AISSF unearths ’84 riot-hit village lying in ruins
SGPC to probe matter
Amritsar, February 18
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) today claimed to have discovered a village in Haryana’s Rewari district where Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots and since then the homes inhabited by them and the village gurdwara have been lying in ruins. Responding to the claim, the SGPC said it would investigate into the matter.

Jalandhar, February 18
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has cleared the file to increase the tuition fee for the various engineering degree courses to Rs 60,000 from the existing Rs 45,000 per annum. Badal has also approved the increase in tuition fee for the engineering diploma course to Rs 22,000 per annum from Rs 16,500. Since the CM has cleared the file to raise the fee, an official notification in this regard would be issued soon.

The enhanced tuition fee would be applicable in case of students taking admission from the next academic session. The enhanced fee would not be charged from the students already on the rolls of various academic institutions. The state government only decides regarding the tuition fee. Enhancement of the other charges falls within the purview of the Punjab Technical University.

The Punjab Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) had urged the state government to order 50 per cent increase in the free structure. It had claimed that the tuition fee had not been increased since 2003.

On the demand made by various engineering colleges, the state government had constituted a high-level committee to fix the new fee structure for the engineering degree and diploma colleges.

The committee had submitted the report to the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal a few days ago. Official sources said the CM cleared the file today.

About 32,000 students are expected to take admission in various degree colleges during next academic session.

Meanwhile, the state government today made it clear that it would admit students in engineering colleges on the basis of the state merit of the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). It would not conduct its own test, which used to be held earlier every year. “We have already issued a notification in this regard. Students should prepare well for the AIEEE on the basis of which admission would be made in the state,” said Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Punjab.

He said all eligible students would be admitted in the engineering degree courses. About 32,000 seats would be available in various engineering colleges. “We would hold three counseling rounds to admit students. In case, any eligible student failed to get admission during the three rounds, he or she would be advised to contact to the Dean (Academic Affairs) of the PTU to secure admission against the vacant seat available in any of the colleges affiliated to the technical university.

Chandigarh, February 18
Timely delivery of services are set to become the norm in Punjab with designated officers being nominated for the same along with penalty clauses with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal giving his nod to the proposed Punjab Rights to Service Act, 2011.

Under the new Act, which will now be put up before the Cabinet for approval, the state government has notified the services, designated officers, first appeal officers, second appeal officers and the appellate authority as well as the stipulated time limits to which the Act will apply.

Designated officers will have to, upon receipt of an application, either provide the service or reject the application by listing reasons for doing so. First and second appeal officers will order the designated officers to either provide the service or reject the appeal within a time limit of 30 and 60 days respectively.

If an applicant is still not satisfied, the case will be taken up by an appellate authority, which will be constituted by the government. If the authority feels the designated officer has caused undue delay in providing the service, it may impose a penalty at the rate of Rs 250 per day with a maximum penalty limit of Rs 5,000. In case the authority is of the view that the first appeal officer has failed to decide the appeal within a reasonable time, it may impose a penalty ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

There is a self-correction mechanism in the Act with the designated officer as well as the appeal officer having the right to file for the revision of the orders of the appellate authority before a commission. A chief commissioner along with two commissioners will head the commission, once formed.

Meanwhile all departments will display the time limit for provision of services by them on their notice boards as well as their websites. A total of 48 services have been identified under the Act and cover all departments, including Revenue for all kinds of land records, Local Government for sanction of water supply and sewerage connections, Health for provision of birth and death certificates, Transport for registration and transfer of vehicles, Home Department for issuance of various certificates, Food Department for issuance of ration cards and Urban Development for no objection and other other certificates.

The bill has come about following an exercise conducted by the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission and is part of the administrative reforms initiative of the government. The bill is a boon for people who have to deal with entrenched corruption in various departments. 

Amritsar, February 18
Almost four months after the withdrawal of Air India’s Amritsar-London-Toronto flight, the new flight from the holy city to Toronto is all set for an overwhelming start from Sunday.

The flight has opened to choc-o-bloc response from the passengers not only for the inaugural day but for the entire next month. Though Air India officials could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, Rajeev Suri, owner of a leading travel agency here, said the flight has been fully booked till March 22.

Punjab NRI Sabha Patron Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal hailed the resumption of flight from Amritsar to Toronto, stating that though UK bound Punjabis would be disappointed, but it would bring about much-needed respite for a huge Sikh population in Canada. “The abrupt withdrawal of immensely successful Amritsar-London-Toronto flight on October 31 last year came as a rude shock for many. Thereafter the passengers used to have a harrowing time first boarding a flight from the holy city to New Delhi and changing it there for onward journey,” he said. However, he felt that now at least the Diaspora in Canada would be saved from harassment they had to face while boarding a connecting flight from Delhi. “Though we would have liked resumption of the same flight, but as they say something is better than nothing, this flight too is something to cheer about,” he added.

However, the farm owners who were exporting their vegetables to European countries through Amritsar-London-Toronto flight are a dejected lot. “We used to export 1.5 tonne of fresh coriander on each flight heading to London, but all that came to a grinding halt in October last year,” said Satbir Singh, who owns a farm at an Amritsar village near Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport. He lamented that with no stopover at London the new flight holds no significance for them.

The new flight will have 238 seats as compared to 342 in the Amritsar-London-Toronto flight which was withdrawn last year. The passengers travelling in economy class will suffer the most on this count as the number of economy seats in the new flight is 195 as against the previous one’s 303.

Chandigarh, February 18
Cricket enthusiasts in Punjab and Chandigarh will have to wait until Monday for the Punjab and Haryana Court adjudication on the dispute between ESPN, the official broadcaster of the ICC World Cup, and cable networks over the telecast of the major sporting event of the year that gets underway with India-Bangladesh match tomorrow.

While coverage of the India-Bangladesh match will be available to viewers in Punjab and Chandigarh on Doordarshan I, yet those keen on ESPN coverage and commentary may miss the opening game action. Doordarshan I will telecast not only the matches featuring India but also the semi-finals and the final. Three cable networks -- Siti, Win and Fast Way -- have moved a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions to ESPN to revoke its decision of switching off the signal to them.

“We have been trying hard to negotiate a settlement with the ESPN,” says Mukesh Sharma, General Manager of Fastway, “but without any success. They are refusing to come down on the hike in subscription they want from us for the telecast of the World Cup matches.”

“It is unreasonable. ESPN is resorting to strong-arm tactics and demanding a whopping 30 to 35 per cent hike in subscription,” says a senior functionary of one of the three cable networks, maintaining that “this year, the major revenue-earning event for the ESPN is the World Cup. So they want to use this opportunity to extract maximum from lakhs of their subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh. They are seeeking a hike based on the number of connections each one of us have.”

Petition preferred by the three networks and supported by all local cable networks as well as cricket enthusiasts is likely to be taken up on Monday as Saturday and Sunday are holidays in the high court.

“We do not have the exact count of cable subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh. Every household has a cable connection. ESPN has also forced on all the Direct to Home (DTH) operators a special cricket package that is 30 to 35 per cent higher than the normal ESPN package,” says a senior functionary of another cable network.

“It is an unfair trade practice to force subscribers and viewers to dole out extra money to get coverage of a special event. We will not allow any local cable operator to record and beam ESPN coverage,” he adds.

Amritsar, February 18
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) today claimed to have discovered a village in Haryana’s Rewari district where Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots and since then the homes inhabited by them and the village gurdwara have been lying in ruins. Responding to the claim, the SGPC said it would investigate into the matter.

In view of the discovery, Karnail Singh Peermohammad expressed his intention to preserve the village as a “memorial to the martyrs of 1984” and sought help from the SGPC and other Sikh organisations in this regard. The village, Hondh-Chillar, located 55 km from Gurgaon, was unearthed by Manvinder Singh Giaspur, an engineer hailing from Ludhiana and at present working at Gurgaon. According to him, in November 1984, the village was inhibited by more than 35 Sikh families. “On November 2, 1984, in an organised attack, the entire village was burnt along with its Sikh population and gurdwara. According to records of the local police, an FIR was registered for the death of 20 Sikhs from Hondh-Chillar village on the same day. The remains of Hondh-Chillar show that the entire portion of the village where Sikhs used to live was torched, including the gurdwara,” he added, while producing photographs to corroborate his claims. He lamented that the gurdwara building was in a bad shape and animal fodder was being kept in its verandah.

Peermohammad claimed that Giaspur had rang up SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar and brought the matter to his notice on January 23. “Makkar had promised him to visit the site, but till date he hasn’t turned up.”

The AISSF will be holding an Akhand Path at the site of the village gurdwara on March 4 in the memory of innocent Sikhs who were burnt to death in 1984. It has requested Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh to lead the bhog ceremony as head of the Sikh community on March 6.

On the other hand, Makkar said nobody had contacted him in this regard. He, however, said the SGPC would look into the matter and if any such incident had occurred in the village, they would cooperate with the AISSF in every way possible. 

Jalandhar, February 18
The Duronto express train, between Amritsar-Chandigarh, is likely to be introduced next week. The train would reach Chandigarh via Ambala in four hours.

“We have planned its journey via Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ambala to Chandigarh”, a railway official said. Obviously, it is an indirect route for the train to reach Chandigarh, he added. However, when the rail line between Doraha and Morinda will be complete, the train will switch to new route to reach Chandigarh. That would be via Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Samrala, Morinda and Mohali. Work on laying the rail track between Morida and Doraha is in progress.

He said though formal date was announced, efforts were being made to introduce the train before the presentation of the Railway Budget next week. The Duronto train was announced in the Railway Budget last year. The train would stop at Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Ambala.

“We are trying to resolve some technical problems with regard to the washing and cleansing of the Duronto train at Amritsar where lack of infrastructure such as platforms is creating trouble for us”, said the official.

Recently, the MP from Amritsar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who impressed up on the Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee, to introduce a train between Amritsar-Chandigarh. He had threatened to stage a protest in front of the Rail Bhavan in Delhi if the train was not made operational before the next Railway Budget.

Patiala, February 18
Perturbed over the recent incident, wherein a Municipal Councillor, Sarita Gera, allegedly tried to use her influence to stall the demolition drive, being undertaken by the Patiala Municipal Corporation in Tripri area, senior municipal functionaries have shot off a letter to the Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, recommending stern action the erring councillor.

In wake of the fact that supporters of the violators manhandled the civic officials, the top brass of the civic body, had already reported the matter to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh and SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill.

Notably, Municipal Councillor’s, who obstruct officials of Urban Local Bodies from conducting demolition, may be disqualified under The Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, which reads, “If any councillor is found guilty of flagrantly misusing his official position, the government may remove the councillor by issuing a notification.” In 2004, the Punjab Government had sacked Ludhiana Municipal Councillor Sat Pal Puri for having flagrantly misused his position as a member of the house of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.

Patiala Municipal Commissioner Manjit Singh Narang said, “On February 12, Municipal Councillor of Ward Number 7, Sarita Gera, telephonically told the two officials of the Patiala MC not to touch any of the structures, which the civic body was claiming to be unauthorised. When on February 14, the MC team, led by Assistant Commissioner Kamal Kant, went to the area, Sarita Gera was not there but her husband, relatives and supporters assaulted civic staff.”

According to eyewitnesses, a Class IV employee was even slapped by the supporters of Gera. The situation became so tense that all the civic staff, including the officials had to leave the spot immediately in order to save them. To lodge their protest, the Safai Sewak’s of Patiala MC even dumped garbage in front of house of Sarita Gera.

However, Sarita claimed that she has been targeted deliberately because she is the one who keeps raising her voice against the coming up of illegal structures in the city.

“This is sheer harassment, as well as pick and choose policy,” she said.

There are so many unauthorised constructions in city but civic officials are not taking action against them, she pointed out.

Dera Bassi, February 18
As part of a drive launched by GMR Company and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), nearly unauthorised 50 direct accesses to the highway were closed Dera Bassi and Lalru.

GMR Company in-charge Vaibhav Sharma said 50 direct accesses were closed on the Ambala-Chandigarh stretch over the last two days. GMR Company, NHAI and the administration had launched a joint drive to remove the illegal approaches, which include those of hotels, dhabas and factories. Sharma also pointed out that over 100 establishments on the 35-km long stretch of the highway have accessed the highway directly without the permission of the NHAI. These approaches posed danger to traffic on the highway as well as blocked rain water outlets. — OC

Chandigarh, February 18
Ruling that unscrupulous litigants are taking the Courts for a ride, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that time has come to get rid of the menace of filing false documents -- affidavits included.

Decrying the prevailing practice of getting affidavits attested without appearing before the oath commissioner, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain has added that the general public’s faith in the judicial system will be eroded if such documents are allowed to be taken on record.

Justice Jain has also asserted that the Court, before whom forgery has been committed, is competent, and is directed to take appropriate action.

The assertion came on a revision petition by Kulwant Kaur Padda against the State Bank of Patiala. The petition was directed against an order dated December 18, 2009, passed by the Bathinda Rent Controller, vide which an affidavit filed by petitioner-cum-landlady Kulwant Kaur was ordered to be de-exhibited.

Justice Jain asserted: “While passing the impugned order, the Rent Controller recorded that the affidavit was attested on July 10, 2009, but the petitioner/landlady was not present in India at that time as she had herself admitted that she left India for USA in March 2009 and returned on July 29, 2009. Thus, she did not appear before the Oath Commissioner at the time of attestation of her affidavit tendered in evidence….”

Justice Jain added: “To my mind, time has come when the Courts are required to put their foot down to curb this menace of filing false documents in Courts, much less affidavits, on the basis of which most of the litigation is being decided as the affidavits are taken into account as evidence of the parties.

“The unscrupulous litigants are taking the Courts for a ride and have scant respect for the procedure of law because of general belief who bothers. If this kind of document, which in no-way can be called an affidavit, is allowed to be taken on record in the name of the practice having been going on in the judicial system, then the entire sanctity attached to the affidavit would vanish and faith of the general public in the judicial system would be eroded…“Needless to mention that the Court, before whom the alleged false evidence has been led or the forgery has been committed, is competent enough and is directed to take appropriate action in accordance with law against the persons involved in it….

Dismissing the petition, Justice Jain added: “The document cannot be called an affidavit and has rightly not been taken into consideration by the learned Rent Controller while passing the impugned order”.

Sangrur, February 18
In a huge embarrassment to the police, three head constables along with a woman have been found to be running a robbers’ gang in the district. The three head constables along with the woman indulged in loot besides perpetraing fraud on people by taking money from them to send them to Spain.

Harcharan Singh Bhullar, SSP, said the Sangrur police got a breakthrough when it arrested two members of the gang, a head constable and a woman. Kulwinder Kaur, alias Simran, wife of Gulzar Singh of Fatehabad, who lives in Spain, and head constable Balkar Singh of the railway police were arrested after they had allegedly kidnapped Major Singh, son of Bant Singh of Borhawal in Mansa district, in a Zen car at gun-point and looted Rs 4,14,000 and seven tolas of gold. He said it was found that two other head constables, Charanjit Singh and Sukhjinder Singh, were also part of the gang. They are yet to be arrested. — TNS