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School shootout leaves teachers terrified
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Academics
don’t rank high on their family’s priority list
2 more EVMs go beeping
Power subsidy may cross Rs 4,600 cr
Centre’s Food Bill may ease state’s atta-dal burden
Call SGPC session, Makkar to Centre
Death Sentence
Jagmeet: PPP will have role in forming govt
Drug Menace
Irked by cow slaughter, they planted bombs: SSP
Pakistani intruder shot dead
Truck parking under flyovers
Patiala MC not to levy new taxes
Encroachment in Amritsar
Decide water charges in 3 months: HC
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Teachers terrified post-shootout
Bhangali Kalan (Amritsar), February 17 The Tribune team that visited the school today found the teaching staff terrified. Most students chose to keep mum on the issue. “That the teenaged students were in possession of illegal arms is a matter of concern. If the youngsters can go to this extent over a minor scuffle with their classmate, it is frightening to think as to what they could do if a teacher reprimands them,” said a teacher, pleading anonymity. “We could not have imagined pistols in the hands of young students. Minor scuffles do occur but this kind of violent antagonism was beyond our imagination,” said another teacher. “Had we known that the students were armed, we would have, perhaps, not intervened in the fight,” said an eyewitness. “ It was Navdeep who fired at Shehbaz at the school’s science block. Had Sajan Sidhu (another accused) not pulled down Navdeep’s arm, the bullet would have hit Shehbaz. The bullet hit the floor and the splinters pierced the legs of students.” Sources said a few months back, a computer teacher was gheraoed by several youths. The teacher then asked the youths, who were outsiders, to leave the school complex. Students said they had urged the police authorities to step up patrolling in the area during school hours after the incident. They held staff shortage, especially in the senior section, partly responsible for such incidents. School principal Parminder Singh said the warring students had not approached him with any complaint against one another. He said despite the shooting incidence, the attendance at school was as usual. Meanwhile, the four accused students - Navdeep, Sajan Sidhu, Akashdeep and Ravinder Singh - are still at large. A police team headed by Kanwarpreet Singh, Majitha SHO, today visited the school and met the teachers and eyewitnesses.
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Academics don’t rank high on their family’s priority list
Ludhiana, February 17 The name "India" does not ring a familiar bell with most of the students at a government school at Baniewal village. One of their teachers is on leave, while the only other teacher is making all efforts to mind 21 students from Class I to Class V. "There are two sanctioned posts of teachers for a school in which the strength of the students is 60 or below," says the teacher. Most of the students are from the families where academics don't rank high on the priority list. Yet, the families do not mind sending their daughters to the school. "It's good that girls are going to school," says Akkobai, a villager. At Walipur Kalan government school, a lone teacher is handling around 39 students from classes I to V. The students at Government Middle School in Ghamnewal village show a remarkable alacrity in extending the customary greetings. The girls dream big — some want to become doctors, while others would like to pursue a career in music. On the way to Ghamnewal, a boy in school uniform is fixing his cycle. He's a 15-year-old student of a government school at Hambran. He's cycling back home after taking the pre-board examination at his school that's around 3 km from his home. The boy is not yet sure of his aim in life. "The life in the Bet villages is not easy. Our pleas for potable water have fallen on deaf ears," says Tehal Singh from Walipur Kalan, who stops by to get a photo clicked with the boy. The disconnect between the environment at school and that at home is evident in case of most school students in the villages. They are taught computers at school, but computers have no place in their after-school hours. Internet is a luxury that they can ill-afford. The foreign shores hold an attraction, but they are too distant even for their dreams. The boys know that they would be the earning members of the family and the mantle of protecting the "family honour" would fall on them. Amrik Singh, a student of Government Middle School at Kotmana village, admits that boys take more liberties with discipline. "The girls have to leave the parental house eventually; so they are more disciplined," says this student of Class VIII.
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2 more EVMs go beeping
Ludhiana, February 17 “On being informed of the matter by the Returning Officer, I rushed to the site. Without wasting time, we wrote to the Election Commission of India about the snag in the machine. We received orders from the EC to switch off the battery button and reseal the machine," District Election Officer-cum-DC Rahul Tewari said. He said everything was done in the presence of all the seven candidates of the constituency and the proceedings video-recorded. Reports of an EVM emitting a sound was received from Ferozepur too. Tewari said it seemed that the official incharge had forgotten to switch off the EVM battery while sealing it. A similar snag had occurred in the Jalandhar constituency two days ago.
Data safe: CEO
Chandigarh: Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said the discharge of batteries would not have any impact on the votes recorded. “We have taken the help of engineers who will replace the batteries of the beeping EVMs so that counting can be done without any problem,” she said. “We will have to replace the batteries of all such EVMs left switched on by mistake,” she explained. The strongroom in Ferozepur with the beeping EVM was yet to be opened till the filing of this reportr.
— Kanchan Vasdev
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Power subsidy may cross Rs 4,600 cr
The commission has directed PowerCom to chalk out a time-bound programme to replace the existing motors with more efficient ones that consume 33 per cent less power. “By replacing the motors installed to operate
tubewells, energy worth Rs 750 crore can be saved annually and consequently the subsidy can be decreased,” a senior official said. The commission is working on new power tariff rates, which will become applicable from April 1. The commission fixes tariff for the farm sector on the basis of which the state government provides subsidy to PowerCom for free power to
tubewells. The commission has filed a petition requesting the latter to revise the power tariff to bridge a revenue gap of Rs 8,984 crore. The state government has been providing money to PowerCom to provide free power to the farm sector and the poor.
PowerCom was to be paid a subsidy of Rs 4257.86 crore during the current fiscal year. Of this, Rs 3879.95 crore was for the farm sector, Rs 365.90 crore for Scheduled Caste families and Rs 12.01 crore for other BPL (below poverty line) families. Official sources say there is likely to be a 10 per cent increase in the power subsidy bill for the fiscal year 2012-13. Any party forming the next government in the state will have to face the issue of power tariff revision and tackle the mounting power subsidy bill. Both the
SAD-BJP coalition and the Congress in their election manifestos promised to continue the power subsidy. Keeping in view the state’s precarious fiscal health, this will be a challenging task. The power subsidy bill in 2003-04 was Rs 787 crore. It jumped to Rs 2,576 crore in 2006-07 and to Rs 3,880 crore in 2010-11. About 11.50 lakh tubewells in the state are given free power. For new tubewell connections, the government has made it mandatory for farmers to install four-star
motors. Arun Kumar, Director, Distribution, PowerCom, said a pilot project had been prepared to replace 2000 pump-sets with efficient ones in Tarn Taran and Muktsar districts. However, PSERC sources said that replacing all existing motors would cost Rs 4300 crore. The question then is who will foot this bill. PowerCom is already in a debt trap and the state’s fiscal condition is equally bad.
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Centre’s Food Bill may ease state’s atta-dal burden
While the Centre has proposed flour at Rs 2 a kg for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, the state government has been providing it at Rs 4 a kg. In addition, Punjab gives away lentils at Rs 20 a kg and has incurred a bill of Rs 1,300 crore on 15 lakh beneficiaries under the atta-dal scheme over the past over four years. Both the SAD and the Congress have, in their poll manifestos, have promised flour at Re 1 a kg. Therefore, whichever party forms the government, Punjab would only have to pay a rupee extra for the subsidised flour. The Bill, expected to be passed by April, proposes giving away 7 kg of wheat a month at the rate of Rs 2 per kg to every person belonging to a BPL family. The Food and Civil Supplies Department has identified 74.28 lakh beneficiaries under this category. Also, those belonging to Above Poverty Line families would be given 3 kg of wheat a month at half its minimum support price. As many as 1.75 crore beneficiaries have been identified under this category. With the Union Government proposing the Bill, various public sector undertakings, including PUNSUP, MARKFED, Warehousing Corporation and Punjab Agro, have heaved a sigh of relief. As the state government had not set aside any money in the budget for the atta-dal scheme, the burden had to be borne by these departments. Punjab is already under a debt of Rs 72,000 crore. How Punjab may stand benefited
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Call SGPC session, Makkar to Centre
Amritsar, February 17 The SGPC chief, Avtar Singh
Makkar, said: “The Centre should now call a session of the new House without delay for facilitating the election of new office-bearers so that the SGPC can function smoothly.” He said the verdict had paved the way for the passage of the annual SGPC budget next month.
Gurminder Singh, special counsel, said : “The decks are cleared for the election of SGPC office-bearers as well as the passage of the annual budget.” The SGPC budget was to be passed by the executive and the General House before March 31. The SGPC is required to inform its members about the Budget session 21 days in advance after the budget is passed by the executive. The SGPC was finding it difficult to manage its day-to-day affairs. The SGPC president has the powers to sanction a maximum of Rs 25,000 and any amount above this sum has to be sanctioned by the SGPC executive. Noted lawyer HS Phoolka said the new House could not have been stopped from functioning as the court had not declared the 2011 SGPC elections void.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh also welcomed the SC order. TIMELINE September 18, 2011: SAD sweeps SGPC polls December 5: 15 members co-opted December
16: Notification constituting the new SGPC House issued December 20: High Court says Sehajdharis can vote, quashes 2003 notification barring Sehajdharis from voting in SGPC elections February 17, 2012: SC allows the new SGPC House to function
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Death Sentence
New Delhi, February 17 “Abolition of death penalty in India is a totally different issue, which has no connection to the issue of disposal of the mercy petition under the constitutional scheme. At present, the death sentence is constitutionally approved and permissible and has been provided by the Act of Parliament,” the affidavit said. Bhullar was sentenced to death for the 1993 assassination attempt on Youth Congress leader MS
Bhitta. He has approached the SC, seeking commuting of the death penalty to life term in view of the long delay in rejecting his mercy petition. The government further submitted that Article 6(2) of the International Convenant of Civil and Political Rights spoke only of the ‘desirability’ of the abolition of death penalty. The United Nations’ members being sovereign nations “are entitled to determine their own legal jurisprudence”. Also, under the Covenant, India was free to make provisions for sentences/penalties for the offences provided in the Statutes. The official said, “I deny each and every averment made” by him. In his petition filed in the SC, Bhullar contended that he had been confined in a 7x9 feet cell in the Tihar Jail here since August 25, 2001, when he was convicted. The agony of waiting to be hanged had made him a mental wreck and was currently being treated at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Science at
Shahdara, near here. While any one afflicted with a mental illness could not be hanged, under a Supreme Court verdict, the death sentence should be commuted to life term if there was any inordinate delay in the execution. Nobody could be subjected to life imprisonment in addition to the death sentence, he argued.
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Jagmeet: PPP will have role in forming govt
Abul Khurana (Muktsar), February 17 Brar was here to attend the bhog ceremony. Expressing great warmth for the PPP leadership, he said: “The PPP has emerged as a milestone in Punjab politics and several of its candidates will get a high percentage of votes. But, I can’t say much about their winning prospects.” Brar said these were his personal views. Brar said though both the Congress and the Akalis were expecting to win at least 70 seats, it was the Congress that had an edge this time. Haryana minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, Sangrur MLA Surinder Pal Singh Sibia and Kotkapura MLA Ripjit Singh Brar were present at the
bhog. ceremony.
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Drug Menace
Patiala, February 17 The Jails Minister’s directives come a day after the State of Punjab told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it had indicted two officials for their involvement in the menace. The assertion came on a petition filed by Tarlochan Singh, a Mohali resident. He was lodged at Ropar district jail at the time of filing of the petition and was seeking an inquiry into the sale of intoxicants inside the Jail “in connivance with the jail officials”. The duo, Jail Superintendent Tejinder Singh Sodhi and Deputy Jail Superintendent Parminder Singh, were placed under suspension on October 12 last year.
Gabria said the DGP (Jails) should ensure that no such acts by the employees were repeated. Reacting to Punjab’s admission in the court, the DGP (Jails) said his stand on a high-profile nexus behind the drugs entering the state prisons stood vindicated. “Surprise raids are being conducting and I am doing whatever I can at my level,” he said. Also, Kant advocated the adoption of a concrete policy to check the easy availability of drugs even outside jails. “If the sale of drugs if
scrutinised, smuggling into jails too can be curbed,” he said.
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Irked by cow slaughter, they planted bombs: SSP
Patiala, February 17 Sources said the kingpin of the gang,
Sagar, alias Azad, deeply perturbed over cow slaughter in parts of Haryana, formed the “Azad
Organisation” and planted bombs at various places, including slaughterhouses. The arrested were identified as
Sagar, alias Azad, Sham Niwas, Gurnam Singh, Parveen Sharma and Rajesh Kumar, all residents of
Haryana. Dinesh Partap Singh, SSP Patiala, said the police was conducting raids to arrest another member of the gang, Pawan Kumar. “During interrogation, the accused confessed their involvement in planting bombs and named Pawan too,” he said. The SSP said
Sagar, who belonged to the lower middle class, motivated Rajesh to arrange for explosives for the blasts. The police is trying to ascertain if the accused have affiliation with any Hindu extremist group. The police said the gang had in 2009 planted two bombs in the slaughterhouse of Mewat’s Satakpuri village, one inside a mosque in Malav village and another in a mosque at
Jind. They were also behind the 2009 blast in Safidon, that ripped through a building housing the office of the local truck union, and an explosion at a
madrasa.
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Pakistani intruder shot dead
Amritsar, February 17 A day earlier, the BSF jawans had recovered around Rs 2.73 lakh in fake currency from the same spot where the intruder was shot. On being challenged, the intruder tried to escape, following which the BSF personnel opened fire. The Pakistani national was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Meanwhile, Customs officials at Attari-Wagah land route today nabbed a Bangladeshi national while he was trying to cross over to Pakistan without valid documents. Identified as Abdul Memon Talkudar, a resident of Chasan village in Sunamganj district, the accused had an Indian visa till May 2012. A case has been registered at Gharinda police station.
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City scan The residents of the areas located under the bridge complained that the construction of the overbridge has brought only woes to them.
Two tourists fall victim to snatchers
Three snatching cases have been reported in the city in the past 24 hours. Among the three victims, two were tourists - one from the UK and other from Jammu. As per information, Ranjit Kaur, alias Kiran, resident of the UK, was going in a rickshaw along with her aunt Manwinder Kaur of Medical Enclave on the Race-Course road when two snatchers strike. In her complaint, Manwinder alleged that the two motorcycle-borne unidentified youths came from behind and snatched the purse of her niece and fled away within no time. She said her purse contained 300 pounds, Apple-4 mobile phone, camera and debit card of Lovind Bank.
MCs, hospitals in list of power bill defaulters
Municipal committees top the defaulters' list with Rs 57 lakh pending towards electricity bills. However, the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, the Punjab Urban Development Authority, the Public Works Department and Zila Parishad offices have cleared their power bills on time. Second of the defaulters' list are government dispensaries and hospitals as over Rs 23 lakh is pending against them till January this year. The Public Health Department has to pay Rs 3.5 lakh to PowerCom.
Multi-crore scam: Firm owner held
The district police has arrested owner of another finance company for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scam in the office of the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner. A resident of Old Jawahar Nagar, Rajesh Anand is the fourth accused to be arrested in the case for allegedly misappropriating challan amount received from NRIs for embossing of power of attorneys. With records of two financial years audited so far, Anand reportedly embezzled Rs 15 lakh, which are shown as transactions through his Fair Deal Capital Services, but not received by the authorised banks of the department. He has been remanded in police custody till February 21.
Man booked for raping daughter
The accused, identified as Satish Kumar, who spent over a decade in jail for brutally killing his wife Kamlesh Rani, was caught again by the Salem Tabri police last evening on the charges of raping his daughter. According to the police, Satish Kumar, who came out of prison nearly a year ago, was raping his daughter for nearly five months. The girl lodged a formal complaint yesterday, following which the father was booked.
Snatchers
stab woman
According to eyewitnesses, victim Paramjit Kaur was entering her house after receiving her grandson, who had just arrived from school. In the meantime, two youths entered the house on a motorcycle and waylaid Paramjit Kaur. They tried to snatch the earrings of the woman, but Paramjit responded strongly and opposed the snatchers.
Drawing attention towards traffic safety
The study says that in rural areas, road accidents remains a major cause of such injuries.
Hunt on for
speedsters
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) have set up nets to look for youngsters who can swing the ball. Honorary general secretary of the Bathinda District Cricket Association (BDCA) and executive committee member OD Sharma said a four-member committee would select budding speedsters and spinners from the four districts of Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa and Muktsar at the Police Public School in Bathinda on Saturday. The committee will comprise Deepak Chopra, former Punjab Ranji team captain, Kailash Chander and Sanjay Mahajan, former Ranji players, and Sukhminder Tinku, PCA coach from
Mohali.
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Patiala MC not to levy new taxes
Patiala, February 17 Patiala Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli said that they do not want to put any financial burden on the city residents. "Though the formal announcement regarding the tax structure would be made during the special general house meeting for the budget, scheduled to be held by the end of this month, but in principle it has been unanimously decided not to levy any new tax on the residents", he said. For 2011-12, an income target of Rs 94.92 crore was fixed in the budget by the Patiala MC last year. Though final statistics pertaining to the total income and the budget targets fixed for the financial year 2011-12 would be available only after March 31, but according to the municipal officers dealing with budgetary allocations, for the first three quarters (April 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011), the civic body had managed to achieve the proposed budget targets. In view of the fact that the financial health of the civic body was not sound, there were deliberations between top brass of the Corporation that whether any new tax should be levied or any existing tax be increased. However, after the discussion, what transpired was that majority of the municipal councillors were of the view that no extra financial burden should be put on the residents. A senior civic officer, while preferring anonymity, said, "The civic body is passing through financial crunch. In order to generate more revenue to bring the fiscal health of the civic body on track, some of the existing taxes, particularly the advertisement tax, need to be revised. However, with municipal elections on mind, the municipal councillors got adamant that there should be no increase in the existing tax
structure." Trying to justify the decision, Patiala Mayor asserted that rather than imposing any new tax or increasing the present taxes, generating revenue from the building branch was a better option. "A survey is on to identify the buildings that have come up in violation of the building norms. Once the survey report is ready, the MC coffers would be flooded with the funds, which would come through compounding/composition fee to be imposed on owners of the illegal buildings", he claimed.
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Encroachment in Amritsar
Chandigarh, February 17 Justice Surya Kant also issued a stern warning to the powers that be, while fixing the case for May 28. The dispute hovers around the removal of "unauthorised" structures from a busy road in Amritsar. Describing himself as a "public-spirited person", Chander Shekhar Sharma of Amritsar contended that the Power Corporation "has illegally and in an unauthorised manner encroached upon RB Dhuni Chand, Circle Road, abutting Lawrence Road". Elaborating, the petitioner contended that the Corporation has constructed a room and erected two transformers, resulting in interruption of smooth traffic flow. Seeking the initiation of Contempt of Court proceedings against Municipal Commissioner and four others, Sharma referred to an October 2008 order giving public-spirited persons liberty to seek contempt proceedings if encroachments were not removed. Taking up the matter, Justice Surya Kant asserted: "Two government agencies have unnecessarily burdened the Court with this litigation due to their internal disputes, which ought to have been settled at their end." The Principal Secretary, Local Government Department, and the Chairman, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, have been directed to convene a meeting which shall be attended by all concerned, including the Commissioner, MC, Amritsar, and resolve the issues before the adjourned date, failing with serious view shall be taken in the matter". In its order dated October 4, 2008, the High Court had virtually given the general public the power to check encroachments on municipal or government land across Punjab. The Court had also made it clear that public-spirited persons would be at liberty to institute contempt of court proceedings, if they noticed non-removal of encroachment, or their coming up, in connivance with MC employees or councilors. The Court also emphasised on the need for public involvement in the process by ruling that municipal corporations shall encourage public participation in their anti-encroachment drives by constituting vigilance committee.
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Decide water charges in 3 months: HC
Chandigarh, February 17 A Division Bench of the High Court has also vacated the stay on the recovery of the enhanced sewerage and water charges ordered by a Single Judge. The directions are significant, as the Division Bench, in its order, has itself observed that the issue affects a "large number of people". The directions came as the Division Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AN Jindal took up an appeal by Jalandhar Municipal Corporation. The appeal was filed by the Corporation through senior advocate Salil Sagar and counsel Samarth Sagar against Amrit Lal Joshi and other respondents. In its detailed order, the Bench observed: "Challenge in the present appeal is to an order passed by a Single Judge of this Court dated October 15, 2011, whereby, the recovery of the enhanced sewerage and water charges were stayed". Summing up the arguments put forth by the Municipal Corporation, the Bench added: "The appellant asserts that such charges have been levied in pursuance of the directions of the state government and after compliance with the procedure prescribed under Section 90 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976". After taking note of the contentions, the Bench asserted: "Keeping in view the fact that the levy is of a tax, therefore, we find that the order of stay is not sustainable. Consequently, the order dated October 15, 2011, is vacated. The present appeal is disposed of accordingly". Before parting with the orders in the appeal, the Bench directed: "Since, the levy of sewerage and water charges is likely to affect large number of people, we order that the writ petition be posted for hearing within three months".
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The Supreme Court verdict, allowing the newly constituted SGPC House to function, has come as a huge respite for the mini-Parliament of Sikhs.
The SGPC chief, Avtar Singh
Makkar, said: “The Centre should now call a session of the new House without delay for facilitating the election of new office-bearers so that the SGPC can function smoothly.” He said the verdict had paved the way for the passage of the annual SGPC budget next month.
Many a time, the flyovers and roads beneath them in the city are not used for the purposes they are meant for. The roads underneath the bridges and even the flyovers have become a place to park vehicles. The space under the flyover from Ram Talai to the Galiara parking near the Golden Temple is the place where vehicles parked on the roadsides leave very little place for the traffic to pass.
Patiala, February 17
Chandigarh, February 17
Chandigarh, February 17
Many a time, the flyovers and roads beneath them in the city are not used for the purposes they are meant for. The roads underneath the bridges and even the flyovers have become a place to park vehicles. The space under the flyover from Ram Talai to the Galiara parking near the Golden Temple is the place where vehicles parked on the roadsides leave very little place for the traffic to pass.
The Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PowerCom) is helpless as government departments have outstanding electricity bills running into crores. Government departments owe PowerCom a whopping Rs 1.26 crore.
The city police has arrested a man for raping his 16-year-old daughter.
In yet another snatching incident, two motorcycle-borne snatchers stabbed a woman and fled with her gold jewellery in Focal Point, Urban Estate Phase-II area, here on Friday. The incident took place merely a few yards from the residence of Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.
Drawing public attention towards traffic rules can reduce the number of facial injuries in road accidentsaccording to a study by Dr Vishal Garg, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (AIMSR).