|
|
|
|
|
Gaping holes expose Bhakra channel repair |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After B.Tech, online counselling for more courses at PTU
ETT paper scrapped
Villagers sulk as CM puts off visit
Names of Sodhi, Dhillon on PCC upsets Amarinder
SY Quraishi BJP decides to play safe
CBI raids Faridkot trader’s premises in fraud case
MC caught throwing sewage into drain
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Project
Another aid for visually impaired
Cops to get unique IDs
Organic products shop opens in Ropar
142 NRIs no more on blacklist
HC strikes down amendment
Justice undone as all 15 fast track courts go out of order
Babbar Khalsa terrorist arrested
|
Gaping holes expose Bhakra channel repair
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 12 Done with a view to counter floods, if any, the repair could not even withstand the regular water that was flowed into the canal from the main feeder after a gap of 18 days -- duration of repair work. The repair was done after a gap of 10 years this time. Nine patches were filled up during the repair work between burji numbers 1650073 to 1650078. Now, three of them have developed gaping holes and soil could be seen draining into the canal with gushing water. "While cracks could be seen at other patch works, three of these are visible from the banks of the canal itself. The possibility of cracks at various other patches could not be ruled out," said Najar Singh, a former panchayat member of Sidhwan village. Najar Singh said that Sidhwan, Meerpur and Suhag Heri villages were situated besides the canal and any breach could lead to water flooding into these villages. The villagers alleged that they were witness to the breach of the canal banks several times over the past years and from different points. Notably, the canal was closed from April 4 to April 22. Sarabjit Singh of Suhag Heri village alleged that it appeared to be a case of poor quality cement. A vice chairman of the market committee at Chanarthal, Sarabjit said the villagers were demanding a high-level inquiry into the money spent and material used for the repair. A grant of Rs 108 crore was released for the job -- starting from Saunda Head in Fatehgarh Sahib; patches were laid on the decaying banks to avoid any breach during the floods. Fearing that the breach may cause damage, the villagers informed the officials concerned who ordered to put sand-filled bags for covering these gaping holes. The BML has a length of around 164 km, of which 159 km falls in Punjab. Punjab Irrigation Department Secretary Amarjit Singh Dullat said he would send officials to the spot. "We will take samples of the material used in repair and take action against the guilty," he said.
|
|
After B.Tech, online counselling for more courses at PTU
Jalandhar, May 12 While the online counselling for B.Tech has been entrusted with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), another government agency, ICSIL, has been roped in for other courses. As the university has not conducted CET for B.Tech this year, it will be for the first time that the applicants would be offered seats on the basis of their rank in AIEEE. The university is in the process of starting online registration for B.Tech admission for Punjab as well as outside state students from May 23 to June 8, Dean (Academics) Dr Buta Singh confirmed. Applicants interested in seeking admission in any university or college in Punjab would have to log onto the PTU’s official portal for filling up their details and generating their unique ID and password during this period. For the first time this year, they would have an option to pay fee to the tune of Rs 3,000 online using a credit card or else deposit the same at designated banks after showing a web-generated slip, as was being done earlier. Besides, the university has plans to start choice filling from June 10 to 20, provided the AIEEE does not alter the result date of June 7. “A mock result would be declared on June 18 so that the students get a fair idea as to where they stand and whether they need to fill in more choices. The seat allotment of the first round will be declared on June 24,” said the Dean. He added that there would be three rounds of online counselling, the last being open to all categories.
|
|
ETT paper scrapped
Chandigarh, May 12 Copies of the question paper to be held this afternoon was found with the students this morning. Meanwhile, the Education Minister has barred the SCERT from holding the ETT exams till further orders. The minister has asked Sanjay Popli, Additional Secretary, Education, to hold an inquiry into the fiasco and register a case against those found guilty.
|
|
|
Villagers sulk as CM puts off visit
Patiala, May 12 More than 54 villages and 52 panchayats were to receive Rural Development Fund (RDF) amounting to Rs 3.5 crore to carry out various developmental works that had been pending for the past many years. Sources said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has made it a point to visit every constituency along with the constituency incharge to distribute grants. Hence, the grants will now be disbursed only when the CM again makes a visit to the constituency. While no official reason was given for the cancellation of the sangat darshan, sources said that all official functions that the CM was to attend had been cancelled or postponed due to the poor health of his wife. SAD leader Harmail Singh Tohra said that the sangat darshan would be held later and fresh dates would be announced soon. “The grant has been received and is lying with the district administration and will be distributed once the CM is free,” he told The Tribune. “Three leaders over the past three years had promised to get us enough grants to solve the problem of stagnant water in our village during monsoon, but to no avail. Now, even the sangat darshan has got cancelled,” said a resident of Faggan Majra village. Another resident of the village said that politicians should not keep funds waiting in order to get political mileage. “There are enough officers in the district who can distribute the funds,” he said. Following intense infighting among the Shiromani Akali Dal leaders in the Patiala rural constituency, the villages falling in it have not carried out rural developmental works following a shortage of funds over the past three years. Last year, a grant of Rs 2 crore for Patiala Rural lay pending with the district administration for a long while and was later diverted to the constituency of Ghanaur.
|
Names of Sodhi, Dhillon on PCC upsets Amarinder
Chandigarh, May 12 The PCC chief reportedly did not recommend the names of Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and Kewal Dhillon. Both have been made vice-president. He is learnt to have expressed his displeasure over their inclusion as this has led to a bad blood among those left out. It is learnt that Sodhi used his ties with Ahmad Patel, the all-powerful political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi while Dhillon made his way through Ambika Soni and the party in charge for Punjab, Gulchain Singh Charak. Amarinder is said to be upset because the two have been projecting themselves as very close to him, leading to resentment among other senior leaders who have been his loyalists. Senior leaders like Amarjeet Samra, Avtar Henry, Avtar Brar, Tej Parkash and others have been left out of the PCC body. Amarinder Singh, according to sources in the PCC, will be meeting the Congress pesident on including more names on the PPCC list. He is likely to tell the high command that he ill-afford to antagonise senior leaders in the party. Capt Amarinder Singh will have to get his flock together before devising a strategy to fight his political opponents in the assembly elections. Virtually admitting the party had goofed up in constituting the PCC, Capt Amarinder Singh today said he would write to party president Sonia Gandhi to expand the list. He was at the Congress Bhawan here to install former minister Lal Singh and former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna as vice-president and general secretary of the Pradesh Congress, respectively. He said he would request Sonia Gandhi to expand the list for Punjab as a special case, adding the PCC could be expanded post-elections. He said former ministers Avtar Brar, Avtar Henry and Tej Parkash Singh deserved to be made PCC office-bearers and Sunil Jakhar deserved to be elevated from his position of executive committee member.
|
|
Punjab high on EC’s radar
New Delhi, May 12 “We feel Punjab is a high-spending state and, therefore, it will be high on our radar,’’ Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told The Tribune in an interview. He said the commission had moved considerably in terms of dealing with the menace of money power in the polls. It had set up an expenditure monitoring division, led by officials from the Income Tax Service. The division had prepared detailed guidelines, such as asking every candidate to open a separate bank account and submit periodic returns in a prescribed format, setting up flying squads to monitor expenditure and maintaining a register to guard against under-reporting of expenditure. These guidelines had been effective in the just-concluded assembly elections. Quraishi said the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in Punjab and other states where the polls were to be held in the next one year had been quietly working on the exercise of holding the elections in these states. He had spoken to the CEOs this morning and asked them to be ready with their plans on how they proposed to go about conducting the exercise. Their plans would be discussed at a meeting in the last week of May. The CEC said electoral reforms were high on the agenda of the commission. It had been decided that the Law Ministry and the Election Commission would jointly organise regional consultations with political leaders, jurists, administrators, the media and civil society to elicit their views on the issue. Six rounds of consultations had so far been held in different parts, including Chandigarh. After the final round, national-level consultations would be held in New Delhi in the presence of the PM. After this, the electoral reforms Bill would be taken up in Parliament. On the problem of “paid news”, Quraishi said it had issued guidelines and set up state- level media monitoring committees, which included a representative from the Press Council of India, to keep an eye on such news. In the just-concluded elections in five states, such cases were few, the reason being that many parties had their own TV channels and did not need to buy time on other channels. The commission would soon decide a strategy to deal with this issue. On the proposal for holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, he noted that this was envisaged in the Constitution. “The issue needs to be debated seriously.’’ We feel Punjab is a high-spending state and, therefore, it will be high on our radar On ‘paid news’
State-level media monitoring committees, which include a representative from the Press Council of India, will keep an eye on such news
On state funding
The commission is not in favour of state funding of elections since the move will not solve the problem of the use of black money but only enhance it
Simultaneous polls
We need to debate seriously the proposal for simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies
|
||
|
BJP decides to play safe Chandigarh, May 12 According to senior BJP sources, the die was already cast against Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia and Technical Education Minister Swarna Ram, both of whom have been questioned by the CBI in the bribery scam involving former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Raj Khurana. However, the party has submitted the resignation of all five ministers.
Sources said the BJP swung into action after the SAD conveyed to its high command that the continuance of the two tainted ministers would compromise the alliance in the state. As far as the BJP was concerned, corruption allegations in Punjab would hurt it in Delhi too and it needed to take a stand on the issue. The party faced a debacle in 2002 when it could retain only three out of the 18 seats won by it in 1997. The Congress under Capt Amarinder Singh’s leadership had then made corruption the single most important issue during electioneering. The new faces that could be inducted in the Cabinet include Ferozepur legislator Sukhpal Singh Nanu, Fazilka legislator Surjit Kumar Jyani and Mukerian legislator Arunesh Shakir. According to sources, the BJP old guard tried to buy time by pleading with the high command that the party would lose out in case they were ousted from the Cabinet. They had argued that both Kalia and Swarna Ram would find it difficult to go back to their electorate in case they were ousted.
|
||
|
|
CBI raids Faridkot trader’s premises in fraud case
Faridkot, May 12 Sources in the CBI, while confirming the raid, told The Tribune that Balwinder had taken the loan from the PNB’s Cantonment Road branch. He repaid a small portion and then, stopped paying instalments in 2010. The bank authorities initiated the recovery process according to their rules by initiating an internal probe, but failed to recover the amount. In February, the regional authorities of the bank filed a complaint with the CBI at its Chandigarh office and lodged a case of fraud. Preliminary findings revealed that Mahasagar Cement Factory, the firm registered by Balwinder, existed only on papers. The factory was to be established at Mehmuwala village, Faridkot, but the physical verification conducted by the CBI team today revealed that no cement factory was ever established in the village. Further, investigation was also going on the complaint of the bank that Balwinder had allegedly forged documents to get the loan. Earlier, Balwinder had been taken into custody by the CBI team before conducting the raids, but he had not been ‘officially’ arrested by the time of the filing of this news report. Mahesh Aggarwal, DIG, CBI, was busy in meetings. His subordinate AS Dhillon, SP, refused to talk to the media.
|
|
MC caught throwing sewage into drain
Jalandhar, May 12 Accompanied by well-known environmentalist and member of the PPCB, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, Superintending Engineer SP Garg and XEN Harbir Singh inspected the banks of the drain (starting from the Leather Complex to the Kapurthala road) and found several units polluting the drain. Lt-Col Jasjit S Paul (Retd), president of the Punjab Leather Federation was not available for comment. The board officials identified four points (within a 3 km-stretch) where untreated water was being discharged by the errant units. The team also caught the Municipal Corporation pumping out its sewage from a manhole into the drain with the help of a heavy-duty water pump. The baba had earlier taken up the issue regarding the discharge of toxic effluents into the Kala Sanghia drain by the MC for decades. Though the leather industry set up an effluent treatment plant of 1.5 MLD capacity and the MC a sewerage treatment plant of 100 MLD capacity at Pholariwal, both the systems failed to solve the problem. Talking to the Tribune, Garg said with the STP at the leather complex lying defunct, certain units had dug a trench to discharge the effluents into the drain. He said the MC had been discharging its sewage into the Kala Sanghia drain for decades and a case in this regard was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “I have directed the officers at our regional office in Jalandhar to conduct a survey of the Leather Complex and find out that how many units are discharging their untreated toxic effluents into the drain so that appropriate action canbe taken against them,” Garg added.
|
|
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Project
Amritsar, May 12 In a statement today, Sarna said: “The project was conceptualised for all-round development of the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj complex as a large part of it was lying unutilised. The prestigious project entails facilities like a study centre on Sikhism comprising a museum and a reference library, a convention hall, a multi-purpose hall, an air-conditioned langar and a multi-level parking for 3,000 cars. “Apart from this, another sarai for pilgrims and modern residential quarters for ragis and senior DSGMC staff will also be raised.” Sarna expressed surprise that some Sikh leaders were opposing the DSGMC move to beautify gurdwaras in Delhi. He said the same leaders had given a call to the Sikh sangat to boycott a “nagar kirtan” when a golden palanquin was sent to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev. He alleged that they had also tried to obstruct the expansion and beautification of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in the past. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who had initially agreed to lay the foundation stone of the project recently expressed his inability to keep the appointment, quoting “political commitments” as a reason for the same. Criticism from certain quarters, including the opposition group in the DSGMC besides the SAD, was said to be the reason for the PM reconsidering his decision to inaugurate the project.
|
|
Another aid for visually impaired
Patiala, May 12 And for the feat, the duo, Harpreet and Amanjot -- part of Team Infiniti -- won Microsoft’s nationwide contest Imagine Cup organised at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi, on April 28. Now, the students would be representing the country at the world final in New York beginning on July 8. Student teams from 70 countries would be competing with each other for the coveted title. Notably, the Imagine Cup is a student technology competition organised by Microsoft annually. The students have to present solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Of the around 1,000 entries for the event this time, six teams were shortlisted for the final after several rounds of scrutiny. Dr P Anandan, managing director of Microsoft Research India, and Ashwin Karuhatty, worldwide director of Technical Student Audience at Microsoft, gave away the awards. Harpreet said, “Team Infiniti intends to change the way the visually impaired use the web. The project named ‘WebAssist’ is a framework which provides numerous assistive technology functionalities in order to provide them easier access to information on the web.” ‘WebAssist’ automatically adapts the web according to a user’s personal needs. There are numerous functionalities provided for the people suffering from visual impairment, including features like automatic correction of web page color schemes, robust selective magnification, text-to-speech system for blind individuals, one-finger software typing extension to aid in writing without using a keyboard and elemental adjustment of the pages, he said. * Students of the University College of Engineering, Punjabi University, Harpreet and Amanjot won Microsoft’s nationwide contest Imagine Cup organised in New Delhi for their feat * Imagine Cup is a student technology competition organised by Microsoft annually wherein students have to present solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems * Now, the duo would be representing the country at the world final in New York beginning on July 8; about 70 countries would be participating
|
|
Chandigarh, May 12 Releasing the UID number here today, Punjab DGP PS Gill said every member of the force would be given a permanent UID number which would be issued on the bases of the year, unit, rank and belt number at the time of recruitment. He said the UID number would be printed via the ultraviolet technology to check fake ID cards. The DGP said in a novel measure to motivate the force, it has been decided to change the nomenclature of every employee of the Police Department. Constables and head constables would be known as junior enrolled officers whereas those in the rank of ASI, SI, Inspector would be called senior enrolled officers. Those in the rank of DSP and above would be in the category of superior police officers. “The move comes on the the recommendations of New Draft Punjab Police Rules,” the DGP said. — TNS
|
|
Organic products shop opens in Ropar
Ropar, May 12 Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah inaugurated the shop today. Chief Agriculture Officer BS Sidhu said there were more such shops in other parts of the state wherein organic farmers get a platform to sell their produce. Sant Kartar Singh Farmers Forum from Mansuha Kalan village has opened this shop under the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) scheme. The president of forum, Manvir Singh, said there were 11 members of the group. The outlet will sell organic products that have been certified by the Agriculture Department. Meanwhile, the minister also attended the district level farmers training camp held here. He said the farmers should use latest farming techniques available to increase their output and make agriculture more rewarding. He added that the new technologies available were lesser labour-intensive thereby reducing dependence on the labour class or farm hands. He appealed to the farmers to use lesser chemicals for farming and use more natural ways to combat pests. District Agriculture Officer Balwinder Singh Sohal said the department was organising five awareness camps at block level.
|
|
|
142 NRIs no more on blacklist Chandigarh May 12 The Punjab Government had been demanding that the list be reviewed. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the Home portfolio, demanded that all the details, including the names of the remaining persons, be put on the official website of the Ministry of Home Affairs. “There should be a mechanism for a periodic review of the list. While those facing criminal charges should be brought before the law, there should be no harassment to the innocent,” he said.
|
|
HC strikes down amendment
Chandigarh, May 12 Partly allowing a bunch of petitions against the Punjab Act, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice AK Mittal held the state government could not reinstate sarpanches against whom a valid and lawful no- confidence motion had been passed by panches between July 1, 2010, and April 21. The Governor had given his nod in principal to the amendment in Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, on April 21. The Bench made it clear that prospectively, no sarpanch would be removed through a no-confidence motion by panchayat members. The government had omitted Section 19, after the amendment in the principal Act, which allowed panchayat members to remove the sarpanch by passing a resolution with a two-third majority. The amendment was challenged by Nirbhey Singh of Narike village in Sangrur district and other panches. Appearing on the petitioners’ behalf, advocate Manish Kumar Singla contended the amendment was unconstitutional and arbitrary.
|
|
Justice undone as all 15 fast track courts go out of order
Ropar, May 12 About eight months ago, the Union government directed all the state governments that it was withdrawing aid and support to these courts and that respective (state) governments should take over the courts. While the state government issued a notification regarding the release of necessary funds for these courts on April 2, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has so far failed to appoint judges — those posted earlier were shifted to regular courts. “It has happened all over the country…. Fast track courts have fallen victim to tussle between the state governments and the Centre,” senior lawyers at Ropar pointed out. In Ropar, the Additional District and Sessions Judges GS Dhillon and BR Garg were heading the court number 2 and 3, respectively. The judges, appointed on ad hoc basis, have been repatriated to the ranks of civil judge (senior division) or chief judicial magistrate. While Gurmail Singh Dhillon has been posted at Moga, Budh Ram Garg has joined at Mansa. In all, the fast track courts disposed of 46,347 cases across the state. In Ropar, 2,283 cases lie pending with one of fast track courts while the other has 509. “Of the 2,283 cases, 900 have been transferred to the Mohali courts while others lie held up,” the officials said. More than 30 cases come up for hearing in these courts daily, but none have been disposed of so far, they say, adding litigants, especially those coming from far-off places and villages, have to suffer. Such courts, the advocates feel, have been instrumental in delivering speedy justice and should have been continued. Principal Secretary (Home) DS Bains claimed that the Punjab Government had on April 2 issued a notification whereby it released the required funds for the smooth functioning of these courts and had extended the term of all the courts till June 30. He pointed out that the Punjab and Haryana High Court was supposed to now take further step and appoint the judges for these courts.
|
|
Babbar Khalsa terrorist arrested
Amritsar, May 12 “During interrogation, he has named several religious heads who were on his target list,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Amar Singh Chahal. On Tuesday night, Baljinder was caught when he was going from Jora Phatak to Batala Road on a motorcycle. When the police signalled him to stop at the Maqboolpura naka, he tried to give them a slip. — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Chandigarh, May 12
The BJP high command has chosen to obtain the resignation of its ministers in Punjab to ensure corruption does not replace development as the main issue and harm the party’s fortunes at the hustings in eight months from now.
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted a surprise visit along the Kala Sanghia drain and found toxic effluents and untreated water being discharged into it by units of the Jalandhar Leather Complex.
Amritsar, May 12
In what may brighten up the lives of those suffering from visual impairment, a team of two students from the University College of Engineering, Punjabi University, here has designed a software that will provide them better access to the web.
In what has resulted in harassment for hundreds of litigants, all the 15 fast-track courts set up in the state have stopped functioning post-March 31. Opened under a Union government scheme, the courts were meant to deliver speedy justice.