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Poll-bound CM leaves no stone unturned
VIP kids likely to emerge winners in YC elections |
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PollITicking
Soni’s success mantra: personal contact
Tribune
Impact
Poll Snippets
’84 anti-Sikh riots: Another witness
comes forward against Bachchan
PCS
(Judicial) - 2011
Pharmacists allege bias in pay revision
24-hr water supply a reality in 11 Punjab villages
Roadways staff to go on strike today
2 bogies of Sachkhand Express go off track
Illegal clinic raided
PIL Against Transport Policy
Produce list of freedom fighters getting
pension, Centre told
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VIP kids likely to emerge winners in YC elections
Informed sources said that senior party leaders had engineered the election system in such a way that their wards were likely to bag most of the posts. They said for the five posts in the general category, there were six VIP kids in the fray- Sukhpal Bhullar, son of former Irrigation Minister Gurchet Singh Bhullar, Deepinder Randhawa, grandson of former PCC president Santokh Singh Randhawa, Kamaljit Brar, son of Baghapurana MLA Darshan Brar, Gurbir Bhattal, son of Dhanaula legislator Kuldeep Bhattal and Yadwinder Kang, son of former minister Jagmohan Singh Kang. There are a few more candidates in the fray. Among those in the fray for the five reserved seats is Sukhwinder Singh Danny, son of former minister Sardool Singh. Danny had contested the last Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully from Faridkot. What is even more disappointing for party observers is the almost negligent participation of women in the elections. Despite the clarion call by Rahul Gandhi, only two women have filed their nominations. Both will be elected unopposed for a post each in the reserved and general category. Those in the fray include Harsimran Bajwa from Gurdaspur and Scheduled Caste candidate Poonam Kangra from Sangrur. There are a few senior Youth Congress activists in the fray. Among them is Rajwinder Singh Lucky, who has served as president of Nawanshahr district unit for five years. Lucky is likely to be elected on the OBC seat. There is resentment in the Youth Congress rank and file at the manner in which senior leaders promoting their children at the expense of genuine activists have hijacked the election process. Youth activists claim that most of the VIP kids standing for the elections have not participated in youth programmes. Earlier, booth-level elections were held last month to elect delegates who are now voting to elect the president as well as other office-bearers of the new unit.
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PollITicking
Gidderbaha, December 15 Speaking on the sidelines of a Sangat Darshan programme in Gidderbaha segment, Badal said: “Manpreet’s group will not win even a single assembly seat and the poll results will send him into political oblivion because he has deceived his mother party by joining hands with the Congress.” Dubbing Manpreet a “Congress agent”, the Chief Minister alleged that the PPP chief was harming the state interests by aligning with the Opposition party to achieve selfish goals. Badal also used the occasion to pat his SAD-BJP government for ensuring “all-round development” during its over four years of rule. “The wise voters of the state are well aware of the fact that the SAD-BJP alliance has always ensured development whereas the Congress has always tried to derail progress,” he said. Hitting out at the UPA government at the Centre for “not disclosing the list of 3,600 Indians” who had stashed black money in foreign banks, Badal alleged that the Congress was not making the list public as the names of several of its leaders figured on it. A mammoth Rs 6,500 lakh crore had been hoarded by affluent Indians, “which included senior Congress leaders”, illegally in foreign banks, he alleged. “The Union Government is not making all out efforts to bring the money back.” Badal reiterated that the Centre had made the livelihood of the common man difficult by hiking substantially the petrol prices during its tenure. The CM also disbursed grants worth Rs 2 crore for various developmental projects in five villages of the constituency.
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Soni’s success mantra: personal contact
His USP has been his personal contact with the voters and in these five years he has maintained his association with the residents. Be it the marriage of girls belonging to the poor strata or domestic disputes pending with the police, Soni has been at the forefront to help people, even spending money from his pocket. His three consecutive wins are enough evidence of his popularity. “With the closure of industry, local residents were rendered jobless and they migrated to other places in search of employment. No multinational or big group has invested here because of the poor infrastructure”, say the residents. However, on the education front, four schools were upgraded to the plus two level in Dhupai, Wadali and Kot Khalsa and computer labs introduced in some other schools. A stadium spread over four acres at Chheharta can be added to the list of achievements. Soni also has to his credit several dharamshalas (community halls). Vox Populi:
The opinion on Soni’s performance is divided. Those living in urban areas seem to be satisfied but those in the rural belt, comprising Chheharta, Ghannpur, Kale, Roriwala, Basarke Bhaini and Ghumanpura, feel they have been neglected. Whatever works have been done, be it concrete roads, street-lighting, sewerage or drinking water, has been done during the previous Congress regime and nothing major has been undertaken in the past five years for obvious reasons. Looking Back Since 1997, Soni has dominated the political scene here, even winning as an Independent in 1997 and 2002, secured 40.1 per cent votes and 27.14 per cent, respectively. In 2007, Soni won this seat polling 47.09 per cent votes, defeating his nearest rival Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna of the BJP. The latter got 37.75 per cent votes. HRD Barometer:
Most of the rural areas in the constituency are known for drug peddling and drug abuse. No major steps have been taken to distract the youth from this menace. The primary reason for the sorry state of affairs is lack of employment opportunities.
— TNS
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Tribune
Impact
Chandigarh, December 15 The Tribune had carried a report in its columns today on how the cash-strapped Punjab Government was going all out to distribute bicycles free of cost to girls studying in Classes XI and XII across the state, even as it failed to pay for the over one lakh bicycles it has received from cycle manufacturers based at Ludhiana and
Panipat. An official press release by the Punjab Government today said they had released the balance payment to the three vendors, who supplied bicycles to them under the Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme. “Under the scheme, 1.5 lakh bicycles worth Rs 41.35 crore were to be distributed among girl students of Classes XI and XII, studying in Punjab Government schools. In the first phase, orders worth Rs 30 crore were placed with the vendors dealing in bicycle manufacturing. These orders were duly executed by the companies and subsequently 1.05 lakh bicycles were delivered to schools across the state,” said the government’s official spokesperson. He added the government had already cleared dues worth Rs 9
crore. “The balance orders amounting to Rs 11.35 crore (of a total of Rs 41.35
crore) were yet to be executed by the companies,” he said.
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Poll Snippets
Having been cornered after an Akali sarpanch slapped a teacher in Malwa recently, the SAD-BJP coalition is now extra cautious while dealing with protesters. The government strategy could be gauged from a few recent instances. The government allowed the farmers to hold road and rail blockade for five consecutive days before finally conceding to their key demands. The police appeared ready to act tough on the farmers but the “helpless” cops never got the green signal from the government. This approach again came to the fore today when protesting teachers were allowed to block traffic on the busy Lawrence road in Amritsar for two hours between 12 noon
and 2 pm. Hoardings galore Paying two hoots to court directions, various political parties continue to put up illegal hoardings. The political parties are leaving no stone unturned to see that their message reaches to the target electorate through these hoardings, which have been put up at key intersections in Amritsar. The politicians are exploiting these billboards to the hilt to publicise the arrival of their top leaders in the city, thanking the party leadership for appointment of their fellow leaders to a key post and even showcasing show of strength put up by a party in a rally. With almost all the political parties resorting to this exercise, the local authorities have chosen to look the other way. Only time would tell whether or not would the EC crack the whip on the defaulters.
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’84 anti-Sikh riots: Another witness
comes forward against Bachchan
Amritsar,
December 15 As per a release issued by Gurpatwant
S. Pannun, legal adviser to 'Sikhs for Justice', 52-year-old Manjit
Singh Saini, originally hailing from Kalu Sarai, Delhi, and at present
residing in California, was present in front of the All-India
Institute of Medical Sciences on October 31, 1984, when Bachchan
allegedly incited a mob to target a Sikh present there. Pannun said
Saini decided to break his silence after Bachchan approached Sri Akal
Takht Sahib pleading innocence.
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PCS
(Judicial) - 2011
Chandigarh, December 15 The Registrar-Recruitment said: "Recruitment to PCS (JB) is made under the Punjab Civil Service (Judicial branch) Rules, 1951. The recruitment process to PCS (JB) comprises three stages, preliminary examination; main written examination and viva-voce. "Preliminary examination is for short-listing only, where candidates equal to 10 times of the advertised posts are short-listed. All short-listed candidates are then required to appear in the main written examination where the general category candidates are required to score a minimum of 50 per cent marks in aggregate, while reserved category candidates are required to score a minimum 45 per cent marks". The Registrar-Recruitment added: "Unless the candidates secure the minimum required percentage of marks they do not qualify for viva-voce. Thereafter, candidates equal to three times the number of vacancies are short-listed for viva-voce. "As per the advertisement for filling the vacancies of PCS (JB)-2011, the candidates were to be short-listed category-wise equal to 10 times the number of posts in each category. "In the case of lineal descendants of ESM (SC) category, there are only two posts against which 20 candidates were to be short-listed for the main written examination. Since there were only six applicants in this category, all of them could have been otherwise validly short-listed. "No minimum percentage is prescribed for qualifying in the preliminary examination. The marks obtained in the preliminary examination are immaterial, as these are not counted in the main written examination. Candidates are short-listed only for the purpose of appearing in the main written examination”. The High Court added: "The news item has conveyed a distorted picture which appears to be a maneuvered view. It has not presented the correct picture".
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Pharmacists allege bias in pay revision
Patiala, December 15 They alleged that the state government was ignoring qualification and merit of employees while revising grade pay and instead extending favours to particular sections of employees. The protesters also burnt an effigy of the Punjab Government. Association president Sham Lal Sharma said pharmacist was a well-qualified category with a sound academic background. "It is the only category in the Health Department whose qualification is regulated by two Central statuary bodies, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and the All-India Council of Technical Education. Even as the job is technical, highly skilled with higher responsibilities, it is not suitably rewarding," he added. Despite high qualification, there was no proper avenue of promotion for pharmacists, said district convener of the association Harinder Singh Chahal. "A pharmacist has to complete 30 years of service to become a chief pharmacist (grade-II). Many of them despite a service of more than 25 years retire without any promotion with same designation. Forget about promotions, the government is not even changing our designation to pharmacy officers whereas there are many categories of employees whose academic qualification and pay scales are either lower or equivalent to pharmacists and chief pharmacists, but they are designated as officers," he added. He said the pharmacists had tolerated this biased attitude for a long time, but they would now intensify their stir in case their demands were not met. "We will organise a state-level demonstration in Ludhiana soon and gherao the residence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Satpal Gosain," he added. Main demands
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24-hr water supply a reality in 11 Punjab villages
Chandigarh, December 15 Details of the ongoing project were revealed on the inaugural day of the four-day national workshop on "Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Services" organised by the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Punjab, here today. The villages enjoying round-the-clock water supply are Singhpura and Sitabgarh villages in Mohali district, Manherha Jattan and Bedran in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Paprala, Rasoolpur, Railon Khurd, Chitanali, Albiana Khurd and Albana Khurd in Ropar district. At least 100 more villages will have regular water supply by the end of the current financial year and at least, 2,526 villages by 2013. Set up in collaboration with the panchayats, the water contents are silver-ionised for ensuring better quality of drinking water. These projects are being run by the panchayats bearing 10 per cent of the total cost of the project. PS Aujala, secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, said, "Out of the 100 villages planned to be supplied 24-hour water supply this year, at least 85 panchayats have already given permission for installation of water meters in their villages". Replying to a telephone query, Jagnahar, sarpanch of Singhpura village, said, "The village has been getting clean water supply since February 2010. The panchayat has contributed Rs 3.32 lakh for an 840-ft deep tubewell. The supply is metered and everyone pays accordingly”.
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Roadways staff to go on strike today
Mohali, December 15 Besides the main rally at the Sector 43 ISBT in Chandigarh, rallies would be held at district level headquarters. Jaswinder Singh, press secretary of the Punjab Government Transport Workers Union, said all 1,900 buses of the Punjab Roadways would remain off road. Around 2,600 contractual drivers and conductors were being paid Rs 6,000 per month, said the press secretary while demanding regularisation of their jobs.
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2 bogies of Sachkhand Express go off track
Amritsar, December 15 Had the train gathered speed after moving out of the railway station, the incident could have been fatal. Due to this incident, the departure of remaining trains got delayed by two to three hours. According to information, the incident took place due to some problem in the locking system, which is used for changing the track. The work to repair the rail track and bring the bogies back on track continued till 10.30 am. Officials from Delhi and Ferozepur will visit the site tomorrow to investigate the incident. Mohan Singh Sandhu, assistant traffic manager, said as the tracks number 3, 4, and 5 got blocked due to the derailment, the trains were brought on other tracks via Pathankot line.
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Patiala, December 15 The four-member team, headed by senior medical officer Rakesh Kashyap, raided Sharma Clinic run by Geeta Sharma and seized medical instruments and medicines. Dr Kashyap said the clinic's owner failed to produce any proof in her favour. A case has been registered. — TNS
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PIL Against Transport Policy
Chandigarh, December 15 Disposing of a petition filed by Shergill alleging manipulation in the transport policy to drive private bus operators towards profits, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant asserted: “We decline to entertain this public interest litigation in the present form and deem it appropriate to close the same by grant of liberty to the petitioner to approach the investigating agency for redress of his grievance and, thereafter, to approach the Court if he has any subsisting grievance in the matter". Going into the reasons behind issuing the directions, the Bench asserted: “We will like to put on record, at the very outset, that we find it difficult to entertain this public interest litigation. “If respondents number one and two (Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister) have committed any wrong, while in office, which has injured the public exchequer and has benefited their own interests, the petitioner should have taken recourse to the remedy available under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, rather than approaching the Court by way of this public interest litigation seeking directions for registration of a criminal case and investigation of the same. “If a criminal act has been occasioned, the affected party or any interested party is expected to approach the investigating agency by filing a FIR, instead of seeking orders from the Court by means of a public interest litigation. The role of the Court in such matters is extremely limited. By way of illustration, persistent refusal by the investigating agency to act in the matter or to carry out an investigation in a fair and proper manner may justify an approach to the Court and its intervention”. According to the petitioner, such investigation should be in respect of the information available in the news-items published in The Tribune, details of which are available in the writ petition.
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Produce list of freedom fighters getting
pension, Centre told
Chandigarh, December 15 The
Centre today claimed that pension had suo motu been offered to the
kith and kin of 287 eminent freedom fighters. It indicated that the
freedom fighters include Bhagat Singh and the other fives heroes - an
assertion vehemently contradicted by historian-cum-petitioner before
the Punjab and Haryana HC Malwinder Singh Waraich. In a attempt to
clear the dust, a Division Bench of the High Court this morning
directed the Centre “to produce the list of 287 eminent freedom
fighters, who have been offered freedom fighter pension, and also
specifically reply whether the kith and kin of the six freedom
fighters were ever offered pension under a scheme”. The case came
up for hearing before the Bench of Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice
Rajiv Narain Raina. — TNS
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Chandigarh, December 15
With Amritsar (West) now a reserved constituency, the Congress is likely to feel the pinch of delimitation. Congress’ sitting MLA Om Prakash Soni has won this seat thrice in a row since 1997. In the last elections Soni had won the seat with a convincing margin, beating BJP’s Rajinder Mohan Chhina. The MLA: Being in the Opposition, Soni did face tough times in getting funds for development but that hasn’t dented his popularity. His USP has been his personal contact with the voters and in these five years he has maintained his association with the residents. Be it the marriage of girls belonging to the poor strata or domestic disputes pending with the police, Soni has been at the forefront to help people, even spending money from his pocket.
Amritsar,
December 15
Chandigarh, December 15
Chandigarh, December 15
With Amritsar (West) now a reserved constituency, the Congress is likely to feel the pinch of delimitation. Congress’ sitting MLA Om Prakash Soni has won this seat thrice in a row since 1997. In the last elections Soni had won the seat with a convincing margin, beating BJP’s Rajinder Mohan Chhina. The MLA: Being in the Opposition, Soni did face tough times in getting funds for development but that hasn’t dented his popularity.
Promises and Projects:
The constituency, once a prosperous industrial hub, has been a victim of politics and is crying for attention. During the turbulent 80s, when terrorism was at its peak, industry here suffered a severe jolt. It is a foregone conclusion that a major incentive package is imperative to revive the local industry. Traders and industrialists have already met the Prime Minister, seeking SEZ status.
