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Plan panel okays Rs 14,000-cr outlay
Planning should be in state hands: CM
Unlike ex-FM Manpreet, meeting with Pranab hard to come by for Parminder
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Fake
encounters
Congress targets govt over beating up of council chief
Shifted DEOs await new assignments
Prime Minister’s sister-in-law passes away
Rs 8,500 cr for urban areas
Technical board to hold JET on May 19
Govt schools’ strength in Patiala up by 15%
No move to carve out power generation utility, says Govt
Cops ignore SSP’s dress code orders
Crusher union seeks lifting of mining ban
RBI adopts six villages for development
SC notice to CBI on appeal by state cops
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Plan panel okays Rs 14,000-cr outlay
New Delhi, May 14 The plan was finalised at a meeting, attended among others by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in the national capital. The commission also focused on problems plaguing Punjab, prominent among them being cancer, depleting underground water table and water-logging in the Malwa belt. Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar announced the initiatives at a press conference. He said: “It has been decided to provide financial and technical support to the state for setting up a cancer research institute in the Malwa region on the lines of TATA memorial institute in Mumbai.” The rising cancer cases were on the mind of both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, he said. Kumar said an expert committee headed by Mihir Saha, a member of the Planning Commission, would look into the problems of water-logging, depleting underground water table and poor water quality in Malwa. The team would do a comprehensive review of the situation in consultation with experts and state government officials. The committee would also recommend steps for diversification of agriculture to promote alternate crops such as maize. Paddy requires a lot of water and experts have long held the belief that it was the main reason behind the falling underground water level. Ahluwalia also asked Punjab to rationalise the use of water resources. Punjab is the second highest extractor of underground water at 33.97 billion cubic metres (BCM) per year. Only Uttar Pradesh, which is 10 times bigger in area than Punjab, extracts more water (46 BCM). The Department of Bio-technology, Government of India, has proposed to enter into a joint venture with the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana for advanced research on plant-soil-water ecology, germ plasma, gene bank, bio-technology, bio-fuse and tissue culture, food processing and marketing. The modalities would be worked out in near future. The commission also okayed building of industrial infrastructure in border districts. The plan panel also gave an in-principle approval to creation of an industrial zone to support ancillary units around the Bathinda refinery. As Punjab not qualify for several central schemes (norms are more in tune with the states that are tottering), the commission assured of exploring suitable modifications in various plans, including MNREGA, to enable Punjab utilise funds for restoration and revamping of its canal system.
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Planning should be in state hands: CM
New Delhi, May 14 Badal, who was in the national capital to take part in a meeting with the Planning Commission to decide on budget outlay for his home state, said, “The unitary form of governance and centralised approach towards planning are detrimental for the growth of states.” Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Badal said: “Planning should be in the hands of states. The states should be given a free hand so that specific local issues can be effectively addressed.... Where has our planning all these years taken us? asked Badal. “All our planning in the past presents a dismal picture,” he quipped. He said the “present mess” was a fallout of “too much concentration of power at the Centre, which neither had a feel of ground realities nor was directly accountable to the people”. “Different areas and states have different needs. But the Centre tries to impose uniform policies and decisions on the entire nation,” the CM said. Badal claimed “something seriously was wrong with our planning”. “More than 60 per cent of the people live on just Rs 25 a day. They have no access to basic amenities like housing, clean drinking water, sewerage, electricity and education,” he said. The CM sought “justice” for the state saying Punjab had fought the nation's decade-long war against militancy and, therefore, incurred a “burden of Rs 11,000 crore”. He demanded a debt waiver of small saving loan of Rs 23,264 crore or moratorium on the repayment of loan for a period of five years. He urged the Planning Commission to recommend the state's long pending case to waive the state farmers' debt of Rs 35,000 crore as a one-time measure.
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Unlike ex-FM Manpreet, meeting with Pranab hard to come by for Parminder
Chandigarh, May 14
what punjab wants from the centre
Dhindsa said he had been trying to meet Mukherjee since he took over as the Punjab Finance Minister. "This is important as I have to liaison with him on state finances on a continuous basis," he said. Sources said a number of issues, including Parliament's session earlier and now hectic parleys over presidential elections, could be blamed for Dhindsa's inability to get an appointment from Pranab. The Punjab Finance Minister said he was keen on meeting his Union counterpart so that he could further the state's cause. Though Dhindsa said no concrete headway had been made on the issue of financial package for Punjab, a fresh round of talks were expected after he presented the state budget in June. Punjab is keen on a moratorium on payment of small saving loan worth Rs 22,000 crore, besides a five-year moratorium on payment of annual interest worth Rs 7,500 crore on the Rs 78,000 crore state debt. If both these demands are not accepted, Punjab might appeal for restructuring the loans. The state is also looking at resource mobilisation worth Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal, besides increasing VAT earnings by as much amount from present Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 14,000 crore. Punjab's main worry is the subsidy bill, which is expected to touch Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal. Of this amount, Rs 4,500 crore is the share of the free power subsidy bill. Manpreet, however, appeared surprised at Dhindsa not being able to meet Pranab. "The Punjab FM can do so at a minute's notice," he said. On financial package to Punjab, Manpreet said "that may not come that easily now as the Centre itself was in a financial mess and was besieged by demands from almost every state".
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Fake
encounters
Chandigarh, May 14 The ruling by Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar came on 35 petitions filed by Atma Singh Bhullar and other police officers. Probing cases against these cops, the CBI had claimed that all the “petitioners-accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy, to do an illegal act by illegal means, picked up helpless persons from their residences and other places, abducted, kidnapped in order to murder, illegally detained, brutally tortured, staged drama of false encounters, murdered them and cremated their bodies as unidentified, without any postmortem examinations, in order to cause disappearance of evidence of offence to screen the offenders”. Acting on the complaints, the CBI proceeded against them on the allegations of committing offences punishable under Sections 120-B, 342, 364, 365, 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC. They, however, sought the dropping of proceedings for want of sanction under Section 6 of the Punjab Disturbed Areas (Amendment) Act, 1989. But, the trial court dismissed their applications vide impugned orders dated October 20, 1999, May 8, 2000, and April 17, 2000. Elaborating on the scope of Section 6, Justice Sullar ruled: “Section 6 appears to afford adequate protection to public servant to ensure that they may not face the false prosecutions. Neither this section extends its protective cover to, nor to put a wall around, a guilty public servant, pertaining to every illegal acts and omissions. Justice Sullar asserted: “To my mind, such barbaric acts complained of, cannot possibly be termed, by any stretch of imagination that, they have any remote nexus in performance of their official duties….” He added: “The main object of protection under Section 6 is intended to guard and to protect the responsible law abiding public servants, not the offenders of heinous crime against the institution of possibly vexatious and malicious criminal proceedings for offences alleged to have been committed by them…. “No doubt, the petitioners-accused were engaged to contain terrorist activities but even then the persons engaged in counter-insurgency activities are governed by the established procedure and provisions of rule of law. Dismissing the applications, Justice Sullar said the petitioners-accused were not at all entitled to the umbrella of protection under Section 6. “Thus, no sanction whatsoever is legally required to prosecute them for commission of the heinous offences”. One of the cases was that of disappearance of Rakesh Kumar on December 21, 1992. It was alleged that Rakesh Kumar was kept in illegal custody and his condition was critical due to severe torture by the Punjab Police. He was subsequently eliminated in “garb of a fake encounter” by a police party headed by Atma Singh Bhullar and others.
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Gurdwara near Miri Piri to house Operation Bluestar Memorial
Amritsar, May 14 The Damdami Taksal, whom the SGPC has assigned the task of raising the memorial, and other Panthic groups had been demanding a site near the Miri Piri, contending that it would be a "befitting location" as the then chief of the Taksal, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, "attained martyrdom" near the Miri Piri. Earlier, there were reports of the SGPC allotting a site near Gurdwara Thara Sahib for the memorial. Sources, however, said the two sites (the one near Gurdwara Thara Sahib and the other near the Miri Piri) could be interlinked at a later stage in case of an expansion plan as they share a common wall. The site near the Miri Piri has three floors with two rooms each. At present, The Guru Granth Sahib has been installed in its ground floor. The sources revealed that a gurdwara would be set up on the first floor of the building, while the ground floor would be utilised to acquaint the visitors with Operation Bluestar. The second floor may be used to showcase gold plates of the shrine, "bir" that bears a bullet mark and other such items to commemorate the Army operation. The gurdwara is likely to be named "Gurdwara Shahid Ganj Sahib". However, the exact nitty-gritty of the memorial will come to the fore after some time as right now Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh is in the process of developing the idea. He has been consulting Panthic personalities and experts to finalise the shape and design of the memorial for the past few days. He, however, has expressed his intent to preserve Maharaja Sher Singh Deodhi, located opposite the Miri Piri, as it bears bullet marks of Operation Bluestar. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar confirmed that the memorial would come up in the left wing of the building near the Miri Piri. He said there would be a gurdwara while they would finalise the exact details of the memorial over the next two-three days. He also said the site might be interlinked with the under-construction structure near Gurdwara Thara Sahib in future.
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Congress targets govt over beating up of council chief
Chandigarh, May 14 Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla alleged Malerkotla municipal council president Mohammad Sardar Dara was beaten up because he was a Congressman and was only demanding his just rights. He also accused the state government of following double-standards in disbursement of money for developmental works. He said Dara was not handed over a cheque for development works and instead it was given to Malerkotla MLA of the SAD. On the other hand, a similar cheque in Bhaduar constituency (represented by Congress MLA Mohammad Sadiq) was handed over to the municipal council president. In a separate statement, Congress MLAs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Sukhsarkaria described the beating up of Dara as "shameful" and said it presented the "correct picture of vendetta politics and lawlessness of the Akali-BJP goons" in Punjab. They alleged the act had exposed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's claims that there was no vendetta politics in Punjab.
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State to slim down VIPs’ security cover
Chandigarh, May 14 These directions were given by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal during a meeting of police officers at the police headquarters here today. There are around 7,000 personnel posted on security duty with VIPs, including politicians, police chiefs, bureaucrats and "sants" and "babas". Sukhbir said a security review had revealed that several protectees had security guards beyond their sanction limit. He said retired DGPs who were allowed only six security guards, had 30-40 personnel with most doing menial jobs. Sukhbir said it had been revealed that SSPs and commandants had allocated police personnel to various people without the knowledge of the security wing at the headquarters. He said all these officers had been given three days to certify that they had not allotted any unofficial security cover to anyone. He said henceforth only the security wing would issue guards. The Deputy CM said strict norms would be put in place characterising the security cover of everyone on the protectees’ list and the Police Department would ensure that these rules were implemented strictly. He asked the police officers to ensure a change in common perception that police stations were tainted by corruption. Giving a warning to all SSPs, Sukhbir said it was their duty to maintain command and control and to keep all DSPs/SHOs disciplined. He said he would not tolerate collusion of any police personnel in illegal possession of property, especially of NRIs, besides lodging of any false case against anyone. Sukhbir said he had asked the DGP to shift out all SHOs/DSPs who were posted in district for the past five years. Asking the ADGP (Traffic) to launch a concerted drive against drunken driving, over-speeding and wrong parking, the Deputy CM said spot challans along with photographic evidence should be sent to the residence of motorists within one week.
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Shifted DEOs await new assignments
Amritsar, May 14 This confusion is created after two subsequent transfer orders were issued by the department within a period of less than a month. The officials who have been without office for the past five days are DEOs of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Mansa. In the first transfer order, issued on April 12, as many as 41 Class I officials, including principals, deputy DEOs, DEOs, and deputy directors were shifted. Less than a month later, 28 more department officials were transferred on May 9. Interestingly, names of 12 officials figured in both lists. It means that they were transferred twice in less than a month. The officials who have not been allotted new offices are Sukhdev Singh Kahlon, Harkanwaljit Kaur, Leela Rani and Jaspal Singh. Sukhdev Singh Kahlon, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Ghaniya Ke Bangar in Gurdaspur, has been elevated to DEO (Secondary), Gurdaspur. In his place, Inderjit Singh, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Hoshiarpur, has been appointed, but Kahlon has not been given a new assignment. Similarly, Harkanwaljit Kaur, who was DEO (S), Mansa, has not been assigned a new station, but in her place Harbans Singh Sandu, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Mandawi (Sangrur), has been appointed. Paramjit Kaur, DEO (S), Fatehgarh Sahib, was shifted as DEO (E), Fatehgarh Sahib, in the first list. In the second list, she has been transferred to Ludhiana as DEO (S), where already Leela Rani is posted. Sunita Kiran, principal, District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Verka, was transferred as DEO (E), Tarn Taran. In the second list, she was transferred as DEO (E), Amritsar, where Jaspal Singh is occupying the post. Interestingly, the transfer order issued by the department on May 9 stated that this order would be implemented only on the availability of vacancies. There are officials who were first transferred out of their districts, but later brought back to their original district in the second list. For instance, Shinder Singh, DEO (E), Tarn Taran, was first transferred to Gurdaspur. In the second list, he was posted back to Tarn Taran. Frequent change of officials may cast negative impact on projects being undertaken in elementary and secondary education such as special training resources, civil works, mid-day meal, inclusive education for disabled
(IED) etc.
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Prime Minister’s sister-in-law passes away
Ludhiana, May 14 She was the elder sister of the Prime Minister’s wife, Gursharan Kaur, and was suffering from cancer. She breathed her last at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital and is survived by two daughters and a son. Last week, Gursharan Kaur and her daughter had visited the hospital to enquire about her health.
— PTI
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Rs 8,500 cr for urban areas
Chandigarh Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal said the government had decided to give strength to infrastructure development in urban belts by removing all lapses and completing ongoing development works. — TNS
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Technical board to hold JET on May 19
Chandigarh, May 14 A government spokesperson said a meeting to review the arrangement of the JET-2012 was held under the secretary of the board wherein all the district education officers, principals of all affiliated polytechnics and in-charges of all the examination centres attended. The spokesperson said all the JET admit cards / roll numbers of more than 1,08,000 candidates had been dispatched by the board. Those candidates who have not received the roll number by post can download admit card/ roll numbers from the board’s website www.punjabteched.net. The result of the test will be declared in the first week of June 2012. More than 60,000 seats are available in 29 diploma courses in 130 affiliated polytechnic colleges.
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Govt schools’ strength in Patiala up by 15%
Patiala, May 14 District Education Officer Balbir Kaur Gill said the government schools had always enjoyed good strength because of highly educated staff and low fee, but with the passage of time, the number was further increasing due to various government schemes. "There are 1,345 government schools in the district and for the past few years, results of government schools have been improving each year. Last year, the matric result was 96.66 per cent, Class XII (arts) was 95.22 per cent, Class XII (science) was 95.75 per cent and Class XII (commerce) was 97.78 per cent. This certainly shows the standard of education has improved now. Private schools are charging hefty amount as tuition fee and other funds, while government schools charge a very nominal fee. Because of this reason, students are turning back to government schools,” she added. One of the teachers said despite best quality teachers, government schools did not enjoy the reputation it once enjoyed because of lack of infrastructure and other facilities. Moreover, students who came here were even unable to pay the minimal fee that was charged from them and many of them leave studies in between. "But lately, the government has launched various schemes which are going in favour of schools. Right from providing free education to mid-day meal, free books, school uniforms and sanctioning grants for construction of new building is a good decision. There have been a few problems in implementation of this schemes, but we cannot take away the credit from the Education Department which has taken these steps," he added. Dilpreet Kaur, who recently withdrew her child from a private school and got her child admitted to Government Senior Secondary School, Tripri, says her decision to shift her ward was based on many factors, including low fee, qualified teachers and more facilities. She said, “Despite paying high fee, I had to send my child for tuitions. Moreover, his books, uniform and couple of other funds were very expensive. Therefore, I decided to shift him to a government school. At least, I now I can afford his tuitions,” she added.
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No move to carve out power generation utility, says Govt
Aabout two months ago, The Tribune had reported that the state government was contemplating to carve out a third power utility and subsequently, technocrats as well as employees of the Power Corporation raised objections to it. About a month’s back, the PSEB Engineers' Association had held deliberations with the Chief Minister on the matter and apprised him that creation of another power utility would be detrimental for the state power sector. There had been talks at the government-level regarding the proposed power generation company and officers of the generation department of the Power Corporation had also accepted the same preferring anonymity. Secretary, Power, Anirudh Tiwari, said, "There was no move to carve out a separate power generation company." PSEB Engineers' Association president and general secretary HS Bedi and Bhupinder Singh, respectively said, "During our interaction with the CM recently, we discussed the matter at length and made him aware about the adverse repercussions in case a separate generation company is carved out. It is good that the government has officially made it clear that the existing two power utilities will continue as per the present arrangement." It is pertinent to mention that as per officials of the two power utilities - Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), "Had there been a separate generation company, it would have to completely depend upon the PSPCL’s distribution wing for getting their power generation bills cleared. Since the distribution wing is already passing through a severe financial crunch, it would have lead to serious financial crisis for the new company."
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Cops ignore SSP’s dress code orders
Patiala, May 14 On Saturday, Patiala SP (D) Pritpal Singh Thind and his CIA in-charge Kuldip Singh addressed a press conference during whichboth the officers got themselves clicked without wearing police uniform. The press conference was held to brief about a gang of four robbers arrested by the police and pictures of these officers addressing in civil clothes were carried by some newspapers and electronic news channels. Perturbed over officers posted in various police stations and posts holding media conferences and visiting crime scenes in civil clothes, SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill had issued a warning to his officers to ensure that all wear police uniform while briefing media persons. “When such senior officers defy instructions issued by the SSP, it gives a wrong signal to others who also try to skip the instructions while terming them as useless,” said an inspector ranked officer. “The SSP should take action and set an example as usually junior officers face the music, while seniors escape any penalty,” he said. In a communiqué shot to all the district police officers, Gill had warned them not to visit any crime scene in civil clothes. Further, he wants all officers to make sure that they do not perform their field duties in civil clothes nor hold any kind of press or media briefing without uniform. Sources said many officers in the district were not wearing uniform while attending office and wore uniform only during a VIP visit or a meeting. When contacted, SP (D) Pritpal Singh Thind said that he might have gone in civil clothes as it was a Sunday. “You are exempted from wearing uniform on Sundays,” Thind stated. Perhaps he forgot that it was a Saturday and the SSP’s instructions did not determine any days for wearing uniform.
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Crusher union seeks lifting of mining ban
Chandigarh, May 14 Stone crushers in the district were shut down last month after The Tribune highlighted how illegal crushers were operating in the district. Crusher Union president Ravinder Garg, in a statement, urged the deputy commissioner to allow those crushers to operate freely which had obtained legal sanctions from various state government departments. Garg said the deputy commissioner gave them a patient hearing and decided to set up a three-member committee under the additional deputy commissioner’s supervision to look into the problem and find a viable solution.
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RBI adopts six villages for development
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 14 All types of development work with the help of banks would be initiated in these villages, said Yashvir Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a meeting of Consultative Committee of various banks organised by the State Bank of Patiala, the lead bank of the district, here today.
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SC notice to CBI on appeal by state cops
New Delhi, May 14 A Bench comprising Justices Deepak Verma and SJ Mukhopadhaya issued notice to the CBI on the appeal filed by Assistant Sub-Inspector Malkiat Singh and Head Constable Harmesh Lal from Fatehgarh Sahib. The person detained by them had escaped from custody after two days and appeared in a court in October 2000 with shackle tied on his leg. The Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI, at Patiala had sentenced them to one-year rigorous imprisonment on May 29, 2010, which was confirmed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala, in November 2011. The Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to suspend their sentence on February 17 this year, prompting them to approach the SC.
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Patiala, May 14
Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said the second list of transfers was issued after many officials expressed their inability to shift to new places. "To optimally utilise human resources, we preferred to keep these officials at the places of their choice," he said. On four DEOs without an office, he said they would be issued new stations in a couple of days. He said he would soon set up a cadre of senior education officials to be appointed as DEOs and circle officers.
n
There are 1,345 government schools in the district and for the past few years, results of government schools have been improving each year
Patiala, May 14