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All in a day: Garg expelled, taken back
Bias against Majha, claims Cong
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Sanjha Morcha assures 1 lakh govt jobs a year
Now, Gidderbaha turning protest hub
SAD, BJP differ on FDI: Badal
Gurdaspur BJP in a state of turmoil
Ticket Race
Sidhu: EVMs are foolproof
Youth’s death
Industrialists offer facilities to retain migrant labourers
Notice to Jumbo Circus on cards
Nurses of Rajindra Hospital to boycott work from today
Power corp JEs to take mass casual leave on Dec 2
PCMS doctors to go on
three-day strike
School panel chief booked for fraud
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All in a day: Garg expelled, taken back
Bathinda, November 27 Dr Daljeet Singh
Cheema, adviser to the Chief Minister, said that Garg was taken back into the SAD fold after he had had a word with party president Sukhbir Singh Badal over the phone
(Garg denies this). He said the party had taken serious note of Garg holding parleys with PPP chief Manpreet Badal and hinting that he may contest on the PPP ticket. “Garg talked to Sukhbir Badal on the phone and the matter was resolved,” Cheema
claimed. Garg vehemently denied having called up Sukhbir. He said he was neither issued an expulsion notice, nor had he given a rejoinder. “In fact, I was expelled from the party five years ago, when the SAD denied me the party ticket, despite the fact that I had won the seat and served as a Cabinet Minister,” said a rather bitter
Garg. “I am thankful to the party leadership for at least making it public that I am no longer a part of this large political family,” he remarked. However, his son Rajan Garg said that his family had always been with the party and would remain
so. Garg claimed that he would meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the issue. “ I have not indulged in any anti-party activity. If asking for the ticket is wrong, then yes I have committed a wrong,” said a defiant
Garg. Garg joined the party in 1965. Born and brought up in Rajasthan, he is the first Hindu candidate to have represented SAD. In 1997, he was elected from
Bathinda, defeating Congress candidate Surinder Kapoor by 21,000 votes. In 1997, he was elected from
Bathinda, defeating Congress candidate Surinder Kapoor by 21,000 votes. He was appointed Minister for Food and Supply, Law and Justice and Science and Technology. However, he was denied the ticket in 2007 with the party deciding to field Sarup Chand Singla instead.
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Bias against Majha, claims Cong
Pathankot, November
27 “I want to know why the Chief Minister is setting up all thermal power projects only in Malwa region? Why no new projects are being brought to Majha?” he said while addressing a “Punjab Bachao Yatra” rally here today. The PPCC chief said if the Congress was voted to power in the coming assembly elections, his government would set up a 1,000-MW power plant near Pathankot. He said the 300 acres of government land lying vacant near Ranjit Sagar Dam, 12 km from Pathankot, would be used for the project, a step that would “keep the controversial acquisition process at bay”. Amarinder said the proposed thermal plant would generate 15,000 direct and indirect jobs, which would benefit the Majha youth. He also assured the area people of a central university at Pathankot. “As the Congress-led UPA Government is in power at the Centre, it will be all the more easy to set up a central university in Pathankot,” he said. Earlier, Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Bachao Yatra was rolled into the town today amid much fanfare. The 2-km stretch from the helipad to the rally venue at Mallikpur stadium saw hundreds of Congress workers lined up on either side of the road to have a glimpse of the PPCC president. Amarinder Singh addressed thousands of party workers of four assembly segment — Pathankot, Sujanpur, Bhoa and Dinanagar — at the stadium. Political observers point out that of these four Vidhan Sabha seats, the toughest fight will be witnessed in Sujanpur from where Vikram Joshi, Naresh Puri, Chowdhury Rajbir Singh, Davinder Darshi and Vinay Mahajan are in contention. Gurdaspur MP Partpa Bajwa was at his oratorical best as he promised the PPCC chief that the party would work in unison to ensure that all 10 seats falling in Gurdaspur Parliamentary constituency fall in the Congress’ kitty.
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PPCC president promises to bring industry to Kandi belt
Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur), November 27 “Yes, Badal should get the Nobel Prize, not for peace, but for corruption”, quipped Amarinder Singh at a Punjab Bachao rally here today. Attacking his rival, Capt Amarinder Singh said that owing to Badal’s lack of vision, Punjab was on the verge of a financial emergency with the state debt accumulating to Rs 1.72 lakh crore. “Development has come to a standstill. The future of an entire generation is at stake and all that Badal is bothered about is awards”, Amarinder Singh remarked. Amarinder Singh claimed that whereas he had managed Central funds to the tune of Rs 250 crore for the Khalsa Heritage Complex whereas, Badal could barely manage Rs 50 crore for the same. In his effort to woo the voters of the area, the former Chief Minister promised to bring industry to the Kandi belt. He also promised more tubewells in the area. Party affairs incharge Gulchain Singh Charak urged the workers to maintain discipline, adding that “people have already exhibited their preference. Now, you must exhibit discipline and unity.” Among senior leaders present at the rally were Member of Parliament Santosh Chaudhary, PCC general secretary Arvind Khanna, former MP Rana Gurjit Singh, Kamal Chaudhary, Shayam Sunder Arora, Love Kumar Goldy and Dr Raj Kumar.
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Sanjha Morcha assures 1 lakh govt jobs a year
Tarn Taran, November 27 Manpreet, who is Sanjha Morcha coordinator, said his government would work as per the group's common minimum programme, which promises one lakh jobs every year under "Shaheed Bhagat Singh Rozgar Yojana". He was addressing a joint rally of the PPP, CPI and CPM here today. Dubbing the present government as the most "corrupt, cruel and inefficient", he appealed to the voters to show exit route to the ruling alliance. Lashing out at the Badals and the Congress, the PPP chief said his another priority would be to bring back the "black money" that the state rulers had amassed over the past 10 years and stashed in Swiss banks. "This money will be deposited back in the state exchequer," he said. The PPP chief said he would replace value added tax with goods service tax, the latter being a "better" version, and would avoid taking further loan from the Union Government. Regarding his visit to Dera Sacha Sauda, he clarified that he would seek support from every quarter to bring about a "change" in the state.
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Now, Gidderbaha turning protest hub
Gidderbaha, November 27 Carrying black flags and placards, they also held a protest march in the town. Simultaneously at the town’s old grain market, a large number of EET teachers staged a protest dharna, demanding that they be absorbed in the state Education Department and be given salaries on a par with government teachers. The members of unions representing farmers, labourers and state government employees joined the protest. With talks of Chief Minister’s daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal contesting the seat, the protesters believe that Gidderbaha is the best place for them to build pressure on the government to accept their demands, said sources.
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Food Security Legislation
Chandigarh, November 27 On the proposed draft Bill, the state government has told the Centre that apart from creating storage facilities, there is a need for a technical backup to handle the distribution system. For this, a huge investment is required. Hence, the Centre must give financial assistance to the state. Owners of fair price shops should be given at least Rs 10,000 per month as salary to handle the distribution of foodgrain to the beneficiaries. If not salary,they should be given a commission on the value of the foodgrain distributed. For implementing the scheme under the Act, the government has sought details of cost-sharing to calculate funds required for the purpose. Objecting to reducing the allocation of foodgrain from 35 kg to 25 kg per family per month, the Punjab Government has urged the Centre to link the allocation with the number of family members per ration card. “Whereas a family of two will not require an allocation of 25 kg of food- grain, a bigger family comprising five members can be allocated more foodgrain. However, there should be a cap on the number of members in a family,” a senior official of the Food and Supplies Department said. The state government has suggested that in case of a natural calamity resulting in a dearth of foodgrain, the beneficiaries could be given “security allowance” instead of foodgrain. The procedure to identify BPL (below poverty line) families should be state-specific and linked to the poverty index. There should be a mechanism to address the grievances of the public regarding the exclusion or inclusion of beneficiaries. The scheme should be implemented through fair price shops run by the Food and Supplies Department. Members of Panchayati Raj institutions should be involved only in monitoring the distribution process by having them on vigilance committees The state government should be given the option to distribute wheat flour too. A senior official said the Centre had assured the government of incorporating some of the suggestions in the Bill.
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SAD, BJP differ on FDI: Badal
Sahnewal (Ludhiana), November 27 Interacting with mediapersons here today, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal admitted that there were differences of opinion between the two parties over the issue. But, he claimed, the matter would be sorted out soon. On his not attending the function at Patiala where President Pratibha Patil presented "The Standards" to five armoured regiments of the Army, he said he would not comment on the issue as he did not want to be drawn into any controversy. He also refused to react to a query regarding the demand by radical Sikh bodies that the Punjab Government should lodge a protest with the Centre over "glorification" of an armoured regiment that reportedly took part in Operation Bluestar. Maintaining that it would be the party and its legislators who would decide on the next Chief Minister if the alliance was re-elected, Badal said a committee had been formed to prepare the election manifesto, which would be announced soon. Addressing a rally after laying the stone of a Rs 20-crore railway over-bridge on the Sahnewal-Kohara road earlier, the Chief Minister sought another term from the electorate for “continuing developmental works”. "Five years is too short a period for long-term development projects and the ruling combine will make Punjab a model state if it gets another term," he said.
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Gurdaspur BJP in a state of turmoil
Pathankot/Gurdaspur, November 27 If the BJP is steadfastly clinging on to the Batala seat which the SAD leaders want to be converted to an Akali one, in Pathankot two stalwarts -- Master Mohan Lal and state president Ashwani Sharma -- are at loggerheads with each other for the party ticket. In the 2007 elections, Sharma got the ticket before Lal pulled the rug from under his feet at the last minute, successfully fought the elections and became a minister. The state president, who was in New Delhi yesterday canvassing for the ticket, is carrying a grudge against Lal and pulling out all the stops to ensure that he himself gets the party nomination. In Dinanagar, the ticket aspirations of sitting MLA Sita Ram Kashyap are likely to be cut short by Bishan Dass Dhupar, BJP general secretary (Scheduled Caste Morcha) and former general manager of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation, who has thrown his hat into the electoral ring “with the blessings of the high command”. Sources claim that last time Kashyap managed to win by only 452 votes. The electorate needs a fresh face and well-educated Dhupar may fit the bill, said sources. In the adjoining Bhoa seat, sitting MLA Bishambar Dass is fighting with his back to the wall to retain the ticket with residents claiming that his work has not been up to the mark, following which a section of the party has revolted against him. Venting his ire against the MLA, a school principal claimed, “Building two bridges over the Ravi and Ujh rivers is not enough for us. We need employment for our youth who, otherwise, is getting addicted to drugs. We need a more forceful MLA who can bring more schools and some industrial units to Bhoa.” In Batala, sources reveal that after the delimitation exercise, 40 Sikh-dominated villages have been added to the seat. A majority of them have been shifted from the now dissolved Kahnuwan seat represented by Education Minister SS Sekhwan. Observers say this is the reason why the minister wants the seat to be converted into an Akali one so that he can contest from Batala. However, Jagdeesh Sahni, in a recent meeting with the party high command in New Delhi, had vehemently contested the SAD’s claims and if the seat is given to the Akalis, the MLA has the potential to wreck the party’s chances at the hustings. Moreover, Sahni has fallen out with district president Vivek Moudgil and former president Naresh Mahajan, both of whom have now become ticket aspirants in the process challenging Sahni’s claim to the party nomination. “The party is in a state of shambles in Batala,” claimed a senior BJP leader.
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Ticket Race
Jalandhar, November 27 At first, Walia denied that such an incident had, indeed, occurred. Later, he said he was just“manhandled” by anxious workers vying with one another for a meeting with the observer. “I was just pushed aside when I tried to stop Congress leader Gautam Kapoor from entering the room as instructed by Chandresh Kumari. But this man (Raju), who followed Kapoor, pushed me aside,” explained Walia. He said Kapoor was adamant on a meeting as despite a prior appointment with Chandresh Kumari for 5.30 pm, he had been kept waiting for more than two hours. “The matter has been resolved amicably,” Walia claimed. It was chaos at the Congress Bhawan as ticket aspirants jostled with one another for a meeting with the party observer. Workers were seen arguing with one another. In a show of strength, local leaders had come to the Congress office with their supporters.
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Sidhu: EVMs are foolproof
Ludhiana, November 27 In response to an article that appeared in the Tribune on November 26, titled 'Old EVMs kept in 3 jails; their fate undecided', she clarified that with the administrative safeguards provided by the Election Commission of India, all EVMs, whether old or new, were foolproof. Sidhu said that with certain more advanced features incorporated in the post 2006-model of EVMs, the ECI has decided to use this model in the coming elections in Punjab. " It is, however, categorically stated that the pre-2006 models of the EVMs are equally tamper-proof. Both models have been used interchangeably from election to election," she said. As regards EVMs being kept in jails, Sidhu said that according to ECI instructions, all EVMs had to be kept in a secure environment. “Various states have found ways of keeping the EVMs under security, based on the availability of facilities. Since there is shortage of secure storage space in Punjab, some EVMs have been kept in the secure environment of jails temporarily till other secure arrangements are made ”, she stated. “The ECI instructions provide for complete transparency and involvement of political parties, candidates and their representatives at all stages, including storage, first-level check, second -level check, mock poll, actual polling and counting,” Sidhu added. The Tribune had reported that nearly 15,000 first generation EVMs had been kept in three high-security jails of the state to prevent these from falling into the hands of tech-savvy, anti- social elements, who may try to make the most of these machines in the ensuing assembly elections.
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cause of concern
Bathinda, November 27 While 150 HIV positive cases were detected in the district last year, the count has reached 210 in 11 months this year. According to information, 179 HIV positive cases were detected at the Integrating Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) in Bathinda. Twenty-four cases were detected by the ICTCs situated at Rampura and Talwandi Sabo. The rest were reported to the ICTC by various hospitals and health centres situated at Bhucho, Nathana and Goniana. Six deaths of HIV/AIDS patients — three each reported by the ICTCs at Bathinda and Rampura — have also been reported this year. The figure stood at five last year. Meanwhile, sources said there may be more HIV cases in the district, which could not be detected so far as they were not facing any health problems. These undetected cases would come to the fore once they are referred by medical practitioners for the diseases after their blood samples are tested.
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Youth’s death
Patiala, November 27 Dhaliwal was found dead on the first day of his job as a guard at a construction site in New Zealand. “The Waitakere police informed us yesterday that they believed our son had died of head injuries after being assaulted”, Dhaliwal’s parents told mediapersons here. “Our simple, god-fearing son was killed for no reason at all. His friends in New Zealand tell us that he never had an argument with anyone, leave aside a quarrel. I want justice for my son”, said a desolate Karamjit Kaur, adding that she wanted the government to take up the case with the authorities in New Zealand.
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Industrialists offer facilities to retain migrant labourers
Ludhiana, November 27 From providing good, clean accommodations to mobile phones and bicycles, industrialists make sure that in tough times, their workers get all the support from them. Talking to The Tribune, president of the Fasteners' Manufacturers Association, Narinder Bhamra said the rates of all basic commodities have gone up. “They are poor migrants who come all the way from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to work for us. The whole industrial economy depends on them as we rarely get skilled Punjabi labour in the state. So, we have to retain them in every possible manner," he said. He further said he had provided free accommodation along with conveyance to all workers working at his premises. "We have constructed their quarters. Those having their families here in the city also live in the rooms. Besides, electricity and water are also provided to them free of cost,” said. Chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), SC Ralhan said had these facilities not been given by the local industry, the labourers would not have stayed back in Ludhiana. "These days their own governments are providing them all the benefits. We need to provide extra facilities to retain them. Besides providing mobile phones and bicycles, we have constructed small, comfortable rooms at Shivpuri and Urban Estate, Sector 39/40 for them.” At the same time, industrialists believe that this time, there was a labour shortage to the tune of 25 per cent. "But this is a temporary phase after the festival season. The labour is definitely going to come back after few days as industry in Ludhiana is providing them too much benefits", he said.
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Notice to Jumbo Circus on cards
Patiala, November 27 Meanwhile, the district police has started a probe to check whether the animals are being kept in illegal
confinement. Sources confirmed that the Wildlife Department has already written to the District Attorney to get legal opinion and ensure that all animals with the circus are verified for their ownership certificates. “The circus gets minimum crowd and despite declining profits, it is continuing its tours and therefore all allegations need to be probed if the
circus is not illegally keeping wild animals as earlier one of the circus functionaries was booked for keeping a lion at his
private farmhouse”, they added. Other than the hippo, the circus also has dogs with their tails docked and
elephants. The Animal Welfare Board of India has already served a show-cause notice to the Jumbo Circus asking it to furnish record of its animals. Patiala Wildlife Warden Ravee Singh Ahluwalia said the circus should also prove the ownership record of all animals as the condition of the animals was pathetic and documents in our
possession proved that that the circus had some animals which were in the name of one of the partners in the circus and not in the name of the Jumbo Circus. “We would ask the Wildlife Department to ask the circus authorities to prove all records of ownership of the animals
currently with them,” he stated. Though officials from various departments have visited the circus, the ailing 32-year-old hippopotamus at the circus still awaits orders to be shifted to a nearby
zoo as per the prescribed laws. Punjab Minister for Forests and Wildlife Arunesh Shakar has also sought a detailed report on the entire issue. Meanwhile, Patiala DFO (Wildlife) Ashwani Kumar said their teams would keep a tab on the activities of the circus and also
collect a daily report of all their animals as the circus did not even have a regular
veterinary doctor. A government veterinarian would submit daily report on animals health. "We will ask for all documents of animals and from where they were brought and reared", he added. Senior police officials said they were probing the case as they had received a
complaint in this regard. "We would take help from the wildlife officials
and investigate the matter," they added.
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Nurses of Rajindra Hospital to boycott work from today
Patiala, November 27 These employees had boycotted work on November 15 also but after the assurance of Medical Education and Research Minister that their demands would be considered within 10 days, they resumed their duties. Now that the time period sought by the minister is over and no action has been taken as yet, the employees have decided to boycott work again. President of the Joint Action Committee, Ram Singh informed that they trusted the minister and decided to end their strike keeping in view the inconvenience to patients but the government befooled them. Now, will begin strike from tomorrow again and continue till our demands are met, he said. He further stated that they were demanding the filing of 300 vacant posts of Class IV employees. “The government should make contractual staff nurses and Class IV employees regular after three years of service. Moreover, they should also appoint technical employees and initiate proper nursing allowance and promotions,” he added. Sources said while these employees had decided to initiate strike, the hospital authorities have started making alternate arrangements as all major works are handled by this section of employees.
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Power corp JEs to take mass casual leave on Dec 2
Patiala, November 27 Swaran Lal, president of the Council of Junior Engineers, PSEB, said the JEs working with the two power utilities of the state feel betrayed as the Power Corporation management has violated the tripartite agreement between the Punjab Government, managements of the PSPCL/PSTCL and the employees/officers unions. General secretary of the council Davinder Singh said, “In the tripartite agreement, it was mentioned that the terms and conditions of services, applicable to the Power Corporation staff, as on date when the erstwhile PSEB was bifurcated, would remain the same. But the PSPCL management has now debarred the serving JEs from applying for the recently advertised posts of AEs. Earlier the serving, diploma-holder JEs were eligible for the post of AE, but now graduation has been made mandatory for applying for the post of AE.” Senior authorities in the office of the PSPCL
Director, HR, refused to comment on the matter.
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PCMS doctors to go on
three-day strike
Fatehgarh Sahib, November 27 This decision was taken to protest against the government for not issuing notification regarding the demands approved by the high-power committee, headed by the Chief Minister, in a meeting with the PCMS Association held on November 5. The Association said if the government did not issue the notification at the earliest the doctors would go on casual leave and would ultimately resort to indefinite strike paralysing the health services. Addressing the media persons, Dr Walia and Dr Banga said the PCMS Association has been presenting various anomalies in the pay scale and allowances of the PCMS doctors. They said NPA notification should be issued, correction of pay formula should be notified, DACP after 20 years of service should be notified and the sanctioning authority should be DDO. They also said NPA on DP should be notified and the arrears should be released (from April 2004 to December 2005), revision of academic, higher education and conveyance allowances should be notified. He said if the health services came to a halt the government would be responsible for it.
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School panel chief booked for fraud
Tarn Taran, November 27 According to information, the accused include president of the managing committee, Naresh Aggarwal, correspondent Saroj Bhalla, clerk Surinder Bhanot, teacher Tamanna besides the headmistress of the school working since 1983. Police sources said an inquiry conducted by Kanta Sood, present headmistress of the school, revealed that Tamanna withdrew lakhs of rupees as salary from the school when she had been working at the local Saint Francis School also.
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Bathinda, November 27
Tarn Taran, November 27
Food Security Legislation
