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Dr Gurnek Singh is acting VC of Sikh varsity
Doctor suspended for negligence in treating Ahluwalia
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Tarn Taran villages deluged
Collapsed buildings were not on MC’s unsafe list
4 of family killed in car-truck collision
Charanjit Brar joins SAD
PPP leaders lambast Bajwa
SAD fields Sekhwan, Langah for SGPC poll
Sant Samaj to contest 30 seats
Capt tells Khangura to woo NRIs
PSEB fails to provide info under RTI Act
3% quota for differently abled teachers
Youths recount travails in Iraq
Embassy in touch with duped youths
Met forecasts more rainfall, alert sounded
A clarification
Two of four suspects move bail pleas in Gurkirat case
Appointment of lambardar
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Dr Gurnek Singh is acting VC of Sikh varsity
Patiala, August 9 Dr Gurnek Singh is the author of “Sri Guru Granth Sahib: Interpretations, Meaning and Nature” and has written five more books on various religious aspects of Sikh history. In an interview, Dr Gurnek Singh said his immediate priority would be to streamline the functioning of the university and boost the morale of his staff. He refused to comment on his predecessor Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia’s style of functioning, maintaining that he would rather focus on his own job. Sources confirmed that his name for the top university post was proposed by SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar during his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday. The SGPC president is the ex-officio chancellor of the university. Dr Jasbir Singh
Ahluwalia, who was attacked at the university campus on August 1, is under treatment in
Chandigarh. Makkar said: “Dr Gurnek Singh is a renowned Sikh scholar and his appointment will surely add to the university’s prestige.”
Doctor suspended for negligence in treating Ahluwalia
Chandigarh August 9 Health and Family Welfare Minister Satpal Gosain had entrusted the Director, ESI, Dr Satwant Bhalla, to conduct an inquiry. The inquiry report revealed that Dr Garg did not summon any specialist to treat Dr Ahluwalia brought to the hospital in a precarious condition. Dr Garg did not inform his superiors, the Civil Surgeon and the Senior Medical Officer, who were at a meeting when the VC was brought to the hospital.
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Tarn Taran villages deluged
Tarn Taran, August 9 Other affected area are Kakka
Kandiala, Behla, Rataul,Varpal, Wanchari, Gohalwar, Tharu, Mattewal,
Noordi, Johal Raju Singh, Pandori Ran Singh, Pandori Rehmana, Kot Dosandi Mall, Kot Dharam Chand
Kalan, Kot Dharam Chand Khurd, Teja Singh Wala, Manochahal Kalan, Manochahal
Khurd, Noorpur, Chamke Khurd, Chabal, Swargapur, Mannan, Baba Budha Sahib, and Sarai Amanat Khan. In Mattewal village, the residents had to climb onto their rooftops after rainwater entered their houses.
Jagdish Singh, former sarpanch of Pandori Ran Singh village that was inundated, said they had to create a breach in the canal passing near the village to divert the rainwater into it. Deputy Commissioner Satwant Singh Johal said rainwater had entered into the houses in three villages while agricultural fields had been submerged in a number of other villages. Additional Deputy Commissioner Kulbeer Singh said though the water level had started to recede, the damage to the crops was yet to be assessed. The Additional Deputy Commissioner visited the affected villages today and issued orders to the health and veterinary departments to put up camps at Sarai Amanat Khan village to facilitate medical aid.
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Collapsed buildings were not on MC’s unsafe list
Amritsar, August 9 And what has further put the civic body in a spot is that none of these buildings figured in the list of unsafe buildings, prepared by the MC in 2004. There is a possibility that several other such old structures may have escaped the attention of the civic authorities. Now, questions are being raised about the list of unsafe buildings as it was apparently prepared on the basis of complaints received from occupants of adjoining houses, not following any identification exercise by the AMC. Nevertheless, the authorities have decided to revise this list and have formed a special team to conduct a survey of every nook and corner of the walled city to identify dilapidated buildings that are inhabited. Admitting that the structures that collapsed yesterday were not on their unsafe list, AMC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said a fresh survey has been ordered. A special team comprising municipal town planner, assistant town planners and assistant divisional fire officer had been constituted for the task, he said. “There is a possibility that some unsafe buildings may have escaped our attention, alike the five that collapsed yesterday. We used to declare those buildings unsafe against which complaints were received. But now, a fresh ‘house to house’ survey will be conducted. The team will especially monitor those houses that have been built of Nanakshahi bricks and are in a bad shape,” Gupta said. Notably, several dilapidated buildings are located in the interiors of Katra Parja, Chowk Chabutra, Chowk Moni, Katra Ahluwalia Bazaar, Namak Mandi, Gali Chhajju, Guru Bazaar, Pratap Bazaar, Cheel Mandi, Ghantagarh and Haveli Zamadara areas. The 2004 survey, it has been learnt, had identified 119 unsafe buildings in the city. However, the AMC could only raze about 20 per cent of them, rest have been left as it is due to legal implications. The officials stated that the inhabitants of 60 per cent of these buildings have moved court against the AMC’s decision to demolish their buildings and their cases were pending in the court. Shaky structures of Amritsar Baljinder Singh (30) died while his wife received minor injuries when the roof of their house collapsed in Amritsar late last night. According to information, their two kids, Prabhjot (4) and Jashan (2), escaped unhurt in the incident that occurred at Dashmesh Nagar in Kot Khalsa area. Bodies of those trapped recovered The bodies of 42-year-old Geeta and her teenaged daughter Mehak (19) were recovered after a 15-hour rescue operation late on Monday night from the debris of their house at Gurudwara Guru ke Mahal area. The dilapidated building had collapsed following yesterday’s heavy rain in the holy city. Areas with several old buildings… l A survey by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation in 2004 had identified 119 unsafe buildings in the walled city l The MC, however, could only raze about 20 per cent of them, rest have been caught up in legal implications
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4 of family killed in car-truck collision
Kapurthala, August 9 The deceased include an Amritsar-based goldsmith Partap Singh (78), his wife Bimla Devi (70), their son Jaspal (55), grandson Raja (28) and driver Prem Singh. According to information, Bimla Devi, Jaspal and Raja died on the spot whereas Partap and the driver died in a nearby hospital. Two motorcycle-borne persons sustained injuries as their vehicle also collided with the ill-fated car. The wounded persons were identified as Satnam Singh and Buta Singh. They were admitted to a nearby hospital where their condition was stated to be out of danger. The goldsmith along with his family members was going to Jalandhar Cantonment from Amritsar in Honda City car. When the car reached near Dogranwal village, the driver tried to save the motorcycle which instantly came in front of the car but it resulted into a head-on collision with a truck coming from the opposite direction.
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Remove Gill, Guru, Congress tells CEC
Chandigarh, August 9 She pleaded for a single general observer from the IAS cadre in each constituency. Seeking the removal of Director-General of Police PS Gill and Principal Secretary to the CM DS Guru for their “obvious intent and activities aimed at contesting elections,” she insisted that elections to the Punjab assembly should be held in a single phase since it was a small state. She said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee election results should be withheld till the assembly elections, lest these influenced voting in the assembly elections. Bhattal asked the CEC to appoint a separate observer to keep a tag on poll expenditure by candidates. She said she feared that about 25,000 proclaimed offenders, acting at the behest of the SAD-BJP combine, may indulge in booth-capturing and violence. The Congress delegation included Lal Singh, Surinder Singla, Col CD Kambhoj, Capt Sandeep Sandhu and Mr Karanpal Singh Sekhon, besides Bhattal. The delegation brought to the notice of the CEC the projects and freebies being announced by the ruling alliance. The party empahsised the need for identifying sensitive booths and urged the commission to ensure that only central security forces are posted to man these booths. Chandigarh, August 9
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Charanjit Brar joins SAD
Chandigarh, August 9 The SAD president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, welcoming Brar into the SAD fold, said most of the ‘panches’ in Gidderbaha had joined the SAD with Brar. To a question, he said Brar’s entry into the SAD would not have any impact on the cases registered against him, which would be dealt with on merit. He ridiculed allegations that Brar had been pressurised into joining the SAD. Sukhbir said when his younger brother (Manpreet) left the SAD, he gave new slogans to the people. “However, he did not come up to the expectations of the people, because of which the entire senior leadership of his party has deserted him”. He appealed to other PPP leaders to return to the parent party. The SAD president claimed that Manpreet had tried to mislead the people on the state’s financial condition. He said the PPP chief had been holding secret parleys with the Congress leadership in Delhi to discredit the Akali leadership, besides discouraging investors to invest in Punjab. He said Punjab with its record VAT collection and development works had shown the mirror to Manpreet who could no longer mislead the people on false propaganda.
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Hoshiarpur, August 9 However, it will support true Sikh ccandidates.This was stated by senior leaders of the PPP, including Sardara Singh Johl, former Vice-Chairman of the Punjab Planning Board, Kuldip Singh Dhos, Gurmit Singh Daduwal, advocates Kashmir Singh Malli, BS Riar and Bhupinder Singh Ajram. Sharply reacting to the rejoining SAD by former Member of Rajya Sabha Bajwa and his supporters at the behest of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal after leaving the PPP, they alleged that Bajwa had used the PPP to obtain a lucarative post in the SAD. But his exit would not affect the PPP in any way. People were now aware of the opportunism of Bajwa and had lost faith in his leadership. They pointed out that earlier the former OSD of the PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal, Charanjit Singh Brar had left the party under pressure. — OC
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SAD fields Sekhwan, Langah for SGPC poll
In the second list announced yesterday, the party allocated the party ticket to former minister Tota Singh from Moga as well as sitting legislator Sant Balbir Singh Ghunas from Chananwal (Barnala). This triggered speculation that the party wanted to pack off ‘jathedars’ to the SGPC and allocate assembly tickets to fresh talent, in sync with the times. Party sources said though Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan and Agriculture Minister Suchha Singh Langah were already SGPC members, the party might limit the former to the SGPC only because Sekhwan’s assembly seat of Kahnuwan no longer exists post-delimitation. Langah too has announced his intention to contest from Dera Baba Nanak rather than from his seat at Dhariwal whose character too has changed after delimitation. However, according to sources, Langah is better placed as he heads the party’s Gurdaspur district unit. A surprise loser is Karnail Singh Panjoli, a former Gurcharan Singh Tohra loyalist, who has missed the cut from Fatehgarh Sahib. Sources said Panjoli’s refusal to accede to amendments in the Nanakshahi Calender, as demanded by the Sant Samaj, went against him. Tohra loyalists Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and Satwinder Singh Tohra have, however, been renominated though many sitting Tohra loyalists have failed to make the cut and thereby the strength of the Tohra camp has been reduced considerably. Among the 33 tickets, which were allotted today, former minister Gurdev Singh Badal’s son Kewal Singh Badal has been allocated the ticket from Mullanpur Dakha. The Sikh Students Federation president and Subordinate Services Selection Board member Gurcharan Singh Grewal makes it from Jagraon. Former Chandigarh Mayor Harjinder Kaur has been renominated from the lone Chandigarh seat. Only seven seats remain to be decided, with the SAD announcing candidates from 130 seats now.
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Sant Samaj to contest 30 seats
Amritsar, August 9 SAD secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema confirmed the development, stating that the SAD had retained 140 seats. This has come as a major boost to the Sant Samaj, which was part of the Panthic Morcha in the 2004 SGPC elections. Samaj head Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi had also led the Panthic Morcha against the SAD last time. Former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbeer Singh Rode, who held parleys with the SAD on behalf of the Sant Samaj, said, “We had contested the SGPC polls in the 1970s last time when Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was heading the Damdami Taksal and had even won a few seats. However, this is the first time that we would be fielding so many candidates.” He said they would play the role of a watchdog in the SGPC and ensure that the Sikh history and traditions are upheld. He said they would support the SAD candidates on the seats which they are not contesting. However, he made it clear that they would not support any candidate who is a ‘patit’ (apostate). The Sant Samaj also managed to get Sirhind constituency from where the SGPC executive member from SAD, Karnail Singh Panjoli, got elected last time. The Samaj is fielding Gurpreet Singh Randhawa, son of its vice-president Baba Hari Singh Randhawa, from Sirhind.
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Capt tells Khangura to woo NRIs
Chandigarh, August 9 In a letter issued to Khangura, Captain Amarinder Singh asked him to utilise his forthcoming trip to the US, Canada and the UK for the benefit of the party, “You are requested to initiate an interaction with various NRI organisations and individuals... which can act as a prelude to my visit to these countries before Diwali this year”, the PPCC president asked Khangura, while adding, “you can act as a representative of the PPCC president to help me in setting an agenda for my trip”.
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PSEB fails to provide info under RTI Act
Mohali, August 9 Contrary to the guidelines on supplying the information sought within the stipulated one-month period, the authorities in the board denied information sought regarding number of examination centres that were restored after being cancelled due to copying since 2005. Through an application filed under the Act, information had been sought on six issues, including the list of examination centres that were cancelled due to copying, and reasons for restoring each of the centre, number of unfair means cases (UMCs), name of officers in the flying squad and rules regarding the cancellation and restoration of the examination centres. But the RTI cell of the board provided information only on four of the queries and that, too, after repeated queries to the Public Information Officer (PIO). However, information regarding the reasons for restoring the examination centres that had been cancelled due to previous examinations, the PIO stated that no such information was available with the board. When this was brought to the notice of the Education Minister, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, and the Chairman of the board, Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon, the latter assured that the information would be provided. Again, when the issue was brought to the notice of Dr Dhillon during a press conference related to declaration of annual results, he directed the concerned officials to provide the information. But the information has not been provided till date. In another case, the PIO failed to reply to a query regarding selection of district managers in the board. The applicant has sought details about the selection criteria adopted by the board to select the managers, cut off percentage of the candidates, detail marks of the computer test and interview and whether any of the selected candidate was related to any board official. The board authorities did not even respond to the query within the one-month stipulated period. Interestingly, the board authorities in a press note claimed that the selection process was fair and transparent. When contacted, PIO Karan Jagdish Kaur while claiming that the reply had been sent advised the applicant to file an appeal before the appellant authority.
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Two cops honoured
Patiala, August 9 Their cases were forwarded by Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Ranbir Singh Khatra. Sidhu, who is a 1994-batch probationer Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), has been awarded for crime detection and discharging his duties with hard work and honesty during the year 2010-2011. ASI Shamsher Singh was awarded for bagging ISO-9001-2008 certification of Model Police Station, Fatehgarh Sahib, and for discharging his duties diligently during the annual Shaheedi Jor Mela, 2010. On behalf of the DGP, Commendation Disks were given to both the officers by Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Ranbir Singh
Khatra.
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3% quota for differently abled teachers
Patiala, August 9 It is worth mentioning that earlier there was reservation during recruitment only but this is the first time that the Punjab Government has introduced this reservation for promotion also. In a letter issued by the Principal secretary, Department of Social Security of Women and Child Welfare, Punjab, dated July 5, 2011, the government has given details of how this reservation has to be classified. Giving details of the reservation, a senior functionary with the department, said, "Out of these 3 per cent reserved seats, visually challenged, hearing impaired and physically challenged will get 1 per cent seats each," he added. He further informed that for the upcoming promotions of master cadre, the Education Department has already invited cases of such employees who joined service till the year 2000. As per 3 per cent reservation, as many as 38 seats will be given to such employees for promotion as headmasters. DEO (Secondary) Parmod Kumar confirmed that the department had already issued a letter in this regard asking for such cases. This decision has got a mixed response from the teachers. While some feel that it will facilitate such employees as they face more difficulty in performing their duty as compared to physically fit teachers, on the other hand, some feel that these employees have already been given the benefit during their recruitment and reserving seats for promotion will be unjust. "I am not against their promotion but it should be in accordance with the seniority list only. They have already been given benefit during their appointment but reservation in promotion does not make sense. Even other teachers have been waiting since years for these promotions," rued one of the teachers.
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Youths recount travails in Iraq
Jalandhar, August 9 In a flagrant violation of the United Nations conventions, the youths were being allegedly forced to clear live bombshells from hundreds of acres of barren land, near Al-Najaf and Karbala towns. One of them, Kanwaljit Singh, a 26-year-old youth from Khurlapur village in Jalandhar, alleged that conduits of unscrupulous Indian travel agents in Iraq sold them to private contractors. They were forced to clear live bombshells, wreckage of used bombs and missiles from the fields. “The travel agents promised us a job in the house-keeping sections of the Iraqi military establishments. However, after we landed there, they sold us to contractors who kept us near Al-Najaf town and forced us to clear the fields for a meagre salary of $300,” said Kanwaljit Singh. “They even took away our passports and demanded Rs 70,000 from us to return to India”, he added. Earlier, as the families of these youths were unaware of their whereabouts, some of the parents were worried that terror groups might have detained their sons. A few weeks ago, some of the stranded youth had revealed the nature of jobs they were doing to their families. However, they were unaware about where the recovered bombshells were being supplied. This added to the parents anxiety and they feared that the captors might have been supplying the recovered ammunition to some terrorist outfits. Kulwinder Singh, from Takhni village in Hoshiarpur, who returned along with Kanwaljit, said, “There was a 1500-acre farm located near Al-Najaf and Karbala towns. The farm had turned into a battlefield during the US-Iraq war. The entire field was full of tonnes of live and exploded bombshells. We were asked to pick the bombshells and then dump them in a separate small farm located nearby.” Kulwinder alleged that no rule of law was followed in that part of the country. “The clearing of wartime wreckage went on for three to four months and no Iraqi official ever visited the place,” he alleged. The ordeal of the youths had come to fore when Bal Mukand, a resident of Khambra, near Jalandhar, whose 20-year-old son is also trapped in Iraq, lodged a complaint with the police about how his son, along with 40 Indian youths, was detained in a camp located at an undisclosed and semi-forested area in Iraq. He had alleged in his complaint that the youths, most of whom are from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, were forced to work for terror groups. Meanwhile, the families 12 youths have approached the Ministry of External Affairs to plead their case with Iraqi government for the early release of the stranded youth from Iraq. Duped by agents l
Their ordeal came to the fore when Bal Mukand, a resident of Khambra, near Jalandhar lodged a police complaint l Conduits of unscrupulous Indian travel agents sold the youth to private contractors l Were forced to clear live bombshells, wreckage of used bombs and missiles from fields l Some families approach the MEA to intervene for their release
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Embassy in touch with duped youths
New Delhi, August 9 There were some 350 people of different nationalities working on a housing project at Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad. Of them, 28 Indians, who have been forced to work on the project, have contacted the Indian mission. According to the MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash, the youths who had approached the Indian Embassy were being treated as ‘Indians in distress’ and the mission was trying to facilitate their safe return to India. The embassy was in touch with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and the Punjab Government in this connection.
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Met forecasts more rainfall, alert sounded Patiala, August 9 Financial Commissioner Revenue Punjab A.R.Talwar while talking to The Tribune said he had already convened a meeting of senior officials of the department to review the arrangements that have been made to deal with any exigency in case of torrential rains. “Necessary instructions have been issued to all the Divisional Commissioners to prevent the loss of life and property in every district,” he asserted. Patiala Divisional Commissioner S.R.Ladhar has issued instructions to the Deputy Commissioners of Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Barnala and Mohali to review the flood control arrangements. Patiala District Revenue Officer Rajvir Singh said they had already identified vulnerable villages in the district and round-the-clock disaster management control room had been set up. “Regular monitoring of the water level in the seasonal rivulets is being done on a daily basis,” he added. Special teams, comprising doctor, teacher, veterinarian and an official of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, have been constituted.
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Two of four suspects move bail pleas in Gurkirat case
Jalandhar, August 9 Arguing in the court, Defense Council VK Sareen said different versions were being projected in the court and that the conspiracy charge does not stand as per the evidence collected by the police. Sareen argued that the statements given by the father of the deceased contradicts the conspiracy theory. He argued that in light of this contention, the incident was not an act of conspiracy since deceased’s father saw Ram Simran Singh Makkar, alias Prince Makkar, and his son grappling at the scene of the incident. If it had been an act of conspiracy, the victim would have been shot without entering into any scuffle. He also rejected the conspiracy theory on the basis of the statement of the eyewitness, who had told the cops that they had overheard all the four suspects
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Appointment of lambardar
Chandigarh, August 9 The HC has added that candidate for the lambardar's post could not be expected to be unemployed or merely engaged in agriculture activities. The ruling by Justice Alok Singh came on a petition filed by Balwinder Singh against Punjab Financial Commissioner. The post had fallen vacant after the death of then lambardar Mehnga Singh in 1997. After completing all the formalities, the District Collector had ruled: "Balwinder Singh is young, mature and better qualified. His name is duly recommended by Garhshankar tehsildar and the sub-divisional magistrate. Hence, he is preferred and appointed as lambardar.” Acting on an appeal, the Financial Commissioner set aside the order, while observing the petitioner was running a PCO and was an LIC agent. Counsel for the petitioner, on the other hand, vehemently argued that the LIC agency of the petitioner was terminated in 2001. Justice Alok Singh ruled: “In the opinion of this court, running a PCO in the village does not mean that petitioner shall not be available in the village to perform duties of lambardar.”
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Patiala, August 9
Heavy rainfall on Monday led to the inundation of crops on hundreds of acres of land spread over various villages in the district.Other affected area are Kakka
Kandiala, Behla, Rataul,Varpal, Wanchari, Gohalwar, Tharu, Mattewal, Noordi, Johal Raju Singh, Pandori Ran Singh, Pandori
Rehmana, Kot Dosandi Mall, Kot Dharam Chand Kalan, Kot Dharam Chand Khurd, Teja Singh
Wala, Manochahal Kalan, Manochahal Khurd, Noorpur, Chamke Khurd, Chabal,
Swargapur, Mannan, Baba Budha Sahib, and Sarai Amanat Khan.
a confidant of Punjab People’s Party chief Manpreet Singh Badal, Charanjit Singh
Brar, today joined the SAD with his supporters at a function here today. Brar, a former officer on special duty
(OSD) with Manpreet, claimed that the party’s core committee was full of Manpreet’s kin. This was against the very essence of forming a new party, which was supposed to be a democratic movement.
Roof collapse claims another life 
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Katra Parja, Chowk Chabutra, Chowk Moni, Katra Ahluwalia Bazaar, Namak Mandi, Gali Chhajju, Guru Bazaar, Pratap Bazaar, Cheel Mandi, Ghantagarh and Haveli Zamadara 
The Shiromani Akali Dal raised the issue of dummy candidates and paid news with the Election Commission and sought an increase in the ceiling on poll expenditure. In a representation to the EC, SAD secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said the EC should strictly curb the entry of dummy candidates. This was essential for fair and peaceful elections. He said in many constituencies dummy candidates were sponsored by vested interests to tarnish the image of a candidate. Urging the EC to check the menace of paid news, Cheema suggested that the EC should constitute a body to investigate instances of “paid news”. Cheema also demanded simplified procedure for permission to hold elections meetings.
Chandigarh, August 9