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World Environment Day today
Power supply to 19 polluting industries to be disconnected
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3 arrested for looting petrol stations
Bathinda, June 4 
All the members of a gang, which was involved in the Thursday night’s loot of eight petrol pumps located in Bathinda and Muktsar district, were held from a local hotel late last night.The gang members have been identified as brothers Jaswinder and Kulwinder and
Nahar, all residents of Jai Singh Wala village of this district.Police officers exhibit weapons, currency and other articles recovered from petrol station looters, in Bathinda on Saturday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma
‘Rebuked for copying’, nursing student ends life
Moga college principal sacked
Farmers demand export of unsold cotton
State to re-employ retired doctors
Kanjli wetland environs an eyesore
Railway cops for better info sharing among states
Poll office seeks list of officers with criminal antecedents
Harpreet Murder Case
HC to state: Tell status of plea against Tikshan
Nepalese kids’ rescue
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World Environment Day today
Jalandhar, June 4 Also, the Planning Commission has made it clear that the performance of the states with regard to keeping the environment clean would be given due weightage at the time of devolution of funds from the central kitty under the Gadgil Formula. That means Punjab, where diseases such as cancer have been linked to the toxicity in sub-soil water and other polluting factors in certain areas, figures almost at the bottom of the list of states and UTs in environmental performance. Obviously poor performance of the state on the environmental front could have a critical bearing on apportion of the funds from the central kitty. However, this phenomenon would force the states to do something worthwhile to improve upon their environmental performance indicators (EPIs). The Planning Commission has shown its concern regarding Punjab's poor air quality in relation to the national ambient air quality standards fixed by the Union Ministry of Environment. However, the Punjab Pollution Control Board, which has claimed that the state is placed at the 27th position, has not only challenged the ranking given to the state but has also written a letter to the Union Government pointing out several "faults" in the calculation of environmental performance indicators relating to Punjab. "I have no hesitation to assert that the ranking given to the state is inaccurate. The state's performance is far better and it should figure very high in the ranking," said PPCB Chairman Rajat Aggarwal. In the letter, the Board has pointed out that the state's score should have been 1 in the monitoring of SOx, NOx and suspended particulate matter (SPM) and respirable SPM but the state was given zero, which was a major flaw in the calculation. Punjab's performance in municipal solid and hazardous waste management was far better than what has been made basis to determine the performance, the letter claims. The Board has pointed that the forest cover, one of the performance measuring indicators, could not be increased in the state where fallow land is not available. It has also indicated some other flaws in the Commission's calculation of environmental performance of the state and has urged for making the necessary corrections. On the other hand, the Planning Commission has stated that collection efficiency of the state regarding municipal waste is just 65 per cent and there is vastly inadequate arrangement to dispose of the hazardous waste. It has urged for making the Environment Department part of Forest and Wildlife Department and for the strengthening of the Forest Department to enhance the forest cover. The Commission has also drawn attention towards the non-funding of the Board by the State Government. The Planning Commission says…
l Efficiency of the state regarding the disposal of municipal waste is just 65 pc; there is vastly inadequate arrangement to dispose of the hazardous waste l Environment Department should be made part of Forest and Wildlife Department and the Forest Department should be strengthened so as to enhance the forest cover l Poor performance of the state on the environmental front can have a critical bearing on apportion of the funds from the central kitty, a phenomenon that will force the states to do something worthwhile l Pollution control board should be funded by the State PPCB counters... l Points out several faults in the calculation of environmental performance indicators relating to Punjab l Says the state’s score should have been ‘1’ in the monitoring of SOx, NOx and suspended particulate matter and respirable SPM but the state has been given zero l Claims Punjab’s performance in municipal solid and hazardous waste management is far better than what has been made basis to determine the performance
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Power supply to 19 polluting industries to be disconnected
Jalandhar, June 4 A senior official of the Board today confirmed that a letter had been written to the Punjab State Power Corporation authorities to disconnect the power supply to these 19 industrial units, which have failed to comply with the necessary instructions issued to prevent the water pollution in the region. The action against the industries has been ordered under the Section33-A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act-1974. Sources said the Jalandhar Division Commissioner SR Ladhar had also spoken to the Superintending Engineer of the corporation to take a follow-up action on the letter written to him by the Board authorities regarding disconnecting the power supply to the polluting industries. The issue regarding the disconnecting of the power supply was brought to the notice of the Commissioner by a senior official of the Board, it is learnt. Most of the industries, against which action has been ordered, are electroplating and nickel units. The Board authorities had written several letters earlier to the Corporation with regard to the disconnection of the power supply of the defaulting units. However, the Corporation officials did not act decisively in this regard. Now, the Board authorities have sought action taken report from the corporation officials concerned. The strongest punitive measure, which could be taken against any polluting industry, is stopping of the power supply to it. Release of toxic effluents in various drains such as the Kali Bein, the Chitti Bein, the Budha Nala, the Ghaggar and other rivers and rivulets has become a big issue in the state. Polluted drains and rivers have become a source of misery for people in various areas. Recently, the people of Punjab and Rajasthan led by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal had held a big demonstration at Jalandhar to pressure the authorities concerned to stop the poisoning of various water bodies in the state. Baba Seechewal has already threatened to hold a bandh across the Kala Sanghian drain area in case the release of effluents was not stopped in it in stipulated period. Various political organisations have also backed Baba Seechewal.
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3 arrested for looting petrol stations
Bathinda, June 4 The gang members have been identified as brothers Jaswinder and Kulwinder and Nahar, all residents of Jai Singh Wala village of this district. The police has also recovered two weapons and Rs 1.32 lakh from their possession. The accused had got a room booked in the hotel under false name and address and had spent some part of the looted money on buying clothes and shoes. Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that these accused were involved in 14 criminal cases registered in Rajasthan and various districts of Punjab. SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said these accused were involved in three crime incidents in Rajasthan and were also held by Rajasthan police in February this year. They were brought to the Lambi police station by the Muktsar police in connection with the cases registered in that district, but they managed to escape from the custody on April 21. After escaping from the custody, the accused started living at Panchkula, Haryana. The accused stole a car from Chandigarh a few days back and carried out the loot on Thursday night.
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‘Rebuked for copying’, nursing student ends life
Bathinda, June 4 The police sources said Malika hanged herself from the ceiling fan with her duppatta in her hostel room within minutes of being asked to leave the classroom by school principal Kamal Kaur. Malika was studying in the Multipurpose Health Workers Female School located on the premises of the Bathinda Civil Hospital. She had been putting up in the hostel of the school for the past eight months. The police sources said while Malika was taking her exam along with her classmates, Kamal Kaur rebuked Malika for indulging in copying and subsequently asked her (Malika) to leave the classroom without allowing her to attempt her exam completely. Malika left the classroom immediately and directly went to her room in the hostel, where she hanged herself. The incident came to light when Malika’s classmates came back to their respective rooms and found her room locked. When the girls failed to get any response, they broke open the same and found Malika dead. The police sources said a case has been registered in the city police station under Section 306 of the IPC against Kamal Kaur on the statement of Kamaldeep Singh, brother of deceased Malika, in the city police station. No arrest has been made in this connection so far.
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Moga college principal sacked
Moga, June 4 Advocate Satpal Gupta, President of the DM College Managing Committee, said that the Principal was on probation for two years. During this period, he could not prove his administrative ability and improve the standard of the college, therefore, the committee has unanimously decided to terminate his services. Dr Suresh Malhotra, a teacher, has been nominated officiating Principal till further arrangements are made in consultation with the Panjab University authorities. Copies of the termination order had been dispatched to the Vice Chancellor of PU, Chandigarh, and DPI Colleges, Chandigarh, as per the rules. The Principal had unilaterally prepared the internal assessment reports of students without consulting the class teachers in violation of university rules. This had forced the university authorities to withhold the result of some classes. Moreover, there were allegations that the Principal raised a loan of lakhs of rupees from a local bank against the fixed deposits of the college funds without consulting the managing committee. Hence, all normal bank operations had been lying frozen for the past couple of months. Also, there is a dispute over the control of administrative affairs between the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and the DM College managing committee.
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Farmers demand export of unsold cotton
Chandigarh, June 4 Stating this here today, Kotkapura legislator Ripjit Singh Brar said a delegation of farmers and industry representatives would meet the Group of Ministers in Delhi to demand immediate lifting of the ban on cotton export to save farmers of the state. Ripjit said around 60 lakh bales of cotton were still lying unsold in Gujarat and Punjab. He said this was because only 2.3 crore bales of cotton out of the total country’s production of 3.4 crore bales could be ginned due to limited ginning capacity in the country. He said the export of cotton was the only way to clear the remaining stock with the new crop also having being sown now. The Congress leader also said the unsold cotton was susceptible to rotting due to increased moisture during the monsoon. Brar said the cotton spinning and ginning industry had also been hit with the number of industrial units on the decline for the past five years. He said against 2.25 lakh units in Punjab five years ago, only 1.59 lakh units remained. He said thousands of these units were struggling to remain afloat. Ripjit said the delegation from Punjab, which would meet the Group of Ministers, would impress on an early end to the ban on cotton. He said that with the onset of monsoon, the movement of ships would become slow and this would hamper export further.
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State to re-employ retired doctors
Chandigarh, June 4 Stating this today, Health Minister Satpal Gosain said the government had to resort to re-employment as Punjab was facing a shortfall of 332 specialist doctors in various streams. He said the offer was for specialist doctors who have retired from the PCMS. He said doctors who were less than 65 years of age and had a satisfactory service record could be considered for re-employment on contract for two years that could be extended up to five years. —
TNS
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Kanjli wetland environs an eyesore
Kanjli (Kapurthala), June 4
Though the government had launched a project to attract tourists here a couple of years ago, the scheme remained a non-starter because of the poor condition of the wetland which has little to offer by way of migratory birds or aquatic life. Moreover, the ill-maintained parks and lawns at the site are an eyesore. Spread over 183 hectares, the wetland came into existence in 1870 with the construction of head works on the then perennial Kali Bein, a tributary of the Beas, for providing irrigation facilities to the hinterland. Dr Sandeep K Jain, member of the Punjab State Board for Wildlife, who visited Kanjli recently, said the wetland environs should be spruced up for the benefit of environmentalists and nature lovers. “Such places are best left out of the tourist circuit,” he reasoned. Instead, the government should focus on stopping the release of effluents into the rivulet and ensuring regular water supply to the wetland. “This will help attract the migratory birds,” he pointed out. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2007-08 had released Rs 14 lakh and Rs 16.20 lakh in 2008-09 for various projects at Ramsar site, but nothing has been done so far. Sources in the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, revealed that besides official neglect, industrial expansion and rapid human interference has played havoc with the ecology of the area. This has forced migratory birds to opt for alternative sites for roosting and nesting. The Kapurthala divisional forest officer was not available for comment.
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Railway cops for better info sharing among states
Patiala, June 4 Senior police officers of three states near the international border, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, agreed to share information to check crime and acts of terrorism. “The beefing up of the intelligence wing and equipping it with modern infrastructure are priority areas as these are the backbone of any operation against the anti-state elements,” said DIG Railway Protection Force, (Northern Railways) Delhi, Nirmal Singh. On the Amarnath Yatra, SSP Railway (Jammu Zone) Raghubir Singh said intense patrolling was on at the highly guarded Kathua-Jammu rail track that is perhaps the closest to the international border with Pakistan.
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Poll office seeks list of officers with criminal antecedents
Ropar, June 4 In a letter issued to all the Deputy Commissioners-cum-District Election Officers dated May 24, the Chief Electoral Officer has sought these details in view of the forthcoming general elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly that are due before March next year. It has been specifically mentioned that no officer connected with the elections, directly or indirectly, should be allowed to continue at present posting if he or she is posted at home district or if he or she has completed three years in districts in last four years (four years stint of the present government). The move is expected to see transfer of Anandpur Sahib SDM APS Sandhu, who has been posted there since 2007, and a few class two officers from other departments. Ropar DC GK Singh said all the departments have already been directed to give the names of the officers in the respective departments. “We will submit the list to the government within a week. A list of all the factual information is being prepared. Since it deals with a number of different departments, the process is taking some time,” he added. Directions also mention that all the state officials, who are on extension of service or re-employed in different capacities will not be associated with any of the election-related work. Chamkaur Sahib SDM JC Sabharwal, ADC (general) Sucha Singh Masat and ADC (development) Sukhwinder Pal Singh fall under this category. Districts are supposed to submit all the information before July 15. Officers with criminal cases pending against them have also been barred from being a part of election work or election related duty.
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Harpreet Murder Case
Patiala, June 4 During the questioning, Kler asked Kamaljit about his statements given to CBI in 2000 and those given during his re-examination recently. Giving the details of the court proceedings, Kler said Kamaljit had given the statement in the court that Harpreet told him that her male foetus was aborted. “When I asked Kamaljit that whether he got this statement recorded with the CBI in 2000, his reply was positive. But the records show that Kamaljit had not given any such statement to CBI in 2000,” said the defence counsel. Kler further said during the court proceedings, he confronted several other statements given by Kamaljit in the court. “What transpired during the cross-examination was that Kamaljit is misguiding everyone by concocting stories, which are far from reality,” claimed Kler. Meanwhile, one of the co-accused in the case Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi has pleaded in the court that she is taking medical treatment in the UK from the past two decades and hence, she should be allowed to go abroad. “The court directed to furnish personal bond of Rs 1 crore and a bank guarantee of Rs 1 crore, which was done today. Subsequently, the court granted Dhesi the permission to remain abroad till July 7, 2011,” informed Kler. The next hearing in the case will take place on June 10.
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HC to state: Tell status of plea against Tikshan
Chandigarh, June 4 Taking up a petition by Harbhajan Singh of Anandpur Sahib seeking directions to the State of Punjab and other respondents to hand over the investigation to the CBI, Justice Daya Chaudhary asserted: “State counsel is directed to get instructions regarding the credentials of RR Kakkar, as to whether the representation, which is on record with the petition, has been received or not and what is the status of the representation and whether any action has been taken or not.” The directions came after Justice Chaudhary observed the petition had been filed on the basis of a representation and “some of the news-items”. “Although the news-item cannot be relied upon for taking any action on the judicial side, there are certain allegations of embezzlement of funds, illegal cutting of trees in the forest department and also collection of bribe by some high-ups.” Before issuing notice of motion, it is necessary to know about the signatory of the representation, as it is nowhere mentioned whether the officer has levelled these allegations due to personal reasons or otherwise, Justice Chaudhary asserted. Before parting with the case, Justice Chaudhary also fixed July 8 as the next date of hearing. Describing himself as “a retired government school teacher committed towards social causes, including eradication of corruption”, Harbhajan Singh said he was pained to bring to the high court’s notice the havoc of alleged corruption caused by now Industries Minister and other senior forest officials of the state. In the petition argued by Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Kanwalvir Singh Kang, the petitioner said: “It has been splashed in every national and regional newspaper as to how the minister used to receive bribes for departmental transfers and forced forest officers to collect party funds.” He said Kakkar, vide representation dated May 19, apprised the government about the issues. The representation was, subsequently, highlighted by both print and electronic media. “But, the state authorities continue to ignore the seriousness of the allegations and have rather given a clean chit to the minister without conducting any investigation.”
‘Govt trying to dilute controversy’
In what could be embarrassing for the government, the petitioner has alleged it has been “constantly trying to dilute the controversy apparently due to political reasons” as the minister is also the head of the legislative group of the BJP in Punjab and is an integral part of the present coalition government of the State of Punjab.
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Nepalese kids’ rescue
Amritsar, June 4 The administration has booked the contractor under the Child Labour Act and Prevention of Food Adulteration Act while the Police Department has been asked to investigate the trafficking angle. A case under the Juvenile Justice Act has also been slapped on Devinder for indulging in illegal practice, said Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu. During investigation, the accused said that many persons like him are involved in bringing children from Nepal to do petty jobs, said the DC. Yesterday, the district administration had rescued seven Nepalese children, who were selling coconuts and CDs around the Golden Temple, Shani Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. Pannu said that Devinder has confessed that a large number of children from Nepal are working in various parts of the region.
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Two held with 30-kg opium
Patiala, June 4 According to the police, the police team stopped a Verna car near the Bakhsiwal police station and found the opium hidden in the car. The accused have been identified as Mohammed Iqbal and Gulzar Mohammed. Sources in the Police Department said due to excess production of opium in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan, smugglers try to smuggle the same to other parts of the country to make easy money. “While the recovered opium might be around Rs 9 lakh in Rajasthan, it could easily be sold for Rs 25 to 28 lakhs in Punjab,” said SP Patiala (headquarters) Satvir Singh Attwal. The police further said due to the upcoming paddy season, the demand of such contrabands is on a high. “We are yet to interrogate the accused and know their modus operandi,” they told The Tribune. In the past five months, the city police has arrested 310 persons and has registered 289 cases for trying to smuggle or sell contrabands in the city. Further, 42.56-quintal poppy husk, 24.5-kg sulpha, 52,947 capsules, 105 injections, over 31-kg ganja, 1.6-kg bhang , 139-kg opium, over 2.5-kg smack and various other drugs have been recovered from the city. Patiala has three universities and many colleges that have lakhs of students, who are the main targets of these drug peddlers. “The recent rise in the incidents of chain snatching and thefts are due to increasing circulation of drugs,” said another officer. Patiala fast becoming hub of narcotic trade Seized in 15 days... In last 5 months...
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Even as the World Environment Day would be observed tomorrow, enthusiasts in the field from Punjab are in for bad news: the state has been placed at 32nd position by the Planning Commission while evaluating environmental performance of the 35 states and union territories of the country.
Bathinda, June 4
The world-famous Kanjli wetland, which holds historical and religious importance in Punjab, is dying a slow death due to state apathy.The government has sounded the death knell of Ramsar site that has been reduced to just another polluted water body.
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Punjab’s poor air quality in relation to the national standards fixed by the Union Ministry of Environment is an issue of concern
