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CBI grills Kalia, Swarna Ram
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Told to appear before court, Justice Yadav moves HC
HC: Aided schools, clubs are under RTI
Penalty dose for 25 hospitals
Capt wants bar on sale of varsity land
Amarinder seeks snap poll
Amarinder Singh meets party workers
Patiala Rural Constituency
Violations
Swarna Ram skips grievances panel meeting
Academic inbreeding behind mediocre research, says VC
NRHM employees threaten to gherao CM
Ropar tourist complex to be revamped
The Pinkasia Tourist Complex of the Punjab Government in Ropar. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu
‘Pro-Pak regime in Kabul threat to India’
Prof Sohi is CGC campus director
Dera Bassi gets unclean water
NRIs, teachers provide uniform to poor students
Govt to punish illegal de-addiction centres
State made party to appeal against Speaker Kahlon
Pak arms smuggler among 3 held
Officers of the State Special Operation Cell display the arms seized in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
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CBI grills Kalia, Swarna Ram
Chandigarh, May 9 Kalia reportedly told the CBI officials that he neither met the complainant, Manpreet Singh, or the accused nor had he seen the ‘demi-official’ letter in question. “I am innocent,” he said after joining the investigations. “In normal routine, such types of matters are solved at lower level. These things do not come to me and in this case too, the situation is no different.” Arriving at the CBI office around 11.15 am, Kalia was the first to be questioned -- his interrogation lasting for over an hour. Speaking to The Tribune later, Kalia made a veiled attack on the CBI saying it should have maintained “high standards of investigation” as the “dispute was clearly between two factions of the automobile association”. He said he had even asked the CBI to inquire into the antecedents of the complainants but was told that the agency did not have the jurisdiction to do so. “The same can be said to be true for us (him and Swarna Ram) as we are only living in Chandigarh in our official capacities but the case as well as the illegal activity has occurred in Mohali,” he added. Swarna Ram reached the CBI office at around 1.30 pm. He is also reported to have told the investigating officials that he did not meet any of the persons in the case. “It was my private secretary Bhag Singh whom a few members of the Punjab Automobile Mechanics Association met. He (Bhag Singh) came to me with their complaint, on which I recommended necessary action against the complainant, Manpreet Singh. When Bhag Singh told me that the party was not satisfied and wished my recommendation for criminal action against him, I asked him to file the letter,” he said. The Minister also revealed that as Bhag Singh had worked in the Industries Department, it was a possibility that the mechanics’ union members knew him. On how the application with his note reached the accused, Swarna Ram said might he might have got it from some employee. Meanwhile, during the quizzing both the Ministers were reportedly shown the audio-video recordings of the complainant, Manpreet Singh, the accused, Davinder Singh and Punjab’s Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Finance) Raj Khurana. The duo termed the episode a “political conspiracy” against them and the BJP. Earlier, Khurana made a submission before the CBI authorities to be accompanied by his counsel AS Sukhija during questioning, which was rejected. Meanwhile, the Punjab BJP today tried to regain lost ground by claiming that both its ministers had “passed the CBI grilling with flying colours”. The top BJP leadership, including party state president Ashwani Kumar Sharma and organising secretary Ajay Jamwal, were preparing ground for going to the people claiming their ministers had been “victimised” by the central agency. BJP leader Vivek Modgil said there was complete unanimity in the party that attempts were being made to “frame” both the ministers.
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Case of missing note solved
Chandigarh, May 9 The CBI had recovered a note, signed by Swarna Ram, recommending to Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia to hold an inquiry into the sale of land by a faction of an automobile workers’ society at Bishanpur village near Zirakpur. According to revelations made by Swarna Ram, a faction of the society, agitated over the sale of part of the society land by the other faction, approached his personal assistant Bhag Singh, who had earlier served in the Industries Department. When his assistant consulted him on the issue, he asked him to address a letter to Kalia, recommending an inquiry into the case. However, the complainants were not satisfied. They wanted him to write a letter to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asking him to direct the DGP to register a case as well as hold an inquiry into the issue. “I explained to my personal assistant that this could not be done and that I could only approach the Industries Minister in the case”, Swarna Ram said. Subsequently, the complainants said the note did not meet their demand and that they did not want it. “The note was subsequently filed”. However, the Technical Education Minister was at a loss to explain how a note which was filed by him and not sent to the Industries Minister had reached an employee of the Registrar of Firms and Society, Devinder Singh, who subsequently approached Raj Khurana along with a member of a faction of the automobile association demanding it be “suppressed.”
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Told to appear before court, Justice Yadav moves HC
Chandigarh, May 9 Her petition is to be placed before Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia at serial number 124 and is expected to come up for hearing by 10.30 am on Tuesday. Available information suggests that Justice Yadav has thrown a challenge to the summoning order and the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the matter. The summoning orders were passed by Special Judge Ritu Tagore after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the CBI against Justice Yadav and others on March 4 - the day she retired as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court. The name of Justice Yadav had surfaced in the cash-at-judge's doorstep case as the alleged intended recipient of Rs 15 lakh. The money had erroneously landed in the house of another High Court judge with similar name - Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. A case in the matter was registered initially by the Chandigarh Police after Justice Nirmaljit Kaur had blown the whistle. The investigation was later handed over to the CBI. A three-judge committee was also constituted by the then Chief Justice of India to look into the matter.
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HC: Aided schools, clubs are under RTI
Chandigarh, May 9 The Mohali Punjab Cricket Association, Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, Jalandhar Gymkhana and Ludhiana Sutluj Club are among those affected by the order. In a first, Justice MS Sullar said: “It is clearly established and is hereby held not only that the petitioner-institutes are bodies owned and controlled by the state government, in view of the provisions of the relevant Acts and rules, the same are authorities substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the appropriate government as well. Hence, they are public authorities within the meaning of the RTI Act, which serves a larger public interest.” Taking up 19 petitions by Hindu Urban Cooperative Bank Limited and others, Justice Sullar asserted: “As strange as it may seem, strictly speaking the tendency of some institutions of not supplying and taking a somersault in denying information has been tremendously increasing day by day, leaving the public at large in general and information seekers in particular in the lurch…” Going into the background of the controversy, Justice Sullar observed: “The requisite information was not supplied by the State Public Information Officers of the institutions, mainly on the ground that they do not fall within the ambit of public authorities, and the provisions of the RTI Act were not applicable to them”. It was also argued that direct or indirect financial help provided by the appropriate government was “not substantial” as envisaged under the RTI Act. Justice Sullar said: “What is not disputed is that the word substantial has not been defined under the RTI Act and has no limited or fixed meaning. For the purpose of legislation, it has to be construed in its ordinary and natural sense relatable to the aims, fundamental purpose and object sought to be achieved to provide transparency and to contain corruption and to promote accountability under the RTI Act.”
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Penalty dose for 25 hospitals
Patiala, May 9
PPCB officials said as biomedical waste was a sensitive issue, the board had adopted the policy of persuasion and prosecution. “Since the last one year, we convened various meetings at the regional office level with the district and state-level Indian Medical Association units to persuade the hospital, pathogenic laboratory and other medical establishments to strictly follow the Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 1998,” they said. PPCB chairman Rajat Aggarwal said the action came following a lengthy process where the board held special camps to sensitise various health care facilities regarding safe disposal of the waste and that the board granted a total of 812 authorisations for disposal at certain locations. “All efforts were made to persuade medical fraternity to strictly obey the provisions of the law and efforts were made to avoid unfair competitive bidding among various biomedical waste facilities,” he added. Aggarwal said when the entire process of awareness was over, they conducted raids and inspections in major hospitals of the state and after scrutiny of their biomedical waste, the ones violating the norms were penalised. “The issue is serious and that’s why the erring government hospitals were also booked as biomedical waste is dangerous for humans and environment too.” Issuing another warning against fresh violations, PPCB member secretary Dr Babu Ram said as health care facility was a fundamental right of an individual, their proper and safe delivery was the duty of doctors and hospitals. “The biomedical waste facilities operational in the state were monitored regularly and bank guarantees were taken from various defaulters and erring facilities were shut down and were only allowed to operate after rectification.” Biomedical waste consists of solids, liquids, sharps, and laboratory waste that is potentially infectious or dangerous.
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Capt wants bar on sale of varsity land
Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh has sought a ban on the selling of land belonging to the Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana, saying the land was meant for research and could not be squandered away to make money.
Referring to the revelations made by the outgoing PAU Vice-Chancellor Dr MS Kang in this regard, Capt Amarinder said it was shocking as how the Akali-BJP government was trying to sell the university land without caring about agricultural research. — TNS
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Amarinder seeks snap poll
Amritsar, May 9 Interacting with the media here today, he demanded the arrest of Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Swarna Ram for their “involvement” in the scam unearthed by the CBI. “We can’t have law-breakers as our lawmakers,” he remarked. Referring to the resignation of CPS Raj Khurana, he said, his resignation was immaterial as he was already under arrest. “What matters is bringing to book others like Kalia and Swarna Ram who are equally involved in the scam but are roaming free. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, dithering on whether to defend him or seek his resignation, stands exposed on the issue of corruption,” he said. Condemning the “attempts” by the state government to interfere with the CBI probe, the PPCC chief said the agency must be allowed to work independently. “The government is scared that many more skeletons will tumble out once the CBI goes in for a thorough probe.” Amarinder Singh said with several leaders of the ruling coalition facing serious allegations, the government had lost the right to rule. “Legislator Sohan Singh Thandal has been held guilty of corruption while Khurana is under arrest. Ministers Kalia and Swarna Ram are also facing allegations. The kin of MLA Sarbjeet Singh Makkar are involved in a murder. Many others leaders are charged with criminal offences. “What more justification is needed for a snap poll,” he asked. He alleged that the SAD-BJP government was selling government property to its “favourite” at throwaway prices. He said he would scrap all such deals on assuming power. The former CM was here to meet party workers and leaders of four assembly constituencies- Amritsar South, Amritsar West, Amritsar North and Amritsar Central. The workers jostled with one another to get close to their leader. Congress leaders OP Soni, Jugal Kishore, Darbari Lal, Arvind Khanna and Jasbir Singh Dimpa received Amarinder Singh.
Workers jostle
As the Captain arrived at a resort on Batala Road here, scores of Congress workers jostled with one another to have an audience with him. Many were seen in an altercation with security personnel as they tried to get close to their leader. Amarinder Singh, denying that there was factionalism in the party, said: “What you saw today is workers in high spirits. There are various contenders for each seat, which is a healthy sign”.
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Patiala Rural Constituency
Patiala, May 9 A few leaders today held a separate meeting to show dissidence against the proposed ticket announcement on May 12.
More than 54 villages and 52 panchayats are eagerly awaiting the proposed sangat darshan programme of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on May 12 to get a total Rural Development Fund (RDF) worth over Rs 3.5 crore to complete pending developmental projects. The CM is expected to hold the sangat darshan at a private resort and the function is expected to clear the air surrounding the next proposed SAD candidate from the constituency. More than six candidates are vying for a SAD ticket and had been holding functions in the villages claiming their candidature. Sources confirmed that the Patiala Rural segment has been constantly ignored from over past four years following infighting and numerous stakeholders for the ticket, due to which the disbursal of RDF has been postponed time and again. Among the frontrunners is Harmail Singh Tohra, who is staking claim for the SAD ticket and is holding meetings with the district administration to hold the show. “This is due to my efforts that 54 villages would get RDF that was pending from past many years and I personally asked the CM to hold a sangat darshan and give away the cheques,” claimed Harmail, who was earlier in race for a SAD ticket from Sanaur. Earlier in the day, a few other contenders from Patiala Rural today held a meeting and opposed the proposed candidature of Harmail Singh Tohra. The meeting was also attended by former MP and SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra. The participants said they would take up the matter with the SAD chief and seek a ticket for someone who is from the constituency. Talking to TNS, Chandumajra said he went to the function on a personal invitation from some leaders and not officially. “Though some leaders raised the issue, I have asked all the dissidents to focus on development rather than opposing each other,” he said adding that ticket would be announced by the party high command. Meanwhile, Patiala DC Dipinder Singh said the function was an official function and was held by the district administration. “The formal nod has been given and the Chief Minister will hold a sangat darshan for the villages falling in Patiala Rural constituency. This is not a political function held by any individual leader and we have already received RDF to be distributed,” he stated.
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Violations
Mohali, May 9 Demanding a through probe into the allotment, he said that under the garb of the off-the-shelf scheme, the Industries Department headed by the Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia allotted nine plots, each measuring 2,500 sq yard, at a rate of Rs 2,700 per sq yard and for the two plots measuring 1,000 sq yard, the allotment rate was Rs 4,500 per sq yard. But, the market rate of the plots was much higher. In reply to a query posed by the MLA during the last Vidhan Sabha session, the Industries Minister had stated that the allotment had been made in accordance with the criteria laid down in the policy notified by the state government on April 9, 2008. The allotments were made in April 2008 and August 2008. “When the plots were carved out, the land in question was under stay via an order of the Supreme Court. The 14 acres allotted to individuals had been surrendered by ICICI Paints. No construction had been raised on these plots and some of them had been sold further,” he added. Citing provisions under the policy of the Industries Department on the allotment of land for industrial parks, agro parks and IT parks, Sidhu claimed the mandatory policy of 60 per cent industrial, 30 per cent residential and 10 per cent commercial allotment had not been followed. As under the off-the-shelf scheme, only 30 per cent of the total plots could be offered. For allotting the plots in the general scheme, the department should have given open advertisement in national papers and invited entrepreneurs to set up their units. “Certain persons in the ruling government got the plots allotted through a backdoor policy,” said the MLA demanding a CBI probe in the alleged allotment scam. He said he would soon come out with the details of the persons who have been allotted the plots and the conditions that had been violated.
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Swarna Ram skips grievances panel meeting
Ropar, May 9 The minister is the chairman of the grievances committee. Meanwhile, presiding over the meeting, Deputy Commissioner GK Singh directed all officials at the district and division level to conduct a recce of all towns and villages falling under them and table a report on problems and its solutions by May 31. He said illegal mining would not be allowed in the district and only contractors would be allowed to conduct mining. It was directed that all public places, where people stand under the sun in queue, should be covered with shades and drinking water be provided. Nangal Municipal Councillor Shobha Rana raised the issue of sale of meat at the Adda Market Nangal. The officials of Nangal and Ropar municipal councils were directed to chart out a plan for shifting these meat shops in a phased manner. District Revenue Officer-cum-District Grievances Redressal Officer Paramjit Singh said out of eight pending problems, five have been resolved. During the last meeting, 20 complaints were received of which 15 have been solved. Committee member Lal Bahadur raised the issue of cremation ground in the city. The earlier cremation ground on the Nangal-Ropar road was removed because of the widening of the National Highway No. 21 Kurali-Kiratpur Sahib road. Rs 24 lakh were earmarked for the construction of new cremation ground. During the last district grievances committee meeting, the Municipal Council Ropar, nodal agency to construct cremation ground, had been directed to put up an agenda pertaining to the ground in its meeting. However, the Municipal Council did not put up an agenda and the project is hanging fire since then. The Deputy Commissioner directed the officials to expeditiously redress the grievance.
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Academic inbreeding behind mediocre research, says VC
Ludhiana, May 9 Citing lack of exposure among scientists as the major reason for the ordinariness, Dr MS Kang, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of PAU, rued that not many scientists on campus had got a chance to interact with experts in world-famous research centres. “Circulating dirty water will not remove the stink,” remarked Dr Kang adding that there were some very bright scientists with the university, but that was not enough. He recalled how he had started several talent exchange programmes with prominent universities abroad to address the issue. After having put in four years in the PAU, Dr Kang, a scientist of international repute who was handpicked by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the post of PAU-VC, does not plan to go back to the USA where he was working before this assignment. “I felt uprooted at that time. I came thinking that I should serve my alma mater. But I have been treated badly because I refused to toe the line of political bosses,” he said. Dr Kang had recently created ripples in the state when he had accused the Chief Minister of asking him to sell PAU land on Ferozepore Road worth Rs 1,000 crore, to raise salaries for the staff. “I had formed a committee that had given a report against the selling. Information has now trickled down to me that the CM is angry with me for the same reason. But I have got a lot of support from the Opposition in the Assembly. They are going to honour me this week for saving PAU land,” he said.
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NRHM employees threaten to gherao CM
Ludhiana, May 9 The NRHM Union is scheduled to meet Principal Secretary, Health, Punjab Satish Chandra, at Chandigarh tomorrow. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, general secretary, and Rajinder Singh, media in charge of the NRHM Employees Association, said: ''We will meet the Prinicpal Secretary, Health, tomorrow. In case he postpones a decision on our demands again, we will gherao the Chief Minister during his sangat darshan functions and will also hold protest rallies all over the state." The agitated leaders said: ''The Punjab Government pays us less salaries as compared to the employees in UP, Bihar and Rajasthan.” In Punjab, NRHM employees (numbering 5,042) have been holding protests and rallies for months together. They allege they are overworked but paid less. “Last year the Chief Minister had assured us that our demands for a salary hike and regular jobs would be met. Yet the Principal Secretary did nothing to implement these." The main demands of the NRHM employees are implementation of service rules, medical leave, earned leave, medical facilities, ex gratia, DA and six-month maternity leave with pay for woman employees.
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Ropar tourist complex to be revamped
Ropar, May 9 The Alchemist Group has taken over the project on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis on 60 years lease from the Punjab Government. Under the PPP arrangement, existing Pinkcassia building will be completely dismantled and a new building with banquet halls, as per the requirement of tourism industry will be constructed. The earlier setup had been operating with boating facility being its main attraction. It is one of the prime properties of the Tourism Department. It is surrounded by vast expanse of 75 acres of forest area on the bank of the Sutlej offering perfect destination for eco and health tourism. “However, the last Congress government decided to sell off major properties of the Tourism Department with Pinkcassia being one of them, under its disinvestment move. The projects such as that at Neelon, Amritsar and Pathankot were sold off. Thereafter, when the SAD-BJP government took over, it decided to give these projects on lease on the PPP basis,” said sources in the Tourism Department. While the lease document has been signed long ago, the government is yet to hand over the project to Alchemist group. The bone of contention between the two is said to be area of the land. The government advertisement mentions land to be 9.5 acres, whereas it is actually 58 kanals and 5 marlas, which amounts to around 8 acres. “The Punjab Government told Alchemist group that it would provide land lying adjacent to Pinkcassia, which is Irrigation Department’s land. It is expected that in next two days the matter will be sorted out and work begins on the project,” the sources added.
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‘Pro-Pak regime in Kabul threat to India’
Patiala, May 9 This was stated by Lt-Gen Hardev Liddar (retd) while delivering a lecture on “Security Concerns of India with Special Reference to Emerging Situations in Pakistan & Afghanistan”. The lecture was organised by the Centre for South-West Asia Study (Pakistan-Afghanistan), Punjabi University, Patiala, here today. Whenever foreign invasions took place on erstwhile India, it was through the Khyber Pass and till date, India's security concerns are dependent upon having this corridor secure and safe. However, ever since India's Independence and creation of Pakistan, India ceased to have land route connections with Afghanistan which is of strategic importance to India. India must find out ways and means to have a land route connection with Afghanistan so as to reach the Central Asia, Gen Liddar said. He further said Pakistan is supposed to be more directly affected by the developments in Afghanistan since the dominant Pashtoon tribes of Afghanistan have a strong presence there. Talking about the India linkage, Gen Liddar said a pro-Pakistan regime in Afghanistan also implied a constant threat to India along with its western borders which had been smuggling militancy to destabilise India. It is vital for India's security to have not only a friendly political dispensation in Afghanistan but also a pro-India establishment there.Prof S.S. Tiwana, Dean, Academic Affairs, Prof G.R. Kataria, Prof Baldev Singh Sandhu, Prof Lakhwinder Singh, Prof Kesar Singh and Dr Umrao participated in the discussion. Prof R.S. Ghuman, Programme Coordinator of the Centre, said political stability and strong defence were prerequisite to economic development.
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Prof Sohi is CGC campus director
Kharar, May 9 The management and faculty at CGC Gharuan campus extended a warm welcome to the new director. Prof Sohi has worked with premier institutions like Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh, defence laboratories of the Government of India, Guru Nanak Engineering College Ludhiana and Panjab University Chandigarh. Dr Sohi has been a member of various high-level government committees in the academic domain. Presently, Prof Sohi is also a member of the board of studies for engineering at Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. He has published more than a 100 research papers in international journals and has guided research work at the postgraduate and PhD level.
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Dera Bassi, May 9 The officials concerned were informed of the problem, but in vain. — OC
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NRIs, teachers provide uniform to poor students
Patiala, May 9 Earlier, few social organisations used to convince NRIs or financially sound friends to help these children but now even the government school teachers have adopted this trend as a thanksgiving practice to God for celebrating good news or success of their family members. Rajinder Kaur, a government school teacher who recently distributed shoes and sweaters in her school, said she had done it as her son had got a very good job. “Earlier, we used to donate money to gurdwaras for langar but I realised that no one was more worthy of help than these students. “They belong to very poor families and cannot afford to buy their uniforms. Many would often come to schools without shoes and sweaters in winters. Therefore, my family decided to donate these items instead of giving it to a gurdwara because there is no dearth of money in gurdwaras,” she added. NRI Satwant Kaur Bhullar from Germany was recently blessed with a baby girl and as a thanksgiving practice, she donated the entire ‘shagun’ given by her relatives to these schoolchildren. She said, “When I came to India, I bought copies, dress items and shoes from the ‘shagun’ money because nothing could be more precious than the blessings of these kids”. Taljinder Kaur, SS mistress who retired from Government High School, Baran, few months ago distributed school uniforms to general category boys. “Scheduled Caste boys and girls were given uniforms by the government this year but the general category boys studying in these schools are equally poor. Therefore, I decided to give them uniforms,” she said.
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State made party to appeal against Speaker Kahlon Chandigarh, May 9
In the appeal placed before Justice Jitendra Chauhan, Kashmir Singh and others have contended that the appellants belonging to the majority group decided to elect Kashmir Singh as sarpanch after the election to the Bhagwanpur gram panchayat in Gurdaspur district on June 22, 2008. The Speaker-cum-local MLA started putting pressure on the appellants to elect the sarpanch of “his choice”. When his attempts todo so failed, he allegedly started to pressurise the appellants through the police and the civil administration. The appellants said on July 21, 2008, theywent to the office of the Dera Baba Nanak MC for a meeting only to be told by the SHO that he was under pressure from the local MLA not to allow them in. The following day they were refused entry again. They learnt that the presiding officer, an SDO, had forged and fabricated the proceedings showing Darshan Kaur as the elected sarpanch. They said the election tribunal, vide the impugned order dated March 18, ruled the appellants were not present for the sarpanch’s elections on July 22, 2008, and Darshan Kaur had been elected sarpanch. Staying the operation of the impugned order, Justice Chauhan said: “Counsel for the appellants refers to the statement of the secretary of panchayat and contends that the proceedings dated July 21, 2008, and July 22, 2008, were not recorded in his presence... Therefore, the State of Punjab, through the DDPO, is a necessary and proper party. Accordingly, the State of Punjab, through Gurdaspur DDPO, is impleaded as a respondent.
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Pak arms smuggler among 3 held
Amritsar, May 9 The arrest of Pakistan national Kala Masih, a resident of Ghaggga Kalan village, Narowal district, had baffled security agencies as he had been residing in India for the past one and half months. He has shifted base to India and had been frequenting his native country by traversing the riverine areas of Gurdaspur. The other two suspects included notorious smuggler Jaspal Singh of Ghumrah village and an ex-serviceman Baljit Singh of Ghonewala village. Manminder Singh, AIG counter intelligence, said that the suspects were caught on a tip-off from near Mai Bhago Government Polytechnic College on Majitha Road when Kala Masih, who had recently brought the consignment from across the border, was handing it to Jaspal and Baljit. SSOC authorities consider Kala Masih’s arrest as a major jolt to Pakistan-based agencies. They opined that he was the right hand man of Pakistan-based notorious smuggler Abad Ali alias Badi and had close connections with Babbar Khalsa and Inter-Service Intelligence. “He had been regularly crossing over to Indian territory with counterfeit currency, heroin, arms and ammunition. Pakistan-based agencies asked him to shift base to the Indian side to exploit his expertise regarding border terrain to its fullest,” said Manminder. The AIG added that Kala had developed connections with another notorious smuggler, Jaspal Singh, who had undergone 10 years imprisonment in Tihar Jail, Delhi, as he was caught with 70 kg heroin in the early 90s. Jaspal had engaged Baljit Singh, an ex-serviceman, to provide accommodation and all requisite infrastructure needed for smuggling to Kala Masih. Besides heroin, the police seized eight Chinese pistols .30 bore and one Italy made pistol of .9 mm from their possession. A case under Section 21, 25, 29/61/85 NDPS Act, 25/54/59 Arms Act, 3/34/20 Indian Passport Act and 14 F Act has been registered.
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Amritsar, May 9
Ropar, May 9
Patiala, May 9
Amritsar, May 9
Besides the 25 health care facilities
(HCF) that have been prosecuted in the state, Ludhiana’s Christian Medical College has been let off with a warning. The Civil Hospital,
Ludhiana, had been prosecuted earlier.
