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Finally, rain brings cheer to Majha farmers
SMS alerts on fertiliser availability soon
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Recruitment of constables under scanner
Pak parliamentarians here for talks
Notification on illegal buildings
FIR likely against top cops for ‘implicating’ patwari
Bus operators block roads in Sunam
Govt yields to residents’ protest, sanctions staff for Civil Hospital
Environment
clearance
Drug cartel with Dubai links busted
De-addiction centre seeks higher grant
Fault hits Ropar thermal plant
Rly and excise officials meet to resolve tax row
De-addiction staff exhibits withdrawal symptoms
Patiala DC inspects flood control measures
Health secy seeks report on token money
MP petitions for compensation
Plea on setting aside panchayat poll declined
Youths assault 3 policemen
BSF arrests 4 Bangladeshi nationals
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Finally, rain brings cheer to Majha farmers
Amritsar, August 22 Kuljeet Singh, a farmer from Naushera village, said today's rain had put an end to the prolonged dry spell prevailing in the area, adversely affecting the crop. "It augurs well for our paddy crop as it will mitigate the threat of leafroller blight". He said even if it rained more in the coming days, it would not harm the crop as it was yet to ripen. Another farmer Sawinder Singh said though they did not need much water for paddy now, the fresh spell of shower would help them save money which they had been spending on diesel for running generator sets to irrigate their fields. Chief Agriculture Officer Dilbagh Singh said: "The district received 35 mm rainfall today, which will benefit not only paddy but also vegetables, green fodder and sugarcane. The farmers will be able to save on pesticides which they were planning to use in view of the attack of leafroller blight on paddy". The neighbouring Gurdaspur district also received good rainfall over the last one week, said Dr RK Sabharwal, Chief Agriculture Officer. However, farmers in some pockets lamented that it didn't rain enough. Jaspreet Singh, a farmer from Kahnuwan area, said though it rained in other parts of the district, their area received only moderate rainfall. He said cloudy weather conditions over the last few days had rekindled hopes of a good spell of shower, but they didn't get the expected respite. Pathankot too has received fair rainfall with Agriculture Officer Hartaranpal Singh revealing that it has been raining incessantly for the last three days in the district. Unlike other districts of Majha region, Pathankot has been receiving rains from August 10 onwards. Rain also lashed Tarn Taran district today, but like previous occasions, it was scattered as some parts received good rainfall while others merely got a drizzle. Farmer leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said the much-awaited spell of shower would reduce the problem of overloading at the power stations and increased demand of electricity in the farm as well as domestic sector.
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SMS alerts on fertiliser availability soon
Chandigarh, August 22 An official spokesman said the SMS service had been initiated to share information regarding distribution of fertilisers among cooperative society members. This, the spokesman said, was being done to check malpractice of black marketing in the distribution of fertilisers in the open market. The spokesman said the scheme was successfully tested in Muktsar, Bathinda and Jalandhar where around 10,000 SMSes were sent to the members of the cooperative societies to update them about the available stock fertilisers. According to this system, 10-20 members each from nearly 4,000 cooperative societies of the state were shortlisted by the department and their relevant details were forwarded to the service providers for SMS service. However, to widen the scope of the scheme, the government has now decided to send SMSes to 50 members of each society. As a part of this program, the mobile numbers of about 71,000 members have been fed into the system by Spice Digital limited. Under this system, SMSes would be sent by the agencies distributing fertilisers, Markfed and Iffco, to the nominated service provider immediately after trucks are dispatched from rack points to the societies. These SMSes would be forwarded by the service provider to the members of the societies concerned so that they could be updated about the latest status of the supply and could get it in time. The spokesperson said the information regarding the advance stock of DAP and other fertilisers to be allocated to the societies in the coming rabi season would also intimated to the members through the SMS service. The service would not only help the cooperative societies in keeping a strict vigil over the distribution of fertilisers but would also ensure better supervision and coordination among the agencies.
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Recruitment of constables under scanner
Acting on a petition accusing the State of Punjab and other respondents of “fraud” to help favourites, Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa today put the State, the Director-General of Police and other respondents on notice. He fixed November 17 as the next date of hearing. In their petition, Kailash Rani and another petitioner contended that a public notice appeared in newspapers for the recruitment of 3,726 male constables and 2,000 women constables in the district police cadre. The posts were divided into different zones. The petitioners submitted forms under the SC category under the Jalandhar zone. Counsel Surinder Pal Singh Tinna said while preparing the final selection list, the respondents “intentionally committed a fraud with the petitioners and other candidates in order to help their own favourites”. Elaborating, he said the final list prepared in the Jalandhar zone was “joint” for the reserved category. On the other hand, a separate selection list was prepared for the reserved categories in Patiala and Bathinda zones. In cases of SCs, there were two lists, SC I and SC II. “Had the list been prepared separately for Scheduled Caste candidates, the petitioners belonging to that category could have easily been appointed,”
he said. Moreover, the respondents in the advertisement showed 25 per cent reserved seats (for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes). In the Jalandhar zone, this came to be around 175 posts. But while issuing the final merit list, only 147 posts were filled.
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Pak parliamentarians here for talks
New Delhi, August 22 The delegation, which includes four senators and nine members of the National Assembly, is scheduled to meet Indian parliamentarians and businessmen with the objective of promoting durable peace, harmony and trade, a spokesman for the Pakistan High Commission here said. The delegation will also participate in the fourth round of the India-Pakistan parliamentarians’ dialogue. The visit comes less than a month before External Affairs Minister SM Krishna travels to Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar to review the progress in the dialogue process between the two countries. The visit is also significant in view of the fact that India recently decided to allow investments from Pakistan. However, the alleged involvement of elements in Pakistan in the hate messages which led to the exodus of the people of the North-East from various Indian cities and the reports of persecution of the Hindus in Pakistan have dampened the enthusiasm in India for improving trade ties with Pakistan. But Jehangir Badr, secretary general of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was confident that the delegation’s visit would enhance peace and trade between the two countries. “We will take forward the talks that are being held by the two governments and try to speed up trade activities in South Asia and also the peace process,” he said. Nafisa Shah, a member of the National Assembly from Sindh, said it was wrong to say that Hindus of Pakistan were leaving the country to settle in India because of the problems they were facing due to their religious beliefs. However, there were certain issues and structural laws which needed to be addressed. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to visit Bihar.Earlier, talking to the media at the Attari border, Badr denied that Hindus were migrating to India because of “persecution, forced conversions and kidnapping” by fundamentalists. “They are in India to meet their relatives and have no plans to settle in India,” he claimed. He said the media was exaggerating the issue. On the persecution of Hindus and other problems being faced by the Hindu minority community in Pakistan, he said the entire population of Pakistan was facing the problem of terrorism and fundamentalism. “Not only the Hindus, but Muslims too are being targeted by fundamentalists,” said Badr. Another Senator admitted that there was a sense of insecurity among Pak Hindus. He hastened to add that Pakistan’s President had formed a three-member parliamentary committee, that icluded members from the Hindu community, to look into their grievances.
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SAD makes inroads into Cong stronghold
Bathinda, August 22 Bhucho Mandi voters had remained loyal to the Congress during the 2009 general election even though the Bathinda seat was won by the SAD. During the assembly elections too the voters had opted for the Congress. Political sources said the SAD wanted to make sure that Harsimrat Badal was re-elected from the Bathinda parliamentary seat and, hence, was wooing local Congress leaders. Sources said a number of Congress leaders from Bhucho Mandi were scheduled to join the SAD on August 28.The SAD president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, had designed a strategy to make inroads into the Congress stronghold and bringing Congress leaders in the Akali fold was the first step in this direction. Bhucho Mandi is a strong business centre owing to its grain and cotton markets. Its residents are rich and influential. The Akalis have not won the Bhucho Mandi seat in the last four decades. Manpreet Badal, president of the People's Party of Punjab, is likely to contest against Harsimrat. Sources in the Congress said only “opportunistic leaders” were joining the SAD. Some were disappointed with the PCC leadership and did not see any future in the Congress.
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Crucial Cabinet meeting on Aug 28 Chandigarh, August 22 On the agenda would be important issues such as enhancing the retirement age of government employees from 58 to 60, said sources. The critical fiscal situation would also be discussed at the meeting. Bills worth several hundred crores are yet to be cleared. Only priority sector payments are being cleared by the treasury, it is learnt. The Badals have held several meetings with BJP leaders in the recent past to resolve the issue of levying fresh taxes, such as property tax and professional tax, as well as user charges to deal with the fiscal crisis. The BJP leaders, who had almost agreed to levying these taxes, now appear to be having second thoughts. They want that the proposed property tax and professional tax should be levied on a certain category of people. Those owning small houses and plots should be spared. The CM will have to again sort out the issue of new taxes with the BJP on his return. The state government needs to generate an additional Rs 5,000 crore to overcome the fiscal crisis and to accelerate development.
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Notification on illegal buildings Dera Bassi, August 22 In the order, High Court judges had issued directions as no construction would be allowed in any unauthorised colony and if raised, the same shall be demolished immediately and sub divisional magistrate would be responsible for this work.
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137 teachers found absent during surprise check
Jalandhar, August 22 It was found that the schools that had been provided computers under the EDUSAT programme were not being used by the school authorities at all. Enraged, Pannu ordered the suspension of Narinder Puri, District EDUSAT co-ordinator, there and then. “The computers in at least 10 per cent schools were either in need of repairs or were not used at all. Computer teachers in rural schools seem to lack the will and drive to do their best for the students,” said Pannu. Pannu said he had also suspended a clerk in the Education Department posted at Nangal Salala village who was found working for the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office at Jalandhar. Dalbir Singh, Headmaster, Government High School, Pudara, has also been suspended. “Teachers found absent today have been asked to submit an explanation. Those reporting late have been issued a warning,” he said. Pannu was all praise for the teachers posted at the Manko, Gandhra and Bara Pind schools for showing good results. He later held a meeting with District Education Officers, Block Education Officers and heads of various schools in Jalandhar where he emphasised the need to improve educational standards.
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FIR likely against top cops for ‘implicating’ patwari Patiala, August 22 Sources in the Home Department confirmed that the department had sanctioned the registration of a case against these police officers on the basis of an inquiry conducted by former special secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Kahan Singh Pannu. “The report has already been dispatched to the Police Department, which has to forward it to the district police for registration of a case,” they added. The sources said a meeting of top Home and police officials was held yesterday and it the FIR was expected today. The delay speaks volumes of the clout enjoyed in the bureaucratic circle by the “accused” officers. “The Chief Minister has already sanctioned the registration of an FIR and now it is just a matter of time,” the sources said. The case has been recommended against former PPS officer Shiv Kumar Sharma, former vigilance SP Banarsi Dass, former SP Surinder Pal Singh, former Vigilance SSP Jaspal Singh and sub-inspector Ishar Singh. “The role of PPS officer Surjit Singh Grewal in the case is under investigation,” said a senior home department official. Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said they were yet to receive any communiqué from the headquarters. “We will register a case once we receive a formal order,” he stated. Patwari Mohan Singh had allegedly offended from former PPS officer Shiv Kumar Sharma in November 2009 by asking Rs 20 as government fee for mutating his land at Rurki village, Fatehgarh Sahib. Later, Mohan Singh was “implicated” in the Rs 8-crore paddy scam. An FIR in this regard was registered by the VB police station in Ferozepur.
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Bus operators block roads in Sunam
Sangrur, August 22 They demanded that the FIR against the workers be cancelled and they be released at once. They also demanded that the administration stop students from travelling in private buses without a ticket. The protest ended at about 2 pm on the intervention of District Transport Officer (DTO) Gurpreet Singh Thind and Sunam Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jaskaran Singh Teja. When contacted, the DSP said the private bus operators were told not to take law into their own hands and if they faced trouble at the hands of students insisting on travelling ticketless, they should bring the matter to the notice of the police. Sunam SHO (City) Satnam Singh said the arrested employees, Hardeep Singh, Preet Pandit, Gurdeep Singh and Jagsir Singh, were produced in a Sunam court today. They were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. He said a case had been registered against them at the Sunam police station under Sections 365, 341, 323 and 149 of the IPC for “kidnapping and beating up” a student who was later released by them. Students of the Sunam ITI had a private college blocked the Sunam highway for several hours yesterday against the “highhandedness of workers of private bus operators.” They had alleged that some workers had mercilessly thrashed a student and kidnapped him.
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Govt yields to residents’ protest, sanctions staff for Civil Hospital
Earlier, a peaceful agitation by the residents for over 25 days had failed to impress upon the government to fill vacant posts of medical and paramedical staff in the hospital. Following this, the protesters intensified their stir and some of them even climbed atop an overhead water tank and threatened to commit suicide. The health authorities initially tried to persuade the protesters to climb down the water tank, but to no avail. Finally, the protesters got written orders about the posting of additional staff at the hospital. Against five sanctioned posts of medical officer and a dental surgeon, there was only one gynecologist in the hospital. Jaitu town has a population of over 1.5 lakh. Loveleen Kochhar, a member of the Sangrash Committee, said due to lack of staff at the hospital, people had to avail the services of quacks. Besides posts of medical officer, most of the paramedical staff posts are lying vacant. There is also no sweeper in the hospital. Two year ago, the only ultrasound machine in this hospital was shifted to Faridkot for a health camp and this machine never returned. Faridkot Civil Surgeon Tejwant Singh had given an assurance to the residents to fulfilling the other demands, but the locals had little hope, said
Loveleen.
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Ensure 100% enrolment of voters: Kusumjit
Jalandhar, August 22 Kusumjit directed the ROs concerned to pay more attention to enrolling eligible youth in schools and colleges, especially those in the age group of 18 to 20 years. She laid stress on the registration of votes of labourers by reaching out to them in their colonies or work places. She also emphasised on ensuring that the police officers and government employees who keep on getting transferred be also registered and their voter cards be made. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Priyank Bharti said 13,93,684 voters had already been registered, which included 7,25,441 males and 6,68,243 females. He said that ID cards of 13,89,470 voters had already been issued and the rest would get these at the earliest. Others present in the meeting were Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar, ADC, Jalandhar, Sarojini Gautam Sharda, ADC, Kapurthala, Gurpreet Singh Khera, SDM-I Iqbal Singh Sandhu, SDM-II Isha Kalia, SDM, Nakodar, Sumit Kumar, SDM, Shahkot, TN Passi, SDM, Phillaur, Jasvir Singh, Deputy Director, Local Bodies Pritam Singh, Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Jaskiran Singh and tehsildar (elections) Raj Kumar
Tangri.
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Environment
clearance
Chandigarh, August 22 The decision was taken at a meeting of brick-kiln owners with Industries Minister Anil Joshi yesterday. The kiln owners said the inclusion of brick earth in the category of minor minerals had led to a complete shut down of the brick-kilns. During the meeting, the brick-kiln owners, who had converged here from across the state, alleged 13 brick-kilns in Dinanagar (Pathankot district) and three in Hoshiarpur were allowed to function "under official connivance" while many others across the state had been shut down. They alleged while notices had been issued to all brick-kilns by the Industries and Food and Civil Supplies Departments in June, saying that their licences to operate would be renewed only after they obtained the environment clearance, the above mentioned kilns were still in operation. Sarabjit Singh Dhillon, general secretary of Ludhiana Brick-Kiln Owners Association, said these kilns had now stocked up to one crore bricks in sheds even as they did not have the clearance. The Industries Department has denied these allegations. AR Talwar, Principal Secretary, said they had asked general managers of all districts to ensure that no excavation of brick earth took place. "We will take action in case of any violation," he said. The closure of brick-kilns across the state has hit the already fledgling infrastructure and real estate sector. An average of 15 crore bricks were produced in the state daily before the production came to a halt.
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Drug cartel with Dubai links busted
Bathinda, August 22 The gang had recently smuggled hashish worth about Rs 90 crore through the Indo-Pakistan border in Ferozepur district, said Jatinder Jain, Inspector-General of police (IGP), Intelligence. The smugglers were introduced to a gang in Pakistan by a person in Dubai for supplying drugs and fake currency notes. The gang tried to smuggle 7 kg of heroin and fake currency worth Rs 5.73 lakh through the border fencing at Bareke on August 17. However, the packets containing the contraband got entangled in the barbed wire, setting off the alarm. The smugglers tried to flee as they saw a BSF patrol party approaching them. They were identified by the counter-intelligence wing and arrested.
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De-addiction centre seeks higher grant
Sangrur, August 22 The centre was started in September 2005, under a sponsored project of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The ministry had sanctioned a grant of Rs 6.82 lakh to the centre for the year 2011-12, . Sources say while the project director gets Rs 8,000 per month, psychologist, social worker and counsellor get Rs 6,500 each. The other staff also get minimal salaries, ward boy Rs 5,000, peer educator Rs 2,000, chowkidar Rs 2,200 and sweeper Rs 2,200. Besides, there are three part-time employees, a medical officer (Rs 5,000 per month), an accountant (Rs 5,000) and a yoga therapist (Rs 2,200). The post of nurse has been lying vacant. The staff members have urged the government to hike their salaries. Project Director Mohan Sharma and Medical Officer Pardeep Kumar said even an amount of Rs 6,000 per month for medicines was inadequate. The ministry must increase the grant, they added. The sources say the centre has treated over 3,300 drug addicts since 2005.
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Fault hits Ropar thermal plant
Ropar, August 22 The generating capacity of each of the six units is 210 MW. The exact cause of the leakage would be ascertained only after it the boiler gets cool down before its repair is undertaken. This is the second time in the last one week that a unit was shut down due to mechanical fault. On Friday last, a leakage was detected in Unit No. 5 and the generation was hit for two days. Chief Engineer K Lal said the repair of the unit would be completed by tomorrow evening.
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Nepalese
woman’s murder
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 22 The accused has been identified as Kayamdin alias Vishal Kumar, who was working at a dhaba located near the district administrative complex. He was a resident of village Kaw Surotro in Udhampur district. Giving details to the media, Senior Superintendent of Police Hardyal Singh Mann said they suspected Kayamdin, who worked at the dhaba owned by Gurmail Singh of Bassi Pathana, to be the killer after he had gone missing. A police team headed by Station House Officer, Davinder Singh, left for the neighbouring state and arrested the accused at his native place, Mann added. Mann said Kayamdin had been working at the said dhaba for the last one year. The accused said the victim, in return for food, had been cleaning utensils for the dhaba owner for over one and a half months. At night the victim used to sleep inside the dhaba while the dhaba owner and other male employees slept outside. Kayamdin said on the day of the incident he jumped over the wall and tried to molest the woman and when she resisted he hit her on the head with a hammer. The unidentified Nepalese woman was found murdered at the dhaba on the intervening night of August 8 and 9. Interestingly, the dhaba owner did not know the identity of the woman. The police had already registered a case under section 302, 34 IPC on the statement of Hardeep Singh, an employee at the dhaba. The police had recovered the hammer and blood stained clothes of the accused. Further investigation into the case were on.
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Rly and excise officials meet to resolve tax row
Bathinda, August 22 Providing respite to the DRMs, the court of the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Joint Director, Investigation, Faridkot and Ferozepur Divisions, also ordered the release of their salary. Rs 500 each from the salary of the DRMs and two other senior railway functionaries was attached by the commissioner's court a few days ago. The railway officials also submitted an affidavit wherein they assured every possible help and cooperation to the excise officials as per the prescribed rules and regulations. "We have been relieved from the orders of salary attachment following the assurance to cooperate with the excise officials. Now the matter stands resolved. All the pending issues too would be sorted out," said Naresh Goyal, DRM, Ferozepur Division, after attending the meeting. He said railway officials agreed to provide the documents pertaining to the import of taxable goods through various trains at different railway stations. "Though we cannot provide the details of the past seven years, we did agree on giving the details of the goods imported since January 2012," Goyal said. Excise officials had earlier accused the railway officials of not cooperating with them in revealing the quantity of taxable goods being brought by various traders via the trains at railway stations. The excise officials said the traders adopt train routes to evade taxes by bringing goods worth crores
every year.
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De-addiction staff exhibits withdrawal symptoms
Meant to take addicts on the path of de-addiction, the employees at these centres now find their motivation flagging. The Methadone Centre, which is among the five such centres in the country, has been functioning since February this year. A UNODC project, the centre is run daily even on holidays, irrespective of the weather conditions. "This is because the centre is meant for intravenous drug users who are put on a dose of methadone to wean them away from drugs. For one year, they have to be administered methadone regularly. Which is why we have to be here, no matter what happens," said an employee. Currently, the centre has 57 patients. The same set of employees is also running the 25-bed de-addiction centre where there are a number of patients from as far away as Rajasthan. The staff last got their salary in the month of April. "After that, we haven't got even a single penny. All of us are married and we have responsibilities to shoulder. There is no motivation left and at times we feel like leaving this job," confessed one of the employees. All the employees are overworked. With no salaries coming, the in-charge of the centre has written to the Deputy Commissioner, who is the chairman, Red Cross Society as well as to the Civil Surgeon a number of times. It is learnt that the in-charge has even stated that the centre can not run if such conditions persist. Sources said a venture of the Red Cross Society, the Chandigarh-based Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA-N), Punjab, was earlier funding the centre. Also, the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery management was donating Rs 2.40 lakh every year. The administrative set-up was with the Red Cross, while the SOSVA funded the project. However, the SOSVA stopped funding the project this year. The Chairman, Red Cross, then wrote to the management of the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery to take over the project and provide complete funding. "The refinery gave a cheque to the Red Cross in April on the basis of which we were given the salaries. However, no money came after that," added another employee. Secretary, Red Cross, JR Goyal said the refinery would soon give more aid and all salaries would be paid. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery said it was supposed to give the cheque for further grant today, but since the Deputy Commissioner was out of station, the cheque could not be given. "We just provide the funds and it is up to the discretion of the Red Cross Society on ways to use it. We are not aware that the salary is completely dependent on us," he added. However, the employees laid emphasis on streamlining and regularising the salary disbursal procedure so that they do not face any problems.
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Patiala DC inspects flood control measures
Patiala, August 22 Addressing officers, Patiala Deputy Commissioner GK Singh said the officers should be prepared to tackle any emergency resulting from floods. Singh had last month directed all Sub Divisional Magistrates to prepare a list of the social activists who could be contacted to help the govt in relief operations.
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Health secy seeks report on token money
Patiala, August 22 Anjali Bhawra said she would take appropriate action against the culprits, once she gets the report from the Medical
Superintendent of the hospital. Earlier in July, the hospital administration had sought an enquiry into the issue and had issued relieving orders to nine staff nurses and ward
attendants. But till now despite having received the orders, five of them continue to work at the same
department while only four of them were transferred to other departments.
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Ludhiana, August 22 "I request that the petition be accepted and necessary recommendation be made to get justice for Parvati," stated Avinash Rai Khanna. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had promised to compensate the victim's family and provide a government job to Parvati. Tea vendor, Santosh had sacrificed his life in nabbing Balbir Singh Bhootna, who was trying to escape, at Ludiana Railway Station on August 25, 2009. However, state government did not consider the incident as an act of terrorism and rejected Parvati's plea for compensation. —TNS
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Plea on setting aside panchayat poll declined
Chandigarh, August 22 The significant ruling came on a petition filed by Kulwinder Kaur against the State of Punjab and other respondents. In her petition placed before Justice Ranjit Singh, Kulwinder Kaur, a resident of Jagpalpur village in Phagwara, had alleged that the State of Punjab and other respondents had made “less reservation” for the post of panch in the Scheduled Caste category. She had said that two posts of panch had been reserved for Scheduled Castes of the seven elected to the gram panchayat. In an earlier election, three posts had been reserved for SC candidates. Hence, the entire election process was in violation of the mandatory provisions and the election was liable to be set aside. Her counsel had contended that the State of Punjab had admitted the discrepancy and attributed it mainly to the Phagwara Block Development and Panchayat Officer's negligence. Taking up the matter, Justice Ranjit Singh took note of the fact that the state in its reply had mentioned that action had been initiated against the Block Development and Panchayat Officer for providing wrong information. The officer had been denied increment. In his detailed order, Justice Ranjit Singh observed that the election had been held, the electorate had exercised franchise and candidates elected on the basis of majority votes. "Merely because less number of posts (for panch) were reserved, in my view, this would not go to vitiate the entire election process. If the post had been reserved, SC candidates would have competed among themselves and not with any general category candidate?. "Even otherwise, I have serious doubts whether the court can go into such-like issues and nullify the choice of the electorate..."
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Youths assault 3 policemen
Moga, August 22 The police has registered a case against seven youths. Three accused have been arrested. Sources said when the three police officials, Inderjit Singh, Chamkaur Singh and Balbir Singh, stopped the youths for questioning, the latter attacked them. The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital at Baghapurana. Two of them received injuries on their head. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were drunk and they got offended when stopped for questioning by the policemen.
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BSF arrests 4 Bangladeshi nationals Ferozepur, August 22 BSF sentinels posted at border outpost HK Tower spotted some movement along the fencing near border pillar 189/6 on Tuesday night following which the troops got into action. BSF officials said that the troops apprehended a resident of Bangladesh, identified as Ali Ahmed, aged around 30 years.
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Chandigarh, August 22
Nepalese
woman’s murder
Chandigarh, August 22
Jaitu (Faridkot), August 22
Bathinda, August 22