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Acquisition
blues One of the farmers whose land is being acquired by the Bathinda Development Authority. A Tribune photograph
Mohali-based institute under lens |
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Ugly scuffle at Charak’s meeting
Congress workers in a scuffle at a meeting of the Jalandhar District Congress Committee on Friday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
Amarinder orders inquiry; report in 3 days
Manpreet: NRIs firmly with me
Crowds abroad no indication of popularity
— Sukhbir
Six medical students
suspended for ragging
Chief Secy to head Right to Service Commission
Fazilka admn seeks Army help to strengthen bundhs
Officials take stock of the situation at a village in Fazilka. A Tribune photograph
Pong dam level up, more water released by BBMB
Nakodar villagers fear floods
In Parliament
FCI to procure 14 lakh tonnes of paddy
Punjab to file petition in Dhanda case: Sukhbir
Recovery of country-made arms sends Punjab cops in a tizzy
PSEB engineers want supercritical power plant at Bathinda in public sector
Cong to observe Rajiv Gandhi’s anniversary
ETT Question Paper Leak Case
10 trucks get challans for overloading iron pipes
High Court raps state for harassing farmers
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Acquisition
blues
Bathinda, August 18 “We would rather die than give away our ancestral land. We have been cultivating the land for the past several decades,” said a sobbing Gurmeet Singh. Gurmeet and his three brothers owned 18 acres. The family members have refused to accept the cheques given by the government and have moved to court. “At least 12 persons were arrested to take possession of the land,” said 80-year-old Surjeet Kaur. “The mannerin which we are being dealt with reminds one of the days of the British. The government is using every tactic to take away our priceless land at a throwaway price,” she said. “The authorities are now in the process of acquiring our houses. The government will pay us a mere Rs 2 lakh for the 500-yard five-room house built years ago,” said a bitterly diappointed Gurmeet. He said the police had threatened to implicate the farmers in false cases if theyt put up a resistance.“Despite the threat, we will launch an agitation. This is gross injustice and we would rather die than allow anyone to take away our land,” he said. The BDA has acquired 185.77 acres land for the Urban Estate wherein plots would be sold to build houses.The authorities yesterday forcibly acquired 42 acres after arresting protesters. The authorities have deposited Rs 17 crore in the state exchequer as money for the land acquired. Administrator of the BDA Umashankar Gupta could not be contacted for comment despite repeated attempts.
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Mohali-based institute under lens
Chandigarh, August 18 Justice K Kannan also gave his nod to the state to move the Registrar of Societies to examine the issue of cancelling the name under which the council operates. The directions came after the council’s action of filing a petition against the move to get an FIR registered against it backfired. The council had moved the court, claiming it was imparting training to students in veterinary sciences. Justice Kannan asserted: “The council has no right to affiliate institutions... It shall have no right to claim that a foreign university has given such authority. The activities of the petitioners, including the advertisements, have serious portents of public mischief, with the gullible youth being enticed on promises that jobs are available for taking from the government departments…..” “Para Medical Council, that claims affiliation with a little known Open University at Colombo is surely an attempt to hoodwink the public into believing that it is a recognised institute and the persons undergoing training will secure jobs from government departments”. Justice Kannan added: “I am convinced that there is an attempt to bring legitimacy to their existence with foundations in quick sand that can harm public harm. The petitioners shall be entitled to no protection and the state machineries shall be at full liberty to take appropriate criminal action, both under the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Central Veterinary Council Act, in so far as they offer any course in veterinary pharmacy and issue misleading advertisements in the print and electronic media”. Dismissing the petition with Rs 10,000 costs, Justice Kannan added: “The state machinery shall keep a close watch on the petitioners that they do not breach any law that regulates specified medical or para medical fields… Till a legislation takes shape, there is no need to lower the gun and slacken the vigil”.
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Ugly scuffle at Charak’s meeting
Jalandhar, August 18 Despite the presence of party incharge Gulchain Singh Charak at the function, the activists entered into a scuffle when councillor Mahesh Puri, who was on the dais, was pushed around by workers from the DCC’s rural unit. Pleas by senior leaders to maintain discipline fell on deaf ears. Charak’s appeal for order too was ignored. He was shown placards as soon as he started his address. He had to be escorted out amid the din. Miffed at the turn of events, hewas seen reprimanding DCC office- bearers. Sanjay Sehgal, who was leading the protesters, said for the past many years rich business men had been promoted in the party whole they had been sidelined. Loyalty and hard work had ceased to be the criteria for recognition. Legislator Amarjit Samra, former ministers Avtar Henry, Chaudhry Jagjit Singh, Chaudhry Santokh Singh, former MP Rana Gurjit Singh and Kewal Dhillon were present
at the function.
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Amarinder orders inquiry; report in 3 days
Chandigarh, August 18 The PPCC chief asked his loyalists Rana KP Singh and Harminder Singh Jassi to inquire into the unnsavoury incidents at Gurdaspur and Pathankot and submit a report within three days. Amarinder has clearly given a signal to the party rank and file that his authority is paramount. Earlier Amarinder had tried to stifle Charak by appointing “special coordinators” to coordinate the general secretary’s programmes. Sources said there was a feeling in the Amarinder camp that allowing Charak a free reign in the state would result in the general secretary coming up with his own list of candidates for allotment of the party tickets. It was also felt that anti-Amarinder groups would try to woo Charak. Sources said Capt Amarinder had told the high command that Charak’s district-level meetings would fuel dissidence. This proved to be the case with supporters of rival candidates getting into a showdown in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar to impress Charak. The high command reacted by asking Charak to put off his tour. Amarinder, however, denied that he had approached the high command to scuttle Charak’s tour. In a statement, he claimed the programme had been finalised with his consent and he had facilitated the same by appointing coordinators for the distri-level functions. The PPCC chief’s camp feels that Charak is taking his job too seriously. This is because Charak is much more active than other general secretaries incharge of the state who have chosen to remain in Delhi and come to the sState only for an odd rally or so. Charak in contrast has taken an active interest in the process of nominating PCC delegates as well as office-bearers and now wants to be involved in the process of selection of party candidates for the assembly elections. But, the sources maintained, Charak’s choices were not always correct and that PPC chief’s say must be final on important matters.
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Manpreet: NRIs firmly with me
Chandigarh, August 18 The PPP chief, when questioned if he had lost a lot in Punjab to gain support abroad, said this was not so. “We are a mass movement and the going of a few Bajwas (former MP Varinder Singh Bajwa) will not matter”. He claimed both Bajwa and his former officer on special duty Charanjit Brar had been coerced into joining the SAD. He claimed Bajwa was told a college being run by him would be closed down and Charanjit had deserted the PPP because he feared a case would be registered against his wife. “But then they needed to stand by their conviction”, he said, adding that the leaders had been bought. Bajwa had been accommodated in the SAD Parliamentary Affairs Committee and Charanjit appointed adviser and media coordinator to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Manpreet denied that he was promoting a kitchen cabinet. He said he would announce his party organisation within 30 days and it would be clear then whether he was promoting his family or not.Questioned whether he would have to start from a scratch with senior leaders, including Bir Devinder Singh and Beas legislator Manjinder Singh Kang, deserting him, he said: “Spend a day with me in the field and see the crowds for yourself”. To another query as to whether the SAD and Congress cadres had held out resolutely against him, he said the Congress cadres would hold out, as it smelled victory. He said as far as he was concerned, he was not looking at the cadres but the voters. “They are our target”, he added. On the invitation by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to rejoin the SAD, he said: “I would just say good luck to the CM. We will fend for ourselves”. “Na tu saada rab, na asin tera bande, na asin tereya maarayan marde. Jis jannat da tu maan karen, ao jannat che nahi varde”.
Crowds abroad no indication of popularity
— Sukhbir
Muktsar, August 18 He said SAD activists who had earlier joined the PPP had now started returning to the parent party. They had realised that they had been “misled.”Sukhbir accused Manpreet of having a secret understanding with the Congress for the SGPC elections.Referring to the agitation against corruption by Gandhian Anna Hazare, Sukhbir said it had now become a people’s movement against corruption.
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Six medical students
suspended for ragging
Amritsar, August 18 Headed by Dr Jaswant Rai, head of department of Pharmacology, with Dr JS Chahal, from the department of ENT, and Dr Surinder Pal, hostel warden, as its members, the inquiry panel submitted their report to the college principal in the morning. Those suspended include Gurlal Singh Bhullar, Mohinerpal Singh, Simranpreet Singh Kahlon, Vivek Atri (all students of MBBS second year), Vikas Deep Singh and Vishwas Pal Singh (both students of final year). Principal Dr Sukhdyal Singh Shergill said Gurlal, Mohinderpal, Simranpreet and Vivek had been suspended for two months while Vikas and Vishwas had been suspended for 15 days. The students have been told to vacate their hostel rooms immediately, he said. “We will not allow such things to happen in our college. Stern action will be taken against the students in future as well if they are found involved in ragging,” said Dr Shergill. On August 12, the suspended students were found ragging their juniors on the hostel premises.
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Chief Secy to head Right to Service Commission
Chandigarh, August 18 At present, as per the Ordinance, the Chief Secretary has the charge of Chief Commissioner till a regular appointment was made. Highly placed sources said the government had conveyed to Aggarwal that it would like him to take over as Chief Commissioner of the Right to Service Commission from October 1. As per the announcement of the government, the Right to Service Commission would become fully functional during the course of this month. Though Aggarwal is not due to retire till October next year, he will have to take pre-mature retirement because as per the ordinance, the commission is to be headed by a retired Chief Secretary or an officer of the rank of secretary in the Government of India. Besides the Chief Commissioner, the commission will have two other commissioners. As per indications, the government is keen to appoint AR Tawlar as the next Chief Secretary of the state from October 1. Also, in the race are Sudhir Mittal, who is currently posted at Delhi, and SS Brar. The Right to Service Ordinance-2011 was passed by the Punjab Cabinet in its meeting on June 7 and is expected to be taken to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha sometime when the house meets in October. Punjab has become the first state in the country to introduce the Ordinance that will ensure the delivery of citizen centric services like making of driving licence, arms licence and revenue records within a stipulated time limit. This ordinance is aimed at empowering the citizens with the right to get the services from the government within a set deadline. It will also ensure 100 per cent accountability of the officers of implementing agencies. A provision of penalty clause has also been introduced in the ordinance to charge a penalty of minimum Rs 500 up to maximum of Rs 5,000 from the authorised designated officers, who fail to provide the services in a time-bound manner. There is a list of 67 citizen centric services. To name a few are issuance of a DL (driver’s license), mutation, record of land rights (Jamabandi), land demarcation processes, approval of water supply/sewerage connection, receiving certified copies of Birth/Death Certificates, vehicle registration certificates, handing out fitness certificate for commercial vehicle, renewal of arms licence etc. Other services like police verifications including passport verification, issue of various certificates such as caste, OBC, income, residence, registration of all kinds of documents, sanction of all social security benefits for old age/ handicapped/ widow would also come under the Ordinance. If any designated government official purposefully delays any of the mentioned services will end up paying light to hefty cash penalty.
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Fazilka admn seeks Army help to strengthen bundhs
Fazilka, August 18 Over 2,000 acres of land, most of it with standing crops, lie inundated. As per information, the Army personnel along with the civil administration and drainage department workers have been pressed into service. They put thousands of sand bags along the weak points on the 11-km Kawanwali Pattan bundh stretch in a bid to prevent any breach and to avoid erosion. As per official sources, the water level has increased by another feet in the Sutlej creek resulting in damage to the standing crop. Water has also touched the Kawanwali Pattan bridge, which connects half a dozen villages across the Sutlej with the town. “The water level has further increased as 60,000 cusecs of water was released from the Hussainiwala Headworks today morning, as a result of which the standing crop in 10 villages was inundated,” Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg said.
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Pong dam level up, more water released by BBMB
Chandigarh, August 18 BBMB chairman AB Agrawal said the water level at Pong had gone up to 1,388.05 feet, only two feet below the top filling capacity of 1,390 feet. He said it was because of this that the water releases from the dam had been increased. The BBMB authorities are now releasing 65,000 cusecs of water from the dam with 47,000 cusecs being released from the spillway gates and 18,000 cusecs from its powerhouse. While 11,000 cusecs is being diverted to the Mukerian hydel channel, the remaining water is being released into the Beas. Agrawal said the water releases might be increased in the coming days even if the dam received the present reduced intake of 58,000 cusecs. He said with one and a half month of the filling season still left, the dam authorities did not want to take any chance with the safety of the dam. The strategy has, however, come under criticism from the Power Engineers Federations with its president Padamjit Singh saying that with inflows having been reduced from the earlier 1 lakh odd cusecs to 57,000 cusecs, the dam authorities should not bring down the reservoir level needlessly. Meanwhile, due to heavy rainfall in its catchment area, the level of the Bhakra dam has also registered an increase. The water level touched 1,664.05 feet at the Bhakra today. The top-filling limit is still 16 feet away at 1,680 feet. The water level at Ranjit Sagar Dam has touched 517.11 metres whereas its capacity is 527.91
metres. Filled to Capacity n Water level at Pong dam touches 1,388.05 feet on Thursday, only two feet below the danger mark of 1,390 feet n
At Bhakra, water level recorded at 1,664.05 feet, 16 feet down from top-filling capacity of 1,680 feet n
Level at Ranjit Sagar dam touches 517.11 metres whereas its capacity is 527.91 metres
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Nakodar villagers fear floods
Nakodar, August 18 The villagers say that if the situation was not controlled in time, the water will touch the dhushi bundh within a few hours, which may then melt the main bundh and this would further inundate dozens of villages. Villagers also raised anti government slogans and against the drainage department for “failing” to take any preventive measures. Villagers revealed that more than 100 residents were engaged in cutting trees and then putting along the dhussi bundh to slow the flow of water. However, no help had arrived from the government side.
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In Parliament
New Delhi, August 18 The assurance was made during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today. Congress member from Anandpur Sahib Ravneet Singh Bittu made a query about reasons behind the poor production capacity at the Nangal Plant of the NFL during supplementaries. The question pertained to the revamping of old fertiliser manufacturing units. Bittu was keen to know why the production capacity of the Nangal plant, the oldest NFL plant in India, not being tapped to produce urea and other fertilisers which have to be imported from outside. “The Nangal plant is the oldest NFL plant and was set up in 1974. Why is its production capacity lower than that of NFL’s plants at Bathinda, Panipat and Madhya Pradesh? “Also, does the government plan to enhance urea production at this plant,” asked Bittu. The Nangal plant is to be made gas-based next year.
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FCI to procure 14 lakh tonnes of paddy
Chandigarh, August 18 With Punjab expecting a bumper paddy crop this year, as much as 140 LMT of paddy is expected to reach the mandis for procurement, which is expected to begin in the first week of October. Officials of the FCI said they were expecting to procure 10 per cent of the total paddy arrivals in various mandis across Punjab. Last year, 129 LMT of paddy was procured by the FCI as well as the state procurement agencies, it is learnt. Of this, the FCI had procured 5.3 LMT, which in turn yielded 3.55 LMT of rice after milling. “This year, we expect to procure more than two and half times of paddy than what was procured last year,” said a senior FCI official. And even as the marketing season approaches, the premier procurement agency is now making all efforts to liquidate its food stocks in the state, so as to make space for the new stocks. The agency is planning to shift 8 LMT of wheat and 7 LMT of rice from Punjab to the recipient states in the South and the East this month. “By the time the new crop arrives in mandis, we will have created sufficient space to accommodate the new stocks,” said the official. At present, he said, 61.7 LMT of rice is lying in various godowns in Punjab and about 21 LMT of rice is yet to be delivered by the millers. As of now, 124 LMT of wheat stock is also lying in open, plinth and covered storage facilities in the state.
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Punjab to file petition in Dhanda case: Sukhbir
Muktsar, August 18 Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the government was examining all aspects of the ruling against the appointment “We will take appropriate steps in the matter,” he said. The HC had yesterday set aside Dhanda’s appointment as PPSC chairman. It t ruled in favour of having a fair, rational, objective and transparent process of appointment of the PPSC chief. Gurbani telecast
Chandigarh, August 18 Both the petitions were filed by advocate Pritam Singh S Swaich. Swaich sought directions to frame a policy and “make logistics for grant of licence or assignment of rights to broadcast Gurbani from the Golden Temple and from other religious places”. — TNS
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Recovery of country-made arms
sends Punjab cops in a tizzy
Patiala, August 18 The recent directives of the Ministry of Home Affairs had tightened rules pertaining to weapon licenses. The criminals usually opt for the country-made illegal weapons, which usually are manufactured and can easily be procured from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh for as less as Rs 5,000. Tougher guidelines issued a few months back by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) pertaining to grant of the Prohibited Bore Arms License to individuals in the state, the state government had authorised the State Police Department to clear an applicant if they face any threat from terrorists or have served at a post by virtue of which they are vulnerable to terrorist attack. As per the new rules passed to all the district police chiefs, “no person will be able to procure an arms license without the police verification.” The Patiala police caught a gang of robbers on August 16, who were caught while allegedly planning a robbery and had various cases pertaining to the Arms Act against them in various police stations of the state. “We recovered a 12-bore pistol from them which probably came somewhere from Uttar Pradesh and various such weapons are made available to these gangsters in an organised manner,” said Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill. The city police had arrested two migrants last month on the charges of allegedly selling country-made pistols and cartridges to various people in the state. Preliminary investigations pointed out that their clients include many local people and they were selling the same from the past over two years. An accused caught recently by the cops, told the Tribune, at the sidelines of a police press briefing that procuring country-made weapons was not that difficult and many gangs were actively involved in this trade. “You pay cash and you get the best pistols and cartridges, as country made weapons now usually come with warranty that they won’t misfire,” he stated. “We have been using them during robberies and other incidents and their result is accurate most of the times and it can easily kill from a distance,” he added.
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PSEB engineers want supercritical power plant at Bathinda in public sector
Bathinda, August 18 In a statement issued here today, the association said it apprehended that vested interests were eyeing the 1,700 acres of prime land of the GNDTP and misleading the state government to close the plant. With the decision to closedown GNDTP, there is a move to establish private-sector monopoly in power generation, the association alleged, adding that already all the new thermal power plants in the state are being constructed in the private sector and not even a single thermal power plant is being constructed or expanded under the state sector. The association suggested that the land available at GNDTP might be utilised to install new 500/660 MW supercritical technology units under the state sector. The engineers have decided to oppose the proposed closure of the GNDTP and said the cost of the power from this plant was comparable or even less than the upcoming new super-critical plants. With the closure of the plant, not only public money will be wasted, but also many people will lose their jobs. "On the one hand, large amount of funds are being spent on the renovation and modernisation (R&M) for extending the life of this plant by another 15 to 20 years and for improving the performance and solid particulate matter (SPM) ash discharged from its chimneys and on the other hand, its closure is being planned," they said. "The PSPCL has already spent Rs 183 crore on the R&M of the GNDTP units I and II from 2004 to 2006. Pollution from chimneys of these units after renovation and modernisation is well within the permissible limit of 150 mg/m3 set by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB)," said the spokesperson. Contract for R&M of units 3 and 4, which includes augmentation of unit capacity from 110 MW to 120 MW at the total cost of Rs 470 crore was awarded to the Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) in 2006. The BHEL has already provided 80 per cent material for the R&M of the units and it has even been paid Rs 285 crore. The R&M work on unit 3 is in progress and is likely to be over by November this year, while work on unit IV is slated to begin after October. After the R&M, solid particulate matter of all the chimneys will be within limits. Moreover, the available modern techniques may be utilised to reduce the pollution level of the existing units further, if required, pointed out the association.
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Cong to observe Rajiv Gandhi’s anniversary
Patiala, August 18 The rally will be presided over by PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh. Senior Congress leaders, party MLAs, former Congress legislatures, Youth Congress leaders, office bearers of the frontal cells of the party and activists from all across the state will attend the rally to pay homage to late Rajiv Gandhi. Senior Congress leaders asserted that it would not be wrong to say that the August 20 rally will sound the poll bugle in Patiala. PPCC Vice-President Lal Singh and Patiala District Congress Committee (Rural) president Hardyal Singh Kamboj have said the party cadre from Patiala was working hard to ensure gathering of about 40,000 persons at the rally. “From the last few days, the senior Congress leaders, including Samana MLA Brahm Mohindra, Nabha MLA Randeep Singh, Ghanaur MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur, former MLA Ramesh Singla and DCC (Urban) president Prem Krishan Puri, are busy making arrangements for the rally,” said the senior Congress leaders. Claiming that the Patiala Congress was united, Lal Singh said, “We are hopeful of huge turnout at the rally. Proper arrangements for parking, sitting, water and food have been made at the rally venue.” The Congress leaders stated that though the rally was being organised by the Patiala Congress, the party leaders from all across the state were expected to attend it. “In the wake of the fact that Amarinder represents the Patiala constituency as MLA, the success of the rally is beyond doubt,” said former Nabha MLA Ramesh
Singla.
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ETT Question Paper Leak Case
Patiala, August 18 The teachers raised slogans against the Punjab Government for allegedly throwing the onus of this incident on three officials, including the then director of SCERT Avtar Singh, national-awardee Roshan Lal Sood, who was working as CEO (Nabha), and Evaluation Officer Jagtar Singh, stating that the government had failed to prove that the paper was leaked. Talking to The Tribune, patron of the association JS Aulakh said the government had failed to prove that the eighth paper of ETT third semester was leaked. “The leakage story was concocted with ulterior motive to allow students admitted in private institutions to take the exam after charging heavy fee, which was against the rules of the department. Director Avtar Singh had refused to accept the demand of private institutions as a result of which they filed a writ petition 13485/2011 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Despite the fact that the case was pending in the court, Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan suspended these three officials just on the basis of a rumour that the paper was leaked,” he added. He further alleged that the minister went to the extent of authorising the Punjab School Education Board to conduct 11 papers of ETT instead of SCERT, but had to take back its decision after media highlighted the fact that the Board was incapable of holding the exam. Blaming the government for being silent on the issue of alleged corruption in the TET exam that was held on July 7, the members of the association alleged that the government had suspended these officials just because they refused to facilitate private institutions against the wishes of the Education Minister. Another member Sarabjit Singh Toor informed that the association had already conducted several meetings and had tried to meet Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in this regard, but to no avail. Therefore, a dharna was staged at three division headquarters i.e. Patiala, Jalandhar and Bathinda today to make their voice heard, but in case the CM still did not meet them, they would intensify their stir.
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10 trucks get challans for overloading iron pipes
Patiala, August 18 “The trucks loaded with iron pipes and other material park usually their vehicles on the roadside near dhabas and vends, posing threat to other commuters. In many cases, we found that the iron is loaded almost six to seven feet outside the body of the truck, which leads to mishaps,” said senior police officials. Cases have been registered against six such trucks drivers in the past two days in the Balberha police station. — TNS
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High Court raps state for harassing farmers
Chandigarh, August 18 Taking up a petition by Sukhmander Singh and other filed through counsel KB Raheja, the Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Augustine George Masih asserted: “The lethargic attitude of the respondents is deplorable. It is sheer harassment to the poor farmers whose land was acquired.” Going into the background of the controversy, the Bench observed: “The land (in Faridkot) was acquired way back in the year 1988. The award was passed on March 2, 1993, and the matter went to the Land Acquisition Tribunal. It was disposed of on August 8, 2000. “In that order also it was directed that the landowners be paid compensation allowance for severance of their land. The right of the landowners to get compensation was accepted. However, the amount was not assessed because a report was not sent by the patwari. Nothing was done thereafter.The poor farmers continue to knock at the doors of the respondents (Punjab) and nothing was done for a long period of 10 years, then they came to this court”. The court also observed that the landowners were seeking compensation for severance of their land due to acquisition. On May 25, a ziledar assured the court that the requisite amount would be disbursed to the petitioners as per the entitlement before the next date of hearing, July 4. The Bench added: “In a very casual manner, it has been stated by the state counsel that the statement made by Gurpal Singh, ziledar, is not correct and the award has not been passed…..” “We have failed to see any reason on the basis of which the State Government can deny compensation to the petitioners. They are the landowners whose land was acquired and on account of which some part of their land was severed and they suffered a loss.” Disposing of the petition, the Bench added: “Award compensation amount of Rs1,11,875 was found due to the petitioner. The amount has been paid…. It is the contention of counsel for the petitioners that the amount awarded is on the lower side. Be that as it may, if the petitioners are not satisfied, they may raise their grievance before the competent forum”.
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More than 30 families of Ward No. 5 of Bathinda have refused to give their land to the Bathinda Development Authority and PUDA for building Urban Estate Phase IV and V.
Jalandhar, August 18
Fazilka, August 18
In an interview with TNS, Manpreet exuded confidence, saying he had got a tremendous response from the Punjabi NRI community during his fortnight-long visit to North America and Canada. “We had to turn away people in Toronto where we had hired an ice hockey stadium for the rally”, he said, adding the NRIs had told him that they would return home to vote for the coming assembly elections. “This will affect one- third of the constituencies as many NRIs are principal bread- winners for their families”, he maintained.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the crowds at the meetings of PPP leader Manpreet Singh during his visit abroad did not reflect his popularity. Talking to mediapersons during a series of SAD workers’ meetings in the Gidderbaha assembly segment in connection with the SGPC elections, Sukhbir said any other Punjabi leader, artist or social activist would have been welcomed by crowds of nostalgic Punjabis living far away from their motherland.