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no respite from scorching heat
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Bathinda most hit by power failure
Akalis resorting to terror tactics: MLA
Hike in paddy, cotton MSP a joke on farmers: Sukhbir
24 pilgrims injured in bus mishap
Appointment of Punjab DGP
Dera Sacha Sauda chief allowed to visit Nepal
Check foodgrain fraud, HC tells government
Bank manager suspended for Rs 12 lakh fraud
Cop involved in fake passport scam loses job
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no respite from scorching heat
Chandigarh, June 1
Among the areas that have been facing the shortage of potable water are Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ferozepur, Moga and Muktsar. Churu in Rajasthan continues to be the hottest place in the country with the day temperature touching 48.7 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, the maximum temperature was well above the average 40.4 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists maintain that heat wave conditions may persist for a while as there was no noticeable upper cyclonic circulation that brings rain. Though the heat has hit normal life at most places, farm operations, including sowing of cotton in Malwa, remain unaffected. Farmers have either successfully sown cotton or are at the finish line. Vegetable growers in the state, too, have little or nothing to worry because of the rising temperature. They only need shallow and not flood irrigation for their crops, said Director of Agriculture Mangal Singh Sandhu. Sandhu said the weather had been good for crops so far. “Paddy transplantation will officially start from June 10 while 80 per cent of the cotton sowing in Malwa has been successfully completed,” he said. Extreme heat wave conditions, however, may not be good for both livestock and poultry, agricultural experts say. (Inputs by PK Jaiswar in Amritsar) Heat stroke toll six in Amritsar Amritsar: Three more deaths were reported due to heath stroke in Amritsar today, taking the toll in the holy city and its adjoining areas to six during this summer season. A woman pilgrim was found dead at the Golden Temple yesterday whereas the body of another victim was found from Bhushanpura area. A resident of Abadi Guru Nanak Nagar, too, had succumbed to heat stroke a few days ago. Another victim was identified as Udaybhan Singh of Paschim Puri in New Delhi. His body was found in the area near India Gate police post. One more heat-related death was reported at Sathiala village in Beas area. Co-villagers claimed that he was moving in the sun when he suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead. — TNS During south-west monsoon... Fazilka receives less than 250 mm of rainfall Gurdaspur,
Hoshiarpur, Ropar and eastern parts of Patiala receive more than 750 mm of rainfall Areas closer to hills receive 1,000 mm of rainfall The area that divides Punjab into two equal zones and runs in north-west to south-east direction receives 500 mm of rainfall
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Bathinda most hit by power failure
Patiala, June 1 The power demand has escalated as mercury in most parts of the state has gone beyond 46 degrees Celsius. The Power Corporation functionaries claim that it has purchased electricity from the open market to bridge the demand-supply gap. But, several districts of Punjab were seen reeling under power crisis today. In Bathinda, power cuts were imposed at 1.30 am in several areas, including Green Avenue, Jhujhar Singh Nagar and Model Town Phase-III. Till the afternoon, power could not be restored. Besides, normal consumers in Bathinda have been sweating it out for three to four hours daily on account of power failuredue to overloading of transformers, which causes tripping. In Sangrur district, power cuts varying from two to four hours have left the people high and dry. Ludhiana, one of the most densely populated districts in the state, is experiencing three to six hour cuts, at times unscheduled, in the domestic sector. In Amritsar, the situation is somewhat better with at least two-hour cuts. In Patiala, the power scenario is grim with the royal city witnessing four to six hours power cuts for the last few days. The power demand recorded yesterday was 1,509 lakh units (LU) against the availability of 1,460 LU, a shortfall of 49 LU. Depending on daily variation in power requirement, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited is purchasing 120-150 LU (approximate cost Rs 5.25 crore) from the market in order to fill the shortfall. PSPCL Director (Distribution) Arun Verma claimed the Power Corporation was not imposing any cuts on domestic consumers. He said maintenance works, including replacement of conductors and de-loading of transformers, had been undertaken well in advance this time round. "The real problem is unauthorised load, which overloads transformers, thereby, leading to power breakdown during peak demand season. The present crisis is not because of the cuts but because of overloading of transformers and technical snags in transmission network," a senior PSPCL official said.
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Chandigarh, June 1 The party also promised grants for houses for the urban poor, beautification of cities and water supply from central schemes. It promised to regularise unauthorised colonies within the municipal limits, to extend municipal boundaries and provide water, electricity, roads and sewerage in all such colonies. Other features of the manifesto include CCTV cameras on major city roads and at entry and exit points to check crime, allocation of dedicated budgetary support to resident welfare associations (RWA), development of multi-storey parking, upgradation of solid waste management systems and regular jobs for ad hoc ‘safai karamcharis’. The party has come out with city-specific manifestos. In Ludhiana, it has promised completion of a railway overbridge, construction of 4,832 homes for slum dwellers, storm water sewerage project in Janakpuri, cleaning of the Budha Nullah and an indoor stadium on Pakhowal road. In Jalandhar, the party has promised water treatment plants in clusters as well as civilian fights from the Adampur air base. Patiala residents have been promised a Rs 200 crore canal-based water supply project and relocation of butcher shops and dairies.The party has promised several railway overbridges in Amritsar.
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Akalis resorting to terror tactics: MLA
Amritsar, June 1 He said if this was not done, Congress workers would be forced to “deal with SAD activists ”. Addressing mediapersons here, Sarkaria alleged that Congress candidates from four wards of the Rajasansi Municipal Committee —Gurjit Kaur (Ward No 3), Parampal Singh (Ward No 6), Kulwant Kaur (Ward No 8) and Inderjeet (Ward No 13) were “terrorised” by SAD workers into withdrawing their nomination papers, helping Congress candidates to be elected unopposed from these wards. He claimed that Parampal Singh and Kulwant Kaur’s husband had gone missing. “Democracy is being stifled as the SAD is exploiting money and muscle power to win the elections. Akali supporters from other areas are moving about in Rajasansi brandishing firearms and swords,” the MLA alleged. He said they would file a complaint with the Election Commission in this regard. He said since the Congress had 11 of the 13 councillors in the outgoing Rajasansi Municipal Committee, the SAD was resorting to such tactics as it feared another defeat this time. He said Congress MLAs would launch a “morcha” against the SAD over the issue after the local body elections. Meanwhile, at a meeting chaired by senior party leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa at Congress Bhawan here, a resolution condemning “inaction on genuine complaints of Congress workers by the State Election Commission” was passed. The meeting said with the ruling alliance resorting to “unfair and undemocratic ways”, these elections had been reduced to a farce and the poll results would in no way reflect the people’s mandate. Amritsar Congress unit chief Jugal Kishore Sharma had yesterday lashed out at the SAD for “pressurising” two Congress candidates into withdrawing from the Amritsar MC elections However, SAD secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema dubbed these allegations as baseless. He claimed the people were joining the Akali Dal voluntarily . Dharna Planned Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Sunil Jakhar, will lead a dharna outside the office of SSP (Rural), Amritsar, on Saturday over the issues of alleged police inaction and political vendetta
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Hike in paddy, cotton MSP a joke on farmers: Sukhbir
Chandigarh, June 1 SAD chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the Union Government of miscalculating the input cost for agriculture. He said that farmers were reeling under a huge debt but were still giving bumper crops. Sukhbir sought an MSP of Rs 1,750 per quintal for paddy and Rs 5,000 for cotton. The Union Agriculture Ministry had recently circulated a cabinet note among various ministries recommending MSP of Rs 1,250 per quintal for common variety paddy and Rs 1,280 per quintal for 'A' grade variety of paddy for 2012-13. The MSP last year (2011-12) for paddy was Rs 1,080 and Rs 1,110, respectively. The Deputy Chief Minister said that in the last six months, there has been a 50-60 per cent rise in the cost of agricultural inputs including an over 100 per cent rise in the cost of fertilizers after its de-control by the union government. He said that nothing less than a 50 per cent hike in last year's MSP or a fixation of MSP as per the Swaminathan Commission report was acceptable. "The Union Government itself had admitted that there was 64 per cent rise in the cost of agriculture inputs on one hand and by proposing MSP hike by only 15 per cent, it is deliberately making farming community poorer by 49 per cent in a single stroke," Badal said in a statement here. He accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as being “anti-farmer”. He said the central government was allegedly playing into the hands of the multi-national companies by sleeping over the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission which has recommended that MSP be linked to the wholesale price index. The SAD president said, “The Punjab Government was giving free power worth more than Rs 400 crore per anum to sustain the farmers and state was bleeding itself to death by overdrawing precious groundwater to ensure that the farmers fulfill their national duty to make the country secure on food front. But, the Centre’s anti-farmer attitude may force the farmers to say goodbye to farming,” he said. Demanding immediate announcement of Rs 1750 MSP for paddy and Rs 5,000 for cotton for the current kharif, he said the Union Government must understand the urgency of making agriculture a viable profession. The SAD chief said he would soon call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to impress upon him to raise the
MSP.
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Govt to audit panchayat accounts
Mohali, June 1 Rakhra said Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh had asked the states to provide a transparent administration at the village level and Punjab would be the first state to accept Centre’s recommendation. “Punjab Government has already established liaison with the Committee on Public Finance and Government Accounting in this regard,” he said. The minister said for the purpose of training, groups had been formed clubbing 10 blocks together. On account of lack of awareness among representatives of panchayats, several cases of embezzlement had come to the fore. It was also noticed that panchayats were unable to mobilise all their resources to generate more funds. He said the training would enable them to get funds from the state and the Centre and to utilise these in a proper manner.The chartered accountants would regularly monitor the accounts of panchayats, Rakhra added.
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24 pilgrims injured in bus mishap
Ludhiana/Khanna, June 1 Nearly 50 pilgrims from Bokaro in Jharkhand were returning after paying obeisance at Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The incident took place around 2pm when the bus driver identified as Mukat Dhari (65) lost control over the vehicle and overturned in an agricultural field. The injured were admitted to Civil Hospital, Khanna. The condition of the bus driver was stated to be serious. The injured and other pilgrims were pulled out of the bus by local residents. Nearly five ambulances were pressed into service to ferry the injured to the hospital. Ludhiana Range DIG MF Farooqui directed the Khanna SSP to find out the real cause behind the mishap. However, pilgrims had a narrow escape as they had made arrangements for cooking food during their pilgrimage and were ferrying four cooking gas cylinders in the bus. Fortunately, none of the cylinders caught fire.
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Appointment of Punjab DGP
Chandigarh, June 1 In a reply submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the premier investigation agency claimed that the status of the case against Saini was informed to the Punjab Government from time to time by the CBI and "it is up to them to decide suitability or otherwise of an officer who is facing trial". The investigating agency added that the CBI has nothing to do in the impugned appointment of accused Sumedh Singh Saini. The High Court in April had put the CBI and the State of Punjab on notice on the petition challenging his appointment on the ground that he was facing a criminal trial in an abduction case. Notice has also been issued to Saini. The petition has been filed in public interest by Voices for Freedom through its director-cum-advocate Simranjit Singh. Going into the background of the matter, the petitioner contended: "On the basis of allegations that Saini is involved in the abduction and physical liquidation of three persons sometime in 1994, this court referred the investigation against him to the CBI. "After detailed investigation, it filed a report confirming the abduction and physical liquidation of three persons and accordingly charge sheet was filed and sanction was accorded by the competent authorities". The petitioner contended one of the "questions of law of substantial public importance" was "whether a person, who is facing a trial before the CBI Court for abduction etc can be treated as having very good record for the purpose of being appointed to the post of Director General of Police?"
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Dera Sacha Sauda chief allowed to visit Nepal
Bathinda, June 1 Sikh leaders and a local resident had filed a case against the dera head for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the community by wearing a dress resembling the one that used to be worn by Guru Gobind Singh. The dera head's counsel had filed a plea to release his passport and allow him to visit Nepal for treatment. Advocate JR Khattar, who argued against the dera head in the court, said the visit to Nepal had been allowed following a bank guarantee of Rs 5 lakh and submission of an affidavit specifying the duration of his visit. The next hearing of the case had been fixed on August 4.
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Check foodgrain fraud, HC tells government
Chandigarh, June 1 The High Court has called for a centralised vigilance agency for carrying out surprise checks. In a first, the High Court has asked the state to prepare a foolproof policy on allotment of paddy and storage of stocks with rice shellers. The policy is required to be finalised “well in advance, before the commencement of the next paddy season”. The directions came as the High Court dismissed an anticipatory bail plea by rice mill owner Sushil Kumar in a cheating case registered on March 5 under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC at Sehna in Barnala district. Mincing no words, Justice Paramjeet Singh asserted: “Keeping in view the unholy nexus between transporters, businessmen, rice sheller owners and officials/officers of the Food and supplies Department and foodgrain agencies involved in the procurement/allotment of grain, including paddy, the state shall make an endeavour to use modern technology that would decrease human intervention. “Transparency should be brought into the allotment of food stocks at various places and CCTV cameras installed to check the movement of coming and outgoing foodgrain stocks. “The allotment procedure should be computerised and the data available with a centralised agency in addition to the corporations/departments concerned”. Justice Paramjeet Singh suggested a high-level committee for initiating other steps to avoid frequent frauds. State told to.... Set up agency to carry out surprise checks To bring transparency in allotment of stocks To computerise the allotment procedure Install CCTV cameras to check movement of stocks Pungrain MD told to take appropriate steps, including criminal proceedings against officials responsible for any fraud Report sought Miffed at the “siphoning of” foodgrain “worth thousand of crores”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Punjab’s Chief Secretary to submit details of criminal cases instituted with regard to foodgrain frauds by boards and corporations during the past five years. He has also been asked to identify “maximum frauds committed during the tenure of a particular officer”.
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Bank manager suspended for Rs 12 lakh fraud
Moga, June 1 The manager has been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against him. The bank authorities also approached Moga SSP Surjit Singh Grewal demanding a probe and registration of a criminal case against the manager. The SSP has marked the inquiry to SP (D), who has summoned the bank record for verification. The money was allegedly withdrawn by branch manager Ashok Goyal between December 19 (2011) and February 29. Preliminary inquiries made by the bank authorities had detected forgery to the tune of Rs 12.85 lakh — sources said the amount could escalate — from the accounts of more than two dozen customers. Further checking of the accounts was in progress.
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Cop involved in fake passport scam loses job
Moga, June 1 More than 100 persons, including a number of policemen, an employee of the passport office, several NRIs and travel agents, had been arrested in the passport scam and lookout notices were issued against 400 others for preparing passports on forged documents.
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Unabated heat wave conditions continue to torment the people in the state, their woes being compounded by power cuts and shortage of potable water. The worst part is that meteorologists don’t see any immediate respite from the heat, in perhaps one of the harshest summers in the last decade.
Senior Congress leader and Rajasansi legislator Sukh Sarkaria today served a 48-hour ultimatum on the local administration to act against SAD workers for “hooliganism” against Congress activists on order to force them to withdraw from the local body elections.
Chandigarh, June 1
Bathinda, June 1
However, there is a forecast for dust or thunderstorms in the next 24 to 48 hours, which may slightly bring down day temperature that has been hovering between 41 and 47 degrees Celsius in the region.