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Powercorp faces fresh trouble
Four months on, no FIR in JEE mass copying case
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7 pc DA hike for govt staff
Corruption remains a core issue, says Harsimrat
PPCB to monitor air, noise pollution levels on Diwali
Gobindpura farmers reject alternative land
Devotees allowed to carry Palki Sahib
Child labourers rescued
Car collides with canal barricade, kills two
Mansa stadium being constructed in a rush, quality compromised
Invites or not, YPS to spare stadium
Aided school teachers to observe ‘Black Diwali’
Two arrested with poppy husk
Deported from UK, Moga youth held in Amritsar
Five criminals escape from police custody in Faridkot
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Powercorp faces fresh trouble
Nalash (Rajpura), October 22 After filing a petition in the PSERC on September 6, 2011, while urging the Commission to disapprove MoUs signed by the PSPCL for the extension units at the Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo thermal projects, recently Brar had submitted some "crucial confidential documents" to further substantiate his claims made in a petition before the PSERC. “Notwithstanding the fact that the Rajpura Thermal Power Project was awarded through the competitive bidding process; on July 28, 2010, the PSPCL signed an MoU with the NPL, a wholly owned subsidiary of M/s Larsen & Toubro (L&T), for increasing the capacity of the Rajpura Thermal Power Project by another 700-MW. This is a post-tender development and also flouts the National Tariff Policy guidelines", Brar alleged, while speaking to TNS. Notably, projected as one of the most prestigious power projects, the 1400-MW Rajpura Thermal Power Plant was awarded to L&T through the competitive tariff-based bidding process and the foundation stone of the project was laid at village Nalash, Rajpura, on March 2, 2010. Alleging that several other guidelines had been flouted while awarding the 700-MW expansion unit to NPL, Brar said, "While the process to award the expansion unit through an MoU was done in a quick succession of time, the developer has yet not take the approval of the MoU from the PSERC, notwithstanding the fact that it has been 14 months since the MoU was approved by the PSPCL and the Punjab Government."
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Four months on, no FIR in JEE mass copying case
New Delhi, October 22 During the exam, a candidate at the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology,
Bathinda, had lodged a complaint with the authorities stating that some others in her examination room, were aided by the invigilators and college staff. Subsequently, an inquiry committee set up by the IIT JAB found evidence of copying and of invigilators having provided assistance to some candidates who were known to them and some college staff. The then JAB Chairman, Prof Sanjay G. Dhande (Director, IIT
Kanpur), had asked the Director, IIT Roorkee and the Chairman, JEE, IIT Roorkee to lodge an FIR so that the matter could be investigated. An RTI query has now revealed that IIT Roorkee has not taken any action at all. In this case, all JEE candidates who had benefited had received JEE roll numbers in a sequence and were seated in a single room so they could be
helped. IIT Roorkee faculty members, Prof CSP Ojha (civil engineering) and Prof Prakash Biswas (chemical engineering) who were supervising the JEE examination at the Bathinda centre were found to have remained silent when the copying took place. The matter was not reported by the IIT Roorkee faculty representatives to whose notice it had been brought by the parent of the complainant. The parent had to then lodge a written complaint with the Chairman, JAB, and the Director, IIT
Kanpur. It was later established that Prof Ojha’s daughter was studying at the Bathinda college where the copying case was reported. Copying made easy A candidate at the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology,
Bathinda, had lodged a complaint stating that some others in her examination room were aided by invigilators and college staff All benefited candidates had received roll numbers in a sequence and were seated in a single room so they could be helped On June 7, the Joint Admission Board for JEE 2011 had directed the IIT
Roorkee, whose staff was on invigilation duty at the said centre, to register a case against the centre and the erring staff An RTI query has now revealed that IIT Roorkee has not taken any action at all
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7 pc DA hike for govt staff
Chandigarh, October 22 Though the move has come at a time when various employee unions are demanding hike in pay scales, the enhanced DA is unlikely to placate the employees who form a substantial chunk of the vote bank in the state. The hike will take the allowance to 58 per cent with retrospective effect from July 1, 2011. Even though the DA is being touted as a Diwali bonanza, the employees continue to be unhappy as they will get the first enhanced DA instalment with their salary on December 1. Most employees have been demanding a revision in the pay scales as was done in case of teachers, who are now bracketed in the same category as officers. The state Cabinet recently made a committee to look into the grievances of the employees, who are now saying that the committee has been formed to pass time till the general elections which are due in February next year. The enhanced DA was due since July this year, but it has been announced now. The DA is revised twice a year in January and July. The revision was due in July that has been implemented now. It has been done on the Central pattern. But since the employees will not get any money in cash before Diwali, they have said it would be wrong to call it a festive bonanza. The government was hesitant to enhance the DA on account of poor financial health. The Finance Department had recommended to the Chief Minister that the decision should be put off as the state was already facing a revenue deficit of Rs 2,000 crore. Badal cleared the file late last evening. The enhanced DA would put an additional burden of Rs 445 crore on the state exchequer for the remaining period of current financial year. Officials said arrears of the DA till October 31, 2011 would be deposited in the GPF of the employees and they would get cash payment along with their salaries from November 1, 2011. There are indications that many sections of employees are debating the issue and are even considering going on a strike to press for their demands. The government does not want any agitation ahead of elections, so it is working overtime to hold talks and win over various leaders of the employee associations. The General Categories Welfare Federation, Punjab, has already announced that it will oppose all SAD-BJP candidates in the next assembly elections as the government has not even called the federation for any discussion on their demands. Shyam Lal Sharma, chief organiser of the federation, has said their main demands are establishing of a separate department/commission for the welfare of general categories on the lines of the Welfare Department of Scheduled Castes. THE BURDEN: The enhanced DA would put an additional burden of Rs 445 crore on the state exchequer for the remaining period of the current financial year THE CATCH: The revision, which was due in July, has been implemented now. But since the employees will not get any cash in hand before Diwali, they have said it would be wrong to call it a ‘festival bonanza’ THE DILEMMA: The government was hesitant to enhance the DA on account of poor financial health. The Finance Department had recommended to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the decision should be put off as the state was already facing a revenue deficit of Rs 2,000 crore
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Hisar defeat ‘nothing to celebrate about’
Chandigarh, October 22 He reminded Badal that he must not forget that his party, the Shiromani Akali Dal is the alliance partner of the INLD in Haryana. Reacting to Badal’s gloating over Bishnoi’s victory over Chautala in the Hisar byelection, Capt Amarinder remarked, “Probably in his over excitement over the defeat of the Congress candidate in Hisar, Badal seems to have forgotten that his party has an alliance with the INLD which also got defeated. Hence, he has nothing to celebrate about”. The PCC president told Badal to remember that Punjab is not Hisar. “Even his Hisar self-consolation, which in itself is surprising, will prove to be too short-lived to console him for long as his party will be defeated in Punjab in the coming Assembly elections”, he remarked.
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Corruption remains a core issue, says Harsimrat
Ludhiana, October 22 Quoting the purported statement of the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the debt-waiver issue that appeared in a section of the media, she said Manpreet Singh Badal’s stance on the debt waiver issue had been exposed as “a pack of lies”, as Mukherjee had denied making any debt waiver offer to Punjab.
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PPCB to monitor air, noise pollution levels on Diwali
Patiala, October 22 The authorities have divided major cities of the state into three zones- commercial, residential and sensitive. While confirming this, PPCB chairman KS Pannu said: “With the help of the pollution monitoring devices being installed in the residential areas, commercial markets and sensitive zone, the PPCB will be able to analyse the pollution level on account of the bursting of crackers on Diwali. The board authorities have stated that the sensitive zone will include hospitals, educational institutions and religious places.” A thorough perusal of the data compiled by the PPCB shows that in year 2009, the concentration of NOx (in µg/m3) on Diwali in Mandi Gobindgarh, Patiala, Ludhiana and Amritsar was 38, 30, 71 and 41 respectively. However, in 2010, except Amritsar, NOx concentration (in µg/m3) came down to 34, 26 and 53 for Mandi Gobindgarh, Patiala and Ludhiana respectively. Furthermore, in year 2009, the figures for Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) (in µg/m3) in Mandi Gobindgarh, Patiala and Ludhiana were recorded to be 744, 662 and 588 respectively. However, in year 2010, the figures came down to 567, 487 and 579 respectively. Pannu said though during the last year, the air pollution levels on the account of bursting of crackers was less as compared to 2009 but still there was a need to bring down the pollution level in order to ensure that environment is not polluted. "We are hopeful that the awareness campaign launched by the board for celebrating eco- friendly Diwali will yield desired results and the pollution levels on this Diwali will be much less as compared to last year," said PPCB Deputy Director (PR) Charanjit Singh. Meanwhile, Patiala Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli and Senior Deputy Mayor Anil Bajaj have exhorted the city residents to celebrate pollution free Diwali. “In order to ensure that environment of city remains pollution free, everybody should follow guidelines issued by various government agencies with respect to bursting of crackers.” Fire wing on alert The Fire Wing of Patiala Municipal Corporation has made all arrangements to meet exigency, if any, on Diwali. Directions have been issued to the fire staff to remain extra vigilant during the festive season. "Besides seven fire tenders, portable pumps, high-pressure pumps and foam tender, have been kept ready with the fire brigade," said Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli, while adding that holidays of the fire-fighting staff has been cancelled till
Diwali.
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Gobindpura farmers reject alternative land
Ludhiana, October 22 Suggesting an alternative site for the relocation of the farmers, they said the present site was not suitable. The stalemate between the state government and the farmer bodies protesting against the land acquisition for the thermal plant continues. Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary, BKU Ugrahan, has been reiterating that the farmer bodies were not against the setting up of the thermal plant, but the government should accept the demands of the protesting farmers. Meanwhile, Mansa deputy commissioner Ravinder Singh and former Mansa SSP Hardial Singh Mann, who talked to the leaders, said they would arrange a meeting of the representatives of the farmers with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on October 24.
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Devotees allowed to carry Palki Sahib
Amritsar, October 22 While the SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar could not be contacted, his PA Manjeet Singh confirmed that the practice has been resumed. He said though things are back to the normal, if still there are any problems they will hold a meeting with the devotees to sort them out. Earlier, the practice was discontinued reportedly on the orders of the Manager, Darbar Sahib, after the installation of Guru Granth Sahib inside the sanctum sanctorum got delayed by 15 minutes on the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Ram Das allegedly due to the devotees. The practice to carry "Palki Sahib" holds tremendous significance for the devotees who throng the Golden Temple in the wee hours to participate in the process. As per the tradition, a “Palki” (palanquin) gilded with gold and silver is prepared for bringing Guru Granth Sahib from the Akal Takht to the Harmandar Sahib. Fresh silk brocade, coverings and cushions are laid in the Palki. A priest (granthi) of the Golden Temple appears with the Guru Granth Sahib on a cushion on his head and the worshippers bow their heads. He places Guru Granth Sahib on the cushions of Palki Sahib. Hymns, accompanied with drums and nagaras fill the air with rhythm, music and piousness. Within half an hour, the devotees, who line up on either side of the passage to share the honour of carrying the “Palki Sahib”, reach the Darshani Deorhi, along with Guru Granth Sahib. The head priest reverentially carries the Guru Granth Sahib to the sanctum sanctorum for “Parkash” (installation) ceremony. The ceremony is witnessed by a huge rush of devotees and is held between the Akal Takht and the Darshani Deorhi. The same process is repeated at night for bringing back the Guru Granth Sahib from Harmandar Sahib to the Akal Takht for “Sukh Assan”. The timing of the ceremony though varies as per the season. In summers, the ceremony takes place at 4 in the morning while in winters the time is is 5 am.
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Child labourers rescued
Malerkotla, October 22 “We raided the sweets shop, where the children were forced to work in inhuman conditions for over 12-14 hours daily,” the SDM told reporters. She said exact age of the children could not be verified due to the lack of forensic facilities at Malerkotla but the dental doctors of the local civil hospital verified that the age of these children was nearly 14 years. She said the children were sent to their relatives.
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Car collides with canal barricade, kills two
Muktsar, October 22 While the exact time of the accident could not be ascertained as yet, the police were able to retrieve the car and free the brothers from the wreckage but it was too late to save them. The deceased have been identified as Makhan Singh (35 yrs) and Labh Singh (48 yrs), both residents of Patel Nagar, Malout. The residents of Sarawan Bodla village came to know of accident on Saturday morning when the tyre of the car that had turned turtle was seen floating on the Maluka canal surface. Immediately, the police were informed and the villagers pulled out the car from the canal but both the occupants of the car were already dead. The deceased were identified on the basis of their driving licenses, said Lakhwinder Singh, the investigating officer in the case. While the police are investigating the accident, the residents said the main the cause of the accident is the poor condition of the barricade on the canal bridge. At some places, the barricade is fully-damaged, thus exposing the vehicles on the bridge to grave accident threats.
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Mansa stadium being constructed in a rush, quality compromised
Mansa, October 22 “We have been able to just make the structure in the past two-and-a-half months. Forget about quality, we may end up relaying most of the constructed work after the tournament is over. We are paying double the money that was to be actually spent on this project,” rued workers at the site. Admitting problems, the contractor, Prem Kumar, said he had been assigned the work on August 15 and was told to complete it in four months before November 15. Being the preferred project of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, a lot of resources have been pumped to finish the project as soon as possible. “The district administration seeks the status report of the project on a daily basis and so do the local political leaders. The Deputy CM also visits the site quite often,” said sources working for the project. While the actual cost of project was Rs 3.5 crore, due to “impatience” and alterations by senior leaders, the cost is expected to escalate to nearly Rs 4.5 crore. “Why would one pay from own pocket? In such conditions, the quality of work is bound to suffer. In a way, the government is patronising poor quality work,” officials pointed out. The work on the project was complicated when last month, the Deputy CM directed that the pavilion to be widened to accommodate a large number of people in the audience. Rakesh Gupta, junior engineer, Punjab Mandi Board, said that he was deployed at the project just two months ago. “The work is likely to be completed before the hosting of the match,” he said. Darshan Singh, District Sports Officer, claimed that though the work was being done at a fast pace, there seemed to be no compromise with the quality of work.
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Invites or not, YPS to spare stadium
Patiala, October 22 The tournament is being jointly organised by the Punjab Sports Department and the Punjab Kabaddi Association. Speaking to The Tribune, Malvinder Singh, said, “By not extending the invite to the YPS Board members last year, the organisers had ignored senior political and eminent personalities”. It was not an obligation for them to spare the YPS stadium for the inaugural ceremony last year, “but still, the stadium was provided to the organisers keeping in view the promotion of sports. And this year as well we have given our consent to the organisers to hold matches at the YPS stadium”. Pargat Singh, Director, Sports, said, “For the Kabaddi World Cup 2011, which is scheduled to begin in Bathinda from November 1, we will be sending invites to all MLAs, MPs and political personalities for the opening and closing ceremonies”. What is surprising is that when the inaugural ceremony was held in Patiala last year, the hometown of Capt Amarinder, he was not invited. However, this year, the inaugural function is in Bathinda and the organisers confirmed that invitations would be sent to Congress leaders as well. Meanwhile, Malvinder has also said so far they had not received any invites. “We are providing the school stadium for the matches without charging anything for the sake of sports,” he added. Stanley Vinod Kumar, Principal, YPS, said the tournament organisers wanted the school stadium on November 4. “Since, the 62nd annual sports day function of our school is scheduled for November 5, we conveyed the same to the organisers and now the Patiala matches have been rescheduled for November 8,” he said.
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Aided school teachers to observe ‘Black Diwali’
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 22 Moreover, the government has failed to implement already notified pension scheme for teachers and employees of the schools of Punjab. Due to this, there is unrest among them and the retired teachers are facing a lot of problems, said Principal Ravinder Joshi, press secretary of the union. He said at a state-level executive committee meeting held in Ludhiana, the teachers had decided to organise a state-level protest march in Jalandhar on November 3, in case the government fails to implement the pension scheme till then.
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Two arrested with poppy husk
Patiala, October 22 The police has registered FIRs under the NDPS Act at Balberha and Bhunarherhi, following the recoveries against two residents of Barnala. The police arrested Sher Singh with 20 kg poppy husk in Bhunarherhi. The other accused, Seeta Singh, was arrested with 10 kg poppy husk in
Balberha.
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Deported from UK, Moga youth held in Amritsar
Moga, October 22 He was deported by immigration officials of the UK after they found him guilty of making a fake Indian passport. Tejinder Singh, ASI, said the UK authorities arrested him a few weeks ago. “Three members of the UK immigration authority came with the alleged accused to hand him over to the Punjab police for initiating a criminal case against him,” he said. The youth has been identified as Jaspreet Singh, son of Balwinder Singh, of Dharam Singh Wala village of Dharamkot subdivision in Moga. He went to the UK in 1993, from where he tried to go to Canada in 2005 on fake documents and was thus deported to the UK where he landed up in jail for nine months. During interrogation, he revealed that while he was in the UK in 2007, he managed to get another passport in India on a fake address by fraudulent means through local contacts. On this passport, he again tried to go to Canada in 2007, but was again deported to the UK. A criminal case was registered by the UK police against him. After a few months, he got bail from the court. Meanwhile, the UK immigration authorities sent a verification note to the Indian authorities for seeking his national status, which was verified and sent by the intelligence authorities of Moga to the UK authorities. After his nationality was established, he was deported yesterday. Crime trail While Jaspreet Singh was in the UK in 2007, he managed to get another passport in India The second passport had a fake address and was obtained by fraudulent means On this passport, he again tried to go to Canada in 2007 but was again deported to the UK Criminal case registered by the UK police against him
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Five criminals escape from police custody in Faridkot
Faridkot, October 22 The accused escaped when they were escorted by three policemen. The criminals were coming to Faridkot from Sangaria Mandi in Rajasthan after attending the court trial proceedings in a criminal case registered against them in Rajasthan. After they being arrested by the Sadiq police in Faridkot this year in a case of looting, the accused Iqbal Singh, Nishan Singh, Davinder Singh, Satnam Singh and Satbir Singh, all belonging to the Amritsar and Tarantaran area, were in the Faridkot central jail. The accused were taken to Rajasthan today for their appearance in a criminal case in Sangaria Mandi. But on their way back to Faridkot, near Sadiq village, these accused ‘requested’ the police to stop. When the police van came to a halt, one of the accused threw sand in the eyes of the cops and escaped. SP Faridkot Amrik Singh Warrach said the police was searching for the absconding accused and the Faridkot police had also registered a criminal case against the three policemen, Binder Singh, Kewal Singh and Kaur Singh, for dereliction of duty.
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thermal power projects in alleged violation of the National Tariff Policy, framed under the Electricity Act, 2003, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) seems to be in fresh trouble. 
The SGPC has resumed the practice of allowing devotees to carry the “Palki Sahib” with the Guru Granth Sahib on their shoulders from Sri Akal Takht to Sri Harmandar Sahib early in the morning every day, a day after it came to light that the practice was being disallowed due to delay caused.
While the SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar could not be contacted, his PA Manjeet Singh confirmed that the practice has been resumed. He said though things are back to the normal, if still there are any problems they will hold a meeting with the devotees to sort them out.
Malerkotla, October 22
on a canal bridge on the Malout-Abohar road in Muktsar on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday claimed the lives of two brothers. After their car collided with the concrete barricades and plunged off the bridge into a canal, the brothers died near Sarawan Bodla village.
Mansa, October 22
Despite the fact that former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his brother Malvinder Singh and many other board members of the Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, were not invited to the inaugural ceremony of the World Kabaddi Cup 2010, the school has decided to provide its stadium for the matches for this year’s tournament.