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Cong , SAD wooing Independents, PPP candidates
Will win 70 seats, Amarinder tells AICC chief
Election Code Effect |
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Tribune Special
Jail, police officials plan drastic steps
Jail Olympics from today
Counting of Votes
State of education Mother’s agonising wait for son’s body Vanity number: Bidder fails to deposit amount
Corporal punishment: DEO to probe
Forcible Baptism
5 months on, only 348 headmasters receive salary
SGGS World varsity to open overseas centres
‘Fortuner’ gang lived a lavish lifestyle
Three of family killed in mishap
No hangman in Punjab since three decades
HC’s unique initiative to cut down pendency
Information a click away on properties, HC told
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Cong , SAD wooing Independents, PPP candidates
Chandigarh, February 29 The Congress and the SAD have started approaching the Independents. A few have switched off their mobiles. The Congress has allotted the task of getting in touch with party rebels as well as PPP candidates to a leader who had crossed over to the Congress in the runup to the elections. For the SAD, former minister and its youth wing president Bikram Majithia is the main player. Sources say Congress rebel Deepinder Dhillon is expected to win from Dera Bassi and Rajneesh Babbi, son of former Speaker Kewal Krishan, from Mukerian. The SAD feels rebel Simarjit Bains will win the Atam Nagar seat. The five PPP candidates who may win are PPP chief Manpreet Badal from Maur, Didar Singh Bhatti from Fatehgarh Sahib, Ajit Singh Chanduraian from Amargarh, Bhagwant Mann from Lehra and Baldev Mann from Sangrur. The Congress hopes to get the support of the Bains brothers. While Simarjit is perceived to be a strong candidate, his elder brother Balwinder Bains is said to be in a strong position in Ludhiana South. The Congress feels it will be able to win over its two rebels. While Deepinder Dhillon is aligned with party MP Preneet Kaur, the party hopes to win over Babbi because of his close ties with the Congress. The party believes it will be able to attract PPP winners too. The SAD youth wing chief, Bikram Majithia, is in touch with Independents. The Akalis are confident of winning back the Bains brothers and have opened channels of communication with them. The party feels it can also bring about a rapprochement with Didar Bhatti. The SAD is in touch with Congress rebels too. Except for Deepinder Dhillon, who is unlikely to flinch due to his close ties with Preneet Kaur, the party is hopeful of attracting other Congress rebels, especially since it had propped up some of them. Observers feel the group likely to most easily break away is the PPP’s, specially if Manpreet fails to make it either from Maur or Gidderbaha. Manpreet may find it hard to keep his flock together even if he wins from either of the constituencies. All likely PP winners, except for Bhagwant Mann, are being approached.
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Will win 70 seats, Amarinder tells AICC chief
Chandigarh, February 29 He said according to party calculations, the Congress could win 16 seats each in Majha and Doaba and 40 seats in Malwa. The winning party needs 59 seats to form government. Sources say the PCC calculations are based on reports of both the Punjab Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Sources in the state unit claim that both these agencies give the Congress
70 plus seats. The Punjab Congress’ own intelligence-gathering unit comprising retired Army offiers say the party will win 71 seats. Despite these assertions, senior Congress leaders, including a few Amarinder
Singh loyalists, are betting on 62 to 65 seats. Congress leaders claim the party might not be able to win 40 seats in Malwa. In 2007, it had won 37 seats in the region. Post-delimitation, the seats in Malwa have gone up from 65 to 68. These leaders argue that in 2007 the Dera Sacha Sauda factor was much more pronounced and that Amarinder’s popularity was at it zenith because of emotive issues like his stand on river waters. They say the Congress may see a certain amount of anti-incumbency with its MLAs from Malwa not being able to deliver much in the past five years. They claim the dera support this time has been rather muted and its votes have even got divided among the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and People’s Part of Punjab (PPP) candidates on some seats. These leaders claim though the Congress tally of seats may dip in the Malwa region vis a vis its 2007 performance, the party is likely to do much better than projected in the Majha belt, where it had been virtually wiped out last time. This, coupled with a good showing in the Doaba region, would pull the party through, they claim. This, however, could mean only a slender victory.
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Election Code Effect
Chandigarh, February 29 “It is like a gift from the Election Commission,” remarked Excise and Taxation Commissioner A. Venu Prasad, adding that even the department was taken aback at the huge recovery of liquor. “The Excise Department could have never expected to make so much money. I am glad that the surveillance teams did a good job,” said Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu. Besides seven lakh liquor bottles, the surveillance teams also confiscated 32,000 litres of country-made liquor and over 227,588 kg of ‘lahan’ (local liquor) during the five weeks preceding the elections. CEO honoured
Meanwhile, in a rare gesture, Punjabi University Retired Officers’ Association has honoured Kusumjit Sidhu, Chief Electoral Officer Punjab for holding a free, fair and peaceful poll in the state. Appreciating her role as a proficient administrator, the association said the people of the state would always be indebted to her for her “indomitable courage and sincerity” in holding the electoral process with an upright approach. The association especially mentioned that owing to her meticulous strategies, the EC had been able to check the flow of liquor, drugs and money meant to woo voters.
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Tribune Special
Patiala, February 29 A total of 784 kg of heroin, 278 kg of smack, 899 kg of charas, 5,660 kg of opium, 12,07,759 kg of poppy husk and 4,980 kg of bhang were recovered by the Punjab police in a span of 10 years from 1999 to 2009. The data reveals how consumption of narcotics is increasing year after year. In 2011, the police arrested 310 persons and registered 289 cases under the NDPS Act in Patiala alone. Further, 42.56 quintals of poppy husk, 24.5 kg of sulpha, 52,947 capsules and 105 injections of banned drugs, over 31 kg of ganja, 1.6 kg of bhang and various other drugs were recovered from the city. The data shows that from 2006 till February, 2010, a total of 20,490 cases were registered under the NDPS Act and over 23,567 persons were arrested. Of these, 8,719 persons were convicted while 4,368 were acquitted by the courts. The data also shows that 555 number of case properties worth Rs 51.25 crore of 298 smugglers were seized by the government in 21 police districts of the state in the same period. In 2009, Sangrur and Bathinda top in the recovery of poppy husk with 43,711 kg and 24,282 kg, respectively. The data shows that from 2006 till February 2010, a total of 20,490 cases under the NDPS Act were registered and over 23,567 persons were arrested of which 8,719 were convicted while 4,368 were acquitted by the courts. Following the recent controversy surrounding Punjab DGP (Jails) Shashi Kant, who spoke against the drug mafia, no senior police officer is willing to comment on the issue. Peddlers’ favourite destination
The ever increasing demand of drugs, especially ahead of the paddy season has made Punjab a preferred destination for drug peddlers. Smugglers have outsourced the work of supplying the contraband, which they now do mainly through couriers. Police sources confirm that due to excess production of opium in the neighbouring state, the price has gone down there and to fetch a better price, the smugglers are eyeing states like Punjab. “While the recently recovered 30 kg of opium might be worth Rs 9 lakh in Rajasthan, the same could have easily fetched Rs 25-28 lakh in Punjab,” said a senior police officer in the detective wing. Addicts taking
to crime
Youths addicted to drugs have been taking to crime in a big way. This is evident from the recent arrest of members of all-sportsmen “Fortuner gang”. “Of the four accused, two are habitual of a heavy dose of dope everyday,” said CIA Sirhind in-charge Bikramjit Singh Brar. Several arrests in the past had indicated towards drug addiction as prime motive behind the crime, he added. A senior police officer confirmed that snatching incidents were usually the handiwork of drug addicts and many times the accused were from well-to-do families. “Last year, some youths arrested in Patiala for snatching incidents belonged to the families of advocates and teachers,” he said, adding that the accused had accepted that they did it for drugs. Major challenge for police
In 2011, the police confiscated over 61 kg of opium in a fortnight in Patiala alone. LK Yadav, Patiala DIG, said the drug menace had posed a major challenge for the police. “Identifying production channels and commercial users is a big challenge and later, getting the users to de-addiction centres is an even bigger challenge,” said Yadav. Punjab is important for drug peddlers from the point of view that it has many universities and colleges and students are their prime target. Inquiries also reveal that drug peddlers arrested under the NDPS Act fail to give up this trade and even women smugglers are increasingly becoming a part of it. “There are two women inmates in the jail and together they have a number of cases registered against them under the NDPS Act,” said Additional Jail Superintendent Rajan Kapur. Joint mechanism a non-starter
In 2009-10, the Home Ministry had decided to form a joint mechanism involving various government agencies of northern states sharing borders with Pakistan and the Centre to keep a check on drug trade. It had decided to form the Drug Law Enforcement Agency under the aegis of the Narcotics Control Bureau. The agency was meant to jointly confiscate properties of the accused, arrest proclaimed offenders, track their movement and initiate criminal action against drug peddlers. However, nothing much could be attained till date.
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Shashi Kant writes to DGP on drug mafia
Patiala, February 29 A day before Punjab Jails Minister Hira Singh Gabria summoned Shashi Kant and instructed him to "act with restraint when airing his views in public", Kant had shot a letter to DGP Anil Kaushik, stressing the need for curbing the drug mafia in the state. The letter, sent on February 23, reads, “I have been trying to fight the drug mafia as also the supply and availability of drugs inside various prison houses. My efforts, to my mind, have succeeded to an extent. Recent searches in a few prison houses could not find anything incriminating. However, I will not say that I have totally succeeded in curbing or stopping the supply of drugs in various prison houses. It has to be a continuous process". Kant further highlights how he has been making efforts to create awareness against the menace "and to my mind it may perhaps be an appropriate time for the state police under your leadership to get cracking on the drug mafia all over the state”. Kant has suggested strong action to save the youth from the clutches of drugs. "During my tenure as ADGP/Intelligence, we had collected substantial information on the issue which should be available in the files of the Intelligence Wing," reads the letter. Kant says those (intelligence) reports had indicated that the drug mafia was conniving with some sections of society as also police and other officials at various levels. "The decision in this regard has to be taken by you and I am just bringing these points to your kind notice in continuation of my efforts to curb the drug menace, both inside and outside the prison houses," its adds. Kant had earlier locked horns with Kaushik after the former's security vehicles were withdrawn. However, following a meeting on February 24 with the Jails Minister, the matter was "amicably resolved". While Kaushik was unavailable for comments, Kant said he was on leave and had written the letter last week.
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Jail, police officials plan drastic steps
Chandigarh, February 29 Sources said to address these issues in a professional manner instead of scoring points over one another in the public domain, a brainstorming session of senior police and jail officials was held under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Home) DS Bains. Amend law
The sources said it had been proposed to amend the relevant law to allow the authorities to obtain blood and urine samples to check the addiction level of the convict or the undertrial concerned. "At present, there is no provision that allows collecting of inmates' blood samples. Once the provision is in place, it will help the jail authorities check the level of addiction of inmates and initiate steps to treat them," said a senior official. A decision to set up drug de-addiction centres in jails with the help of NGOs was also taken. The Director General of Prisons has been asked to prepare an estimate of funds required to buy medicines for drug users showing withdrawal symptoms. No cellphones for jail staff
To check the use of mobile phones inside jails, it has been decided to disallow the jail staff to carry their mobile phones inside the premises. It has come to the notice of jail officials that some inmates take only SIM cards inside jails and connive with jail officials to make calls by borrowing mobile phones against payment from them. "We have decided to provide wireless sets to the jail staff and the Department of Prisons has been told prepare an estimate for the purpose," said the official. A decision has also been taken to install jammers inside all important jails. During searches carried out in various jails recently, about 170 mobiles were seized. However, to allow inmates to talk to their family members after regular intervals, it has been decided to provide PCO facility in various jails. The Union Home Ministry to which the Prison (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2011 was sent to get assent of the President has advised the state government to replace the word "mobile phone" with "wireless communications device" in the Bill. Video-conferencing
To tackle the problem of inmates escaping from police custody while taking them for presenting in the court, stress has been given to make video conferencing operational in various jails and linking it up with judicial complexes. The Centre has already made a provision of funds for this purpose. The visitor management system will be introduced in all jails to keep full record, including biometric identification and video recording of those meeting the inmates.
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Jail Olympics from today
Jalandhar, February 29 Patiala jail has been chosen as the venue for inauguration of the games, which will be held at eight central, seven district and 10 sub-jails across the state. The event, a brain child of DGP (Jails) Shashi Kant, will see the inmates competing among themselves in various disciplines, including basketball, kabaddi, athletics, cricket, volleyball, wrestling, bodybuilding, weightlifting and tug-of-war. To begin with, these games will only be intra-jail affair, which will later be elevated to inter-zone competition.
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Counting of Votes
Fatehgarh Sahib, February
29 Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Yashveer Mahajan, SSP BL Meena and other officers, Ladhar also inspected the strongrooms where EVMs have been kept at the Mata Gujri College Complex here. The counting of votes will take place on March 6 for all the three assembly constituencies at the Mata Gujri College. The DC said that the EVMs have been kept in strongrooms under the tight security of the BSF and Punjab Police personnel.
"CCTV cameras have been installed to keep round-the-clock vigil," he said, adding that 14 tables would be set up for counting and on each table there would be a counting team of three persons, who would be designated as micro observer, counting supervisor and counting assistant. He said that an agent of every candidate would also sit on the table and a team of videographers would be deployed on each table to capture the entire counting process. He said that three media centres would be set up.
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State of education
Moga, February 29 Baldev Singh, District Education Officer (Elementary), said the schools were given three months to apply for recognition afresh. But they had not shown much interest.(The deadline for applying for recognition ended today ie February 28). The DEO said notices would be sent to all defaulting schools. The RTE Act makes it mandatory for all private educational schools to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from weaker sections. It aims to bring the dropout back to school. The District Education Officer said it was mandatory for the private schools to submit details about the teaching staff, infrastructure and basic facilities under Rule 11 of the Act. Only after declaring the same could these schools apply for recognition,
irrespective of their affiliation with the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) or the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Baldev Singh warned that if the private schools
did not seek fresh recognition, the state government would be forced to shut them down. Muktsar: With Muktsar district facing an acute shortage of staff in schools, it is unlikely that it will be able to implement the RTE Act in toto. At least 11 posts of principal, four of head teacher, 96 of lecturer and 76 of master are lying vacant. There are only 11 library attendants against the 32 sanctioned posts. A perusal of government records provided by the district education office reveals that the government schools are also short
of non-teaching staff, especially Class IV employees. This too is proving a hurdle in the functioning of schools. At least 60 of the 95 posts of watchman and 34 of sweeper are also lying vacant. Posts of clerk are also yet to be filled.
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Mother’s agonising wait for son’s body Chack Ramu (Banga), February 29 Her wait has turned endless as neither she has got the body nor any reliable information from the Italian Government or any of family’s acquaintances about the mysterious circumstances leading to the death of her young son, Dayanand Singh. The intensity of plight and confusion of Harbhajan Kaur (60) and her family could be ascertained from the prevailing situation. “We don’t know what will happen next. All our efforts to get the body for the cremation have failed. Our close relatives paid money to Italy-based Punjabi community leaders, but to no avail. My relatives, particularly Italy-based nephew Jagtar Singh Tara, have been running from pillar to post for past eight months to get the body from the government hospital in Kashreta town of Italy, but nothing has moved ahead so far,” rued a sobbing Harbhajan while talking to The Tribune at her home in this Nawanshahar village. In his early twenties, Harbhajan’s eldest son Dayanand Singh had ventured out of home in search of greener pastures and got settled in Italy as a daily-wager. His younger brother had headed for Australia, while the youngest one had decided to take up the work as an electrician in the village. Dayanand, according to information received by his mother, had died in a road accident on June 2, 2011 in Italy. His body was said to have been lying in the mortuary of a government hospital since then. It remains a mystery why the body has not been handed over to his family. Her relative Sohan Singh said, “We had sent the requisite letter authorising Jagtar Singh Tara to receive the body on behalf of the family long ago along with other documents. Nothing has happened so far.”
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Vanity number: Bidder fails to deposit amount
Muktsar, February 29 Ricky Brar had bid for the registration number PB-30-J-0003 on February 22 and was supposed to deposit the amount by this afternoon. Brar, a resident of Khunde Halal village, near here, had won the bid by offering Rs 12 lakh for the number for his scooter worth nearly 25 times less than the bid amount. To get this number, Ricky was so desperate that he even bought a scooter from his friend and also bid in the name of its previous owner (his friend's father). Sandeep Rishi, District Transport Officer, Muktsar, said, "The man who had bid Rs 12 lakh for the number 0003 failed to deposit the amount within seven days of auction. Now, the department will call the second highest bidder tomorrow and a seven-day period will be given to him to deposit the amount”. Meanwhile, Ricky said he would again attend the next auction for the same number.
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Corporal punishment: DEO to probe
Tarn Taran, February 29 The students, in a written statement to the higher authorities, had complained that they were often subjected to corporal punishment by the principal. The students had sent photos to the authorities to support their complaint.
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Forcible Baptism
Amritsar, February 29 Interacting with media here today, Makkar said the report had pointed at the role of the school principal as well as four Premis (dera followers). The latter would frequently visit the school. He said they were trying to identify these dera followers involved in the incident and the SGPC would soon lodge a police complaint against them as well as the school principal. On the SGPC budget, he said it would be passed before March 31. Makkar said he hoped to receive directions from the Central Government on the elections to the SGPC executive soon. The SGPC had set up a three-member probe panel after reports that 49 students of Gobind Singh Adarsh Senior Secondary School at Sahnewala village in Mansa district were taken to Dera Sacha Sauda on February 19 and allegedly made to drink “Jaam-e-Insan”, symbolising their conversion.
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5 months on, only 348 headmasters receive salary
Patiala, February 29 As a result, only those headmasters have got their salaries whose posts have been sanctioned and the remaining teachers have been left in the lurch. After a long process of almost a year, the Education Department had promoted around 840 masters on October 5, 2011, but so far the posts of all the teachers have not been sanctioned. Despite joining new schools and serving in the capacity of headmasters, many of them have not been able to draw their salaries. Sources in the Education Department said that the department had sanctioned around 200 posts in January whereas 148 posts were sanctioned in February. "Only these teachers have received the salary and the others are still waiting for their salaries, which
now run in crores of rupees," he added. One of the teachers rued that delay in release of salary was causing severe financial crisis in their families, but the government was not paying any heed to their problems. "The government is giving financial sanction to these posts in bits and
pieces, which certainly points toward financial condition of the state,"
he added. "If they knew that they would not be able to pay the revised salaries, I don't understand why they did these promotions in the first place. At least, as masters we were getting the salaries. It has been five months already and we are working without salaries and worst is that there is still no information about when we will get our salaries," added another teacher. Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan and DPI (Secondary Education) Avtar Chand Sharma could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
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SGGS World varsity to open overseas centres
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 28 He said that besides this the university has decided to introduce two post-graduate courses in Sikh studies in particular and religious studies in general.
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‘Fortuner’ gang lived a lavish lifestyle
Patiala, February 29 Investigations further divulged how small-time crooks lodged inside Punjab jails got together and planned robberies at gun point and allegedly paid bribes to cops worth lakhs to get away. Sources said that in the name of recovery, the police was helpless, as the four arrested members had told the investigating agency how lavishly they spent money on girlfriends, call girls and procuring drugs. "After every robbery, the gang used to have a blast in discotheques in Chandigarh, buy drugs, which according to them were easily available, and get escort services from high-class call girls", they added, claiming that the gang looted over Rs 1.5 crore so far. "We used to divide the booty and party the entire week, before planning to strike back again. The party included call girls, drugs, free flow of liquor and friends," the arrested members told policemen, adding that they had two flats in Chandigarh kept for this purpose only. Admitting the revelations, Ludhiana Range DIG MF Farooqui said, "Recovery of the money is next to impossible, as all the accused are young and instead of buying and investigating in property, a majority of their share went in buying drugs and partying with call girls." However, a final report would be sought from the district police and the investigating agency, he added.
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Three of family killed in mishap
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 28 Mulepur SHO Jaswinder Singh said that one Gurmukh Singh, a resident of nearby Tarkhan Majra village, along with his wife Charanjit Kaur and niece Jaspreet Kaur (16), was going on his motorcycle to
Patiala. As they reached Chorwala village, a speeding truck (PB-27B-0375) coming from the opposite side hit the motorcycle and dragged the victims to some distant. After this the truck driver lost control over the vehicle and hit a tree.
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No hangman in Punjab since three decades
Patiala, February 29 Meanwhile, cases of several convicts, who have been sentenced to death, are pending at various stages. Patiala has four convicts awaiting death penalty and Fereozepur jail recently shifted four convicts to another prison. Some cases are pending with the judiciary, while a few have applied for the mercy plea and are yet to be cleared by the President's office. The capital punishment was codified during the British rule, with hanging as the chosen method. But decades of litigation and human rights activists limited the actual practice to "the rarest of rare cases". In 2011, a convict's hanging got delayed in Assam due to lack of a hangman. The last hanging in Punjab was executed on June 16, 1989 when two brothers Gurcharan Singh and Pritam Singh from Sangrur were hanged to death under Section 302 of the
IPC, pertaining to murder, in the Central Jail, Patiala. The hanging was performed by
Kaloo, who was specially summoned from Tihar Jail, Delhi, as Punjab did not have a hangman on rolls. On July 26, 1988, a hangman was called from outside the state to hang Faridkot resident Darshan Singh. As per the Punjab Jail Manual, 1896 in the absence of an official hangman, the jail authorities could get a hangman from another jail in the country or deputy jail superintendent of the jail where the convict is to be hanged, has to perform the duty of a
hangman. Punjab IG (Jails) Jagjit Singh said, "Though there are some convicts awaiting death penalties, but the jail department has no hangman. If required we will ask our jail official to perform the duty." Interestingly, the last hangman with the Punjab government was
Faqeera, who was deputed in Patiala and died on duty some three decades ago and ever since the post is lying vacant. "The last hanging took place in 2004 when a security guard was hanged in a Kolkata jail for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. India's famous hangman Nata
Mulik, had come out of retirement to perform the duty", claimed a senior police officer with the Punjab jails department. "As for now there is no hangman, but the same can be recruited by the government if the need arises and a proposal can be sent", said Punjab DGP (Jails) Shashi Kant. Hanging problem
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Identified as Parveen
Kumari, the deceased was in a live-in relationship with Lovejeet Singh. The headless body was first seen by Vijay, the elder brother of
Lovejeet, who also lived in the same house as them. As reported, Vijay got suspicious when Parveen did not respond to repeated knocks on the door of the house on the ground floor. Later he called the neighbors and police was called in. As the police broke open the door, they found Parveen's body lying in a pool of blood. Later the head was recovered from a gutter in the same
house. Admn, MC give night shelter a facelift Even as the government is sitting on the proposal to release funds to raise infrastructure for the homeless, the district administration with aid-in assistance from the local municipal corporation has initiated to transform an obsolete five- decade-old Karam Singh Medical Ward as 'rain
basera' for the homeless. Massive renovation work is being carried out in this ward which was lying unused for the past over five years after the medical infrastructure was shifted to multi-specialty ward of Guru Nanak Dev
Hospital. A migrant labourer allegedly strangled a six-year-old girl to death at a house in Globe Colony, near Gujapeer Road, here this afternoon. The families of the labourer and the girl hail from Uttar Pradesh. They are known to each other as the have been residing in the same house in separate rented rooms for the past some time. The incident occurred when Khusbhoo (6), daughter of Ganga Ram, was alone at her home and the
labourer, Jai Pal (20), son of Manney Lal, who was residing in an adjacent room, entered their place with an attention of theft, the police said. Residents complain against factory While the walls and roofs of many houses situated around the factory have developed cracks, continuous noise pollution through a hammer installed in the factory has further increased the problems of the residents. The factory in question is Inder Industries, which was set up in 1998, and gradually kept expanding. The major bone of contention is the hammer unit, which works even at night hours giving horrible times to the residents. A month after the gruesome double murder of Moga DSP Balraj Singh Gill (46) and Monica Kapila (38), the police has failed to make any headway in the case. Except character assassination of the duo, nothing concrete has come out of the investigation conducted so far. In the name of investigation, the police could only manage to establish that the duo had an affair and used to meet at a farmhouse of Sanjay Agnihotri in the Golf Link area. Till now, the police has tried everything written in the criminology book, but without success. Storeowners in city go hi-tech There was a time when salesmen use to stand outside shops and attract customers; today virtual world has taken over the scene. Storeowners dealing in fabric and readymade garments have gone hi-tech. They have created their own websites. In addition to this, social networking sites are an added advantage for them. "We have our own website where all latest designs, patterns and embroiders are displayed. These websites have proven to be handy especially for NRI customers. They book orders online and we deliver them at their postal address," said Rajat
Khanna, owner of one of the leading store. Hotel owners in the city finally got the pending payment of more than Rs 1.20 crore for the stay of players during the second World Kabaddi Cup organised by the
SAD-BJP government. Now, the hoteliers have decided not to rent out their rooms next time without getting at least 50 per cent payment in advance. The payment of 15 hotels was pending for over three months. Hotel and restaurant association president Satish Arora said the payments got delayed due to the election process and "lackadaisical attitude" of some bureaucrats and politicians.
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HC’s unique initiative to cut down pendency
Chandigarh, February 29 The cases were divided into 13 categories such as promotion, selection and recruitment. A substantial number of cases were disposed of with directions to Punjab and other respondents to consider the claims of the petitioners and grant them requisite relief, if found eligible. For expeditious disposal of cases and implementation of the directions, the Education Secretar,was present in the court. Cases almost two decades old were among the ones taken up for hearing. — TNS
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Information a click away on properties, HC told
Chandigarh, February 29 A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover was told that information like payment of installments and status of property would soon be a click away. As the suo motu case on setting up of property protection cells came up for hearing this morning, PUDA Chief Administrator Manjit Singh Brar (in an affidavit) said: ”All property records are being computerised by the authority concerned. “Every allottee shall be provided with a user name and a password and from the luxury of his office/home, he can track down the status of his plot/property. He can monitor all his paid, pending, delayed installments and also the interest on his installments without coming to PUDA offices”. The State of Punjab is yet to inform the High Court regarding safeguards for properties other than allotted by PUDA and GMADA. Already, High Court Registrar (Rules) Virinder Aggarwal has recommended online checking of property status and carrying out a field survey to corroborate the information available in the records. He has also found “laudable” the idea of setting up property protection cells in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
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With the counting day (March 6) drawing near and a close contest looming on the horizon, both the Congress and the SAD are wooing Independents, among them two Congress rebels and one SAD rebel, who are expected to win. Five People’s Party of Punjab candidates are also expected to emerge victorious.
Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has in his report to party president Sonia Gandhi said that the party will win 70 seats in Punjab. Capt Amarinder said he was convinced that a pro-change sentiment in the run -up to the assembly elections had translated into votes for the Congress.
Chandigarh, February 29
With about 1,000 drug addicts in various jails in the state, the Home Department has planned some drastic steps to tackle this problem and several others such as use of mobile phones inside the prisons. The issue of drug menace in state's jails, where about 20,000 inmates are lodged, recently hit the headlines following a "war of words" between two top police officials.
Panic struck Maqboolpura locality on Wednesday after the headless body of a 20-year-old woman was found from a home in the street number two of Shaheed Baba Sangat Singh Nagar here. 
For the residents of the Dilbagh Nagar Extension Colony, situated on 120-Feet Road in the city, it is nothing short of daily torture, as a hand tool industry in the heart of the colony has made their lives hell due to noise pollution.
