments were responsible for providing basic needs to the people.

Presenting the state’s demands during the pre-Budget conference of Finance Ministers in Delhi, the Finance Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, said various states in their joint memorandum requested the 13th Finance Commission to devolve at least 50 per cent of the central taxes to the states. But the commission had enhanced the share of the states from 29 to 32 per cent only.

"This was gross injustice to all the states. With the successive Finance Commissions focusing attention only towards the backward states, Punjab has consistently been denied its due share in central taxes as compared to many states, Dr Upinderjit Kaur said.

She rued that the Fifth Finance Commission (1970-75) had recommended the share of Punjab at 2.45 per cent but consecutive Finance Commissions reduced the share of the state and the 12th Finance Commission (2005-10) further reduced it to 1.29 per cent. She said it was unfair that the Centre was taking away 70 per cent of the central taxes collected in the state and returning only 1.3 per cent. The Centre should not extend policy of tax holiday in any form and should not be continued from April 2011, she added. — TNS

Amritsar, January 21
Soon pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple may not have to wait for a special occasion like the Gurpurb to catch a glimpse of rare artefacts and invaluable gifts kept in the shrine’s ‘toshakhana’ (treasure), as the SGPC is contemplating to put them on public display permanently.

The issue came to the fore after former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh shot off a missive to SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, emphasising on the need to preserve these rare artefacts and facilitate their display to the visiting pilgrims. In his letter, dispatched on Thursday, Tarlochan Singh said the artifacts have been kept locked in a room which is taking a toll on their life and there is a need to preserve them in a modern way. He also advocated the need for putting these articles on display permanently in the ‘parikarma’ of the Golden Temple. 

Tarlochan said: “The move would make the people aware as to what invaluable articles are being gifted to our holy shrine.” 

“When Kohinoor can be put on display in London and Takht-e-Taus in Tehran why can’t we display our invaluable treasure,” he wondered. He contended that with measures like bulletproof glass and security gadgets available these days there is no threat in displaying these articles at a permanent museum in the ‘parikarma’. He said the gate of Darshani Deodhi, which is to be replaced, should also be put on display in the ‘parikarma’. 

When contacted, Makkar admitted that they have received a suggestion from Tarlochan Singh in this regard and they will discuss it in the SGPC executive meeting on January 28. “We will consider the issue and if the artifacts are to be displayed we will seek expert advice before making arrangements for the same .” 

Sri Darbar Sahib Manager Harbans Singh Malhi stated that they too have suggested the SGPC to display these articles in glass enclosures. According to him, at present, these artefacts and gifts are displayed during “jalau” (show of splendour) on six Gurpurbs. During these occasions, too, the time for “jalau” is restricted from 8 am to 12 noon. As per “Sri Harmandar Sahib da Sunaheri Itihas”, a book penned by Giani Kirpal Singh, during “jalau” 44 such items are put on display at the sanctum sanctorum, 9 at the Akal Takht and 6 at Baba Atal Gurdwara. 

The ‘toshakhana’ boasts of invaluable possessions like necklace of diamonds and pearls of Kunwar Naunihal Singh presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, jewel-encrusted ‘kirpan’ of the Maharaja, a ring of Princess Bambah, gold canopy, gold and turquoise peacock, gold necklace made of currency notes of Guru Nanak Dev, golden spades and containers presented during various ‘kar sevas’, gold ‘bir’ of Baba Deep Singh and four pairs of ornate doors.

Chandigarh, January 21
Wanted by the Punjab Police in Roor Singh’s custodial death case, Inspector Gurmukh Singh and ASI Ajit Singh were arrested this morning from the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the completion of the hearing of the case.

Absconding for a long time, the then SHO of the Dhilwan police station, Gurmukh Singh, and Ajit Singh were present in the court during the hearing of the case, in compliance with the high court’s earlier directions.

Both accused had moved the high court for the grant of bail in the event of their arrest or surrender in connection with FIR number 61 dated December 1, 2009, registered at the Dhilwan police station in the custodial death case. The two cops were on duty when Roor Singh died.

As of now, the judgment in the custodial death case stands reserved.

Pursuant to a notice to the CBI on November 2 last year, Assistant Solicitor-General of India Anmol Ratan Sidhu put in an appearance for the premier investigating agency.

He told the Bench the CBI had nothing to say in the matter, as the inquiry had not been marked to it.

Sidhu made it clear the CBI would not want the accused to be granted bail, in case the inquiry was to be marked to it.

Amicus curiae in the case Sanjeev Sharma asserted several questions remained unanswered in the investigation carried out by the police.

Counsel for Roor Singh’s family, meanwhile, stated the government should be directed to pay adequate compensation to the deceased’s family.

Already, the high court has directed the payment of Rs 1 lakh as interim compensation to Roor Singh’s kith and kin.

Roor Singh of Nurpur Jattan village had died in the Dhilwan police station in Kapurthala district allegedly due to poisoning during his illegal detention on September 4 and 5, 2009.

After the incident, irate villagers had also blocked National Highway no. 1 demanding immediate action against the guilty police officials.

The arrest was made allegedly for possessing over Rs 92,000 in fake currency. Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira, representing the Bholath state Assembly constituency, had alleged the accused were being shielded by the district administration at the behest of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

Jalandhar, January 21
The city police claim to have solved the blind murder of a Delhi-based jeweller with the arrest of a goldsmith hailing from Amritsar. The police have also recovered diamond jewellery worth Rs 31 lakh, Rs 6 lakh cash and a BMW car from the accused.

Body of Pankaj Khandelwal, a resident of Pritampura locality in New Delhi, was found from a NRI’s house in Rishi Nagar locality on December 9, 2009.

Addressing mediapersons, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Arun Pal Singh, said following a tip off, a team lead by Inspector Satish Malhotra conducted a raid at a suspected hideout in Pune and nabbed Jagdeepak Singh alias Twinkle, a goldsmith from Amritsar.

Since the murder, Jagdeepak Singh was allegedly living in Pune and had adopted a fake identity of Yadwinder Singh, alias Preet Sandhu, with the help of his two aides, the DCP added. The CIA staff succeeded in arresting the accused 20 days later.

The investigating officer, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Crime, Rajpal Singh Sandhu, said the accused called the diamond merchant from Delhi to Jalandhar on the pretext of opening up a showroom for diamond and gold jewellery there.

Following a telephonic conversation, the victim reached the rented accommodation of the accused at house number 601 in Rishi Nagar, Jalandhar. The accused was living here based on a fake identity.

After a brief discussion, Jagdeepak Singh allegedly bolted the room from inside and pasted a surgical tape on the victim’s mouth and tied up his hands and legs.

The accused and his accomplice then fled with the cash and valuables worth Rs 43 lakh. The accused allegedly bought a BMW car by selling some of the valuables, Sandhu added.

The police had later registered a case of murder at police station Division No 6, after Pankaj Khandewal’s body was found on December 9, 2009. 

Sangrur, January 21
Mukesh Kumar, resident of Ajit Nagar, allegedly killed his infant daughter by suffocating her to death with a pillow today.

The baby was born on January 18. The couple, hailing from UP, already had two daughters. The accused wanted to have a son. The accused killed the baby by placing pillow on her mouth when his wife Manju Devi was praying in the morning. Manju confronted her husband why the baby’s mouth was pressed, to which he said the baby was sleeping. Not satisfied at his response she raised an alarm after which the police were informed. 

SHO Darshan Singh rushed to the spot and shifted the baby to the Civil Hospital, Sangrur, where she was declared her brought dead. The accused is absconding. The postmortem examination of the baby would be conducted on Saturday.