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Hansi Butana: Badal slams Centre
Marooned Kapurthala villagers left to their fate
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Flood-rescue training of 30 youths underway in Ropar
Dhanda’s oath ceremony put on hold
Badal’s statement misleading, says BSP’s Karimpuri
Now, a shade card for optimum use of urea for paddy crop
Jalandhar firm to sue MC for diverting garbage for new project
Check illegal immigrants, Malaysia tells Punjab
Truckers take mobile phone route to trap corrupt excise staff
Central works division against proposed toll
Chemists against addition of new rules regarding use of antibiotics
Patients irked over lack of health-care facilities at Rajindra hospital
Ecocab lures American scholar to Fazilka
Probe into denial of medicare
Red alert in Amritsar
Sandhu in judicial custody
AIG’s arrest: Complainant makes startling claims
Father-son duo held in fake vehicle-document racket
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Hansi Butana: Badal slams Centre
Barnala, July 13
At a Sangat Darshan function at the local grain market in Barnala, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal blamed the Centre for backing the Haryana Government on the issue of the Hansi-Butana canal. "If the construction is not stopped, the entire onus of any devastation caused by floods will be on the Centre," Badal said. He again asked Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to immediately intervene in the matter and direct Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to stop the construction of the concrete wall along the canal. Later addressing mediapersons, Badal asked the Haryana Government not to make Hansi-Butana a prestige issue. “Look from a wider perspective and a “humanitarian angle” and save the lives and properties of the people of both states from the fury of floods,” he said. Badal said that he would meet the Prime Minister soon to urge him to send a central team to assess the ground situation related to this contentious issue. On the problem of storage of foodgrains, Badal said that despite the state government’s repeated requests to the Centre, it had not yet initiated any action, regardless of the fact that with the arrival of new paddy crop in the mandis, the situation would worsen. He said the Centre had not yet lifted the existing stocks of paddy crop from the godowns and the movement of grains, carried out by the Railways, was under the exclusive control of the Centre. He added that the Centre had not yet given approval to the state government for silos for the storage of foodgrains on scientific lines. On the erosion of the SAD base with former Transport Minister Raghbir Singh joining the PPP in Kapurthala, Badal claimed that it hardly made any difference to the SAD. “It is the sweet will of any political worker or leader to join any party of his choice. But such opportunist political leaders, who often shift loyalties, always have a bleak future.” On a tie-up of the SAD-BJP with the BSP in the forthcoming assembly elections, Badal said, "We are ready to tie up with all like-minded parties with the sole aim of defeating the Congress, which has always been inimical to the interests of Punjab and Punjabis.” Earlier, the Chief Minister, accompanied by PWD Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Principal Secretary to CM DS Guru, laid the foundation stone of the district administrative complex. Badal also claimed that the ongoing construction work of the railway over-bridge near SD College would be completed by November-end.Badal also disbursed cheques amounting to Rs 5.5 crore for the execution of various developmental works and schemes in rural areas of Barnala assembly constituency. He also announced Rs 25 lakh for the sewerage in Dhanaula town which would be completed by October 15.
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Marooned Kapurthala villagers left to their fate
Sardulapur (Kapurthala), July 13 These villages remain cut-off from the rest of the state during the monsoon. Every rainy season, the administration dismantles a pontoon bridge on the river that links Baupur, Dhunna, Baupur Kadim, Zadid, Bheni Kadamwala, Sangran, Gaurewal, Kishangarh, Rampur Gorey, Tangra villages with Sardulapur in Sultanpur Lodhi subdivision of Kapurthala. Paramjit Singh, a resident of Baupur village, says because of inadequate health facilities in the villages, the sick have to cross the river by boat to reach Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Amritsar for medicare. The villagers are put to much hardship as the boats ferry passengers only during the day. "Among the worst-affected are pregnant women and the seriously ill. Many have died for want of timely medical assistance," claims Surat Singh of Sangran village. Every rainy season the government dismantles the pontoon bridge without providing alternative access to the villages. The villagers had requested the area MLA and Punjab Finance Minister, Upinderjit Kaur for modern boats but to no avail. “The government has been spending lakhs of rupees on assembling and then dismantling the pontoon bridge every year but has yet to build a permanent bridge over the river,”said Bachan Singh, sarpanch of Sardulpur. Students of over a dozen villages forced to cross the Beas in an ill-maintained boat is use for 30 years Among the worst-affected are pregnant women and the seriously ill Many have died for want of timely medical aid
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Flood-rescue training of 30 youths underway in Ropar
Ropar, July 13 These youngsters will be trained to save a drowning person, row a boat and giving first-aid. Today, they were given training at the swimming pool. After three days, they will be trained in the Sutlej. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner GK Singh yesterday convened a meeting to check flood-control measures. He said that 40 evacuation centres had been set up in the district to evacuate persons in case of floods. Night vigil along the banks of the river and canals has been ordered from July 1 to September 30. BBMB and Drainage Department employees have been directed to issue warning about floods at least 24 hours in advance. Thirteen flood control rooms have also been set up. Flood control centres include district revenue officer (01881-221157, 01881-221077), executive engineer water resource management board (01881-222073), DSP subdivision Ropar (01881-221273, 100), tehsildar Ropar (01881-221156), municipal council Ropar (01881-222314, 225460), Chamkaur Sahib tehsildar (01881-260400), Chamkaur Sahib BDPO (01881-260132), Morinda municipal council, (0160-2630037), Anandpur Sahib tehsildar (01887-232015), Anandpur Sahib municipal council (01887-232026), Nurpur Bedi BDPO (01887-240424), Nangal tehsildar (01887-221030) and Nangal municipal council (01887-220588).
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Dhanda’s oath ceremony put on hold
Chandigarh, July 13 The state had issued invites on yesterday, even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court heard allegations levelled against Dhanda by a Panchkula-based advocate in an attempt to show he was not fit to hold the post. Hearing the arguments on the petition almost throughout the day today, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice AK Mittal referred the matter to a larger three-judge Bench. The Bench also framed at least two issues for adjudication by the larger Bench. The issues include whether there can be a criteria for appointments made on constitutional posts and whether the issue of appointment in such matters was open to judicial scrutiny. The issues will come up for deliberation when the larger Bench convenes on July 19 to take up the petition. As the case initially came up for hearing before the Bench in the morning, it heard allegations of political affiliation and a chequered past levelled against Dhanda by the petitioner-cum- advocate, Salil Sabhlok. As the hearing remained inconclusive, the matter was posted for arguments after lunch. As the two sides battled it out, the court once again adjourned the hearing to enable Punjab Additional Advocate-General VK Jindal to seek fresh instructions in the matter. After the break, Jindal informed the Bench that the state was in no hurry to go ahead with the oath and was willing to wait till the final adjudication of the matter. In his petition filed through counsel DS Patwalia, Sabhlok had earlier sought directions for restraining the state and other respondents from appointing Dhanda as Chairman. Directions were also sought for issuing instructions to the respondents to frame regulations governing the conditions of service and appointment.
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CM’s ‘night stay’ drive unsettles Cong
Chandigarh, July 13 Sources say the CM plans to especially concentrate on the Malwa belt for the night stay programme. The belt had rejected the party in the previous elections and would have ushered in a Congress government but for the good performance of the BJP. Badal started the programme from his native village on July 7. He wanted to stay in the gurdwara there but was persuaded by his son and Deputy CM to spend the night at his own residence. The following day at Chhatiana in Gidderbaha, the constituency of People’s Party of Punjab leader Manpreet Singh Badal, he attracted adverse publicity for his supporters installing air-conditioners at the village school to make his night stay comfortable. Next, the CM stayed in an Adarsh School at Kotbhai in Malout and later at Bhai Gurdas Hall in Amritsar. The CM will now stay a night each at Sangrur, Barnala and Mehalkalan in the Malwa region. Sources say the village stay programme has unsettled the Congress with the SAD challenging PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh to follow suit. The Congress has yet to come out with a mass contact programme of its own. The AICC general secretary, Rahul Gandhi, is following a similar strategy to reach out to the people in UP. But senior Congress man and former PRTC chairman Ved Prakash Gupta says Rahul’s personal contact programme is different from the one being undertaken by Badal, which he maintains is political gimmickry. Sources in the SAD say Badal is undertaking a punishing schedule and wants to cover the entire state in the next few months. The ‘sangat darshan’ programmes have benefited the villages with officers working overtime to complete pending works before the CM’s visit.
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Badal’s statement misleading, says BSP’s Karimpuri
Jalandhar, July 13 The BSP state president, Avtar Singh Karimpuri, said today that his party had not held any parleys with the Chief Minister on forming a poll pact for the forthcoming assembly elections. Urging his party workers not to take note of the CM’s statement, Karimpuri said the BSP would put up candidates for all the 117 constituencies. The party high command had already cleared the names of 50 candidates. “The candidates will soon start holding meetings with the people in their respective constituencies”, Karimpuri said. “In 2004, Parkash Singh Badal had approached the BSP for a poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. He promised to get back after securing the approval of Atal Bihari Vajapee, but did not turn up”, Karimpuri claimed.
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Now, a shade card for optimum use of urea for paddy crop
Moga, July 13 This leaf colour chart technology, originally developed by the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, has recently been approved by the Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana. The PAU has also started printing this chart and its subsidised rate has been fixed at Rs 35. Chief Agriculture Officer of Moga Dr Ravi Kumar Sabbarwal and Agriculture Officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar explained that the chart has six shades of green. Farmers have to keep it underneath the top leaves of the paddy crop and note the colour. If it matches the first, second and third blocks in the chart, they need not apply urea. If the colour of the paddy leaf is very pale and resembles the fourth or fifth colour in the chart, the farmers should use urea immediately, recommends the Agriculture Department. Dr Sabbarwal said that the use of the chart has been explained to farmers through demonstrations in a few villages. “It is very handy and farmers can use it easily at their own level,” he said. He said that it should be used after 14 days of transplantation of the crop and assessed properly. ”For the farmers who have transplanted basmati a few days back, this is the right time to check the nitrogen level in their crop,” he added. In the directly sowed paddy crop, the colour check should be done after 21 days of sowing. It could again be used to assess fertiliser requirement when the crop starts flowering. Dr Brar said that the comparison should either be done in the morning or evening. “The sun should be behind the farmer so that the leaf is hidden from the sun,” he said. He said that a crop leaf that is free from pest attack must be selected for comparison. The leaf should not be plucked while conducting the test. Ten comparisons should be made at different places and then an average result taken out. The agro-scientists said that nitrogen is the most significant input in paddy production, but it has been observed that farmers often use it excessively and inefficiently probably due to its easy availability and heavy subsidy on fertilisers. They said that excessive and untimely applied nitrogen fertiliser can escape from soil and plant systems to water bodies and the atmosphere creating pollution. Oxides of nitrogen lead to dissolution of the ozone layer and nitrates in underground water bodies make the water unfit for drinking. Excessive nitrogen also attracts insects and pathogens that may lead to yield loss. Also, lodging of the crop at the ripening stage may occur due to excessive use of nitrogen fertiliser leading to yield loss. Excess urea damages...
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Jalandhar firm to sue MC for diverting garbage for new project
Jalandhar, July 13 Alleging that the MCJ was ignoring the terms and conditions of the agreement signed with the firm, Dheeraj Ghai, MD, Growmore Fertilisers, claimed that Jalandhar city produces around 350-400 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. What will our plant do once this whole volume of garbage gets diverted to new plant, questioned Ghai. Ghai alleged that the MCJ authorities were telling him to shutdown his plant within a year, much before the end of the pact. “The arm-twisting by the MCJ is reason enough for me to go to the court,” added Ghai. Refuting the claim, Vinay Bublani, Commissioner, MCJ, said that although the agreement was signed with Growmore Fertilisers, the contract was meant for a ‘particular quantum’ and the corporation authorities are empowered to terminate the agreement, if the need arises, he added.
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Check illegal immigrants, Malaysia tells Punjab
Patiala, July 13 The PGE has further clarified that if the illegal Indian immigrants continue to enter Malaysia, the Malaysian Government may impose a ban on the Indian workers, as it had done in the case of the Bangladeshi workers. “The Malaysian Government is alarmed at the rise of the cases of human trafficking from India and this is beginning to have a direct impact on our efforts to rescue and repatriate the Indian nationals from Malaysia,” states the letter, in possession of The Tribune. The Punjab Home Department has also asked all the DCs and police chiefs of the state to ensure that no Punjab resident uses unfair means to go abroad, especially Malaysia. Documents available with The Tribune suggest that the Indian High Commissioner, Kuala Lumpur, had shot a letter to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs conveying its concern over the number of suspected human trafficking cases. “A Malaysian court had recently sentenced 19 Indian citizens for human trafficking. In an earlier case, 27 Indian nationals were rescued by the High Commission after intervention,” reads a part of the letter. Meanwhile, numerous Punjab residents have allegedly been using Malaysia as a transit route to gain entry into Pakistan without getting the same mentioned on their passport. In 2010, the Patiala police had claimed to have arrested the last missing link in the Nabha and Halwara bomb planting cases with the arrest of a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist. Misusing the voter ID-card of the Election Commission (EC) of India, the KLF man had allegedly travelled from India to Malaysia and Pakistan and returned back to India. Numerous Punjab residents allegedly use Malaysia as a transit route to gain entry into Pakistan without getting the same mentioned on their passport In 2010, the Patiala police claimed to have arrested the last missing link in the Nabha and Halwara bomb planting cases with the arrest of a Khalistan Liberation Force terrorist Misusing the voter ID-card of the Election Commission of India, the KLF man had allegedly travelled from India to Malaysia and Pakistan and returned back to India
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Truckers take mobile phone route to trap corrupt excise staff
Banur, July 13 Excise inspectors and excise taxation officials (ETOs) have also received warnings on the complaints of the truck drivers over the phone. The drivers approach the excise officials whose mobile phone numbers are on display outside the ICCs. The officials then ask the drivers to put the mobile phone on the conference mode and listen to their employees demanding bribe or using unpleasant language. Erring employees are then reprimanded, terminated or even suspended. Computer operators deployed at Jakhal, Khanauri, Shambhu, Banur and Ramnagar have been terminated recently on the orders of Taxation Commissioner A. Venu Prasad, who took stringent measures to punish the guilty within a few minutes of making a phone call. Admitting termination of the computer operators following misconduct, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC) SS Bangar said earlier the truck drivers had to make written complaints and approach the officials personally, which was a very tiresome process. The truck drivers are supposed to pay Rs 15 for getting their documents and quantity of goods verified to enter or exit the state borders. The employees at the ICC delay the process of filling forms to pocket extra money. To get get clearance from the checkpoints/barriers and speed up the process, the truck drivers are forced to give bribe to these employees, who charge Rs 50 to Rs 2,000 or more money. The centres were setup under Section 51 of the Punjab VAT Act- 2005 at various places with a view to prevent and check the evasion of tax. The owner or a person in charge of a goods vehicle should have valid documents, including vehicle’s records, receipts, trip sheet or a logbook, sale invoice or bill or cash memo or a delivery challan and particulars about the goods. Meanwhile, president of the North India Motor Road Transport Association Charan Singh Lohara said, “The centres were setup to check the tax evasion and it should not charge anything from the truck operators. The truckers are supposed to pay Rs 15 for every bill on different goods being carried in a truck, which is wrong.” Modus Operandi The truck drivers approach the excise officials, whose mobile phone numbers are on display outside the information collection centres in the state The officials then ask the drivers to put the mobile phone on the conference mode and listen to their employees demanding bribe or using unpleasant language Erring employees then get reprimanded, terminated or even suspended
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Four-Laning of Kharar-Kurali Stretch Megha Mann/TNS
Kharar, July 13 The department has estimated Rs 56.98 crore for widening of the said stretch and Rs 10 crore for the bridge over Jayanti Ki Rao, T-junction with National Highway-95 and widening of the bridge at Daon Majra village. As per the rules of the Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways, any project having a budget more than Rs 5 crore should be given on build-operate-transport (BOT) basis and toll tax be duly collected. “The matter will come up for hearing in the next meeting of the ministry, wherein the officials will decide whether the toll tax has to be imposed,” said the CWD Mohali officials. If the toll comes up, it would add up to the burden of the commuters travelling to parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Nawanshahr, Anandpur Sahib and Nangal. The cost of the land to be acquired for the project, amount to be paid for axing the trees on the green belt on the road and shifting of the utilities is yet to be ascertained. Most of the land acquisition is required for the new bridge over Jayanti Ki Rao and widening at T-junction. Land acquisition officer and Kharar SDM Rajiv Kumar Gupta said the entire procedure of the land acquisition was yet to begin.
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Chemists against addition of new rules regarding use of antibiotics
Patiala, July 13 “The amendment will make severe impact on its availability mainly in the rural areas,” said president of the Punjab Chemists Association Surjit
Mehta. “The Schedule HX has two parts. The first part of the list contains 16 antibiotics, which can be sold directly by the drug manufactures to the tertiary care hospitals, whereas the second list has 74 drugs and formulations that have to be sold through the chemists on the prescription of the doctor in duplicate. The chemist has to retain the prescription of the doctor for two years and if at any given time this record is verified and the copy of the prescription is either not available or misplaced at that time, he will be fined Rs 20,000 or could be given 2-year imprisonment or both as a punishment,” he added. “In such a scenario, no chemist will like to keep the medicines falling under the Schedule
HX, keeping in mind the severity of the Act,” he said. “This will create shortage of drugs and will certainly affect the patients. Moreover, there is no tertiary hospital in
Patiala. The patients will have to go to the PGI, Chandigarh, to get the medicines. The government should rather issue guidelines to the doctors than harassing the chemists,” said a chemist. “The All-India Body of the Chemists fraternity AIOCD has raised the issue with the Government of India and has submitted a memorandum to the President, Health Minister, Drug Controller General of India, Chief Ministers of all the states and others concerned. In case, the government does not reconsider severity of this amendment, we will hold an all-India bandh on August 22,” added
Mehta. — TNS
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Patients irked over lack of health-care facilities at Rajindra hospital
Patiala, July 12 Tarika, who was admitted in the hospital for five days, said, “I used to keep asking for my health’s status, but the attendants refused to tell anything and stated that the doctor will tell her about the same on coming on the next round.” Principal of the Rajindra Medical College Dr KD Singh said, “The hospital gives the best possible treatment, but the large influx of patients causes delay at times,” he added. — TNS
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Ecocab lures American scholar to Fazilka
Fazilka, July 13 Ching’s visit comes at the initiative of the Graduate Welfare Association Fazilka (GWAF) that had introduced the Ecocab in June 2008. The foreign scholar will interact with Municipal Council President Anil Sethi, Ecocab operators and their family members. “Ching will submit his report to MIT as a part of his research,” said Navdeep Asija, general secretary, GWAF. Ching would also visit the vehicle-free zone around the historical Clock Tower of Fazilka and the Research and Development Centre run by Bhupinder Singh, retired professor, IIT, Roorkee.
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Mansa, July 13 Rani was admitted to the hospital yesterday for delivery. As no woman doctor was available at the hospital, Pinki was referred to a hospital in Patiala. Pinki went into labour while being shifted to a private ambulance. Though she kept lying in the hospital compound, no staff member came to her aid.— TNS
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Amritsar, July 13 Security has been beefed up at major religious and tourist spots, including the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple , the Amritsar international airport, the railway station and the local bus stand. The senior police functionaries held a meeting with cinemahall owners and gave asked them to take precautionary measures to avoid any breache of security. — TNS
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Sandhu in judicial custody
Chandigarh, July 13 He was produced in the CBI Special Court of Ritu Tagore .Sandhu was yesterday arrested from a coffee shop in Sector 28 here and was taken to the BBMB Guesthouse in Sector 35 for interrogation.The CBI had laid a trap on a complaint by a Mohali resident, Nishant Sharma. The complainant is booked in various cheating and forgery cases in Punjab. Two inquiries against him were pending with AIG Sandhu.
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AIG’s arrest: Complainant makes startling claims
Patiala, July 13 Sharma said following an inquiry against him after he had lodged a complaint against Phillaur DSP Raj Balwinder Singh Marar with SP Balwant Kaur, Shiv Sena Hindustan chief Pawan Gupta introduced him to the accused (Paramdip Singh Sandhu) who promised to help him. “Pawan Gupta asked me a number of times to pay Rs 3 lakh to the officer concerned ”, Sharma said, claiming that he was in Patiala to expose Gupta. Earlier in the day, Gupta who has not been named in the FIR yet, held a press conference here. He claimed the complainant (Nishant Sharma) was president of the youth wing of the Shiv Sena Hindustan till he was thrown out of the party in March 2011. “Once the party refused to defend him in the criminal cases against him, he began to speak against me”, said Gupta, denying that he had been summoned by the CBI. “There should be a probe as to how a person named in four FIRs got sanction to implicate a senior police officer”, he said. However, Sharma alleged that Gupta was a middleman in the case and had been pressurising him to pay Rs 3 lakh to the accused AIG. “I have told the CBI in my complaint that I was implicated in four cases by DSP Marar and the probing officer, AIG Sandhu, struck a deal with me through Pawan Gupta, who enjoys the backing of some Akali leaders”, he said.
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Father-son duo held in fake vehicle-document racket
Mansa, July 13 The gang, busted by a team of the city police station led by SHO Sulakhan Singh, is involved in making fake registration certificates of vehicles, driving licences, vehicle insurance policies and road tax deposit vouchers. After their arrest, the local police has stepped up efforts to arrest the other members of the gang. Police sources said that the miscreants had also been issuing fake national permits to commercial vehicles of different states to enable them to ply across the country. Sources said that 59 fake official stamps, blank forms to apply for road tax, insurance and national permit and other incriminating material was seized from the possession of the accused. Raghubir Singh, SP (D), while talking to mediapersons here today, said that racket came to light when a local resident Kaur Singh complained to the police that he had been cheated by Pawan Kumar and his son Akashdeep in connection with the deposition of tax for his vehicle. He said that a case had been registered under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC in city police station.
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Sardulapur (Kapurthala), July 13
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has started giving week-long flood rescue training to 30 youths in Ropar. All the youngsters are from flood-affected villages along the
Sutlej. These youngsters will be trained to save a drowning person, row a boat and giving first-aid. Today, they were given training at the swimming pool. After three days, they will be trained in the
Sutlej.
The stage was set, invites issued, to administer the oath of office to Harish Rai Dhanda as Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission. But barely three hours before Dhanda was to be sworn in by Punjab Governor Shivraj V Patil at the Raj Bhawan here today, the state took a U-turn. It undertook before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it would not go ahead with the process of administering oath to Dhanda till the final adjudication of a petition challenging the move to appoint him.
The Agriculture Department has introduced a leaf colour chart in Moga district for farmers to make judicious use of nitrogen-rich fertilisers (urea) on the paddy crop.
This leaf colour chart technology, originally developed by the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, has recently been approved by the Punjab Agriculture University,
Ludhiana. The PAU has also started printing this chart and its subsidised rate has been fixed at Rs 35.
With the arrest of Pawan Kumar and his son Akashdeep, residents of this town, the local police claimed to have busted a gang that had been running a fake vehicle-document racket in Punjab, Haryana and other states.
