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Complete bandh in Mansa, Barnala
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Two Punsup officials, rice miller booked
news
analysis
Congress leader booked in Patiala
Pre-monsoon showers bring cheer to farmers
Controversial Muni killed
Govt nod must to exchange shamlat land: HC
5 held for death of former sarpanch
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Complete bandh in Mansa, Barnala
Mansa/Barnala, June 11 Protesters in Mansa noticed a tractor-trailer carrying cows. They set the cows free and burnt the motorbike of the tractor owner. The Fire Brigade that came to douse the flames faced a hostile crowd and had to retreat. In the morning, a large number of Mansa residents came out of their homes and gathered at Barahatta Chowk where they demanded stringent action against those involved in the “killing” of cows. Some residents also gathered at the bus stand in Joga village. They demanded that the “factory where cows had been slaughtered” be turned into a shrine or a gaushala. Public transport remained affected till late in the evening. People were seen stranded at the Mansa and Barnala bus stands. Miscreants tried to damage a liquor vend on Kacha College Road, Barnala, and forced a shopping mall to down shutters. Timely action by the police prevented rowdy youths from damaging public property. Mansa DC Amit Dhaka said the administration was trying to restore normalcy. Newly appointed Mansa SSP Harpreet Singh said the situation was under control. No cases had been registered against any protester so far. “Three of the four owners of the factory in Joga have been arrested for slaughtering animals. Police from the Bathinda Range has been deployed in every nook and corner of the district”, he said.
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Flight to Toronto suspended
Amritsar, June 11 Sources said while those who had booked their tickets in advance are being accommodated in other airlines, no new bookings are being made. Gunbir Singh, who owns a travel firm, said air travel charges had gone up considerably because of the uncertainty looming large over Air-India and Kingfisher. Besides flight cancellations, the high travel cost was adding to the passengers’ woes. Amritsar Vikas Manch patron Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala said the flight should be resumed immediately as 90 per cent of those boarding it were Punjabis, particularly NRIs. He said he had shot off a missive to the PM, demanding that like Air- India’s New York and London flights, the Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight should also be resumed. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s announcement regarding downsizing Air-India’s international operations has triggered apprehensions that the flight may be altogether withdrawn. Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, said he would strongly protest against any such move. Gumtala said the scrapping of the Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight would mean that the Punjabis settled abroad would be deprived of the only direct air link to the Holy City. Air-India had discontinued the Amritsar-London-Toronto flight on October 31 last year and introduced the “Hub and Spoke Scheme” under which passengers were taken to the international airport in New Delhi in a 321 aircraft and then flown to London and Toronto. This had created a lot of resentment and the authorities subsequently decided to resume the
Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight.
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Two Punsup officials, rice miller booked
Faridkot, June 11 A joint team of the Vigilance Bureau from Bathinda and vigilance wing of the Food and Supply Department had raided KR Rice Factory and Golden Rice Mill, both owned by Aran, on May 29. Senior officials of the Punjab Warehouse Corporation and Punsup accompanied the raiding team. During inspection, a large quantity of paddy belonging to Punsup was found missing, said Amar Singh Chahal, SP (Vigilance). Besides, a large stock lying in the open was found to be damaged. PUNSUP had stored 1,65,876 bags of paddy for shelling at the two rice mills in 2010-11. As many as 22,683 bags, weighing about 7.93 lakh kg, were found missing. Inspector Gamdoor Singh was the custodian of the paddy stocked with these rice mills. The investigating team found that the owner of the rice mills had pilfered paddy in connivance with Punsup officials, said Chahal. Probe was on to ascertain the role of other officials and to identify those who had purchased the pilfered paddy, the SP added.
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news
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Chandigarh, June 11 The re-poll at Amritsar has caused a rift between the SAD and the BJP where Congress and SAD candidates are locked in an even fight. Highly placed sources said the contest between SAD’s Raj Kumar Jolly and Congress’ Surinder Chaudhary in Amritsar’s Ward 3 had ended in a tie . The SAD and BJP have so far won 24 seats each in the Amritsar MC. If the SAD wins Ward 3, it will have one more seat than the BJP and is likely to stake claim to the Mayor’s post, which was earlier with the BJP. The plea on which the re-poll has been ordered and the SAD’s move to claim the Mayor’s post has raised many an eyebrow. The re-election has been ordered on the ground that a person was seen using a laptop to hack EVMs in the ward. The BJP has questioned this logic. “Tempering with EVMs that have no wifi connectivity is not only absurd, but also puts a question mark on all the elections held in the country so far with the help of EVMs,” said a BJP leader. It is learnt that the Amritsar DC is contemplating recommending a repoll in 10 polling stations of Ward 3 on the suspicion that the EVMs there may have been hacked. With the state government accepting the plea that the EVMs may have been hacked, it would be inadvertently accepting the PPCC chief’s charge that the SAD-BJP alliance has come into power by “rigging the EVMs”. And this could have far-reaching ramifications. The State Election Commission responsible for conducting the civic poll has by and large remained dormant. Since the commission is headed by a state-cadre officer, strong action is hardly ever taken against the ruling party. Commission Secretary ML Sharma said the date for repolling in the two wards would be announced soon. He said the commission had no complaint pending with it. With the Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal out of the country for the next 10 days and the Budget session beginning from June 19, the election of Mayors is unlikely to be held before the first Week of July. The SAD has done exceedingly well in the municipal council elections, winning all 13 seats in Dharamkot and seven each in Machchiwara and Balachaur. In the Nagar Panchayat elections, the SAD won all the seats in Khemkaran and Rajasansi. It achieved a clear majority in 24 other panchayats. This amply indicates that the SAD has retained its hold in the rural areas.
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Congress leader booked in Patiala
Patiala, June 11 Among those booked are a Congress leader and an Independent candidate's husband. However, no SAD-BJP worker or leader’s name has appeared in these FIRs. The first FIR was registered at the Civil Lines police station against unknown persons for destroying voting machines and attacking voters at ward number 47. It is being alleged that supporters of a particular party entered a polling station and hindered the poll process for quite some time despite the presence of senior police officers on the spot. The second FIR was registered by the city police against Independent candidate Manjit Kaur’s husband Dalbir Singh for allegedly damaging a control unit inside a booth in ward number 17. However, eyewitnesses claimed that it were SAD-BJP supporters, not Dalbir, who allegedly tried to cast bogus votes in favour of their party candidates. Besides, a Congress leader was booked in a separate incident. Large-scale violence was reported from Patiala yesterday even though the Punjab Home Department had deployed three additional SSP rank officers and 2,000 police personnel for ensuring peaceful polling.
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Poor results land Capt in tight spot
New Delhi, June 11 The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief had earlier come under attack after the party's dismal performance in the recent Assembly polls. But, he had got a temporary reprieve with the party's central leadership decreeing that he would continue on the post till the civic elections were over. Now that the party has literally been obliterated in the local bodies' elections, the demand for Amarindar's ouster is expected to be raised again. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is unlikely to take a decision in a hurry. Major organisational changes in the AICC and state units are on the anvil, an exercise that will be undertaken only after July-end when the Presidential elections get over. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari today skirted questions on the leadership issue. He instead lashed out at the SAD-BJP combine for the "wanton use of state terror" in the civic polls. "This election was a joke...it was the most craven use of state force. The manner in which the democratic process was subverted calls for a supervision of these elections by the state election commission," he said. Tewari, however, was evasive on how the results would impact the Punjab leadership issue. "The matter is entirely in the domain of the general secretary incharge and Congress president Sonia Gandhi," he said. Though the Congress is still reeling under the shock of yesterday's results, there are murmurs in the party that the state unit needed a new leader. "Party cadres are extremely demoralised... they want a leader who is accessible and can fight the Akalis on the streets," remarked a Punjab Congress leader.
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Political woes for Dhanda continue
Ludhiana, June 11 A noted lawyer, Dhanda is a former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Local Bodies). He had also remained a SAD spokesperson. He had won the 2007 Vidhan Sabha elections from Ludhiana (West). He resigned from the Vidhan Sabha on July 6 last year after he was appointed as PPSC Chairman. For this, he even surrendered his licence of enrolment as an advocate. But things didn’t go his way as the Punjab and Haryana High Court, on August 17 last year, rejected his candidature for the post of PPSC Chairman. He could not even contest the assembly elections from his constituency because by that time, the SAD had swapped the seat with its coalition partner, BJP. A senior Akali leader said: “Dhanda was rendered ‘jobless’. The party wanted to compensate him. Had he won the MC elections, the party would have made him the Mayor since SAD wants a Hindu face for this post. Now his political career is in doldrums,” he said. Dhanda had earlier refused to contest the MC elections by claiming that he is more interested in contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He later agreed to contest from Ward No. 28, which is a Congress stronghold. After counting, Dhanda had claimed that he had won by 51 votes. His supporters even took out a victory procession. Later after recounting, Congress candidate Maharaj Singh Raji was declared winner by over 300 votes.
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Pre-monsoon showers bring cheer to farmers
Muktsar, June 11 Experts said rain at this time would benefit all crops, including cotton, which suffered some damage in the intense summer heat. “Rain will help in several ways. It will moist the fields and improve germination and growth of plants. It will also result in farmers requiring less power to run their tubewells to irrigate fields,” they said. Muktsar Chief Agriculture Officer Beant Singh said: “The recent rain has saved the cotton crop, especially the variety that was sown after the scheduled period. Those who have not sown cotton can now opt for paddy”. Another farmer Ranjodh Singh of Lambi said: “Rain will help us in paddy sowing.”
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Amritsar boy tops PSEB Class X exam
Mohali, June 11 Mukesh secured 95.69 per cent marks whereas the second position was bagged by Sarita (95.61 per cent) of R.S. Model Senior Secondary School in Ludhiana. Radhika Gupta of Sri Mahavir Jain Senior Secondary Model School in Jalandhar stood third with 95.53 per cent marks. The pass percentage has also gone up by 9.17 per cent. Ludhiana district stole the show in the merit list with the names of 110 from that area figuring on the list of 398 examinees. Board Chairman Dr SS Channy, who released the results, said at a press conference that the pass percentage this year was 73.49 against 64.32 last year. He said the pass percentage of girls (79.28 per cent) is 10.31 per cent higher than that of boys (68.97 per cent). Among those placed in the fourth position on the merit list are Shubham Gupta of DAV Senior Secondary School, Amritsar, and Priyanka Midha of BCM Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, both of whom secured 95.46 per cent marks. Three students were placed in the fifth position with 95.38 per cent. They are Tanya from Om Prakash Bachni Devi Sarvhitkari Vidya Mandir, Bathinda, and Maninderjit Kaur and Harsimran Kaur, both from Ajit Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School, Amritsar. Students from private schools performed better (pass percentage 75.64) as compared to their counterparts in government schools (72.58). He said Tarn Taran district was on top of the pass percentage list with 91.49 of the students clearing the examination while Mohali district was at the bottom with a pass percentage of only 60.97. He said districts like Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Bathinda, and Barnala were among those which had not performed well. As many as 3,88,136 students appeared in the examination, of which 2,85,254 passed. The results will be available on the board website www.pseb.ac.in from 8 am tomorrow.
aims to make it to IIT
Girls fare better
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Ludhiana’s Sarita is second
Ludhiana, June 11 She said, "I worked hard for the examination and was expecting to figure in the merit list. I was surprised when I learnt that I have secured second rank in the state." Math and physics are her favourite subjects and now she has decided to take admission in the non-medical stream. She wants to become a computer engineer. Sarita attributes her success to her parents and teachers. Her father Inderjit is a mechanic and mother Shukuntla is a housewife. "After school, I used to study for four to five hours everyday. I love music as I used to learn tabla during my summer vacations," said Sarita. She feels that sports are also important. "I am a softball player and bagged 4th position in the state-level school games held in Sangrur," she said, adding that she had also attended a national softball camp.
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Controversial Muni killed
Abohar, June 11 Three unidentified persons forced their entry into his dera in Ward 16 at Peelibanga in neighbouring Hanumangarh at 11 am and attacked him with sharp- edged weapons. His body was found lying in a pool of blood inside his hut. Anticipating a backlash, the police cordoned off the locality, called for forensic science experts and deployed additional. The Muni, who was arrested by the Haryana police for hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikhs, was residing in his dera after being let off on bail. Additional Superintendent of Police Daleep Jakhar said some persons had been detained for interrogation.
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Govt nod must to exchange shamlat land: HC
Chandigarh, June 11 The ruling could possibly have a bearing on an independent probe ordered by the High Court the previous month on the acquisition of properties by the high-ups in Punjab on Chandigarh’s periphery and other parts of the state. Supreme Court’s former Judge, Justice Kuldip Singh, is heading the probe. Among other things, it is expected to see whether public land was converted into private to facilitate high-ups. In its judgment on the need for government’s prior approval, the High Court has referred to Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964. Sections 5 and 15(2)(f) of the Act say - “A Panchayat, if it is of opinion that it is necessary so to do for the benefit of the inhabitants of the village, may with the prior approval of the government, transfer any land in shamlat deh by exchange with the land or an equivalent value.” The Bench asserted: “From a bare perusal of Rule 5 of the Rules, it is evident that in case the panchayat decides to transfer any land in shamilat deh by exchange with any other land, then prior approval of the government for such exchange would be required”. The issue came before the High Court after Hinduwan Shamshan Bhumi, Tosham, filed a petition for construction of a boundary wall on land situated in the revenue estate of Tosham in Bhiwani district. The land has been described as “gair mumkin shamshan bhumi” in the revenue record for 2001-02. It came out during the hearing that the gram panchayat passed a resolution dated March 10, 2008, to exchange the land in dispute with another chunk. As the status of the resolution passed by the gram panchayat for exchange of land was not clear from the written statement, the state counsel was asked to file a status report. In the report, a Sub-Divisional Officer insisted sanction from the government was not required, as the Gram Panchayat was competent to alter shamlat land use, as per the law. Setting aside the resolution dated March 10, 2008, with Rs 10,000 costs, the High Court directed the BDPO concerned to get the wall constructed.
Vienna Violence Case: Justice Bali to head claims commission Former Chief Justice of the Kerela High Court, Justice VK Bali, was today appointed claims commissioner by Punjab in the Vienna violence case. Justice Bali will decide the claims of victims of the violence witnessed in some parts of the state in 2009. The decision came nearly three years after Guru Sant Ramanand was shot dead while on a visit to a Sikh temple in Vienna. The killing had triggered rioting across northern India. Former Sessions Judge CR Goyal has been appointed assessor-cum-registrar to assist the commission. A formal communication regarding the constitution of the commission and its office- bearers was provided by the state government to the High Court this morning. The court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue.
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5 held for death of former sarpanch
Ludhiana, June 11 A youth, identified as Inderjit Singh, alias Vicky Dawra, was shot at after Gogga's supporters reportedly opened fire on supporters of SAD candidate Parminder Singh Soma. Hospital authorities said Vicky's condition was stable. Three persons-Jeevan, Aman and Gurvinder-have been arrested while Gogga and 24 “unidentified persons” have absconded. The police has also detained five persons involved in a shootout at Salem Tabri that led to the death of Gurvinder Singh, alias Bunty Bajwa (45), a former sarpanch of Bahaduke village. They have been identified as Vikramjit Singh of Mansa, Jaswant Singh of Talwandi Sabo, Navjit Singh of Harike, Jaspreet Singh and Gagandeep Singh. They are believed to be the accomplices of the main accused, Karanbir Singh, who opened fire at Bajwa. After killing him, the accused allegedly damaged over 10 vehicles to scare away a crowd. The suspects, who were traveling in an SUV with a Chandigarh registration number, were nabbed near Kharar last night. The police has also registered a case against Karanbir's father Gurdev Singh and his accomplices Balwinder Singh, Davinder Singh and Vicky Sekhon. The DCP, Ashish Choudhary, said none involved in the poll violence would be spared.
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