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SGPC to put rare artefacts on display
Jumbo crane fails to expedite rescue work
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Govt withdraws grant okayed for school libraries
BJP reorganises election panels
Internal cell to keep vigil on VB officials
9 SSPs among 21 officials shifted
Despite rain, wheat yield may
break last year’s record
gikki
murder case
Higher pay scale for specialist docs sought
Vigilance may probe Patiala land scam
Over-sized hoardings removed from liquor vends in Ludhiana
Granthi’s killers arrested after encounter
15-kg heroin worth Rs 75 crore seized
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SGPC to put rare artefacts on display
Amritsar, April 21 The SGPC chief, Avtar Singh Makkar, said they were planning to exhibit these rare artefacts in the ‘parikarma’ of the Golden Temple. Though he did not specify, it would most probably be showcased in some of the rooms located along the veranda in the 'parikarma'. Makkar said the pilgrims visiting the holy shrine have long been demanding that they be facilitated the ‘darshan’ of these artefacts whenever they visit Sri Harmandar Sahib and not just on special occasions. He said the matter had already been discussed in the SGPC executive and now it would be forwarded to the Sikh high priests for seeking their approval. The SGPC secretary, Dalmegh Singh, said they will first ensure digital recording of the artefacts kept in the 'toshakhana' before putting them on display. He said they will also tie up with a top security agency to make sure stringent security was in place for the display. He said these artefacts had never been displayed in this manner. Last year, the issue was raised by Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh. “The decision to exhibit them permanently in the ‘parikarma’ of the Golden Temple will make the devotees aware of the invaluable articles gifted to our holy shrine,” he said today. He said security should not be an issue when measures like bulletproof glass and ultramodern security gadgets were available these days. He also stressed on proper preservation of these artefacts. At present, these artefacts and gifts are displayed during “jalau” (show of splendour) on six ‘gurpurabs’ in a year. During these occasions too, the time for “jalau” is restricted from 8 am to 12 noon. Apart from these 'gurpurabs', the “jalau” was held on three special occasions so far. The first was in 1965 when sacred relics and arms of Guru Gobind Singh were brought from the United Kingdom, the second on the conclusion of kar seva in 1973 and the last in November 2001 when they were displayed in bullet-proof boxes for three days to mark the bicentenary of coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. As per “Sri Harmandar Sahib da Sunaheri Itihas”, a book penned down by Giani Kirpal Singh, during “jalau” 44 such items are put on display at the sanctum sanctorum, nine at the Akal Takht and six at historic Baba Atal Gurdwara. The ‘toshakhana’ boasts of invaluable possessions like necklace of diamonds and pearls of Kunwar Naunihal Singh presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, jewel-encrusted ‘kirpan’ of the Maharaja, a ring of Princess Bambah, gold canopy, gold and turquoise peacock, gold necklace made of currency notes of Guru Nanak Dev, golden spades and containers presented during various ‘kar sevas’, gold ‘bir’ of Baba Deep Singh and four pairs of ornate doors.
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Contractor held, samples sent for tests
Jalandhar, April 21
Stating this, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Headquarters, Navjot Singh Mahal, said, “My team has nabbed the building contractor, Sarwan Singh, of the local Jyoti Nagar locality near the canal bridge at Gadaipur in the afternoon today.”
Mahal added that the contractor, during preliminary interrogation, said that he had constructed three storeys of the factory in 2006.
“The police will produce him before the city court to get his police remand for getting more information regarding the construction of the building and the involvement of other persons in the construction work.”
The contractor was arrested under the similar Sections as the main accused Shital
Vij.
Vij is in police remand till April 23 after his arrest following registration of an FIR against him under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and various Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Mahal denied that Vij had been provided VIP treatment during his police remand.
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Jumbo crane fails to expedite rescue work
Jalandhar, April 21
The exercise proved counterproductive as the other JCB machines engaged in rescue work at that time had to be stopped.
All the steps, including bringing the machine at the right angle, getting the steel loop around a protruding edge and tightening the grip, were quite time-consuming because of the size of the machine.
Despite numerous attempts at lifting the slab, the machine failed every time. This exercise continued for four hours.
Efforts were made to loosen the slab from the sides, but that too did not help. Then, a Soma JCB machine gave it a push from the opposite side and even tried tapping on its top, but to no avail.
Kulwinder Singh, Superintending Engineer, Municipal Corporation, said that the machine had been deployed by Soma Enterprises for the ongoing construction work at the Jalandhar-Panipat highway.
“The machine was with us in Jalandhar and we had requested the company to send it for the rescue operation to see if it could be of any help,” he said.
The arrival of the machine at around 1.30 pm initially added to the hopes of the victims’ kin.
The kin of Bhagwan Dass, Mintu and Radhey Sham watched the rescue operation hoping against hope.
The giant hydra crane had been brought to speed up the operation as there had been growing demands for the rescue to be expedited and that the chance of finding any survivor now is really dim.
Seven bodies have been taken out since last night. The victims included Pankaj, Bablu, Arvind Mandal, Surinder, Rahul, Vinod and Parmod Kumar. The number of extricated bodies now stands at 21.
Pathlu Yadav, grandfather of Vinod, said that Vinod’s mutilated body could only be identified because of the factory ID card in his pocket. He was waiting for his other grandson Mintu to rescued.
The rescue teams today located more bodies on the basis of the smell emanating from the debris.
Extricating bodies as well as rescuing survivors from under the rubble has been a tactical exercise for the NDRF and the Army.
The rescue teams yesterday opened up the collapsed factory building into two parts. This gave them two more sides to work at. Earlier, the teams had being using three sides of the building and its rooftop for the rescue work.
The breach in the middle of the building has now given rescuers a chance to dig out more bodies from the central area that had remained untouched for the first three days. “A passage wide enough for JCB machines to pass through has been created in the middle,” said Col Simerjit Singh of the 103 Engineer Regiment of Vajra Corps.
“We found it very difficult to take out a body that was sandwiched between a machine and a pillar. Cutting the pillar wasn’t going to be easy. So we dug a trench in the floor under the machine so as to make it fall, thereby freeing the body,” said NDRF Commandant RK
Verma.
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For them, wait may never end
Jalandhar, April 21
But, a few families were yet to hear about their relatives working at the factory. Patiently touring city hospitals, waiting at the factory site and then returning to hospitals again, these waiting men and women are now preparing themselves for the eventuality that they might never see their loved ones again.
The relatives of Radhe Mohan (35), Bhagwan Dass (35) and Mintoo Kumar Rai (22), three among the many labourers working at the ill-fated factory, have had their eyes glued to entering ambulances all the time.
But even as another day comes to a close and the list of the dead expands a bit, the wait is far from over.
Satdev (20), brother of Radhe Mohan who was an employee at Shital Fibres, has been sitting under a tree outside the civil hospital emergency waiting for some news. His associates Birender Yadav and Arjun have found their respective relatives, but Satdev’s wait is still far from over.
Satdev says, “He came to work in the city nine years ago. He has been working at the factory for the past nine years. Our common acquaintance brought him to this city with promise of work. How would we know it would all end this way?”
Radhe Mohan’s wife Malti and two little daughters Pinki (12) and Nisha (3) as well as his old parents ave been waiting eagerly for a news
about their son, back home at Aara (Bihar). The burden to carry the news home, if worst comes true,
haunts Satdev.
Radhe Mohan, like many of his living and deceased colleagues, was the only earning member in his family.
Patlu Rai, Mintoo’s 80-year-old grandfather, has been waiting at the factory site to hear about him. As Patlu squatted on a dirt mound at the factory site, Mintoo’s friend Pappu Kumar (and others) hunted ambulances at the civil hospital.
Bhagwan Dass’s wife Chandrawati, whose belief in her husband’s well-being is rock solid, walked around the civil hospital sporting a mask (owing to the stench) today. As she questioned masked policemen about addition to the lists of patients or the dead, her search hadn’t been successful till the afternoon. But, she was still hopeful.
All three of these men were the sole bread winners of their respective families.
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Govt withdraws grant okayed for school libraries
Chandigarh, April 21
The grant was released under the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyan (SSA) and was allegedly disbursed by throwing rules to the wind. Badal wanted a centralised committee of eminent educationists to select books for schoolchildren.
Sources in the government said the books were ordered in such a way so as to benefit certain authors who were part of committees formed to select books. They said despite the Chief Minister asking for the constitution of a committee, the authorities concerned did not care and placed the order for books when the code of conduct was implemented before the elections. The order was placed with a
Chandigarh-based publisher.
The grant was released through cheques on March 28 and the utilisation certificates were sought by March 31. It was done in a jiffy on the pretext that the grant would lapse if it was not utilised in the last financial year even though the money had already been released to the state by the Centre. The way the order was placed made the senior functionaries of the government suspicious, leading to recalling of the grant.
Director General (School Education) Ashok Singla said the government had recalled the grant as they wanted a central committee to okay it. Defending the disbursal, he said no favours were extended to anybody.
“It is now up to the government. They wanted us to stick to one policy, which was to have a centralised committee. I wanted each school to identify its own requirements and choose books accordingly. If they are not happy with the system, we will stick to the one they want us to,” said
Singla.
The government is now in the process of constituting a committee to purchase books worth Rs 13 crore released by the Centre as well as the state government at a percentage ratio of 65:35. An amount of Rs 9.5 crore has been released for the current fiscal and Rs 3.5 crore was released for the last financial year.
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BJP reorganises election panels
Chandigarh, April 21 State president Ashwani Sharma said names of Manoranjan Kalia and Rakesh Rathore (Jalandhar), Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shwet Malik (Amritsar), Parveen Bansal (Ludhiana) and Anil Bajaj (Patiala) had been added to the panels. — TNS
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Internal cell to keep vigil on VB officials
The move, which is aimed at instilling confidence in the public besides providing complainants with a mechanism for the redress of their grievances, has also sent out a message that the Vigilance Department will be run differently under the present dispensation. ADGP Suresh Arora had taken over as Vigilance Director from Sumedh Singh Saini after the latter was appointed DGP of the state police force following the re-election of the SAD-BJP government. Senior police officer Harish Kumar Bansal has been appointed Joint Director of internal vigilance and the special unit. Sources said he is likely to be given a few officers so that the cell can investigate grievances against its own officers in an effective manner. The Joint Director will report to the Chief Secretary, thereby ensuring that grievances against particular officers do not return to them as was happening earlier. This was a major reason why people were afraid of filing formal complaints against vigilance officials. Sources said the new unit would function on the pattern of the CBI and would be free from any pressure as it would function independently of the parent department. This, sources said, was in line with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s line of thought that the Vigilance Department should not be perceived to be indulging in any vendetta against political rivals of the ruling SAD-BJP combine.
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Nanhi Chaan campaign to expand
Chandigarh, April 21
Harpal Singh, Nanhi Chaan Foundation chairman, says the idea behind starting the mission was to welcome a girl in a family, be it at the time of her birth or marriage, by planting a sapling.
By linking the nurturing of a girl child with the nurturing of environment through plantation of saplings, Harpal successfully managed to address two social causes: female foeticide and environment degradation.
The idea, which germinated from Harmandar Sahib in Amritsar in the form of "buta prasada" (a sapling as prasad), was accepted widely by various sections of the society.
"My programme was based on the gentle connect between a mother and environment. The idea was welcomed by various educational and healthcare institutions, which adopted it with certain amendments. The campaign also saw various religious bodies uniting for saving the girl child and environment," he says.
Over the past year, the Nanhi Chaan programme has been adopted by various corporate houses as well. An employee who is blessed with a girl not only gets a sapling, but also a small amount of money that is deposited in the name of the newborn girl.
The foundation chairman says the programme had also been adopted by the Army. "Many schools have adopted the programme and are helping the girls of economically weaker sections. Our campaign is proving to be a catalyst for others who are coming forward to launch welfare schemes for girls," he says.
Harpal Singh says the programme would soon be introduced at the Vaishno Devi Shrine. "We are in talks with the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board to work out modalities to launch the programme. We have also met Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra to discuss the matter,” he says.
Questioned about the recent controversy in Moga where the foundation was accused of misusing funds, he claims he was unaware of the issue and action would be taken if anyone was found guilty.
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9 SSPs among 21 officials shifted
Chandigarh, April 21 BL Meena would be the new AIG (Personnel-I) while SS Mand has been given the charge of AIG (Intelligence) at Chandigarh. Other postings: Pardeep Yadav, SP (Crime) at Chandigarh; Dhanpreet Kaur, SSP, SBS Nagar; Inderbir Singh, SSP, Khanna; Rajpal Singh, SSP, Batala; Preetpal Singh, SSP (Rural), Amritsar; Surjit Singh, SSP, Moga; Mandeep Singh, SSP, Fatehgarh Sahib; Ravcharan Brar, SSP, Gurdaspur; Gurpreet Singh Toor, SSP (Rural), Ludhiana; GS Dhillon, SSP, Fazilka; RS Khatra, Commandant, CTC, Bhadurgarh; Amar Singh Chahal, Commandant, Seventh Battalion, PAP, Jalandhar; Snehdeep Sharma, Deputy Director, PPA, Phillaur; Ashok Bhat, AIG, Counter-Intelligence, Patiala; Gurkirpal Singh, Commandant, Fifth Commando Battalion, Bahadurgarh; SPS Parmar, SP (Telecommunication), Chandigarh and Narinder Bhargav, AIG (Provisioning). — TNS
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Despite rain, wheat yield may
break last year’s record
just the right conditions
Chandigarh, April 21 According to the Agriculture Department, the last year was an exceptionally good one with a cold spell resulting in a record harvest of 165 lakh tonnes of wheat. The cold spell ensured that the crop was not hit by disease and had more time to mature. This year, sources said, was even better for the wheat crop notwithstanding the recent spell of rain. Agriculture Joint Secretary Surjit Singh Pawar said the cold weather conditions had fattened the wheat grains that usually start to lose moisture due to hot weather in the first week of April. Besides better yield, farmers have also spent less on their wheat crop vis a vis other years due to the cold spell which prevented pest attacks. Pawar said that late harvesting had also given the wheat crop ample time to mature to its best. He said the production could be slightly more than last time. The Food and Civil Supplies Department is also confident of a record harvest and has made arrangements to procure 115 lakh tonnes of wheat this year. Last year, it had procured a record 110 lakh tonnes. Department Secretary DS Grewal said the procurement was likely to go a little beyond 110 lakh tonnes. But next week might see a glut in the mandis as dry weather conditions will ensure simultaneous harvesting all over the state. Around 3 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in mandis till yesterday. Grewal said that procurement, which had been delayed because of high moisture content in grains earlier, had picked up now. Patiala is leading as far as procurement is concerned with more than 1.5 lakh tonnes of wheat being procured from the district. As much as 1.4 lakh tonnes have been procured from Mohali and Sangrur. Meanwhile, reports said that the rain last week had resulted only in lodging of crops at some places including Patiala, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib, but major damage had been averted.
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gikki murder case
Jalandhar, April 21 Though she is trying to overcome the shock that she sustained after the murder of her young husband and leading hotelier Gurkirat Singh Sekhon alias Gikki, yet old memories continue to haunt her. Gikki was shot dead by his own friends including municipal councilor and nephew of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sarabjit Singh Makkar at midnight on April 20 outside Baba Rasoi in Model Town. As Harneet Kaur didn’t want to talk, Gikki’s father Rajbir Singh Sekhon, in a choked voice, recalled that the dark night which traumatised a happy family. The shattered father said, “Zoran, Gikki’s son who was just three-and-a-half years old when his father was murdered, misses his father a lot. He kisses his father’s photo before going to bed every night.” “We have full faith in God and the judiciary. Justice may be delayed, but not denied,” Rajbir said. “The accused are politically well connected and trying their best to escape punishment. You can imagine the trauma which the family, especially Gikki’s widow and mother Randeep Kaur, is facing,” he said. Members of Jat Sikh Welfare Sabha today held a meeting on Gikki’s first death anniversary. Gikki was the general secretary of the sabha. The sabha has sympathised with the Sekhon family and demanded exemplary punishment to the accused. Ram Simran Singh Makkar alias Prince, a municipal councillor, Amardeep Singh Sachdeva, a practicing advocate and son of a senior leading advocate, Amanpreet Singh Narula alias Prince Narula and Jasdeep Singh alias Jassu, son of the owner of a city-based hotelier, are accused in the Gikki murder case and are lodged in Gurdaspur jail.
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Higher pay scale for specialist docs sought
Ludhiana, April 21 Dr Hardeep Singh, state president of the PCMS Association, said, "The department is also facing problem in attracting and retaining specialist doctors. All the 171 hospitals in Punjab need 1,800 specialist doctors, but almost nearly 400 posts are lying vacant. The government has started recruitment of MD/MS doctors, but ignored the need of encouraging doctors for PCMS job." — TNS
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Vigilance may probe Patiala land scam
Patiala, April 21
The matter was brought to the notice of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal following media reports that the government land had been sold for peanuts.
Patiala Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar conducted an inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, Ropar DC GK Singh today replaced Garg as Patiala DC.
Sources said an inquiry by the Vigilance Bureau was expected into the sale of the land in possession of the government for the past several years and its transfer to private players without following procedures. Other than Garg, former Patiala Divisional Commissioner GS Grewal, a naib tehsildar and three revenue officials are under the scanner for illegally executing the sale deed of the aforesaid property.
Chief Director, Vigilance Bureau, Suresh Arora said he was yet to receive information to start probe into the matter. "The report will be sent to us through the Chief Secretary and then we will probe it from all angles," Arora said.
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Over-sized hoardings removed from liquor vends in Ludhiana
Chandigarh, April 21
As the case came up for resumed hearing recently, the state through Additional Advocate-General HS Sidhu informed the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover that such boards on the vends in Ludhiana district have been removed.
Sidhu also placed before the court written instructions received by him showing that such boards have since been removed and necessary action has been taken against the concerned persons for violation of the provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, and the rules framed there under.
Taking a note of the assertion, the Bench said: "In view of the above, there is no live issue for adjudication in this public interest litigation. The PIL is accordingly disposed of. The written instructions placed before the court by the Additional Advocate-General, Punjab, be kept on record."
The developments took place on a petition filed on the issue by Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate MS Toor. In his petition against the State of Punjab and other respondents, the advocate had sought judicial intervention for removal of all such boards.
It is significant as the boards not only distract drivers, but also tend to lure passersby. Besides this, some of these boards are in violation of the provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914.
The State Government, under the rules, is in fact empowered to make ruled for "prohibiting the printing, publishing or otherwise displaying or distributing any advertisement or other matter commending or soliciting the use of, or offering any intoxicant calculated to encourage or incite any individual or class of individuals or the public generally to commit an offence under this Act."
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Granthi’s killers arrested after encounter
Tarn Taran, April 21 The suspects were nabbed following a brief encounter at Kakka Kandiala village. According to the information available, the three suspects tried to flee on seeing the police naka near the village. The police had to open fire when the trio did not heed to their repeated instructions to stop. They were identified as Balraj Singh alias Raju of Khara village and Ranjit Singh of Tarn Taran. Their accomplice Baljinder Singh managed to escape. Granthi Sukhchain Singh (28) of the local Sri Darbar Sahib was shot on April 4 in front of the holy shrine when he stopped the suspects from decamping with the motorcycle of a devotee.
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15-kg heroin worth Rs 75 crore seized
Amritsar, April 21
Out of this, 5 kg of heroin and Indian currency was seized on the basis of information provided by Sukhbir Singh alias Sukha. Sukha was arrested yesterday with a consignment of 5 kg of heroin. The remaining 10 kg of heroin was seized from two notorious smugglers Avtar Singh alias Tar and Sarwan Singh alias Saba, both residents of Shahoor Kalan village in
Gurdaspur.
DIG, Counter Intelligence, Surinder Singh Sodhi said acting on a tip off that the accused were waiting for a party to deliver the consignment at Muradpur village at Fatehgarh Churian road, a raid was conducted by SSOC team headed by inspectors Harwinder Pal Singh and Balbir Singh. “The accused were arrested by the SSOC which seized 10 kg of heroin from their possession during search besides a Chinese made .30-bore pistol, a magazine and five live cartridges,” said
Sodhi.
Investigations have revealed that the two accused were active in Gurdaspur and Amritsar sectors for a long time, Sodhi said. Interrogation of Sukhbir Singh Sukha led to the seizure of 5 kg of heroin and 12 lakh in Indian currency which may be a part of the money received by Sukha after delivering the consignment.
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CM Parkash Singh Badal's orders were allegedly over-ruled to benefit a few authors whose books were to be purchased
Chandigarh, April 21
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Gikki (in pic) was shot dead by his friends on April 20 outside Baba Rasoi in Model Town