Kotkapura, February 24
Deputy Chief Minister and President of the SAD Sukhbir Singh Badal has requested Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to make adequate efforts for the safe evacuation of thousands of Punjabis struck in Libya due to the civil war and in New Zealand due to massive earthquake.

During a brief interaction with the media, after dedicating the Rs 15-crore worth development works in the nearby villages, Sukhbir said it was unfortunate that the Centre was not taking adequate measures for the evacuation of Punjabis, who were facing hardships in Libya.

He also demanded judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the massacre of Sikhs at village Hond Chillar in Rewari district of Haryana and the role of the then Congress government in the killings that took place in November 1984.

He lashed out at the Congress saying that the ruling party at the Centre was not serious in giving justice to the victims and was trying to hush up the cases to protect its own leaders.

He said the protection provided to Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler despite Supreme Court strictures against them has exposed the face of the Congress, which projects itself as a secular party.

He questioned the silence of former CM Amarinder Singh and Delhi Sikh leader Paramjit Sarna on this sensitive issue.

Addressing a gathering, the junior Badal called upon the SAD-BJP workers to rise above factional feuds and work collectively to take the message of development to the masses at the grassroot level. He claimed that development coupled with governance reforms would ensure a repeat mandate for the SAD-BJP government and the party would again enjoy the trust of the electorate.

Earlier, he laid the foundation stones for a Rs 3.5 crore underground sewerage project for the focal point, Rs 7.5 crore Adarsh School at Pacca village, Rs 1.3 crore Jandwala Miner, Rs 1.27 crore Dhurkot distributory, among others.

Bathinda, February 24
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today filled up the Household Schedule, a questionnaire, pertaining to the second phase of the Census-2011, also called the population enumeration phase, at his residence in Badal village in Muktsar district. From the gathering of bureaucrats and political leaders from the district there, the occasion appeared to be one of celebration.

According to details collected from the Census staff, Sukhbir Badal is 48 years old and his MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal is 44. They were married on November 21, 1992 and have three kids including a son, who is the youngest of the three.

The education qualification of Sukhbir is MA (Economics) and Harsimrat is a graduate with a degree in fashion designing. The questionnaire (Household Schedule) in respect of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal could not be filled up by the Census enumerators as he is abroad.

It may be mentioned that Sukhbir has mentioned his new house as his residence while his father CM Parkash Singh Badal, during the phase-I of the Census, had showed the family's old house as his residence.

Highlighting the importance of the Census for future planning in the state, Sukhbir appealed to the people to provide correct details to the enumerators and to extend full cooperation in the smooth conduct of census in Punjab.

While emphasizing the importance of Census-2011 to create a comprehensive identity database for the development of the country, Sukhbir directed the staff to perform their duty with care and responsibility.

Commissioner (Ferozpur Division) Raminder Singh, Muktsar DC Varun Roojam, Muktsar SSP Inder Mohan Singh, Malout SDM Dalwinderjit Singh were present along with other functionaries of the district. The representative of the Directorate of Census Operations, Punjab, was also present for assistance.

Guru Harsahai, February 24
Former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today said that need of the hour in Punjab was a full-fledged war against unemployment, drug addiction, poverty, corruption, hunger and illiteracy.

Addressing a rally in the old grain market here, Manpreet, who was accompanied by his father Gurdas Badal, former MP, Jagbir Singh Brar, MLA, Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon (former MLA), said if the corrective measures were not taken to tackle these problems, the youth of Punjab would be forced to work as labourers in states like UP and Bihar.

Promising that he would not leave any stone unturned to enable Punjab to regain its glory, he said the time had come when people must come forward to change the prevailing system.

The government, which could not provide basic amenities to people, must be ousted. It was unfortunate that Punjab, which was at number one position in the country, had gone down to 26th rank. "What is more unfortunate is that even 64 years after independence, people are still deprived of basic amenities," he said.

"I have taken the pledge to change the fate of Punjab and if all goes well, there will be a significant change in the state after 11 months. On March 23, at the Khatkar Kalan rally, a pledge will be taken that all the evils plaguing Punjab will be eradicated," disclosed Manpreet. — TNS

Abohar, February 24
Belying the hopes generated by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board chairman Dr Baldev Raj Chawla during his visit to this sub-divisional town recently, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has so far not given his nod to the tenders received by the Board for renovation of the outlived sewerage and drinking water system with a budgeted cost of Rs 39 crore.

As the 90-day limit for the tenders is to expire within the next few days, the contractors will be at liberty to withdraw the offers, sources said.

Sensing the CM’s negative mood over the allocation of the funds, the local Municipal Council governed by the ruling alliance partner BJP, has now resolved to abandon the old waterworks that had been raised before the partition of the country.

Again throwing the ball in the CM’s court, the MC has offered to hand over its 11 acres of waterworks land located in the heart of the old city to PUDA at the prevailing district collector rates.

Some municipal councillors and social activists said the MC has not been able to pay even the electricity charges that had piled to a whopping Rs 2 crore by now.

The MC now proposes to acquire 30 acres of land to expand the new waterworks that had been developed across 40 acres of land on the Hanumangarh road during the Congress regime under the Urban Renewal Project funded by the Centre.

A study reveals that out of the 31,000 water supply and sewerage connections, 17,000 were exempted under the rules as the consumers were occupying less than 1125 square feet of the residential area.

While raising bills at the old rates, the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board was hardly recovering Rs 5 lakh per month while the monthly salary bill was estimated at Rs 15 lakh. 

Bathinda, February 24
Despite being equipped with JCB machines, tractors and hundreds of labourers, the district officials today failed to take possession of a chunk of land near Patel Nagar, today, as the 'owners' threatened to sue them for violating the stay order issued by the Supreme Court.

The land in controversy was meant for the 45.57 acre scheme of the Improvement Trust, renamed as Pandit Deen Dyal Upadhaya scheme.

Claiming to have acquired the land a few years back and wielding a copy of the orders issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing the writ petitions filed by the owners, the officials arrived to demolish all existing structures and take the land in possession.

However, the 'owners' came out on the road and started protesting.

Once the negotiations started, the persons claiming to be owners of the land produced a document issued by their lawyer stating that the Supreme Court had directed the administration not to dispossess the owners till further orders.

However, the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), Amandeep Singh refused to accept its validity and directed the JCB machines, tractors and labourers to start the demolition process.

Following the orders, the machines and labourers first destroyed the crops but before they could move towards the houses to raze them to the ground, the residents objected to the move and gave a joint affidavit stating that the court had issued a stay order and the copy would be submitted to the administration at the earliest possible. Finding the residents adamant on not allowing the administration to move further, the officials withdrew the machines and labourers and left without taking possession of the land

Advocate Sukhdev Singh Bahia, who was leading the group of residents, accused the administration of using force to take possession of the land without compensating the owners. Accusing the officials of violating the court's orders, he mentioned that they would sue the officials by name for contempt of court.

On the other hand, the executive officer of the Improvement Trust, Gora Lal said the administration had completed all legal formalities but the residents were creating a hurdle.

It may be mentioned a portion of the land in question was also to be used as part of the phase-I of the ring road.

Fazilka, February 24
The unprecedented rise in the price of cotton to Rs 7200 per quintal (about 10 days back), considered the highest in the history of cotton trade, has started melting down. The cotton price was recorded at around Rs 6500 per quintal today. The prices are likely to decrease further. Initially, at the time of arrival in September, the price of cotton was around 3700 per quintal.

“Speculative cotton trade was the main reason for the record high price,” said Rakesh Rathi, president, Northern India Cotton Association.

The rise in cotton price in the international market was yet another reason. Along with this the government had set an export target of 55 bales (each bale weighing 1 quintal 70 kg), which also contributed to the high price. The cotton prices are stabilising now, said Rathi.

Besides, some farmers, who had held their stock in the hope of further price rise are now bringing their produce for marketing fearing further fall in prices. "I have brought my total stock apprehending further fall in price," said Kundan Singh of Dholla Bhaini.

Sources said the cotton thread and weaving mill owners have scaled down their purchase as the high price is not viable for sustaining their trade. Official sources said over 90 per cent of cotton has already arrived in the market. There is steady arrival of about 1000 quintal in the Fazilka market daily now-a-days.

The cotton arrival so far has been recorded at around one lakh bales in the Fazilka market while it was 92 lakh bales last year.

Ferozepur, February 24
A team of senior civil officials led by Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav came in for a rude shock when it found the office of the District Transport Officer locked from the outside and all the staff members absent during a surprise check conducted today.

Yadav has decided to write against them to the higher authorities so that action could be taken against them.

Yadav who was assisted by Gurjeet Singh, SDM, Ferozepur, was also disappointed to find 30 employees of different department absent when a checking was carried out today. About 27 departments including some schools and hospitals were checked by the DC and his team.

Official sources said as many as 13 employees were found absent from the office of the District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), six employees from the office of Deputy Economic and Statistical Advisor, three employees from the office of District Election Officer and two employees from the office of secretary, RTA.

Sources added that one employee was found absent from his duty in the office of Deputy Director (Local Government), three employees from the office of District Education Officer (Secondary), one employee from the office of DEO (Primary), one employee of the Municipal Council (Ferozepur) and one teacher from the Government Elementary School (Loham).

During the checking, the DC also found that cooked rice, which was being supplied to the students of the Government Elementary School (Loham) did not conform to the standards. The quantity of rice, which was supplied to the school, was sufficient for only 25 students whereas there were 73 students in the school.

Faridkot, February 24
The Faridkot police have booked two travel agents of Delhi on the charges of allegedly duping a local resident of Rs 5-lakh on the pretext of sending him to Canada on a work permit.

Malkit Singh, a resident of village Manwa of Faridkot district, gave a written complaint to the DIG that he met two persons Sumesh Dhaliwal and Sanjiv Kumar, residents of Najafgarh (Delhi) at a marriage ceremony in Faridkot, who told him that they were travel agents.

They promised to send him to Canada on a work permit and demanded Rs 18-lakh from him, he alleged. "I gave them Rs 5-lakh in advance along with the passport but they neither got me the Canadian visa as promised nor returned the passport to me," he added. Police have registered a case. — TNS

Ferozepur, February 24
On the second day of the ongoing Western Command Football Championship, being organised by the Golden Arrow Division at the local cantonment, Panther Division crushed Deep Strikers Division 5 -0.

The goals were scored in the 7th, 21st, 33rd, 41st and 63rd minutes of the match by CT Zingzana, W Dinesh Singh, PC Lal, Ginsu Lal and Bhakat Bahadur Gurung, respectively.

In the second match of the day, Pine Division defeated the Golden Key Division 1-0. The lone goal of the match was scored in the 37th minute by Sep Basanta Majhi. In the third match, Ram Division crushed Kharga Corps by a huge margin of 6-1.

Rifleman Lok Bahadur Dura of Ram Division scored four goals in the 8th, 13th, 25th and 38th minutes. Rifleman Kesh Bahadur and Rifleman Sunil Singh scored one goal each in the 14th and 19th minutes of the match.

On the other hand, the lone goal for Kharga Corps was scored by Lance Dafadar S Ramio Singh in the very first minute of the game.

In the last match of the day, Rising Star troops defeated the host Golden Arrow Division 2-1. Golden Arrow Division scored the first goal of the match in the 15th minute while Rising Star troops scored two goals in the 29th and 85th minutes of the match.