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States agree to set aside differences to tame the Ghaggar
N-energy answer to power crisis, says top scientist
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Traumatised girls sent to Chinese Embassy Amritsar, May 3 The two Chinese citizens, who were rescued from the clutches of three Railway Protection Force jawans a couple of days earlier, were handed over to the Chinese Embassy at New Delhi today.
Ban on polythene bags goes unheeded
CPS Thandal resigns
Sikh Jatha returns from Bangladesh
Tandon writes to Chief Secy on Circuit House fiasco
Yasmeen Murder Case
Patiala MC to go online by year-end
Translation to apprise women of their rights
Zero tolerance to drunken driving
Varsity working on silicon wafers
Supreme Court reinstates SGPC employee
Transfer money directly to bank accounts of landowners: HC
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States agree to set aside differences to tame the Ghaggar
Dr JS Samra, CEO and Chairman of the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), who held talks with the Punjab Government in April this year, was back today to hold talks with Haryana. He told The Tribune that all there states had decided in principal to participate in the project. The Himachal Government has also assured the Centre of all help as a large part of the Ghaggar catchment falls in that state. The NRAA has decided to involve the Chandigarh Union Territory also as the river flows through the UT as well. Dr Samra said he had already written to the new UT Adviser and was likely to meet him when the deal was closed with Punjab in two weeks. He said all the states were willing to accept this national project, which would fund 90 per cent of the cost in every state, as a stand along project, de-linked and out of the purview of their pending disputes. NRAA Chairman today appointed retired Chief Engineer Bhagwant Singh Sawar as a consultant for the state to work out the modalities of the scheme with various departments of Haryana that would be a stake-holder in the project. These include the departments of agriculture, public health and industries, HUDA and the pollution control board. Chief Ministers of both Punjab and Haryana are expected to sign an MOU with the NRAA in the coming weeks. Rajwant Sandhu, Chief Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Government has through her emissary Ram Subhag Singh, Secretary, Agriculture, assured Dr Samra that the state government is willing to participate in the project. The Rs 1150 crore project by the Centre has been planned to curb damage to property in these states on account of flooding of the Ghaggar. Punjab and Haryana had sought Rs 1100 crore as flood relief. The project will also help reverse the negative water balance, which in Punjab is expected to touch a new low of 70 per cent.
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N-energy answer to power crisis, says top scientist
Chidambaram said here today. He was addressing faculty members, students and NGOs during the inauguration of the Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG) centre at the IIT-Ropar. Nuclear scientist Dr Chidambaram said for countries like India, the human development index was calculated in three contexts, with power consumed per person being one of the major factors. “We currently need six to seven times more energy per person for more development. Renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy, is intermittent while we are already tapping hydel resources and wind energy too is incapable of meeting our ever-expanding requirements,” he said.
Talking about the RuTAG centre, he said India had six such centres at the IITs in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Delhi and Mumbai. Ropar was the seventh IIT to have the centre. The Director, IIT-Ropar, MK Surappa, said: “Through non-government organisations and the state government, the centre will work for developing simple technologies and improvising existing ones in order to make work easier for people in the rural sector.” He said work could be done on providing potable drinking water to rural areas as water in several pockets of Punjab was saline because of excessive use of fertilisers.
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Traumatised girls sent to Chinese Embassy
Amritsar, May 3 Amar Singh Chahal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said that the two girls were escorted by a police team, led by SHO Rajasansi Airport police station, to the Chinese Embassy where they were handed over to Shang Haixin, First Secretary, at the Embassy. “The Chinese officials appreciated the prompt action of the city police in rescuing the girls,” said Chahal. The two girls, identified as Zeng Zia Li and Yaung Lulu, had arrived from Jaipur to visit Amritsar on May 1. They were abducted by four persons, including three RPF constables. They were rescued by the police within hours of the abduction.
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Ban on polythene bags goes unheeded
Patiala, May 3 “I went to fetch groceries in the Tripri area market today and was shocked to see that the shopkeeper packed my stuff in three polythene bags. When I was leaving the shop, he said, please ensure that no one see these bags as they were banned now,” said Amanpreet Singh of Tripri. Even in bigger markets like Dharampura Bazaar, the usage of these bags goes unchecked. A shopkeeper in Dharampura Bazaar when asked why he was still not banning the polythene, he said: “It was really difficult for us to ban these. “Other substitutes for polythene bags like paper bags, cloth bags etc are expensive and we cannot afford to use them. The only option then left is to charge customers for these, but even they are not ready to pay for these bags,” he added. Though many people are welcoming the move, they are apprehensive as to whether this would be successful. Manjeet Kaur, a government employee, feels that it would be a big achievement in case the administration can successfully impose the ban. “I think administration should take strict action immediately otherwise it would be difficult to check the defaulters,” she added. When questioned in this regard, Manjit Singh Narang, Municipal Commissioner, Patiala, said May 1 was Sunday, therefore nothing much could be done yesterday. “We have constituted checking teams today that will conduct raids in across the city and try to get hold of maximum number of defaulters to ensure that the ban is successful. I am sure that we will get good results within a few days. We also need the cooperation of all city residents for the cause. Everyone should understand their responsibility and say no to polythene bags,” he added.
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CPS Thandal resigns
Thandal was instructed to submit his resignation to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal this evening and it was accepted immediately. Sources said the party was wary of corruption becoming an issue in the elections when it had been successfully running the government for the past more than four years without any major scandal. Also, the SAD did not want to give an opportunity to the Congress to make Thandal’s conviction a political issue and link it with the demand to reopen the disproportionate assets case in which the CM had been acquitted. Though the Congress has already threatened to reopen the case against the Badals if it is returns to power, the SAD hopes that the sacking of Thandal will put a lid on this demand. It is clear that Thandal’s conviction on the grounds of disproportionate assets is hurting the SAD with Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal claiming that Union Minister for State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur was committing contempt of court by threatening to reopen cases against her family already decided by the courts. Harsimrat termed Preneet’s presence in the Union Ministry as one of ‘cosmetic value’ in a statement today. Meanwhile, Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira claimed that the CM had misused his official position to derail the disproportionate assets case registered against him. Congress general secretary Parminder Singh Pinky alleged that sand and liquor mafia in the state, “patronised” by the ruling political class, was indulging in widespread corruption and that the Lokpal needed to be given powers to take action on such matters.
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Sikh Jatha returns from Bangladesh
Amritsar, May 3 Satnam Singh Dhanoa of the society, who had led a Sikh jatha to Bangladesh in December last year, claimed that the Sikh sangat performed ‘path’ at Gurdwara Mymen Singh, which is 125 km from Dhaka, on April 23 for the first time since 1947. “This became possible due to the visit of our jatha. Not only ‘path’, but kirtan was also organised at the gurdwara which was followed by langar,” he added. The jatha celebrated April 29 as foundation day of the Khalsa Panth at Gurdwara Sikh Temple Estate, Chittagong. Addressing the Sikh sangat on the occasion, Chittagong Session Judge Yakeer Ahmes, who is the in charge of gurdwara affairs there, announced a sum of 60,000 Bangladeshi Taka (currency) for the repair work of the gurdwara. He also stated that those who have been occupying the gurdwara premises illegally will be moved to other places. He said the space vacated by the illegal occupants would be utilised to construct a ‘sarai’ (inn) for Sikh pilgrims. He announced that a school would also be opened in the memory of Guru Nanak Dev and the Sikh sangat can contribute towards the cause. On April 22, the Sikh jatha participated in a religious programme at Gurdwara Nanakshahi in Dhaka. Speaking on the occasion, Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Qazi Nazrul Islam said around 60 Muslim students are studying Sikhism at the university. He also announced that a museum focusing on various religions in the world has been set up in the university and it has been named after the first Sikh Guru as the Guru Nanak Museum of World Religion. The six-storey building of the museum has a section dedicated to the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev.
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Tandon writes to Chief Secy on Circuit House fiasco
In a letter, Tandon claimed that he had a providential escape when a part of the false ceiling fell on the bed on which he was asleep. Tandon claimed he was in a room reserved for the VVIPs. The BJP leader said despite the fact that he reported the incident to officials in Amritsar, no inquiry had been conducted. He urged the Chief Secretary to order an inquiry into the incident by an officer of the rank of Chief Engineer. He also urged that the entire false ceiling of the room in which he had stayed be replaced and the ceilings of other rooms be checked. Sources said the Amritsar Circuit House was one of the better ones in the state on which Rs 40 lakh to 50 lakh were spent to spruce it up for the proposed visit of US President Barack Obama to the holy city eight months back. The Director, Hospitality Punjab Bhawan, NS Brar said the department was hopeful of getting funds this year to conduct urgent repairs in various circuit houses. He said against the demand made for Rs 6 crore, the department was hopeful of getting Rs 3 crore. Brar said repair work of the Ludhiana and Jalandhar circuit houses would be taken up on a priority basis. There has been virtually no maintenance of circuit houses during the SAD-BJP rule. This issue was also highlighted in the Vidhan Sabha but the government hasdone little to set things right.
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Yasmeen Murder Case
Malerkotla, May 3 Manawar Masih also visited the house of the victim Yasmeen. Yasmeen died on April 19 at Rajindra hospital,
Patiala. Mohd Imran, Yasmeen’s brother, had lodged a complaint with the local police on April 19 alleging that the owners of the factory, where her sister was working for the past two years, had raped her sister. Members of the committee, led by Mohammad
Iqbal, submitted a memorandum demanding proper investigation into the rape and murder of Yasmeen and demanded strict action against the guilty. Addressing mediapersons at a local rest house, Masih said that the commission would submit its report within this month. The commission also recorded the statement of Kuldeep Singh, District Family Welfare Officer, who had earlier inquired into the involvement of doctors of local civil hospital in the case. In his statement to the commission, Kuldeep Singh has said that the final postmortem report was pending due to which it was too early to say anything about the involvement of doctors.
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Patiala MC to go online by year-end
Patiala, May 3 Kohli, who recently attended an international conference on “People, places and opportunities towards sustainable cities - 2030” at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, said that during the conference, he attended several technical sessions and realised that a successful civic body is possible only through a visionary approach, futuristic planning and computerisation. “With a view to improving the work culture of a civic body, besides providing the masses a facility to get their various works done in a hassle-free manner, the municipal corporation will be fully computerised. “All the works related to the civic body, including paying various taxes, application/sanctioning of building plans, obtaining no-objection certificate for buildings etc, will be done online,” Kohli told The Tribune. Kohli added that on the click of a mouse, the applicant will be able to know the status of his request pending with the MC office. He said that the process would be completed by the end of the year. He also informed that the website of the PMC would be launched soon.
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Translation to apprise women of their rights
Patiala, May 3 Confirming the move, Director of the Centre, Manju Verma, said they had initiated this keeping in view the increasing crime rate against women and their inability to fight against them. She said, “We have translated various international laws, which are a part of international treaties, including FIDA, CIDA, Beijing Declaration etc which all aim empowering women in the society. Also, we have finished the translation of the Domestic Violence Act, the Anti-Dowry Act, the Hindu Marriage Act and the Sexual Harassment Act to create awareness.” “Many women are unaware of their rights and legal ways to deal against abuse. This translation aims at providing comprehensive details about the Acts. Many women living in villages of Punjab are either illiterate or do not understand English. This is an effort to reach out to them and encourage them to stand against the violation of their rights,” she said. She said the department had already published pamphlets, which would explain these laws. These would be distributed free of cost among public. Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr Jaspal Singh, said this was prestigious project as it would not only help women but would also enable men to know what could be the consequences of their actions. “We are planning to distribute 10,000 to 20,000 copies of the Domestic Violence Act alone because this is the most talked about crime against women and many incidents related to this Act come to light time and again,” he said. We are planning to translate more laws which will solve two purposes, firstly to educate women and secondly to spread Punjabi in remote corners of the area, which is one of the priorities of Punjabi University, Patiala,” he added.
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Zero tolerance to drunken driving
Patiala, May 3 As per the records, the city police held nakas to check drunken driving and challaned 31 violators in the past one week. For this purpose, the city traffic police is using three alcoholometers. Further, 11 illegal red lights atop vehicles were also removed while 241 fines for use of black filming on cars were issued while 185 challans for use of mobile phones while driving were also issued. Badungar said the city traffic police held a special awareness drive for 28,760 students in various schools of the city. “Students were shown graphic presentations and were educated about road safety and first-aid lessons for better road sense,” he added. Senior officers warned that the drive would continue for another some time and would intensify further. “Earlier, we were short of staff but recently we added 10 policemen in the traffic wing and plan to add another 10 in the coming week,” they added.Meanwhile, several NGOs have brought the matter of traffic violations into the notice of the district administration. Following this, a special team, including the police and civil officials are trying to find solutions to the increasing traffic problems. “The traffic system in the city will be monitored every week and senior officers will be keeping a tab on our working,” Badungar said.
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Varsity working on silicon wafers
Patiala, May 3 The project is based on the idea of Indian-origin scientist SMD Rao, who is working with Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is at present working as a project investigator with the physics department. The team which is carrying out this research includes investigator of the physics department Prof VK Mittal; Dr Sanjeev Kumar from College of Engineering, Punjabi University, Patiala; HR Vaish, managing director of Instapower Limited, New Delhi; and research scholars Leena Garg, Shivani Sharma and Pooja Seth. Giving information, Prof Verma said this research was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, and it began in 2008. He said: “Once I met Rao and he suggested that we should work for the preparation of silicon wafers and lay stress on the use of solar cells. As the silicon sheets are manufactured abroad, they are very expensive. We thought that if we would be able to manufacture them in India, usage of solar cells could be really cost effective.” “Later, this proposal was discussed with the Department of Science and Technology in 2006 and 2007. The then Vice-Chancellor Swarn Singh Boparai had given the permission for carrying out the research in the same year but the project was approved in 2008. The new Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jaspal Singh, inaugurated the solar energy research laboratory and also promised every possible help.” The project has been distributed in four phases and its total cost is around Rs 5 crore.
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He devoted his life to kar sewa
Chandigarh, May 3 His antim ardas will be held at tomorrow at Gurdwara Raqab Ganj’s Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara Hall, a hall that was built under his watchful supervision. Known as “Baba with a basket,” he believed in leading kar sewaks from the front at the construction sites. There is a long list of new buildings of gurdwaras, their langar halls and sarovars constructed or renovated under his supervision in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. He dedicated his life to renovating historic gurdwaras and sarovars. This is why after Partition, he made a small place adjoining Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi as his abode. All his operations in the country were controlled from here. The 88-year-old Baba was born at Noorpur Thal in Sargodha (now in Pakistan) on January 1, 1923. It may be a mere coincidence that at the time of his birth, the historic kar sewa of Sri Harminder Sahib was in progress. His father Asa Singh and mother Dharam Kaur were deeply religious. In 1943, when Kar Sewa for the construction of historical shrines at Nankana Sahib was in progress under the guidance and supervision of Sant Baba Gurmukh Singh, he moved there. As ordained by Baba Gurmukh Singh, he resolved to dedicate his life to kar sewa. Initially, he worked under Baba Jhanda Singh, Baba Dalip Singh and Baba Jiwan Singh. At first, he was entrusted with the Kar Sewa work at Pehowa (in Haryana). He came to Delhi in 1976 and started the kar sewa of constructing a large sarovar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib on June 6, 1976. Subsequently, the langar hall at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and the massive Diwan Hall Lakhi Shah Vanjara Hall were constructed at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj. Thousands of devout, including top Sikh leaders, attended the Baba’s cremation.
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Supreme Court reinstates SGPC employee
New Delhi, May 3 A Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik held that the SGPC could dismiss an employee from service “only after the charges of misconduct are established in an inquiry conducted by an inquiry committee.” On April 3, 2008, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had upheld his removal from service, holding that Bedi had “not only defamed the SGPC but also brought a bad name to the entire community.” The apex court noted that the December 1, 2007 inquiry report of the sub-committee constituted by the executive committee of the SGPC had accepted Bedi’s explanation that the woman was his wife. “Thus, without a finding in an inquiry that the appellant was guilty of conduct which had defamed the SGPC, the High Court could not have taken a view in the impugned order that the appellant had brought a bad name to the SGPC,” the SC Bench ruled. “The order dated 28.02.2008 issued by the secretary of the SGPC terminating the services of the appellant is, therefore, not legally valid and is accordingly quashed. “The impugned order of the High Court is set aside,” the judgment written by Justice Patnaik for the Bench said. While the SGPC sub-committee had accepted his explanation and recommended his reinstatement, Bedi was relieved from service on the ground that the resolution of the executive committee adopted on January 1, 2008, to reinstate him was not confirmed by the same committee at its meeting held on February 18, 2008. Bedi had come to the SC challenging the HC verdict.
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Transfer money directly to bank accounts of landowners: HC
Chandigarh, May 3 In an attempt to prevent harassment to the landowners, the High Court has directed the States of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Union territory of Chandigarh, to adopt a method for direct transfer of compensation to the bank accounts of the property owners. Calling upon Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh to adopt the system, Justice Rajesh Bindal, in a significant judgment, said: “The collector at the time of issuance of notice under Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act should ask the landowners to furnish the details of their bank accounts and the collector shall be duty-bound to directly transfer the amount of compensation in their bank accounts in all undisputed cases”. The directions came on an appeal by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and also by landowners seeking further enhancement in compensation. Justice Rajesh Bindal said a perusal of a policy issued by Haryana on November 9 last shows “in addition to the amount of compensation to be paid to the landowners, a specified sum is also required to be paid as annuity for 33 years. “For the payment of the aforesaid amount, the state government requires the filling of an application with certain specified particulars, including details regarding bank accounts of the landowners so that the amount could be transferred in his account directly. “The landowners can be asked to furnish the details of their bank accounts in response to the notices issued to them under Section 9 and in all undisputed claims, the amount should directly be transferred by the collectors in the bank accounts of the landowners immediately after the announcement of the award. This will not only save the landlords from harassment, but also the time and energy of the officials of the office of the collector. “The system should not only be restricted to the State of Haryana. Rather, the same system should be followed even in the state of Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh”. Directing the forwarding of the order’s copies to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, and the Home Secretary of Chandigarh, Justice Bindal also directed the state to frame a policy for dealing with cases “where there is some dispute regarding the entitlement of compensation or cases where the landowners have not approached the collector for receiving the amount”. Justice Bindal said the amount should be kept “in a manner that the landowners get reasonable return on the amount paid to them at a later date”.
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Less than a month after the Union Government offered to help Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh in taming the Ghaggar, the states have shown near unanimity in accepting the project, putting aside their water and territorial discords.
The city traffic police has started a special drive to check drunken driving and other traffic violations. Following instructions from the top brass of the city police, the traffic wing has started holding special night vigil and nakas on all city roads.
Chandigarh, May 3
Ropar, May 3
Chidambaram, who played a key role in the first nuclear test at Pokaran in 1974, said that nuclear energy was the answer to power crisis. “The 21st century’s two major concerns are climate change and energy security. We can secure the energy sector by utilising nuclear energy,” he added.
Chandigarh, May 3
Chandigarh, May 3