Jalandhar, February 4
Moved by the plight of women abandoned by their NRI husbands visiting his office almost everyday, Regional Passport Officer Perneet Singh, an officer of the Indian Defence Accounts Service, has found a solution within the provisions of the Passport Act, 1967, to bring the culprits to book.

“Section 10 (3) of the Act states that the RPO or the issuing authority can suspend or impound the passport of such offenders in public interest after issuing a showcause notice to the offender. Unable to travel after this, the defaulters would have no option but to settle their marital dispute, legally or mutually,” he pointed out.

“Today, we have started a Women Grievances Section in our office where such victims can seek action against their errant husbands,” he added. To do so, the complainants have to submit a copy of the marriage certificate, the FIR, details about their husband and any additional relevant information, he said. Singh said in case the husband has already left India, the compliant will be forwarded to the Embassy/mission of the country of destination. Action would be taken once the accused seeks any services from the consulate, he added.

Similarly, the existing loophole of not getting the name of their Indian spouses endorsed on the passports has also been plugged. For this, we have asked the District Marriage Officers to send the particulars of such grooms to the RPO so that they could ask the latter to get the passports endorsed, he added.

Since 60-70 per cent of such Punjabi NRIs fly from Amritsar, the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) at Rajasansi airport has been asked to turn away such persons in case these changes have not been made, he added.

Perneet said the case of the abandoned wives will be served if the state government makes it mandatory for all NRIs to submit a copy of their passports, social security number, and permanent address abroad besides giving an undertaking of being single at the time of their marriage registration in Punjab.

Tohra (Patiala), February 4
Eminent political personalities and leaders of various social and religious organisations paid rich tributes to Joginder Kaur Tohra, wife of a former SGPC President, the late Gurcharan Singh Tohra, during her bhog ceremony at her native village here this. afternoon.

Paying tributes to Joginder Kaur, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said that she was a noble and pious woman, committed to the values of life and a unique synthesis of religious thoughts, panthic traditions and social service. “She was a lighthouse and a motivating force behind Gurcharan Singh Tohra's outstanding contribution towards the well being of the Sikh panth as the President of the SGPC for over 25 years,” said Badal.

Badal announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh for setting up of a modern community centre at Tohra village. “The proposed community centre will be well equipped with all kinds of facilities for promoting community life, especially marriages of girls with a rural background to perpetuate the memory of Joginder Kaur,” he added.

SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar announced that in the memory of Gurcharan Singh Tohra, an institute of advanced studies in Sikhism would be set up on 10-acre land at Bhadurgarh, near Patiala. “The institute will offer various courses pertaining to the Sikh religion,” he said.

While paying homage to Joginder Kaur, SAD President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that she was a dynamic personality, dedicated to panthic values and Sikh faith. “Gurcharan Singh Tohra spent most of his life in jails for the service of the panth and Punjab and it was Joginder Kaur, who preserved not only the ethos of domestic life and inspired her family members to become ideal citizens of the society, thereby reposing full faith in the tenets of Sikhism,” asserted Sukhbir.

Former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said, “Joginder Kaur was from a generation of those Punjabis, who were devoted to spreading brotherhood, patriotism and worked for making Punjab a prosperous state.” Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur also paid homage to Joginder Kaur. “Joginder Kaur was a good human being. On behalf of the Congress and PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh, I wish the well being of the family members of Joginder Kaur,” she said.

Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Avinash Rai Khanna (both Members of the Rajya Sabha), former minister Harmail Singh Tohra and former Punjab Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh also attended the bhog ceremony. 

Patiala, February 4
The Cancer Council of India (CCI), an NGO, has demanded that cancer should be declared a notifiable disease at the earliest. The Secretary-General of the CCI, Karamvir Karan, told The Tribune that World Cancer Day was observed all over India today and the executive body of the CCI had convened a meeting to take a stock of the prevalent cancer scenario all over the region. “During the meeting, the executive body members demanded that cancer should be declared a notifiable disease,” he informed.

Notably, a notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.

The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. Executive Chairman of the CCI, Dr Devinder Singh Sandhu, said that although the National Cancer Registry Programme of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was a good continuing effort, but it still had large grey areas.

“The fact that there are more deaths every hour due to cancer, which is preventable, as compared to all the deaths put together for H1N1 or for dengue, strengthens our demand for declaring cancer as a notifiable disease,” asserted Karan.

He lauded the initiative of the Union Health Ministry to cover 100 district-level hospitals all over India in order to equip these hospitals with infrastructure required for early detection of cancer.

“Council members also expressed their satisfaction over the Delhi Government’s inclusion of cancer in the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) and urged the other governments of Punjab, Haryana HP, UP and J&K to include cancer in their respective NHRM,” said Dr Devinder Singh Sandhu, while adding that the CCI Executive Body had passed a resolution urging the Union and state governments to effectively implement the ban on smoking and tobacco spitting at public places. 

Jalandhar, February 4
Following threats to the life of a Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) from poachers, the Additional Director-General of Police (Security) has provided a security cover to him to continue his operations against the violators of the law in the Harike Wildlife Sanctuary.

Official sources said that Sanjiv Tiwari, a young officer, who is at present posted at Ferozepur, had received threats to his life from some powerful gangs of poachers, having patronage of some politicians. The gangs had been operating in the Harike Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the internationally recognised wetland, with objective of hunting down rare species of birds and also to catch fish. The Harike sanctuary, one of the sites most preferred by migratory birds, is known as a habitat of some of the world’s rare bird species. It is said to be a habitat of more than 
400 bird species.

A few years ago, some dolphins were also sighted in the Harike wetland area.

Sources said that acting tough against gangs of poachers, Tiwari had seized about 60 nets, impounded about 15 small boats and one large boat. He had stopped the illegal entry of vehicles, including tractors, etc, in the sanctuary area. Upset due to the tough stance adopted by Tiwari, poachers started issuing threats to him. Not only has Tiwari acted against poachers, but he has also shown courage to deal with those engaged in encroaching some parts of the sanctuary spread over several miles.

“As Tiwari reported to me regarding the threats to his life, the issue was taken up with the ADGP (Security), who directed the authorities concerned to provide him a security cover”, said Gurbaz Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab. He said that Tiwari was one of the best officers and committed to the cause of wildlife. His case had been recommended for appreciation to the authorities concerned.

Sources said that some political big shots were unhappy with the courage shown by Tiwari against poachers. “We have heard that constant pressure has been built on the authorities concerned to transfer Tiwari away from Ferozepur. If this happens, then it will be a sad day for the wildlife in the state,” said a bird-watcher and an environmentalist.

Kila Raipur, February 4
Punjab will become the first state in the country to have a Unique Identity System (UIS) for its residents based on their income group.

This was stated today by Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, after inaugurating the 75th Kila Raipur Rural Olympics here today.

He said the Unique ID would be provided to all the residents by September this year as all the modalities had been worked out to start a survey of the income status within 10 days.

On the basis of the UID system, the state population would be divided on the basis of elite, middle class and below poverty line families. It would also become easier for the state government to extend 
benefits to BPL families, he said.

While commenting on the importance of ration cards, Kairon said this was a very important proof of residence of the residents. So the ration cards would continue to be issued and given equal value.

On the issue of shortage of the LPG, faced by the state, the minister said they had taken up the matter with the Centre.

“We want the Centre to provide the rights of balancing between demand and supply to the state only. With this the shortage will be taken care of,” he said.

Earlier the LPG companies were deciding the supply of domestic gas to the states. Once the state is given the authority to decide completely, these problems will not be faced. The state government has already started a pilot project to streamline the supply of gas in Taran Tarn and Amritsar.

The minister announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the Kila Raipur sports development. 

Jalandhar, February 4
Certain changes in the rules relating to the Shagun scheme have been mooted to check frequent frauds in its execution in various parts of the state. Besides, the authorities concerned have also proposed to increase the financial assistance under the scheme to Rs 21,000 per person.

Sources today said the Department of Social Security had proposed that the submitting of the marriage certificate as well as the income certificate from the competent authority should be made mandatory for the beneficiary. That would help eliminate frauds in the execution of the scheme.

Earlier, there was a condition for the submission of the annual income certificate from the competent authority. However, this condition was waived on October 30, 2007, through a Cabinet decision.

Instead, the submission of an affidavit with regard to the annual income from the beneficiary was introduced. At present, to be eligible under the scheme, the family annual income should not exceed Rs 20,000 in the case of the rural areas and Rs 27,500 in the case of the urban areas.However, the department has proposed that the limit of the annual income should be increased to Rs 40,000 in the case of the rural areas and Rs 55,000 in the case of the urban areas.

Likewise, the financial assistance under the scheme should be increased to Rs 21,000 from the existing Rs 15,000. In addition, Rs 1,000 should be given to the beneficiary to get the required documents--- the income certificate and the marriage certificate- prepared from the authorities concerned.

The changes proposed would go to the Cabinet for appropriate action, it is learnt. The Administrative Reforms Commission has also suggested some changes in the implementation of the scheme. 

Kharar, February 4
Urmila, alias Shakuntala, has met her son from Uttar Pradesh after 25 years.Urmila met her son under Mission Milaap, an effort of the Prabh Aasra Trust here. Mentally upset, Urmila got separated from her son when he was just one-year old.

A resident of Ghazipur village of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh, she got separated from her son, Mahesh, because of some marital discord. She lost her mental balance thereafter. For some time, her brother Ashutosh and her sister-in-law took care of her.

She wandered for 22 years and in September 2007 reached the Prabh Aasra

Society. People from Daun village of Mohali found her and informed the Prabh Aasra volunteers. She had deep wounds and maggots in her feet. After three years of treatment she improved and told about her past. The Prabh Aasra Trust volunteers traced her whereabouts and antecedents. Urmila could not recognise her son after a separation of 25 long years and weak mental condition. Her son, Mahesh, today took her away. — TNS

Patiala, February 4
The hearing in the high-profile murder case of Harpreet Kaur, daughter of former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, resumed in the Court of Special Judge (CBI Cases), Patiala, today.

The counsel for Bibi Jagir Kaur cross-examined AD Tiwari, CBI’s Senior Scientific Officer, Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CBI), New Delhi. During today’s court proceedings, the defence counsel, Satnam Singh Kler, asked Tiwari, who is an expert in preparing CDs, several questions pertaining to the cassette of interview of Kamaljit Singh, the main witness in the case.

Kler said according to the CBI, Kamaljit had given an interview to Zee News and the CBI had asked Tiwari to prepare two CDs from the cassette of Kamaljit’s interview. “In the court, Tiwari admitted that he prepared two copies of Kamaljit’s interview and also stated that he didn’t check whether the cassette provided by the CBI was genuine,” he stated.

Kler further stated that when Tiwari was questioned that whether the cassette in possession of the CBI was re-writable or not, he could not confirm it. Apart from him, a former employee of Spice Telecom was also cross-examined by the defence counsel. Bibi Jagir Kaur and co-accused Paramjit Singh Raipur, Nishan Singh and Satya were present during the court proceedings, whereas another co-accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi had got exemption from personal hearing. The hearing in the case will resume on February 5. 

Chandigarh,February 4
Senior IAS officer D.S. Bains has been appointed the new Home Secretary, Punjab, replacing A.R. Talwar. Talwar has been appointed Financial Commissioner, Revenue. Bains will hold additional charge of Financial Commissioner, Forest and Wildlife.