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48 polling booths declared sensitive
burning topic |
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Patiala Jail Supdt may land in trouble
Lab attendants at Rajindra Hospital go on strike
From July 25, fly to Europe via Armenia
Re-demarcation of land will decide former DC’s fate
Tackling uranium in water top priority: Sukhbir
Mill sealed for violating pollution control norms
Gender ratio: Minister awards Ropar village
Cancer fund row
Sikh clergy to meet tomorrow
Procurement agencies’ staff allege harassment
Now, digital mapping of all villages
Delivering justice through email
1 more held in Yannick assault case
Another Moga man murdered in Manila
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48 polling booths declared sensitive
SDM Rahul Chaba, who is the returning officer, said the two booths that have been declared hypersensitive are in Ghogra village, 7 km from Dasuya. Stray incidents of violence were witnessed in the village in the assembly elections as well. Chaba said, "Security has been tightened in both the Ghogra booths and in all 48 sensitive booths. Personnel from paramilitary and Punjab Armed Police's commando battalion have been deployed at various sensitive points in the segment," he said. The government has declared a holiday on July 11 in all offices of corporations, boards and educational institutions in the constituency under section 25 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881. SSP Balkar Singh Sidhu said 1,640 policemen had been deployed across the constituency. "Two SP-rank officers, 10 DSPs and 820 non-gazetted officials would be on poll duty. Polling stations will be manned both by the Punjab Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). We have requisitioned four companies of the CRPF (having 320 men each)."
Besides, 33 nakas have been put up. Twenty patrol parties, too, were doing the rounds of both Dasuya and Talwara towns in an attempt to check any electoral malpractice, including distribution of liquor and money, by political parties, he said. Sidhu said the identity of each person entering the town was being checked. Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna today hit out at the Congress, which had stated that the "polls could be rigged" by the SAD-BJP combine. He said, “The Congress has been unnerved because it knows it is facing certain defeat.”
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burning topic
Dasuya, July 10 In the run-up to tomorrow’s bypoll, no party raised these issues even though politicians from both the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Opposition Congress made their presence felt with fiery speeches. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal spoke, among other things, about rising inflation whereas Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh targeted the state government in his speeches. Residents complain that unemployment had risen as the area lacked industry, “a factor that could be blamed for rising drug abuse among the youth”. Sudesh Bhatti, a municipal councillor, says, “The SAD-BJP combine had assured before the 2007 elections that efforts will be made to bring in industry. But five years down the line, nothing has happened.” Bushfires in ‘kandi’ (sub-mountainous) belt, which has a heavy forest cover, too is a key issue. Kandi area comprises more than half of the total area of the Dasuya assembly seat. In May and June (two of the hottest months) every year, there are a number of forest fires, the most visible being the ones between Kamahi Devi and Dataarpur. These fires are mostly caused by the negligence of locals, but people say they can be controlled to some extent if Dasuya has a fire station. Neither Dasuya nor neighbouring Talwara has a fire station and in case of an emergency, fire tenders have to be rushed either from Hoshiarpur or the BBMB at Talwara. Though the Army has a fire station at nearby Unchi Bassi Cantonment, sources say requisitioning fire tenders from there is a tedious process as permission from local SDM has to be taken before calling a fire tender. Arjun Singh of Dataarpur says, “Governments have come and gone, but nobody seems to have any interest in addressing the issue. More than 20 fire incidents were witnessed in May and June alone.” Officials of the Forest Department say that apart from damaging trees, a large number of wild animals also perish in forest fires every year.
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Patiala Jail Supdt may land in trouble
Chandigarh, July 10 A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a show-cause notice to Jhakar for August 7. He has been asked by the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act. He has been exempted from personal appearance before the court. The notice came on a reference to the High Court by UT Additional Sessions Judge Shalini Singh Nagpal. In the reference, Nagpal had sought action against Jhakhar. She had submitted that the warrants of execution of Balwant Singh’s death sentence were sent to the Jail Superintendent on March 5. But these were not executed on the plea that the Patiala jail had no territorial jurisdiction to execute the warrants. The plea was declined and the warrants were returned. On March 24, the warrants were again returned. Just about three days later on March 27, the Superintendent was directed to execute the warrants. Simultaneously, a show- cause notice under the provisions of the Contempt of Court Act was issued. The Superintendent, who was present in the court, was directed to receive the death warrants. Despite the directions, the death warrants were not received and the Superintendent left the court. The reference said the court then directed the death warrants be sent through a special messenger. But he reported back that the jail sentry had refused to receive the warrants. A show-cause was then ordered to be issued to the Superintendent to appear in person on April 25 and explain under what circumstances the death warrants were not received by the jail staff. The Judge said through an order dated June 7, it was held that Jhakar’s conduct amounted to interference with the due course of the judicial process and obstruction of the administration of justice and lowered the authority of the court. A reference was accordingly being made to the High Court for taking action against Jhakhar.
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Lab attendants at Rajindra Hospital go on strike
Patiala, July 10 Talking to The Tribune, Sonia Devi, who had come from Samana to get her blood tests done, said she had been suffering from fever on and off and was initially taking treatment from a private doctor. “When I didn’t recover, I came to Government Rajindra Hospital and was asked to get blood tests done by a doctor. When I went for the tests today morning, attendants refused to take the samples and asked me to come some other day. I requested them that I had come from a far away place but they were not ready to listen,” she added. Gurjant Singh said he had come along with his wife and requested attendants to take her urine sample to which they refused. Therefore, they had to visit a nearby private laboratory to get her tests done. “This is unethical. If they want to register their protest, they should find another way to do so instead of troubling patients. Private laboratories charge more than double the money charged by government hospitals,” he said. Medical Laboratory Attendant Association state president Kesar Singh said they had boycotted work on Tuesday in protest against the indifferent attitude adopted by the government towards lab attendants. “In a notification issued on January 1, 2011, the Punjab Government had said that the categories of workers whose pay scales could not be upgraded would be given Rs 150 allowance but till date, we have not received even a single rupee in this regard,” he said. “We went on strike today but the principal of the GMC is on leave. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the strike till he returns,” he added. He said while they collect around 500 test samples on a daily basis at Rajindra Hospital, they only took 40 to 50 samples today of the patients who belonged to the BPL families and emergency cases. Officiating principal of the GMC Dr TS Poonia said he had asked the protesting workers to continue work till principal Dr KD Singh returns because he could not take any decision in his absence. “So, they have assured me that they will start work from tomorrow,” he added.
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From July 25, fly to Europe via Armenia
Amritsar, July 10 With the start of these flights, Amritsar's Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport would get connected to another city in Europe, a development that would facilitate the Indian diaspora. The Yerevan-Amritsar-Yerevan flight would fly every Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, it will take off at 3:10 am and on Wednesday at 3:40 am. The flight will take 4.30 hours to reach either side. The airline will operate these flights with Airbus-320 comprising a seating capacity of either 148 or 164 seats. Armavia airport manager Sachin Chadha said from Yerevan, passengers would be able to catch connecting flights to Birmingham, Rome and Milan. He said the distance between Zvartnots and Birmingham could be covered in five hours. Chadha said keeping in view passengers' convenience, the airline had kept a minimum transit time at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, a newly built state-of-the-art airport with all modern facilities. Amritsar airport director Sunil Dutt said a large number of Punjabi-origin NRIs were settled in Europe and the flight would prove beneficial for them.
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Re-demarcation of land will decide former DC’s fate
Chandigarh, July 10 The state has been directed to once again conduct the demarcation of the 6,000 sq yard plot in Patiala, which houses the offices of the Civil Surgeon and the Education department, by July 19. The registry of this plot in October 2011 had led to the suspension of the then Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg and five other revenue officials, including district revenue officer Rajbir Singh, tehsildar AS Thind, naib tehsildar GS Walia, kanungo Pritpal Singh and patwari Suresh Kumar. Vigilance chief Suresh Arora is personally supervising the Vigilance inquiry against the former DC and other revenue employees. A special team has been constituted for the purpose which will be headed by Inspector General (Economic Offences) B Neerja. He will be assisted by the Patiala Vigilance SSP and a DSP. Sources say the crux of the matter is whether the land in question is government or private owned. Despite being indicted for selling government land by former Commissioner SR Ladhar, the former DC claims that he has done no wrong and that the land in question belongs to one Kiraninder Singh, a member of the erstwhile Patiala royal family. Besides Ladhar, even the then Financial Commissioner (Revenue) NS Kang had held that the officers concerned had committed irregularities in allowing registration of the land. The case may now depend on the result of the re-demarcation exercise for which the Patiala revenue authorities are yet to issue notices to the parties concerned. Sources say in case the exercise proves that the land is indeed government land, the former DC as well as other officials could face criminal cases against them. The Vigilance inquiry against them would be turned into a regular Vigilance case. The Vigilance Department has been given a month’s time to complete the inquiry. It was given the file in this regard on June 22.
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Tackling uranium in water top priority: Sukhbir
Patiala, July 10 Addressing a gathering, after paying tributes to Kartar Singh Dhindsa, elder brother of Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa at his bhog ceremony held at Ubhawal village in Sangrur today, Sukhbir said, “Punjab has to launch a war against uranium pollution in water, which is specific only to Punjab.” He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had already requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allocate a special budget to tackle the problem of uranium, as it has been done in the case of arsenic and fluoride contamination. Sukhbir said a BARC team was trying to locate the source of uranium contamination and the state government was taking all possible measures to provide RO system in uranium affected areas. — TNS
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Mill sealed for violating pollution control norms
Patiala, July 10 A team of PPCB officials led by environmental engineer Pawan Kumar Garg raided the mill on May 9 but it was sealed on Monday after receiving test reports, which proved that the mill was flouting the rules and regulations laid down by the PPCB. Garg said during the raid, it was detected that the air pollution control device (APCD) installed in the mill was not working. Also, samples were taken from the mill by the team, he said. “The mill violated the conditions of consent granted to operate the industry under the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and was found causing air pollution in the area intentionally and deliberately,” he added. Garg said after serving a notice, an opportunity of hearing was given to the mill owner on July 5, wherein mill proprietor Gurdeep Singh submitted that fireman of the industry had not made the APCD operational. “Since the charges against the mill were proved, it was sealed yesterday”, he said. Meanwhile, PPCB chairman Ravinder Singh held a meeting with the owners of the rolling mills operating from Mandi Gobindgarh. During the meeting, the chairman said, “Air pollution in Mandi Gobindgarh is alarming and in case the mills fail to ensure that all pollution control norms are not complied with, strict action, amounting to closure of the mills will be taken by the board.”
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Gender ratio: Minister awards Ropar village
Mohali, July 10 Village sarpanch Anita Devi received the first prize for the achievement from Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal during a state-level function here today. While talking to The Tribune, Anita Devi said there were as many as 73 girls out of the total 113 children in the village. A majority of the village residents are labourers, while the rest are small-time agriculturists. "We treat boys and girls equally and none from our village go for gender determination test," claimed Anita, who has been elected sarpanch for the second time. "Whenever any woman of the village gets pregnant, we start counselling her not to go for gender determination test at any cost. Many families have two or more daughters," said Anita, who is also a mother of two daughters and a son. "Apart from this, we also apprise the poor families about the benefits being given by the state government to a girl child," she added. The second prize went to Mandkula village in Kapurthala district, whose gender ration is 1,778 females per 1,000 males, while Karamgarh Chattra, a village in Bathinda district, got the third prize for 1,635 females per 1,000 males. As many as 75 villages were selected for the special awards for their efforts in improving the gender ratio in the state. Cash award worth Rs 1.5 lakh was given to each of these villages to be used for any development work. Earlier, Madan Mohan Mittal made an appeal to all the panchayats in the state to come forward to save the girl child and eradicate social evils like female foeticide and dowry from society.
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Cancer fund row
Amritsar, July 10 There are reports that out of the 140 beneficiaries who received aid between April 5 and May 16, 72 were from Ludhiana alone. It also came to light that out of the total Rs 31.62 lakh disbursed under the programme, Rs 15.30 lakh were distributed in Ludhiana, the home town of the SGPC chief. Besides, three cancer patients from the Talwandi Sabo block of Bathinda, two from Mansa, two from Barnala, and one patient each from Moga, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Faridkot districts had received aid from this fund. Hence, only 11 patients from the districts with high cancer prevalence received financial assistance from the SGPC. Makkar said the beneficiaries from Ludhiana did not hail from the constituency from where he contested the SGPC elections. Makkar admitted that the amount being given by them to cancer patients was not much (between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000), but said the SGPC had its limitations.
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Sikh clergy to meet tomorrow
Amritsar, July 10 Talking to mediapersons here today, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said they had sought a clarification from the Hemkund Sahib gurdwara management regarding reports of wild bears entering the shrine during winters. Located at a height of 15,200 ft, the shrine remains cut off from the rest of the country for five to six months every year because of heavy snowfall. The Akal Takht has asked the gurdwara management to explain if the bears had caused any damage to the Guru Granth Sahib installed in the shrine. The Jathedar said measures would be initiated to ensure that such incidents did not recur at Hemkund Sahib. Another key issue that will figure at the meeting is the implementation of the Akal Takht edict, banning gurdwaras on caste lines. The Jathedar said the Sikh community stood as one and the “doors of gurdwaras are open to one and all without bias.” He said in villages that had more than two gurdwaras, these should be utilised for community works. The violent clash between DSGMC supporters and SAD workers at Gurdwara Bala Sahib in New Delhi on March 2 will also feature at the meeting. The recent stand-off between followers of a dera and activists of Panthic groups over the demolition of a gurdwara at Waraich village near Amritsar will also be discussed by the Sikh clergy.
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Procurement agencies’ staff allege harassment
Chandigarh, July 10 “But when grains were found damaged, the field officials were taken to task and made to pay for the damaged stock.” The committee members alleged that at several places the field officials were forced to procure wheat with 12 per cent moisture content. Alleging that procurement had been politicised with politicians promising that the entire stock would be lifted, the committee said: “If the entire stock The committee said 90 per cent field staff of various procurement agencies had been issued a charge sheet. “There are 1,200 officials whose post-retirement benefits have been withheld. Most of them were served a charge sheet regarding damaged foodgrain on the last day of their retirement”, said Bhupinder Singh, committee convener. Pleading uniformity in norms for storing
foodgrain, another member Vidhu Shekhar said the committee had given a call for an agitation from July 25 to press the government to drop the charges against these employees.
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Delivering justice through email
Chandigarh, July 10 The development is significant as the programme of sending notices and summons through emails will expedite the process of delivering justice. A module for sending notices and summons through email has already been tested and is ready for adaptation. Sources say instructions have been issued for training the staff of judicial branches with effect from July 16. The High Court has made it clear that it would be compulsory to send notices/summons through emails from next week, that is from July 23, 2012, firstly in respect of all matters listed before the Division Benches” The High Court has also laid down the deadline and the procedures for the A computer system shall be provided to each court and a court officer or the restorer shall be trained to operate the file management module. Documents, including petitions and applications, will be uploaded after scanning before 10 am the following day and summons and notices sent the same day. Leaving nothing to chance, the High Court will initially be sending the hard copy as well. “The summons shall continue to be sent through the hard copy as well till the process is reviewed in the first week of August 2012”. The High Court is already providing case status to litigants through a short message service. The entire exercise is in sync with the principle of “administration of justice on the doorstep”.
HC goes online
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1 more held in Yannick assault case
Jalandhar, July 10 Meanwhile, a city court today extended police remand of Nawanshahr SP Dharam Singh Uppal’s son Ramandeep Singh alias Romi, an accused in the case, by two days. Romi along with another accused Amandeep, who was held yesterday, was produced in the court of Duty Magistrate Jasvir Kaur this afternoon. Amandeep was sent to police custody for two days. Three other accused in the case -Harsh Gosain, Bantu and Jaskaran Singh Jassa - are still absconding. Mahal said raids were being conducted to nab them. He said a look-out circular would be issued for Jaskaran Singh who had reportedly flown to Australia. — TNS
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Another Moga man murdered in Manila
Moga, July 10 Six youths from Punjab have been killed in Manila in the past five months. Most of the victims were in the finance business. Jaggu, who had shifted to Manila about 12 years ago, was waylaid and murdered on a highway, said Harpal Singh, sarpanch of Mehna village. Two years ago, Balwinder from Moga district and his cousin Tajinder Pal Singh of Rajeana village were shot dead in the Philippines on May 11. In April 2010, a 23-year-old Ferozepur youth was attacked by robbers in Manila when he was returning home after work. In January 2011, 42-year-old Gurmail Singh of Kot Bhaktu village in Bathinda, working as a financier in Manila, was killed while he was returning home from office. A large number of Punjabis are settled in Manila, Cebu, and Davao towns of the Philippines. Many of them have their own business. But Punjabis in and around Manila are mostly engaged in finance, sales and marketing.
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Claiming to have made foolproof arrangements for tomorrow's bypoll, the local administration today said 48 of the total 192 polling booths were sensitive whereas two had been declared hypersensitive.
When the voters of Dasuya exercise their franchise tomorrow, one thing uppermost on their minds would be that no politician addressed two of their long-pending demands: tackling bushfires and promoting
industrialisation.
Chandigarh, July 10
Patients had a difficult time after the lab attendants of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital,
Patiala, went on strike today in protest against the delay in implementation of the 4-9-14 promotion policy. Many patients kept waiting outside the labs to get various tests done, while others had to approach private labs.
Dasuya, July 10
The SSP said of the 572 security personnel to be deployed at polling stations, 348 would be from the Punjab Police and 224 from the CRPF. The constituency has been divided into eight segments and each segment was being taken care of by a DSP-rank officer.