Chandigarh, August 5
Four months after the Punjab and Haryana High Court was informed that the inquiry into the acquisition of properties by the high-ups in Chandigarh’s periphery has gone to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Mohali, the State today sought more time for submitting the status report.

As the case came up for hearing before the special Division Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, the State asked for three months time to complete the probe.

This is the second time the State has sought three months extension after handing over the probe to the EOW. In April also, on the previous date of hearing, the State had sought three months time.

Granting the extension, the Bench fixed November 18 as the next date of hearing.

The matter was brought to the high court's notice by Nayagaon resident Kuldip Singh. Accusing a senior police functionary in a land grab bid in Nayagaon, he had sought protection, while pleading for registration of an FIR and a CBI probe into the dealings. The inquiry was entrusted to the ADGP, after Justice Ranjit Singh of the high court took cognisance of the matter. Justice Ranjit Singh had asked the ADGP to lay emphasis on Nayagaon, Zirakpur, Mohali, Kansal and Karoran area. The judge had added: "It would also need investigation to see as to what is the source of acquisition".

The state has already informed the high court that it has constituted a special investigation team to look into the case.

The case is being supervised by Additional Director-General of Police Hardeep Dhillon and monitored by Punjab Chief Secretary.

Dhillon had replaced Chander Shekhar as the investigating officer in the case after his retirement as the DGP of Railways. Chander Shekhar, before relinquishing the office, had recommended a CBI probe into the acquisition of properties by the high-ups.

The case

The State has asked for three months time to complete the probe

This is the second time that the State has sought extension

A Nayagaon resident had accused a senior police functionary of land grab bid in Nayagaon and demanded a CBI probe

Punjab has formed a special investigation team under the ADGP to look into the case

November 18 is the next date of hearing

Patiala, August 5
The contentious issue of the Hansi-Butana canal and construction of a 3.75 km toe wall along the canal, near Dharmheri village on the Punjab-Haryana border, is likely to hot up in the next couple of days. After hogging media attention for almost two weeks last month, the crucial issue is likely to be at the centrestage if scheduled events of the next three days is any indication.

As per information, on August 6, PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh will visit Dharmheri village and Ramnagar, which are the nearest Punjab villages to the Hansi-Butana canal. Confirming this, the spokesmen of the PPCC told TNS that Amarinder Singh would have a look at the site, where the controversial wall is coming up. He will also interact with inhabitants of the villages that had to face fury of floods.

As an exercise to counter the efforts being made by the political personalities of Punjab, pertaining to the issue of the Hansi-Butana canal and the under-construction wall, the Haryana Congress has also got into motion. As per information, Haryana Cabinet Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala will address a rally, being organised by farmers wing of the Haryana Congress on August 7 at Cheeka village (Kaithal), which is situated along the Hansi-Butana canal on the Punjab-Haryana border. It is learnt that the main objective behind holding the rally is to spread the message that Haryana has done no wrong by constructing the Hansi-Butana canal and the wall which is being constructed is just to ensure that there should be no breach in the canal.

Interestingly, apart from the political parties, the farmers’ bodies and a front constituted by inhabitants of the flood-affected villages of Punjab and Haryana, have also joined the issue. Representatives of the Anti Hansi-Butana Joint Front (AHBJF) and BKU Ekta (Dakaunda) have announced to hold a mahapanchayat on August 8 to deliberate upon the issue at Grain Market, Nava Gaon village.

Union president Dr Darshan Pal also condemned the alleged attempts being made by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Haryana Government for stopping the inhabitants of some of the Haryana villages from attending the proposed mahapanchayat. “The Haryana Government is worried that support to the flood-affected villages of Punjab by the Haryana villagers would adversely affect the claims made by the Haryana government with respect to the Hansi-Butana canal issue,” said Dr Pal, while speaking to TNS.

“Attempts are being made to terrorise the Haryana villagers to prevent them from attending the mahapanchayat,” claimed Dr Pal. Avtar Singh Baupur, an active member of the Front, said he was getting numerous calls from Haryana villagers, saying that Haryana government functionaries had warned the representatives of several village panchayats to skip the mahapanchayat.

At centrestage

The Anti Hansi-Butana Joint Front and BKU Ekta (Dakaunda) to hold a mahapanchayat on August 8

PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh to visit Dharmheri village tomorrow

Haryana minister RS Surjewala will address a farmers’ rally on August 7 at Cheeka village

Apart from political parties, farmers’ bodies and a front formed by inhabitants of the flood-affected villages of Punjab and Haryana have also joined the issue

Chandigarh, August 5
On the directions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has agreed to speed up the movement of foodgrain from Punjab to deficit states.

The FCI will move 16 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice from the state to other parts of the country this month. A similar quantity would be moved next month too.

With 200 lakh tonnes of grain stocked for the central pool, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged the Prime Minister to expedite the movement of grain to make space for fresh paddy expected to arrive in the market in eight weeks from now.

The state expects a bumper crop this year too because of conducive weather conditions. The state government, which has been grappling with the problem of stacking foodgrain owing to shortage of roofed space, has asked for the Union Government’s approval for building more warehouses. A meeting in this regard willd be held in Delhi next week.

A central team had collected samples of wheat and rice from various places and told the state Food and Supplies Department to improve storage conditions. However, the state government has reportedly told the Centre that it cannot do much on this front because of lack of space. “We have told the Centre to shift the foodgrain to other parts at the earliest possible,” said a senior official.

Meanwhile, at a meeting with senior officials of the Union Food Ministry, state Food and Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh has urged that the state be paid Rs 600 crore infrastructure development cess.

The ministry has withheld the amount on the plea that it is not prepared to pay an additional 1 per cent infrastructure cess on foodgrain.

Two years ago, the state government had increased the cess from 2 to 3 per cent. Kairon has also urged the ministry to clear other dues related to transportation of paddy to rice mills beyond a radius of 8 km, the pending incidental charges and money related to the disposal of damaged foodgrain.

The state expects a bumper paddy crop this year too because of conducive weather conditions

The state government, facing shortage of roofed space for storing grain, has asked for Centre’s approval for building more warehouses

A meeting in this regard will be held in Delhi next week, say official sources

Punjab has asked the Centre that the state be paid  Rs 600 crore infrastructure development cess

The ministry has withheld the amount on the plea that it is not prepared to pay an additional 1 per cent infrastructure cess on foodgrain

Jalandhar, August 5
Painting a gloomy and horrible picture of Punjab, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Captain Amarinder Singh has alleged that 78 per cent people of Punjab are hooked to one or the other form of drugs and 62 per cent of them are youngsters in the age bracket of 19-24 years.

Expressing worry over the worsening fiscal health of the state, Amarinder said the Rs 1.7 lakh crore Punjab debt was spiralling with each passing day and there was almost no hope that the debt would be waived in the near future.

“We will have to generate and increase our own revenue sources and make strenuous efforts to handle debt servicing, though the 13th Finance Commission has recommended a special treatment in respect of debt servicing for the states of Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal. Don’t think that the debt will be waived. Akalis have converted Punjab into a bankrupt state with their unthoughtful policies and programmes like ‘sangat darshans’,” said Amarinder while interacting with mediapersons here today.

He said the state was going through such a financial mess that while the agriculture sector of rest of the country was growing on an average at 5.5 per cent and Punjab recorded the lowest growth of 1.6 per cent in this sector. Similarly, the per-captia income of Punjab was lowest and we were even far behind Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat.

He said the figures had cropped in an extensive survey which had been conducted by a professional institute on the behalf of the PPCC. “The number of BPL families has increased from 13 lakh to 20 lakh during the SAD-BJP ‘misrule’. Is it positive or negative growth? More than 47 lakh youth of the 2.72 crore population of Punjab are jobless,” Amarinder said.

“Drug addiction is the biggest spectre looming large over the future of Punjab, but the SAD-BJP government is rather encouraging drug peddling. Our sample survey in a Ludhiana college has virtually startled us as it shows that 52 per cent boys and 43 per cent girls have tried drugs. On the other hand, 78 per cent of the people of Punjab are on drugs. The SAD-BJP led Punjab government’s effort to strengthen the state’s fiscal health can be gauged from the fact that Punjab can manage to land just 3.2 per cent of World Bank grants while, Uttar Pradesh drew 26 per cent,” said Amarinder who, also addressed members of the District Bar Association (DBA).

He was flanked by his trusted lieutenants like Arvind Khanna, BIS Chahal, Gautam Kapoor, Major Amardip and local Congress leaders, including Avtar Henry, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Gurkanwal Kaur and Tejinder Bittu.

Jalandhar August 5
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Capt Amarinder Singh has left no stone unturned to display his proximity with the localhotelier-turned-politician Gautam Kapoor by putting up at his Model Town residence of the latter for two days in a row during his ongoing Jalandhar visit. The development has made Kapoor emerge as a front-runner for the Congress ticket from the Jalandhar (central), one of the most sought after assembly seats in Punjab.

Amarinder will also kick-start his grass-root level interaction in the Doaba region in a big way by holding one-to-one interaction with businessmen, intellectuals such as advocates and members of the media community on Friday in his apparent effort to woo people of different walks of life in the wake of the forthcoming assembly elections.

What has created ripples in the political circles of Doaba region is Amarinder’s two-day stay at the residence of his old chum-Gautam Kapoor-for the second time in a row in a short span of a month. 

Patiala, August 5
After protests by farmers in Barnala and Sangrur over government land acquisition turning sour, numerous farmers today held dharna against construction work in the housing project being executed by Omaxe Private Limited and Patiala Development Authority (PDA) at the Sirhind Road.

Following a court order, issued on July 29, numerous farmers raised anti-government and anti-Omaxe slogans claiming that the farmers were subjected to cheating as they were paid poorly by the government when their land was acquired and later the land was sold to a private company that made huge profit by selling it at exorbitant rates.

“We were promised houses as per our land taken and also promised employment for our village youth. But till date, nothing has been done and therefore we have decided to hold dharna at the gate of the project everyday to protest against the wrong done to us”, said Tirlochan Singh, a farmer. “More than 340 acres of fertile land was taken away from us by the government and our only demand is that we want our land back. We are willing to repay the money paid to us”, they said.

Another farmer stated that he had built a house in his farmland and after his land was forcibly taken away by the government, he stayed in a a rented accommodation for two years and faced lot of hardships. Local farmers, Harbhajan Singh, Nirmal Singh and Bahadar Singh, had approached the high court, claiming that the state authorities had committed a fraud to them by acquiring land for the project and later passing it to a private company. 

Bathinda, August 5
Having produced a bumper crop last season, the long stretched dry spell is worrying cotton farmers who fear that the quality of their produce will be hit if rains continued to elude the region.

While the rest of Punjab is having a good rainfall, the Malwa region is reeling under a dry spell with occasional drizzle.

“Although a good crop is expected this season also, the length of the staple might remain short if there is no rain. This will result in lesser price for the produce,” say cotton growers.

Gursewak, a cotton grower near Gidderbaha, said, “BtCotton requires a little more water than the indigenous variety. A good shower at this stage will be sufficient to improve the quality of the produce.”

A cotton trader of Abohar, Vijay Nagpal, expected a good crop this season, but he too is apprehensive about the quality of the staple due to the dry spell.

Abohar produced about 1.8 lakh bales of cotton last season and Nagpal expects that the quantity might touch 2.25 lakh bales this season. Each bale consists of 1.65 quintal of cotton.

Nagpal said the cotton growers of the area earlier used to carry their produce to Rajasthan to fetch a better price, but now the Punjab government had slashed the market fee and rural development fund by one per cent each in a bid to check the trend.

Balwinder Singh Sidhu, director of agriculture, said “The area under the cultivation of cotton is expanding due to the trend of increasing price of the produce. An increase of about 70,000 hectares under cotton sowing has been registered this season. A total area of 4.93 lakh hectares was under cotton cultivation last season.”

He said the farmers, particularly in Bathinda, Ferozepur, Mansa, Moga, Faridkot and Barnala districts, were shifting from paddy to cotton cultivation as the former crop requires a lot of water for irrigation.

Another reason for the farmers being attracted towards cotton was that the produce initially fetched a price of Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 per quintal and later touched Rs 7,000 last season. 

Chandigarh, August 5
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has kept its cards closely guarded in the release of its first list of 64 candidates for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Even as half a dozen important SAD leaders find mention in the first list, some important leaders, including Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah and Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekwan, are missing.

A stalwart, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, has paved the way for his son Jagjit, who will contest the poll from his father’s seat at Raikot. While the political situation in the state indicates that the SAD does not have much reason to worry, the first list suggests that the party is showing utmost caution, apparently keeping in mind the results of the SGPC elections could set a trend for the next General Election due early next year.

Out of the 64 names that find mention in the list released by party president, 28 sitting members have been retained. Some political families like that of Talwandi have got tickets for their kin. Former MLA Harwant Singh Datewas’s wife Jasbir Kaur has got a ticket from Budlada, Hari Singh Zira’s daughter in-law Jaswinder Kaur has been given a ticket from Talwandi Bhai as the seat is now reserved for women.

According to the list, the SGPC President Avtar Singh will contest from Ludhiana (West), whereas former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur will be the party candidate from Bholath. Former ministers Gobind Singh Longowal and Randhir Singh Cheema will contest from Longowal and Bassi Pathana constituencies. Cheema replaces sitting SAD MLA Didar Singh Bhatti.

Similarly, Rajinder Singh Mehta Member, Executive Committee of the SGPC will contest from Amritsar (Central), Kiranjot Kaur will contest on a seat reserved for a woman candidate from Amritsar (West) and Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke from Tarn-Taran. Important leaders who have been dropped include Gurmail Singh Sangowal (Samrala), Baldev Singh (Chogawan) and Didar Singh Bhatti (Fatehgarh Sahib).

Like Talwandi, the sitting SGPC member Santokh Singh Samra has given up his Guru Ka Bagh seat for his son Jodh Singh. Sources said that behind-the-scenes race for tickets continues and the party leadership is having a tough time doing a balancing act.

The SAD seems to be comfortably placed with the major opposition SAD (Amritsar) fielding candidates only on 102 seats.

The Panthic Morcha that had come together against the SAD has also not been able to make much dent in the poll arena yet. Even in Haryana, the anti-SAD group that won 6 out of the 11 seats in the last poll appears to be fragmented, not posing much of a challenge to the SAD.

Meanwhile, Justice H.S. Brar Chief Commissioner Gurdwara Election Commission today issued the appeal to all parties and candidates contesting the poll to behave in a dignified manner and avoid bickering and mud-slinging in the elections.

In his appeal to the candidates, Justice Brar said that they should not, under any circumstances, display show of force much less commit breach of peace. He also appealed to them to refrain from exercising any intimidation or coercion of any type or offering any temptations, including distribution of liquor or other intoxicants to the voters as all such acts and similar acts amount to corrupt practices within the meaning of Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925. 

Tarn Taran, August 5
Baba Jagdeep Singh, alias Sonu Behla, and his followers, who were armed, forcibly took over Gurdwara Lakir Sahib in the early hours of today.

Terrified Jaswant Singh Padda, president of the managing committee of the gurdwara, and the staff scaled the shrine walls and fled for life. The baba’s attempt to take over the gurdwara about 20 days ago was thwarted by the Padda faction.

Heavy police forcee was deployed soon after the incident took place. The police locked the main gate of the shrine. The tussle for the control of the gurdwara had been on since the death of Baba Joginder Singh Yogi in December last.

Attempts to contact Manminder Singh, SSP, proved futile while Kulbir Singh Sandhu, DSP, switched his mobile off.

SHO City Sukhinder Singh failed to give a satisfactory answer. “Any action will be taken only after receiving a complaint,” he maintained.

The incident is seen as the outcome of a tussle between SAD and BJP leaders. Padda is considered close to BJP leaders and has levelled serious allegations 

Patiala, August 5
As hearing in the high-profile murder case of Harpreet Kaur, daughter of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, started in the court of a special judge (CBI cases), Patiala, Balbir Singh, the defence counsel Satnam Singh Kler resumed the cross-examination of Kamaljit Singh, the complainant in the case.

Harpreet murder case

Harpreet Kaur, daughter of Bibi Jagir Kaur, had died under mysterious circumstances on April 21, 2000

Kamaljit Singh, complainant in the case, had claimed that he was Harpreet’s husband and father of Harpreet’s stillborn child

On February 25, 2010, Kamaljit turned hostile in the court

Next date of hearing is August 12

Tarn Taran, August 5
Facing flak of Punjab and Haryana High Court, the district police today nabbed two of the three accused in connection with an eight-year-old murder case registered at Patti police station.

Those arrested were identified as Sukhwinder Singh and Gurwinder Singh, both residents of Dhaliwal village, who were declared proclaimed offenders (PO) on April 13 and November 9, 2007, respectively, while their third accomplice, Gurdeep Singh, was declared PO recently.