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dasuya
bypoll
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Capt should have devoted more time, says Partap Bajwa
Sidhu bats for Sahi on final day of canvassing
No sympathy wave, says BJP
Several castes make netas’ job tough
Majithia says questioning EVMs’ credibility wrong
Hitting out at Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh, Revenue and Public Relations Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia today said the former Chief Minister should not question the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Runaway
couples
No over-the-counter drugs sale: Dr Sidhu
Despite HC orders, no relief for Amritsar traders
No unmanned crossings in Ambala Div by 2015
Unemployment rate in Punjab among lowest
Govt urged to tackle stray dog menace
Fuel
Supply Agreement with thermal power plants
Augment power distribution system: Experts
Filmmaker Saeed Mirza to make documentary on use of pesticide
2 revenue officials booked for fraud
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dasuya bypoll
Dasuya, July 9 A number of politicians, including Cabinet Minister Bikramjit Majithia, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Som Parkash, BJP Legislature Party leader Chunni Lal Bhagat, Garhshankar MLA Surinder Singh (SAD), Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar and Urmar MLA Sangat Singh Gilzian (Congress), have been served notices for using red beacons atop their vehicles during the electioneering. Dasuya SDM Rahul Chabba said replies pertaining to violations received from these politicians had been forwarded to the Election Commission (EC) for further action. Among the candidates, BJP nominee Sukhjit Kaur Sahi had been put on notice as she was accompanied by 14 persons while she was filing her nomination papers on June 22. “Rules state that a candidate should not be accompanied by more that five persons. But, Sukhjit Kaur and her covering candidate, her son Dr Harsimrat Singh, were accompanied by 14 persons in my court room…. Her reply has also been sent to the EC,” said Chabba, who is also the returning officer of the Dasuya Vidhan Sabha segment. Sukhjit Kaur would also have to do some extra work to settle her accounts as expenditure observer Prashant Kumar, who is also Joint Commissioner (Customs) in Mumbai, has added Rs 1.36 lakh to her shadow register for a ‘langar’ she had organised on July 7 during the visit of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to Dasuya. A fine of Rs 36,000 has also been slapped on her for another ‘langar’ she had organised on July 5 when Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal campaigned for her. The SDM has also put on notice the management of Shivalik Hills Public School at Deh Nangal, which is owned by SAD’s Amritsar (Urban) unit Upkar Singh Sandhu. More than 500 SAD-BJP activists were served lunch there and the Chief Minister addressed a meeting of workers on the first floor of the school building yesterday. The Eelection Commission prohibits the use of educational institutions for electioneering. Sources say Congress candidate Arun Dogra may also find himself in a soup as the rally that was organised at Gilzian village yesterday (addressed by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh) was held on a public street. The authorities are scrutinising a video of the event and the SDM said action would be taken accordingly.
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Badal canvassed for 4 days, Amarinder three
Dasuya, July 9 After addressing a workers' meeting at BJP candidate Sukhjit Kaur Sahi's residence on June 23, Badal was back to vigorous canvassing for three days from July 6-8. He addressed more than 20 meetings. Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal was in the twin townships of Dasuya and Talwara, which form part of the Vidhan Sabha segment, on June 4 and 5. Cabinet Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia was in the town for the last one week while former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia made sporadic appearances. BJP bigwigs too made their presence felt in the town. Former HP CM and BJP national vice-president Shanta Kumar addressed gatherings on June 4 while Rajya Sabha MP and BJP national general secretary JP Nadda was in the town on July 5. Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu was in the constituency today. Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna and BJP state president Ashwani Sharma have been in the town since June 30. From the Congress, Amarinder Singh visited the Assembly segment for three days: on June 30 when he addressed a workers' meeting at a local marriage palace and on July 7 and 8 when he addressed a series of meetings at various places. Former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was in the town for a day on July 6. She addressed a press conference at a local hotel. CLP leader Sunil Jakhar was in town on the same days when Capt Amarinder Singh was while Barnala MLA and party in-charge for canvassing Kewal Dhillon had been camping in the town since June 30. Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla addressed youth party workers at various places on July 8.
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Capt should have devoted more time, says Partap Bajwa
The electioneering, which ended today, led people to draw comparisons between the campaign style of the SAD and the Congress. There was a feeling that senior Congress leaders either kept away from the campaign or came to show their faces only. On the other hand, the SAD ran a well-planned campaign led by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Bajwa today campaigned for Congress candidate Micky Dogra in Dasuya town as well as in rural areas of the constituency. Bajwa had his own take on why he descended on the constituency on the last day. “I was not given any programme earlier,” he said, adding that Micky had rung him only yesterday. Congress poll in-charge Kewal Dhillon, when questioned, said he had invited all senior leaders, including Bajwa, for the campaign. He said the PCC president had campaigned in the constituency for two days, besides coming on the day of filing of nominations. Dhillon said Amarinder wanted to give two more days, but cancelled his programmes due to bereavement in the family. When questioned about senior leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal’s short appearance in Dasuya, the poll in-charge said Bhattal was in Dasuya for around two hours. “She addressed a press conference and a party meeting,” he said. With Capt Amarinder not available for comment, legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar said it was every leader’s responsibility to come forward for campaigning on his own without expecting an invitation. Jakhar himself was in the constituency for two days, besides being present for the filing of nomination papers. The Congress, meanwhile, feels four companies of central forces are “too less to control Akali goons”. Dhillon said the party feared use of force by the Akalis. Bajwa said he had received reports that “guards” were being put up outside residences of prominent Congress workers to incapacitate them on the poll eve. He alleged that the administration, including the state police, was behaving in a partisan manner.
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Sidhu bats for Sahi on final day of canvassing
Dasuya, July 9 Sidhu addressed three meetings and he had the audience in laughter while he targeted the UPA government. "When Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, the price of petrol saw a nominal hike. But ever since Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has taken over, the rate has gone up from Rs 27 to Rs 80," he said. The cricketer-turned-politician said the rich were immune to such hikes as there is flexibility in their income to take care of such hikes. "It is the common man, particularly poor and middle class, who has to bear the brunt. The PM should know that India is a country where 75 per cent of the population is poor and such a hike will leave a deep scar on their psyche," he said. Accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna at Vijay Market rally, Sidhu showered praises on Sukhjit Sahi, the BJP candidate and wife of Amarjit Singh Sahi. "Sukhjit is going to win the election hands down. The victory is assured. But what matters is the margin of victory that she registers. Her husband has done a yeoman's service to Dasuya town and people still remember the developmental initiatives he undertook in the Kandi area (sub-mountainous area)," he said.
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No sympathy wave, says BJP
Dasuya, July 9 Clean drinking water, better health infrastructure, preservation of forests, a barbed wire to prevent destruction of crops from wild animals, power supply and public toilets are some of the demands of the area residents. Though a BJP seat, the campaign was spearheaded by the SAD with the BJP ensuring that its four ministers and seven MLAs accompanied the Akali campaigners. “We are here to pay homage to Sahi. There is no sympathy wave for the BJP nominee as claimed by our rivals. We are drawing crowds only because the people want to pay homage to Sahi for what he did for the area”, claimed BJP leader Capt Abhimanyu. Member of Parliament Avinash Rai Khanna said the people’s wanted a lift irrigation system from the Kandi canal, relaxations in Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act and permission from the Centre to allow locals to be employed as guards under NREGA. Congress campaign incharge Kewal Dhillon claimed the Congress was receiving a huge response but the people were reluctant to come out openly against the ruling alliance.
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Several castes make netas’ job tough
Politicians have tried their best at wearing different hats at different venues to connect to the voters. Spread across 224 villages and two small townships of Dasuya and Talwara, polling will take place in 192 booths on July 11 to decide the fate of three candidates, including Sukhbjit Kaur of the SAD-BJP alliance, Arun Dogra of the Congress and Bhupinder Singh Ghuman of the PPP (supported by the CPI, CPM and SAD-Longowal). Akali Dal campaign incharge Balwant Singh Ramoowalia said some villages were so small that they only had just 300-odd votes. Here the party has remained confined to personal contact to woo the voters. A BJP leader said his party was well aware of the needs of various castes, including 35,000 Scheduled Castes, 29,000 Rajputs, 25,000 Changs, 19,000 Jat Sikhs, 17,000 Brahmins, 17,000 Lubanas, 8,500 Ramgarhias and 10,000 from other communities. The Dasuya segment spreads from Sadhani Village adjoing Himachal Pradesh to Himmatpur Dhanoya touching Gurdaspur, Passi Bet adjoining the Beas and Randhawa village touching Hoshiarpur. BJP MP from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu today claimed that the Congress-led UPA Government had turned India from 'Sone ki Chidiya' to 'Sonia Ki Chidiya'. Addressing rallies at Sansarpur, Rakri and Dasuya, he said, "The Vajpayee led NDA government had brought the Indian economy back on track within five years whereas the Congress had achieved nothing in its 50 years of rule." He alleged that the Congress's hand was like a slap on the face of the common man. "India is the only country where maximum tax is being collected through petrol and the commodity has gone out of reach of the common man," he said. Praising the contribution of Amarjit Singh Sahi in developing kandi area, he said that Sahi had ended the Congress "misrule" in Dasuya constituency. "The victory of Sukhjit Kaur Sahi will bring more development to the constituency," he said.
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Majithia says questioning EVMs’ credibility wrong
Majithia claimed by casting aspersions on the functioning of EVMs, the Punjab Congress had already “accepted defeat” in the Dasuya byelection. “Amarinder should seek a clearance from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his stand would raise a question mark on the very existence of the Congress-led UPA Government. The UPA was also voted to power through these gadgets,” he said. The Minister alleged that Amarinder was looking for excuses to defend his captaincy after a “certain defeat” in the byelection. — TNS
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Runaway couples Ludhiana, July 9 Sukhwant Singh was reportedly attacked by Kuldeep Singh and his accomplices Kulveer Singh of Dullo Kalan village, Nonni of Narangwal village and two more on the village outskirts. The victim succumbed to his injuries late in the evening. Rachhpal Singh Dhindsa, Jodhan Station House Officer, said on the complaint of the victim’s brother Surjinder Singh, they had booked the girl’s father Balwinder Singh, her brother Kuldeep, Kulveer, Nonni and two more persons yet to be identified under Section 302, IPC. Sukhwant, who was a carpenter, was in love with a girl of Dullo village, who belonged to an upper caste. The young couple met regularly. Surjinder claimed that his brother had told the girl’s father that if he objected to their getting married, they would elope. Sukhwant was allegedly waylaid while returning home from work. He was thrashed mercilessly. The attackers left the spot believing him to be dead. A badly injured Sukhwant somehow called his brother for help on the cell phone. He was rushed to a private hospital on Pakhowal Road from there he was sent to the Civil Hospital. When his condition worsened, he was rushed to the CMC Hospital.Sukhwant had multiple fractures on the legs. His spinal cord was smashed and his hands were broken. He breathed his last at the hospital. Chandigarh: Counselling and mediation is gradually ending the hatred for love and bringing the runaway couples back to their families. An affidavit submitted today with the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the State of Punjab provides a testimony to this effect. The affidavit, submitted by Punjab Undersecretary in the Department of Home Affairs and Justice Sewa Singh said nothing less than 368 matters had been resolved through counselling and mediation. Out of these, as many as 122 cases were resolved in Mohali alone. The affidavit states that 40 runaway couples took refuge in 22 shelter homes across the state and 53 couples opted for marriage registration. Taking cognisance of the violence brought about by love marriages, the HC has already ensured judicial shelter for runaway couples by directing the district and sessions judges in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to pass necessary orders on their plea for protection. The matter was brought under the scanner by Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, after he took suo motu cogniance of the issue. Justice Ahluwalia had made it clear that the high court wanted the state to evolve a “compassionate” mechanism to redress the grievances of the couples and the parents, and reduce the backlog.
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No over-the-counter drugs sale: Dr Sidhu
Lashing out at the doctors for recommending drugs of preferred companies in return for expensive gifts, she said the government would take steps to stop the commission system and break the nexus between doctors and pharmacists. She suggested that the government could adopt the Haryana pattern for this. She said the state should be divided into zones and the drug controller shifted every three years to different zones. She also suggested that tobacco be banned. “In Punjab, 30 lakh people consume tobacco and 10 lakh are likely to be affected by oral cancer. Tobacco is already banned by Madhya Pardesh, Kerala and Bihar. Punjab should also ban tobacco in Punjab or at least in the holy city of Amritsar,” she said. She suggested that local committees of specialised doctors be formed at district hospitals to decide on surgeries. Also, details of the symptoms, tests performed and reasons for surgery should be mentioned on the discharge slip of patients. She suggested a special complaint cell where doctors could come with their problems like undue pressure from seniors.
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Despite HC orders, no relief for Amritsar traders
Amritsar, July 9 The rehabilitation and disaster management wing in a letter dated June 29 asked the Amritsar district administration to implement the court orders. When approached, Superintendent Sarla Rani, under whose signature the communication was sent, had scant knowledge about the court orders. The Amritsar Improvement Trust officials said they had done their job and it was for the Department of Local Government or the rehabilitation wing to take action. Amritsar Improvement Trust SE Bharat Bhushan said: “We have told the Department of Local Government as well as the rehabilitation wing about two sites which may be offered to the affected traders on the collector’s rate. But it is yet to be decided as to who will bear the land price”. It is learnt that the Department of Local Government had prepared a proposal for 3.75 acres on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway. It proposed to build 133 booths here, each at a cost of Rs 10.36 lakh, as per the collector’s rate. Pardeep Sabharwal, Deputy Director, Department of Local Government, said the proposal was prepared 20 days ago but it needed to be discussed by the Cabinet before it could be implemented. Gurjeet Singh Bhola, member of BlueStar Merchants Sufferers Association said the court orders had rekindled hope in them but now he was sceptical of how things would turn out.
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Sukhbir has a quiet birthday with family
Chandigarh, July 9 Among those present were Sukhbir’s brother-in-law and State Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia. Accompanied by supporters, the Delhi youth wing leader, councillor Dimple Chadha, wished the Deputy CM on the occasion. Sukhbir was at his residence till afternoon after which he left for an undisclosed place with his family for dinner.
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No unmanned crossings in Ambala Div by 2015
Bathinda, July 9 “Twenty crossings have been identified as most vulnerable. These will be closed at the earliest. The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to coordinate with residents of villages so that arrangements for alternative routes can be made,” he said. At a later stage, 59 railway crossings would be closed or manned, as need be. All unmanned crossings falling in the division would be closed by 2015. On the recent raid by the Sales Tax Department on the Bathinda Railway Station, he said the ST officers had demanded the past five years’ record. “We have no such record. It is difficult to maintain such a huge data. I think none of the divisions in Punjab, including Ferozepur, Ambala and Delhi, will be having such extensive data. At the most, we can give a month-old data.” He said there were not enough funds for CCTV cameras at the Bathinda Railway Station.
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Unemployment rate in Punjab among lowest
Chandigarh, July 9 This was revealed by the Employment and Unemployment Survey 2011-12 released by the Labour Bureau, a division of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, here today. DS Kolamkar, Director-General, said the survey, conducted under the usual principal status (UPS) approach, revealed that nine men and six women out of 1,000 persons were unemployed in the general category in urban areas against the national unemployment rate of 28 men and 25 women. Similarly, in rural areas, 11 men and nine women were unemployed against the all-India level of 29 and 24, respectively. Kolamkar said the survey had brought forth surprising facts as various states like Kerala and West Bengal, which were more aware on labour rights, had much higher unemployment rates of 9.9 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively. Gujarat with one per cent had the lowest unemployment rate while in Haryana it was 3.2 per cent. He said despite various schemes launched by the Central and state governments, the unemployment rate among women remained at 12 per cent in urban areas and 5.6 per cent in rural areas at an all-India level. Similarly, the unemployment rate among men stood at 3.4 per cent in urban areas and 2.7 per cent in rural areas. Kolamkar said the survey data was collected from a sample of 1,28,298 households in all states. Out of this, 81,430 households were in rural areas and the remaining 46,868 in urban areas. A fixed reference period of agriculture year 2010-11 (July to June) was used to derive the estimates based on UPS approach and the labour force estimates were derived for the persons of age 15 years and above, he added.
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Govt urged to tackle stray dog menace
Dr DS Bhullar, secretary general of the society, says Punjab has become a hub of stray dogs but the government has been unable to find a solution to the problem. “Leaders of both the ruling and the opposition parties had a lengthy discussion on the issue of stray dog menace in the state. The government should come up with some concrete steps on this issue,” he added. As many as 2,899 dog bite cases have been reported at Government Rajindra Hospital here from January 2009 till a couple of days ago. Apart from this, as many as 3,674 dog bite cases were registered at various civil dispensaries of the district. There is no data available about the patients treated at private hospitals. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old labourer from Bursat village of Patiala, Mahinder Singh, died at Rajindra Hospital due to a stray dog bite.
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Fuel
Supply Agreement with thermal power plants
Notably, because of the shortage of domestic coal in the country, the CIL wanted some amendments pertaining to the quantum of the domestic coal supply before signing of the FSA with the power companies. Information reveals that the CIL has cited unavoidable reasons behind the postponement of the meeting and no new date and timing of the meeting has been fixed. Meanwhile, the thermal projects in the state, which are directly concerned with availability of coal, include Rajpura Thermal Plant (1,400-MW), Gobindpura Thermal Plant (1,320-MW) and Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant (1,980-MW). The matter assumes significance in view that coal linkage and the quantum of the domestic coal to be provided to the developers by the CIL has direct relation with the cost factor. Sources in the Power Corporation said, “As per the earlier assurances to the developers, the CIL was to provide about 80 per cent of the domestic coal but now due to coal crisis, the supplier wanted the figure be revised to 50 per cent. In that case, the developer would have to use 50 per cent imported coal, which would be costlier than the domestic coal and will subsequently lead to increase in the cost of power generation.” It is learnt that during the recent meetings in New Delhi, discussions at the government level with the CIL were held to explore the possibility of the CIL supplying coal between 65 and 80 per cent of the requirement of the power companies.
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Augment power distribution system: Experts
Patiala, July 9 Information gathered by The Tribune has brought to light that besides the 66-KV grid, 132-KV and 220-KV transmission stations and sub-stations, even the distribution network, including the transformers, are overloaded and responsible for the power failure due to frequent breakdowns. Experts in the power sector stated that rain in the state had ended the power crisis but there was a need for the two power utilities - Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) - to take up the augmentation of the transmission and the distribution system on priority. Notably, grid sub-stations with 66-KV and below come under the PSPCL, while the 220-KV and 132-KV transmission and sub-transmission stations come under the jurisdiction of the PSTCL. Sources in the Power Corporation said there could be different reasons for the breakdowns but primarily, overloading of transmission stations and transformers were the main reasons behind the power failure. “Technical snag in the 100-MVA transformer in Barnala, problem in the 100-MVA transformer at the 220-KV Ferozepur Road sub-station and snags in the transformers of several district of the state during the recent past are enough to gauge that the transmission and distribution system needs to be streamlined,” said the sources. Notably, these are not the only cases, the Power Corporation has placed a list of as many as four dozen overloaded sub-stations of various capacities on its website. Even the PSPCL management had admitted that out of the 573 sub-stations providing power supply to the agricultural pumpset (AP) tubewells, as many as 122 were overloaded, because of which AP consumers being fed from overloaded sub-stations were getting only six-hour power supply and not the eight-hour supply, as assured by the PSPCL. Speaking to TNS, power sector expert Padamjit Singh said with new thermal plants likely to come up in the state, there was a need to lay emphasis on the augmentation of the transmission and distribution system so that the additional capacity could be supplied to the consumers without technical snags and breakdowns. “The augmentation of transmission and distribution is required to unload the overloaded sub-stations”, he added. PSPCL officials were busy in a meeting, some officers, unwilling to be quoted, said the augmentation of the transmission and distribution network was a continuous process and the Power Corporation had done a lot to strengthen the transmission and distribution network in the past few years.
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Filmmaker Saeed Mirza to make documentary on use of pesticide Faridkot, July 9 Accompanied by a 30-members crew and his younger brother Aziz Mirza, Saeed visited Jajjal, Harkishan Pura, Gahri Bhagi, Karam Satran, Chaina and Karirwali villages of the area. Most of these villages have high prevalence of cancer cases, depleted groundwater level and high fluoride content in the groundwater. Revealing how the commercialisation under the garb of development in agriculture is playing havoc with human life, Saeed Mirza said there are 67 types of pesticides which are banned all over the world, but are still used by the Indian farmers. Everyday through fruits and vegetables, we consume 400-500 per cent more pesticides than the permissible limit, he said. After about 65 years of freedom, India now needs to de-colonize its mindset.
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Yannick Case Jalandhar, July 9 Questions are being asked as to why the police took more than two months to step up investigation in the case and nab the suspects. It is suspected that the police may have been shielding the accused, who are well-connected. It is being asked if action will be taken against the erring policemen who had brought a bad name to the Punjab Police. Amandeep, Sahildeep and Sumit Bunny were booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 452 (trespass with criminal intention) and 34 (involvement of four or less persons in a crime) of the IPC. While Sahil and Bunny were arrested and sent to the Kapurthala jail, Amandeep had been evading arrest since April 22. A total of eight attackers have been identified so far following the interrogation of Sahil, Bunny and Ramandeep Singh Uppal, alias Romi, son of Nawanshahr SP Dharam Singh Uppal. Four suspects in the case are at large. One of them, Jaskaran Singh Jassa, has reportedly flown to Australia. Navjot Singh Mahal, ADCP (Hq), who is supervising the probe, said raids were being conducted to nab Morinda-based sugar mill MD Sukhjinder Singh Bajwa’s son Amarbir Singh Bajwa, Harsh Gosain of New Jawahar Nagar and Amandeep’s cousin Bantu of Phagwara. To a query, he said Romi’s name had surfaced following the questioning of Sahil and Bunny. The assailants reportedly came in three cars.
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2 revenue officials booked for fraud
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 9 The complainant alleged that in a case related to a piece of land, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered status quo. He got the status quo remarks recorded in the revenue records with the patwari and the clerk. He said in spite of that, the patwari gave a copy of the “fard” without mentioning status quo and the clerk signed the stamp papers and wrote that there was no stay on the land. Ultimately, the land was sold and registered in someone else name. ASI Paramjit Singh said a case under sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC was registered after conding an inquiry. — OC
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Despite court orders, there has been no respite for the shopkeepers who were displaced after Operation Bluestar. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on May 24 directed the government to allot alternative sites to 133 affected traders within 40 days.
Chandigarh, July 9
Chandigarh, July 9
Dasuya, July 9
Chandigarh, July 9
Patiala, July 9
Patiala, July 9