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Despite protests, martyr's ancestral house razed Prices crash, turmeric growers in the red |
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Drugs Flow Into Kapurthala Model Jail
No discernible wave; local issues will play decisive role
Poll Code Violation
Misuse of Bhajji’s bank statement for getting UK visa
No breakthrough in kidnapping of miller
Post-delivery, ambulances to
drop women at doorstep
Cabinet to meet today
Banks deny fresh loans to farmers
Process on to regularise colonies
Virasat Mela from today
35 foreign orthopaedics to attend Patiala conference
Postal staff strike on February 28
‘PPCB’s online consent system a success’
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Martyr's ancestral house razed to ground
Amritsar, February 23 The matter came to light last month when the demolition of the building started. The house was owned by Dhingra's kin till a few years back, but they reportedly sold it off for reasons best known to them amid demands from various organisations to convert it into the martyr's memorial. These outfits finally took to the streets on February 15, seeking the house's preservation as a national monument. Taking note of the demand, the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner then wrote to the Principal Secretary, Archives, Archaeology and Culture Department, Punjab. On February 21, the Punjab and Haryana High Court also issued a notice of motion to the State of Punjab and the Amritsar DC following a PIL for setting up Madan Lal Dhingra memorial. In view of these developments, the local administration has swung into action. The revenue officials are now busy dusting old land records and piecing up the jigsaw puzzle to figure out the exact details of the ownership of the property in Dhingra clan as well as the "new owner". They are also trying to figure out whether Madan Lal Dhingra himself owned a share in the property. However, the exercise seems delayed as the entire house has already been razed to the ground, except for a few shops on rent in its front portion and the common walls that the house shared with its adjacent buildings. The administration has also imposed a ban on the registry of the land where the house is located. Punjab Social Welfare Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said she had written to the state government in 2009 to acquire the house and build a memorial of the martyr there, but nothing was done. "In the meantime, the owners apprehended that the government may take over the possession of the house and they sold it off." She has also formed Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Smarak Samiti, which commemorates the birth and death anniversary of the martyr ever year. Meanwhile, IAS officer KS Pannu, who was the Amritsar DC in 2009 when Dhingra's martyrdom centenary was observed, recalled that he along with the then Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and Social Welfare Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla had visited the house where they had met an old lady from Dhingra family who was living there with her children. He said though the house looked old from outside, it was renovated inside and its interiors wore a modern look. In a related development, outfits like Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujwan Sabha and Naujwan Bharat Sabha, which took up the matter with the DC, today held a meeting in this regard. They announced they would wait for the administration to initiate necessary steps to convert the house into a memorial till Monday, failing which they will stage a protest outside the DC office. About martyr Madan Lal Dhingra An unforgotten hero of the freedom movement, Madan Lal Dhingra belonged to a respectable family. Sahib Ditta Mal was his father while one of his brothers was a barrister. His family had migrated from Sahiwal to Amritsar in 1850. He acquired his basic qualification from Amritsar and went to England to pursue higher education in engineering. There, he came in contact with Shyamji Krishna Verma and Veer Savarkar, the two freedom stalwarts. Having a strong desire to see his country liberated, he gunned down Sir William Curzon Wyle on July 1, 1909. After a trial lasting one-and-a-half months, Dhingra was executed on August 17, 1909, at the age of 26 years. However, his father, known for his proximity to the British government, had refused to accept his body. Dhingra's remains were accidentally found while the authorities searched for the remains of Shaheed Udham Singh and sent to India on December 13, 1976.
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Prices crash, turmeric growers in the red
Jalandhar, February 23 Punjab produces turmeric worth about Rs 300 crore annually and the area under it has grown at least four times since the crop was introduced in the state by the Farmers’ Agro Produce Promotion Society in 2007 to help farmers boost their income. Punjab has 7,500 to 8,000 acres of its land under turmeric. Turmeric is an eco-friendly crop. It does not need to be sprayed and usually thrives well on organic manure alone. The crop was widely adopted by farmers for its huge yield- between 90 quintals and 100 quintals per acre. Turmeric growers (numbering 350) in
Hoshiarpur, Nakodar, Shahkot, Rayya, Nabha and Moga reaped huge profits until now, with the wholesale price of dry turmeric falling sharply, primarily because of a bumber crop in the South. “ Turmeric growers need can preserve dry, powdered haldi for three to four years. The only hurdle is the cold and humid weather conditions. Six mobile turmeric boiling units have been requisitioned from the South. These are on the way to Punjab,” said Chaman Lal
Vashist, agriculture development officer and the nodal officer of Hoshiarpur-based Farmers’ Agro Produce Promotion Society. “Once the crop is dried and grinded to a powder, the farmers can store the produce for three or four years to get better returns in the coming times. “We are encouraging the farmers to sell their produce door to door to get a good price. Our survey shows that turmeric sold in the market is of a poor quality ,” he said.
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Liquor vend workers thrash bus driver
Patiala, February 23 Charanjit Singh, conductor of the roadways bus (PB08 BN 3394), said liquor vend owner's vehicle was parked in the middle of the road while the workers were unloading liquor stock when the bus accidentally hit the bumper of the vehicle. "Despite the fact that the vend workers had almost covered the entire road, we stopped the bus and
apologised. But, around five to six workers started thrashing bus driver Sukhdev Singh. It was only after intervention of some passengers that the driver was saved," he added. Following this, PRTC employees blocked the road and demanded registration of a case against the liquor vend workers. However, with the intervention of the police, both the parties reached a compromise, said ASI Karanjit Singh.
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Govt depts top power bill defaulters
Muktsar, February 23 The Muktsar circle comprises six divisions, including Muktsar, Malout, Gidderbaha, Abohar, Fazilka and Badal. A bill of Rs 5.25 crore pending against it, the Public Health Department is a major defaulter. All government hospitals and dispensaries in the six divisions are defaulters of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Bills worth nearly Rs 50 lakh have been pending against them since long. Until January, Rs 27.07 lakh was outstanding against government hospitals in Muktsar, Rs 7.69 lakh in Malout, Rs 4.75 lakh in Gidderbaha, Rs 3.84 lakh in Abohar, Rs 3.99 lakh in Fazilka and Rs 2.11 lakh in Badal division. The Muktsar police owes Rs 11.64 lakh to the PSPCL while the pending amount against the Irrigation Department is Rs 20 lakh. The Abohar municipal committee has also not cleared its outstanding dues worth Rs 3.6 crore. The law enforcement departments, including the SDM offices and tehsil complexes, are also there in the defaulter list. The SDM office in Fazilka owed bill worth Rs 5 lakh whereas the Tehsil Complex in Abohar has to clear outstanding amount of Rs 1.38 lakh. The Tehsil Complex, Gidderbaha, has to pay Rs 87,000. JS Multani, Superintending Engineer, Muktsar circle, said, “A number of notices have been issued to the erring departments but to no avail…. Now, we are considering taking stern action against the defaulters to recover the outstanding amount.” How much they owe Rs 10 crore is the total pending power bill of
various departments in Muktsar circle alone Rs 5.25 crore: Public Health Department Rs 3.6 crore: Abohar municipal committee Rs 50 lakh: Government hospitals and dispensaries Rs 20 lakh: Irrigation Department Rs 11.64 lakh: Muktsar police Rs 5 lakh: SDM office, Fazilka Rs 1.38 lakh: Tehsil Complex, Abohar Rs 87,000: Tehsil Complex, Gidderbaha
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Drugs Flow Into Kapurthala Model Jail
Chandigarh, February 23 Taking note of the CBI stand in the matter, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has now directed the State of Punjab to file a reply in four weeks. After being served a notice on a PIL on alleged irregularities and the nexus in the Kapurthala jail, the CBI told the court that instances quoted in the petition related to maintenance of law and order in the jail, which was the job of the local police. The petitioner, Shashi Sharma of
Jalandhar, in his petition before the High Court had alleged that on November 16, 2011, Kapurthala jail inmate Makhan Singh had died due to lack of medical aid. The jail official took the body to the Civil Hospital. Later, the records were forged to show that Makhan Singh had been brought
to hospital alive, Sharma contended. Claiming this was not the only case, Sharma said there was lack of medicines in most jails in the state. The doctors were deputed in jails only on papers and some convicts were given the authority to dispense medicines to the inmates. Except for pain-killers, hardly any other medicine was available in the jails. On November 20, 2011, another inmate in the same jail, Baldev Singh, died due to lack of treatment. The authorities attempted to shift the body to the Civil Hospital but were stopped by the jail inmates. Accompanied by members of Punjab Human Rights
Organisation, Sharma said he reached the jail only to find smoke billowing out of the jail and gunshots being fired. In the incident, 28 inmates were injured, while one Manpreet Singh was killed after being hit by a bullet. Alleging large-scale corruption in the purchase of medicines for the jail and a nexus between the jail and Civil Hospital authorities, Sharma alleged that drug and narcotics were being supplied to the jail inmates in connivance with the authorities and sought an independent inquiry by an agency like CBI. The Bench has fixed the case for March 28.
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No discernible wave; local issues will play decisive role
Chandigarh, February 23 Analysing polling trends in the post-delimitation scenario with the 2009 parliamentary elections as the reference point also does not give any clear picture. Each party claims an advantage over the rest, but the lack of a wave indicates that the just-concluded elections were highly competitive. There were no signs of anti-incumbency. Though, most people believe that the Congress has a slight edge over the SAD-BJP coalition, this is based merely on perception rather than polling trends. It is believed that the performance of the BJP and the Sanjha Morcha, led by Manpreet Badal’s People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), could play a decisive role in the formation of the next government. But polling trends have a different story to tell. Constituencies considered to be PPP strongholds saw comparatively poor polling. And so did those believed to be Dera Sacha Sauda strongholds. It is now believed that the BJP will do better than expected. The party leadership has candidly accepted defeat in three of the 23 seats it contested much before the results. The party’s confidence that it would win at least 12 seats does not seem to be misplaced. If this turns out to be true, it would mean that the BJP did manage to fight anti-incumbency. If this is true for the BJP, it can’t be any different for its senior alliance partner, the SAD. In case the voter had quietly decided on a change of guard, then the Congress could see major gains. With no two pockets exhibiting similar trends, a variety of factors appear to have been at play during these elections, including the number of rebels in fray and the PPP and Dera influence in the area. There are 42 constituencies in the state where the polling percentage has come down as compared to the 2007 elections. This is likely to belie many predictions. Out of the 117 constituencies, 75 have seen a rise in the polling percentage. Out of these, 28 segments have seen an increase of over 5 per cent and some have touched the 10 per cent mark. In 34 segments, the polling percentage has increased between 1 to 5 per cent and in the remaining 13 constituencies the increase has been only fractional. In the 42 constituencies where the poll percentage has dipped, 21 are held by the SAD-BJP alliance, 20 by the Congress and one by an Independent. Further, of the 28 segments that saw a more than 5 per cent increase in polling, 22 are held by the SAD-BJP alliance. It could mean either be interpreted as anti-incumbency or a vote in favour of the SAD-BJP Government. To understand the polling trends in Punjab, the three regions of Malwa, Majha and Doaba have to be looked at separately. To understand the contest, one needs to focus on the region, the polling percentage, the kind of contest (direct or multi-cornered) and most importantly, the candidates in the fray. With a clear urban and rural divide, the urban and semi-urban areas recording higher polling and a similar trend in multi-cornered contests where rebels are in the fray, the parties as well as the “satta” market have left it all to the counting day, March 6.
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Pak smuggler shot, heroin seized
Khem Karan (Tarn
Taran), February 23 Heroin worth Rs 65 crore (13 kg) in the international market, a kg of opium, counterfeit Indian currency amounting to Rs 5 lakh and a Chinese pistol along with two magazine and 10 live cartridges were seized from the spot. It was the second such attempt by Pakistan-based smugglers to push illegal goods into India this month. On February 4, the BSF had seized 23 kg of heroin. Rajesh Gupta, BSF DIG, Ferozepur sector, said his staff noticed the movement of three smugglers near the border around 2.30 am. When challenged, the smugglers opened fire, which was retaliated by the
BSF. One of the accused was killed on the spot while the other two managed to escape, Gupta said. The seized material was stuffed in a 12 feet long plastic pipe. This year alone, the BSF has seized about 67 kg of heroin, 5.5 kg of poppy husk, fake currency amounting to Rs 17.5
lakh, nine pistols, a pump action gun, 12 magazines and 61 live cartridges. Four Pakistani smugglers and three Bangladeshi nationals trying to cross the border illegally, too, were nabbed. An Indian national was also arrested on similar charges.
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Poll Code Violation
Kotkapura, February 23 The police said besides affixing a red beacon atop his vehicle, the chairman was using a pressure horn despite repeated warnings to him to remove
these. Kotkapura DSP Dilbag Singh Pannu said when a police party intercepted his vehicle today, its driver speeded up. Chasing the
Innova, the police team reached the Chairman’s residence. It was after 30 minutes of arguments between the police party and the Trust chairman that the latter agreed to hand over the custody of his vehicle to the police. The police also took the red beacon in its possession. The DSP said besides violation of the Motor Vehicle Act, the use of red beacon and pressure horn was a serious offence when the election code of conduct was in force in Punjab. Ram Chopra feigned ignorance about the election code of conduct. He said, “I thought that it was lifted a day after the polling”.
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Misuse of Bhajji’s bank statement for getting UK visa
Jalandhar, February 23 Meanwhile, the police has initiated a probe in the growing nexus between officials of some banks and unscrupulous travel agents, who get visas for their clients on the basis of fraudulently taken bank statements of their rich namesakes. The scam had came to light when the UK Embassy authorities had become suspicious about the name of the mother of Bhajji’s namesake and the visa applicant. It was mentioned as Kulwant Kaur in place of Avtar
Kaur. The police authorities were also looking for Harbhajan Singh of Patti township, who is said to have got employment in some Mumbai-based oil company after his visa application was rejected by the UK Embassy authorities. Harbhajan Singh is also in the age group of 25-30 years. Sleuths of the Jalandhar police, who are investigating the case, went to Patti to investigate the matter. “We have questioned Sewa Singh, uncle of Harbhajan Singh of Patti, who has informed us that his nephew has got employment in an oil company. He is not even able to recall the name of the travel agent, who had facilitated the misuse of Bhajji’s bank statement. Sometimes, he says travel agent was some Atul and sometime he recalls him as
Amit. Anyway, we are looking for the agent, though he had no permanent address,” said ACP Hankanwalpreet Singh
Khakh. “The manager of the Civil Lines branch of HDFC Bank has been questioned by the police. Bhajji or his family, however, has not lodged any formal complaint with the police so far. The bank staff is fully cooperating with us,” said
Khakh.
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No breakthrough in kidnapping of miller
Baretta (Mansa), February 23 Amit was kidnapped by some unidentified men near Mander village by blocking way of his car at around 10.30 am yesterday. The miscreants forced Amit to sit along with them in another car. The incident took place at a stone’s throw from a police post. Unconfirmed reports reveal that some policemen at the police post saw the car zipping past it and they suspected some unscrupulous elements in the car. They also tried to chase the car, but failed as they were not having any vehicle which could chase the speeding car of the kidnappers. Mansa SSP Pradeep Yadav said they were working on various theories and the possibility of demand of ransom behind the kidnapping could not be ruled out. “I cannot reveal any information as it is quite a sensitive issue. A case of kidnapping has been registered and efforts are on to trace the missing man,” he said. Amit Kumar reportedly belongs to an influential family of Baretta town. It is learnt that the family has two rice mills at Baretta and Babbanpur village in nearby Haryana and his family also has a cotton factory in Mansa district.
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The faithful choose to enter museum barefoot
Anandpur Sahib, February 23 On an average, 6,000 visitors descend on the Heritage Centre everyday. The authorities are at their wits end dealing with their religious fervour with most insisting on leaving their shoes outside. When prevented from taking off their shoes at the entrance, a majority of visitors leave the footwear in their vehicles, but the practice of throwing coins into the lake continues unchecked. “We have tackled the problem. Nobody is allowed to leave shoes inside the complex. The visitors mostly leave the shoes in their vehicles and walk barefoot. We wonder what they will do in the hot summer months. We have been telling them that since it is not a place of
worshipp, they can enjoy the comfort of their shoes. But our telling them is all in vain” said Kamaljeet Singh Sra, Chief Executive Officer, Khalsa Heritage Centre. Even larger than the problem of footwear is that of visitors throwing coins into the water body spread over seven acres. “Heads bowed and hands folded, they make a wish and throw a coin. I do not want to sound cynical, but their wishes will not come true here as it is just a water body,” remarked Sra. He said during cleaning, coins totalling Rs 5,000 were recovered from the bed of the lake and “there are tthousands lying there still.” The officials may have been trying to reason out with the visitors, but most are in no mood for it. “The complex symbolises Sikh aspirations and traditions. To me, it is a place of reverence,” maintained Manjeet Singh, a resident of Chamkaur Sahib, who walked in the complex barefoot.
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Post-delivery, ambulances to
drop women at doorstep
Muktsar, February 23 Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind said this at a meeting of the District Health Society. “Though the death rate of expectant mothers and infants is far lesser in the district as compared to the national as well as state average, providing better services will further decrease it,” he said. Thind said 1,395 children were born in January in the district and 393 families were provided cash assistance under the Janani Suraksha
Yojana.
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A day after the health wing of the Municipal Corporation conducted raids and ordered suspension of six major food joints of the city, more such erring joints are likely to face the MC’s ire. After closing down big names like Crystal, Beera Chicken, Kesar Da Dhaba and The Brothers’ Dhaba, the health officer with the MC, Dr Yogesh Arora, has promised more strict action against the offenders. “As part of a regular check on hygiene and quality standards at various city food joints, we have already ordered six close downs and issued show-cause notices to various others. The drive has been carried out with direct orders from the Municipal Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.” During interrogation, he revealed that he along with two of his accomplices identified as Gaganbeer and Anu Mental, had stolen this motorcycle from Lohgarh area on February 15. They were also involved in looting of a mobile phone from Shivam Nanda near Midnight Hotel in Ranjit Avenue area few days back The college authorities decided to move court after a meeting held at the Police Commissioner’s office remained inconclusive. The meeting was attended by ADCP-I RK Sharma, ACP Ashwini Kumar, ADCP (Headquarters) Navjot Mahal, MC officials and DAV College principal Dr BB Sharma and staff members. 2 killed in separate accidents Two women were crushed to death in separate accidents on the GT Road on Thursday. Preeti, a resident of Bhoor Mandi near Rama Mandi, died on the spot after the two-wheeler she was riding was hit by an unidentified car. The car driver sped away after the accident. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem In a separate incident, a middle aged woman was critically injured after being hit by an auto-rickshaw at the Industrial Estate locality on the GT Road. The accident took place around 6 am when Jeeto Devi, who used to run a ‘biri’-cigarette’ shack, was crossing the road. Most of the private schools in Ludhiana district have not applied to the Punjab School Education Board for recognition under the RTE Act. Of the 1,064 private schools, only about 400 have submitted the application forms. It is now mandatory for every private school to provide details of the school to the education department and get recognition under the RTE Act. The last date of submission of the details was January 12. Slow work on "ganda nullah" irks officials In yet another incident of snatching, two motorcycle-borne youths snatched Rs 7 lakh from an employee of a dairy in Dashmesh Nagar near Gill Road here today. The incident took place this afternoon when the employee, identified as Rajesh Kumar, was returning to the dairy after withdrawing Rs 7 lakh from a bank. In his statement to the police, he said he was outside the dairy when two youths riding on a motorcycle came from behind and snatched away the bag containing the cash. Rajesh raised the alarm and chased the motorcycle, but the youths sped away. The dairy owner, Jagdish Kumar, informed the police about the incident. The police has launched a search operation to nab the accused. Cable operators in Bathinda are allegedly twisting the arms of consumers by disconnecting cable connections and forcing people to install set-top boxes of a particular cable network company to view channels other than Doordarshan. “Most of the cable network in the state is in the hands of a cable mafia being controlled from Ludhiana. It is this mafia that is forcing us to take these drastic steps,” said a cable operator. Another cable operator said this was being done following the orders of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for digitisation of the entire cable network services. He, however, reasoned that the consumer should be free to install set-top box of own choice rather than thrusting a particular company-made boxes on him or her. Four booked for
land fraud Four persons, including a member of the district advisory committee (social welfare), a local jeweller and an unidentified man, have been booked by the police for fraudulently transferring a 200-yard plot. The accused have been identified as local jeweller Urvinder Singh, district advisory committee member and former municipal councillor Chhinder Kaur and one Jagmohan Singh. The police said efforts were on to identify the fourth accused.
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Chandigarh, February 23 He will preside over the Punjab Cabinet meeting scheduled for 11 am tomorrow. Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was accompanying his father on a foreign visit, will also arrive here tomorrow morning to attend the Cabinet meeting. Sources said the meeting was a routine one and no major decision was expected.
— TNS
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Fall from glory shocks relatives
Pawan, a two-time national javelin throw champion, took to wrestling and trounced Asian Wrestling Champion in 2000 to win the title. In Patiala, close kin of Atinder Bikramjit Singh Mal show his sports certificates. They say he bagged the gold in national shot put and the bronze at the inter-university level. They are relieved that Atinder is not on drugs. Talking to The Tribune, Pawan Kumar said he was recruited as Sub-Inspector with the Border Security Force but left his job after he became an addict. “I desperately needed Rs 35,000 for my girlfriend and came in contact with friends who snatched cars at gunpoint. I joined them and there was no looking back after that. I spent most of my earnings on heroin and partying with girls”, he confessed, sounding remorseful.
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Banks deny fresh loans to farmers
Chandigarh, February 23 Under the scheme, the Centre had waived farm loans (due up to December 31,2007) of marginal farmers, with land-holding up to a hectare, and small farmers with land-holding up to two acres. To give relief to other farmers, the Centre announced a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for loans due up to December 31, 2007. Such farmers were given 25 per cent rebate on payment of 75 per cent of the loan due. Sources said 3,52,514 accounts of farmers were covered under the debt waiver and debt relief scheme in the state. In all, a sum of Rs 936.84 crore was waived. After the waiver, the farmers were entitled to fresh loans. However, fresh disbursement has been made to only 73,182 farmers earlier covered under the scheme.This means only 20.76 per cent of the farmers covered under the scheme have been given fresh loans by banks, including public sector banks, private sector banks, Regional Rural Banks and Coop banks. However, the amount advanced to the farmers is Rs 690.34 crore, which is 73.68 per cent of the total amount waived. A senior bank official said that banks were the custodians of public money and it was wrong to say that they were denying loans to such farmers. “Bank officials check the old record of the farmers concerned before accepting their case for loan. They will obviously be cautious on giving crop loan to those farmers who had defaulted earlier”, he said. The farmers had also to give an undertaking that they had not taken loan from any other bank, he said. However, agro experts are critical of this cautious approach of the banks. The argue that the Union Government had provided debt waiver to small and marginal farmers because they were poor and in distress. And by denying them institutional loans, banks may be inadvertently pushing them towards money-lenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest.
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Process on to regularise colonies
Patiala, February 23 The move will not only bail out the civic body from financial crisis but will also ensure compliance of directions of the Local Bodies Department, which has asked the MC to take appropriate action against illegal colonies. Patiala Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli said for regularising an illegal colony, a fee of Rs 7 lakh per acre plus development charges would be charged from the erring coloniser. "A survey to identify illegal colonies is on. Corporation officials have been instructed to prepare a detailed report pertaining to the exact area over which such colonies have come up," he said. Senior officials of MC's Town Planning Wing said preliminary survey revealed the existence of at least 10 illegal colonies on the Rajpura Road and Sirhind Road. "As per rough estimates, the civic body would not get less than one crore as regularisation fee. Besides, before legalising these colonies, development charges, depending upon the area, would be charged from the defaulters. In the process, the municipal body will get capital amount which will be utilised for development projects to be undertaken in various parts of the city," said
Kohli.
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Virasat Mela from today
Bathinda, February 23 Addressing mediapersons here, office-bearers of the Malwa Heritage Foundation, DC Kamal Kishore Yadav, SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill and historian Harvinder Singh Khalsa said the mela this year would be dedicated to Kuldeep Manak, the legendary singer from Bathinda. On February 24, a heritage walk would begin from Gurudwara Haji Rattan at 10 am. It will move towards the Haji Rattan 'dargah' (shrine), pay obeisance at the Qila Mubarak gurdwara and culminate at village Jaipalgarh for the inaugural ceremony function. Later, poetical recitation would be held at the heritage village from 4 pm to 6 pm. At 6:30 pm, a jago would be taken out from the residence of the DC. At 7 pm, singers Kanwar Mann, Raja Sidhu, Rajwinder Kaur, Kiran Deepu, Bikka Manhar, Jassi Gobindpuria and others would perform. On February 25, competitions in conventional and non-conventional categories would be held. Events of Malwai giddha, kabaddi, tug-of-war, discus throw and Gabru Punjab Da contest would be held on the second day. In the evening, singers Gurbinder Brar, Jaspal Jassi, Balvir Chotia and Jasmine Chotia would give their performance. On the final day, huge footfall is expected owing to the concert of singer Jazzy B. The family members and friends of Kuldeep Manak would also be honoured on the occasion. Later in the evening, singer Jyoti Gill, Veer Davinder, Goga Chakwala and Neetu Virk would present songs.
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35 foreign orthopaedics to attend Patiala conference
Patiala, February 23 Dr JPS
Walia, Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, Government Medical College, said the theme of the conference was “Celebrating change-2012”. “Around 200 orthopaedic surgeons, including 35 foreign surgeons (17 from Afghanistan, 15 from the UK, one each from the USA, Pakistan and Nepal), are participating in the conference. This is the first time that so many international surgeons will be taking part in the conference. The main topics that will be discussed are total knee replacement, shoulder replacement, hip replacement and elbow replacement,” he added. On February 24, a pre-conference workshop would be conducted under the guidance of Prof MS
Dhillon, PGI, Chandigarh, Prof Ramesh Sen, PGI, Chandigarh, and Dr Mangal
Parihar, orthopaedic surgeon from Mumbai. About 50 lectures were planned for the pre-conference workshop. Dr KK
Talwar, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Medical Council of India, would inaugurate the workshop on February 25 along with Dr SS Gill, Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, and Dr Manmohan Singh, president of the Punjab Medical Council.
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Postal staff strike on February 28
Bathinda, February 23 To ensure success of the strike, a general body meeting of the All India Postal Employees’ Union, Group-C, has been convened at Bathinda Head Post office on February 26, said division secretary of the union, Makhan Lal. Makhan Lal said meetings would be convened at divisional and branch level at several work places prior to the strike to ensure full participation of the staff in the daylong agitation.
— TNS
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‘PPCB’s online consent system a success’
Patiala, February 23 Khanna said the system had been successfully made operational and 85 industries had been registered online. He said, "Around 65 consent applications were received online. Several consent to establish applications and consent to operate applications from various industries have been sanctioned online”. Khanna said the system would go a long way in creating a regime of transparent and time-bound processing of approvals under environmental laws .
— TNS
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Madan Lal Dhingra was perhaps the first Indian to have been executed in London during the freedom struggle. But today, his ancestral house at Katra Sher Singh locality here has been razed.
Chandigarh, February 23
Baretta (Mansa), February 23
The police has arrested three snatchers allegedly involved in various snatching incidents and three proclaimed offenders. Police commissioner RP Mittal in a statement issued here today claimed that during special nakabandi near Randhawa Hospital on the Mall road, the Civil Lines police arrested Popli, a resident of Shakti Nagar and also seized a stolen motorcycle from his possession.
The ongoing tussle between DAV College and the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation pertaining to demolishing of the girls hostel wall failed to reach a consensus with the college authorities planning to take legal action. 
Patiala, February 23
Village Kirpalpura resident Kuldeep Singh, a wrestler, is flummoxed as to why his more than 6 ft, well-built brother Pawan Kumar took to drugs and eventually landed in the world of crime.