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Memorial has no link with attack on Brar, says SGPC
Paddy Sale
Farmers' protest brings rail traffic to a halt
Practise what you preach, Capt told
7 Gurdaspur jail warders suspended
More names deleted from pensioners’ list in Muktsar
Staff crunch in Punjab’s rural schools Probe begins into
school bunglings
Diversification: Central team to visit Punjab today
Prof Mohan Singh Mela from Oct 19
Police remand for two KZF members
Muktsar double murder accused held after a year
Faridkot ASI held taking bribe
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Cong raising bogey of militancy, says Sukhbir
Jalandhar, October 5 “Not even a single incident related to militancy has been reported in Punjab in recent years,” he said. Sukhbir said the attack on Lt Gen KS Brar (retd) reflected poorly on the Union Government as it was the Centre’s, not the state government’s, duty to provide protection to the former Army officer. “The Punjab Police was not at all connected with Brar’s protection,” he said. Speaking to mediapersons at Nawanshahr after inducting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi into the SAD fold, Sukhbir said as a Home Minister of Punjab, he was committed to maintain peace in the state. “Nobody, including the Congress, will be allowed to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere,” he said. “Raising the militancy issue, especially ahead of any elections in the country, is an old experiment carried out regularly in the Congress’s political laboratory. But, the party can no more hoodwink the voters through such divisive tactics,” he said. Condemning the release order of Kishori Lal, who allegedly hacked six Sikhs during the 1984 riots, Sukhbir claimed that the crucial decision, and that too after the announcement of Gujarat and Himachal elections, had to be seen in the context of the Congress’s vote-bank politics. “The SAD will use every forum to block Kishori Lal’s release and to ensure punishment for all accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,” he said. Welcoming Sukhi and Sohan Lal Dhanda of the BSP into the SAD, he said during the last few months, all main (BSP) leaders having mass base had joined the Akali Dal “after getting attracted by the party’s pro-poor and “pro-Dalit policies”.
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Memorial has no link with attack on Brar, says SGPC
Amritsar, October 5 The basic structure of the memorial, which is octagonal in shape, has come up in four months after ‘kar sewa’ was started on June 6, the 28th anniversary of the Operation Bluestar. Now, work on appending white marble on its outer walls is about to begin. Sources said a dome-like structure atop the memorial will be erected only after a similar one is raised at the adjoining Gurdwara Thara Sahib. A decision in this regard is pending before the SGPC and the Damdami Taksal. The memorial will come up on an area measuring 31 feet x 31 feet with a height of 19 feet, less than the adjoining Gurdwara Thara Sahib. The left plank of the building adjacent to Miri Piri will serve as an entrance to the memorial. The Damdami Taksal believes that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had “attained martyrdom” at that very point. After the attack on General Brar, questions are being raised as to the nature of the memorial. But the SGPC has been saying all along that it will only be a gurdwara in memory of those killed in the Army operation. Damdami Taksal Chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, who could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, has also clarified in the past that the memorial will be a tribute to not only Bhindranwale but also the pilgrims killed during Operation Bluestar. The attack on Brar has sparked fears regarding the revival of militancy in the state, with the memorial acting as a trigger. Avtar Singh Makkar, SGPC chief, who had earlier said that “the SGPC will never allow any such activity in the Golden Temple complex which may disturb peace or push the state back into turmoil,” was not available for comment in view of the fresh controversy. He is recuperating from a knee surgery in a Delhi hospital. But SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said the attack on General Brar had nothing to do with the memorial. He said: “Those associated with Operation Bluestar have been attacked in the past too when there was no memorial.” He also said that the attack should be probed as it could be a “conspiracy to tarnish the image of the Sikhs”. He clarified that there will be no picture gallery inside the memorial. Sikh scholar Bhai Ashok Singh Bagarian said the memorial was an internal matter of the Sikhs and nobody should interfere. Radical Sikh outfit leader Kanwarpal Singh said the memorial would in no way disturb peace in Punjab. Treading Cautiously
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Paddy Sale
Chandigarh, October 5 “Already, the government has paid subsidy to the tune of Rs 3,400 crore to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited,” said an official. The remaining bills would be cleared in the due course, he added. The free power subsidy bill for the current fiscal year stands at Rs 5,800 crore. The government is expecting a substantial revenue from the procurement of paddy during the next five weeks. “We are expecting Rs 1,000 crore as VAT from the sale of paddy in October and November,” said a government official. The government charges 5 per cent VAT on sale of paddy. With the extension in government service, the government expects to save about Rs 80 crore per month. This too will help the government to some extent. The rise in VAT will also begin to yield resultsin the next few months. “We are hopeful that the fiscal situation will improve to by the end of December”, said a senior official. Source said that revenue generation from stamp duty was not on the expected lines. The government has been taking loan from various sources on a regular basis. The loan limit for the current fiscal year is about Rs 13,000 crore and the government has already availed about Rs 6,000 crore loan, it is learnt.
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Moga police cracks the whip on sand mafia
Moga, October 5 Senior Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Grewal said he got a tipoff that illegal mining was going on in the adjoining villages of Ferozepur district and that sand was being transported during the night to other parts of the state through Moga district. “I constituted police teams that carried out a night-long operation and seized 11 trucks and 2 trailers of sand,” he said. He said seven FIRs had been registered under Section 379 of the IPC and various Sections of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, with the Mehna police station and six FIRs with the Dharamkot police station. “We arrested at least 13 persons in this regard. But one of them escaped from a spot at Mehna,” the SSP said. On August 18 this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had banned sand mining in 241 quarries of less than five hectares across the state. This order was in tandem with the Supreme Court order of February 27 that stated that permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests was mandatory for quarrying of minor minerals on land less than five hectares. The trucks seized by the Moga police were loaded from Peer Mohammad, Waris Wala Jattan and nearby villages that are located in the Zira subdivision of Ferozepur district.
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Farmers' protest brings rail traffic to a halt
Amritsar, October 5 Scores of activists of these outfits hit the rail track at
Rayya, near Amritsar, blocking the rail traffic for around three hours between 1 pm and 4 pm, besides resorting to road blockade at
Attari, Rayya, Ajnala, Majitha, Beas and Chogawan areas of the district. BKU
(Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said shops and commercial establishments remained closed during their bandh call in 78 towns.
Bathinda: Members of 17 Kisan Mazdoor Organisations blocked the Bathinda-Rampura-Barnala road for over four hours. The farmers criticised the
SAD-BJP government for imposing unnecessary penalties and increasing the power tariff. Tarn
Taran: The Punjab Bandh evoked mixed response in the border district, though a large number of farmers and other workers participated in protests at different places.
Moga: Agitating farmers blocked rail traffic on the outskirts of Moga, forcing the railway authorities to halt the trains at Ludhiana and Ferozepur stations.
Sangrur: A large number of activists of various farmer bodies blocked rail traffic by staging a dharna on the railway level crossing at
Sunam, 13 km from here. The dharna was staged from 1 pm to 4 pm. Jalandhar: A number of trains were hit in various parts.
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FDI a bitter US recipe: Dasgupta
Ludhiana, October 5 Dasgupta claimed that the Centre was under wrong impression that by introducing FDI in various sectors it would be able to find a solution to the economic mess. Addressing mediapersons here today, he said, “The GDP has fallen to an all-time low of 5.3 per cent, industrial growth is negative, food inflation has touched double digit, expenditure in welfare schemes is being drastically slashed and job opportunities are shrinking with workers facing threat of wage cut and retrenchment.” Dasgupta, the general secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, was here to participate in a convention against price rise and “anti-people” policies of the Union Government. He claimed that the path chosen by the Centre to rid the nation of the sluggish economy was not the right one. He said instead of opening gates to the FDI in retail and other crucial sectors, the government should take appropriate measures to promote industrial growth, create more jobs and bring down prices. "Promotion of domestic investment, both from the government and private participants alone, will combat recession," he said. He said all central trade unions had decided to hold nationwide protests on December 18 and 19, to be followed by a protest march to Parliament on December 20.
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Practise what you preach, Capt told
Chandigarh, October 5 Amarinder had in a statement yesterday claimed that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had rewarded former terrorists and that five of them had been given important positions in the party and the government. Tejpreet Singh Peter, who has served as vice chairman of Punjab Infotech, and Maninder Singh Patti, a former Assistant Advocate General, said Amarinder should shun militants. Tejpreet Peter said he had resigned from his position in Punjab Infotech in 2007 after he learnt that Amarinder was supporting the candidature of Harminder Gill from Patti. Peter said it was strange that someone who had been arrested from the Golden Temple after Operation Bluestar had been brought into the Congress fold.
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Shirt-less protest by BJP workers
Chandigarh, October 5 Hundreds of farmers from Punjab and Haryana joined the rally. The farmers removed their shirts and kurtas as a symbol of protest and later submitted memorandums to the governors of Punjab and Haryana. Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankar said the Congress-led UPA government had uprooted the farmers in a country where agriculture was so intrinsic and it was leading to panic in the farming community. The agriculture department of the Central government was making retrogressive policies by not increasing the MSP of various crops, he added. He said that compared to last year, the input cost of wheat had increased by Rs 200 per quintal. He demanded that the Swaminathan formula be applied and the MSP of wheat should be announced to Rs 2,100 per quintal. He emphasised on the need to have right policies for agriculture produce which fixes minimum income of farmers. Crops’ profit price formula should also be accepted, he added. Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said the Prime Minister had become a mere puppet in the hands of foreign powers and was bent on destroying the future of traders and the common man.
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3 Ludhiana guards may lose job
Ludhiana, October 5 On September 20, three hardcore criminals had broken out of the Ludhiana Central Jail by creating a 1.5-foot-hole in the wall of their cell with the help of a spoon and further scaling a 16-foot-high jail wall by creating a human ladder. They were later nabbed by the police from Dhandari area. Three jail warders, Sukhdev Singh, Ramesh Chander and Ashok Kumar, were earlier suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the jailbreak case and a probe was initiated to find out their involvement. Confirming the development, the ADGP (Prison) said, "The case has been referred to the headquarters for approval." Deputy Superintendent of Ludhiana jail KS Cheema, however, said he was yet to receive the dismissal order.
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7 Gurdaspur jail warders suspended
Gurdaspur, October 5 A senior officer claimed that an inquiry into the jailbreak will be conducted after the three inmates are brought back to the prison from Ludhiana from where they were nabbed. The Jail Superintendent will be a part of the inquiry team. All three escapees were hardcore criminals. Bikram Singh of Verka in Amritsar is involved in 20 cases, Manga Masih of Mannepur village of Gurdaspur nine cases and Baljit Singh of Shakri village, also in Gurdaspur district, two cases. The police is yet to trace two undertrials had escaped last month. In March, the jail authorities were caught in a piquant situation when an undertrial perched himself atop a water tank minutes before a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge was slated to inspect the prison’s facilities. The judge had to delay his visit by nearly three hours. Sources claim that such incidents are likely to recur as the jail is woefully understaffed. An officer claimed that the jail had a sanctioned staff of 90 security guards against 750 inmates since 1950. The number of prisoners had increased to 1,313 but the number of security guards remained at 90.
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More names deleted from pensioners’ list in Muktsar
Muktsar, October 5 The pensioners, who were told yesterday that their names had been deleted as they were “under-aged”, came to the District Administrative Complex today. They claimed that most of them were in their seventies and were entitled to old-age pension. Most of them carried their age certificates and identity cards issued under the electronic benefit transfer
(EBT) scheme for the purpose of disbursing pension. The department officials had deleted the names of 9,000 pensioners in the district in a survey held a few months ago. Before that, at least 100 residents of Maha Badhar village had been denied
pension. Guggu Singh , the husband of the village sarpanch, accompanied the aggrieved pensioners. He said no official had visited the village to collect age proof of the beneficiaries. Said Manjeet
Kaur: “We were not being paid pension for the past five months.Yesterday, an official visited our village and handed over a list of beneficiaries whose names had been deleted.The list was found to be issued in June.” District Social Security Officer Rajwinder Singh Gill said : “All those having any objection in this regard must file an application before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. If, on rechecking of records, it is found that their complaint is genuine, pension to them will be resumed immediately.”
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Staff crunch in Punjab’s rural schools Patiala, October 5 Though the department has adjusted many of the teachers, schools in rural belts of many districts are still facing an acute staff crunch. There are more than 400 vacant posts of master cadre teachers and 50 of lecturers in Patiala district alone and more than 50 per cent of these posts are of mathematics and science teachers. Since the vacancies of mathematics and science posts are high, students in rural areas are at the receiving end. The Government Senior Secondary School, Shutrana, Government Senior Secondary School, Arno, Government Senior Secondary School Taipur and Government Senior Secondary School, Dugal are among them to name a few. A principal said that since there was a shortage of mathematics and science teachers, students in rural areas were lagging behind in these subjects. Even if some PTI or drawing teacher is given adjustment period, they are unable to teach these subjects as a result of which the students suffer in these subjects. “Many students are shifting to private schools as their parents opine that if their mathematics and science is weak, they will not be able to excel in competitive examinations,” another principal said. Director General of School Education Kahan Singh Pannu said there were 10,000 vacant posts of teachers in the state and the process was on to fill them.“The recruitment process of 3,442 posts has been completed and we will declare the results by October 15. Moreover, we are receiving applications for 5,100 posts that have been advertised and we will ensure the recruitment process is expedited,” Pannu said.
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Probe begins into
school bunglings
Daulatpura (Moga), October 5 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had recently told the Director General of School Education, KS Pannu, to look into the alleged irregularities and the allegations levelled by the teachers. Earlier, District Magistrate Arshdeep Singh Thind had also asked Additional Deputy Commissioner Dr Joram Beda to conduct a magisterial probe, which is still in progress. An official said a team led by Gurdarshan Singh Brar, Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Khosa Pando (Moga), visited the Adarsh school at Daulatpura village and gave a set of questionnaire to the teaching staff. Nachattar Singh, a teacher, said the questionnaire related to the salary in hand received by the teachers, salary received by them in bank accounts, appointment letters and other financial statements of the school as pointed out by them. The teachers had alleged in written that the managements of Adarsh schools were not giving salary as promised and instead were making illegal deductions from their wages. They claimed that the managements gave them a cheque of Rs 16,500 as salary every month but Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 was taken away in cash from them later. They also alleged that the managements were charging money from students in the name of providing them dress, books and bus fare even as the state government provided free education to the children studying in these schools. Irregularities had also been alleged in mid-day meals provided to the students of primary and upper-primary classes. The scheme remained suspended in all the three Adarsh schools of the district for several months.
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SGPC budget flares with LPG cylinder subsidy cut
Amritsar, October 5 SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said: “The move has hit our budget hard, as the monthly consumption of LPG cylinders at the Golden Temple and other major gurdwaras being run by the SGPC for cooking “langar” exceeds 20,000. We were earlier paying Rs 422 per cylinder, but after the partial withdrawal of subsidy, the cost has gone up to Rs 1,184 per cylinder.” SGPC officials said the “langar” facility at the Golden Temple required 5,000 LPG cylinders every month alone. Besides, other major gurdwaras being run by the SGPC required around 15,500 cylinders every month to keep their “langar” facility going, taking the total to over 20,000 LPG cylinders. The SGPC earlier used to spend Rs 86.47 lakh on LPG cylinders every month. The cost has now gone up to Rs 2.42 crore. This has led to an annual increase of Rs 18.73 crore on the purchase of LPG cylinders. The SGPC secretary said they had written to Union Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy to extend the subsidy on LPG to the SGPC as they were not running a commercial venture. “We run free community kitchen in our gurdwaras and it will be unfair to withdraw the subsidy on LPG being provided to us,” he added. Sources in the SGPC said though wood was used as fuel to run the community kitchen, its use had been curtailed over time to reduce pollution. Wood is now used only on Sundays or special occasions when a large number of devotees converge on the Golden Temple. Efforts are on to install a solar energy cooking system for the “langar” facility at the Golden Temple. The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) is taking keen interest in the project. A Faridabad-based firm also conducted a survey in March. In the first phase of the plan, equipment will be installed to prepare the “dal” for the “langar” through the solar steam cooking system. It will help save at least 25 LPG cylinders daily as around one tonne “dal” is cooked every day at the shrine. Around Rs 1 crore will be spent in the first phase of the project, the cost of which will be borne by PEDA. A Mumbai-based firm had recently offered to set up a solar cooking system at the shrine. Burning issue
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Punjab decides to acquire more land in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, October 5 The state government is learnt to have written to all Financial Commissioners, Principal Secretaries and Administrative Secretaries to draw up a requirement map for “acquiring land in the Union Territory”. The land is being sought for common offices of ministers, secretaries and board heads and their staff. At present, offices of the state government are scattered all over the Union Territory, mainly in Sectors 22, 34, 7, 35 and 8, besides other locations. The government is paying crores of rupees as rent for this. A sizeable number of offices are stuck up in settling differences with their landlords over the issue of increased market rents. ”We are paying Rs 4 lakh per month as rent and the SCO owner is demanding more,” said head of a state government department based in Sector 34. In an official communication, the Punjab government has said that it was working with the Chandigarh Administration for acquiring land for its offices. Commissioners and secretaries have been asked to provide details regarding specific land requirement for the offices of ministers concerned and their staff, commissioners or secretaries and their staff, department heads and commissioners or heads of board of the department. VK Singh, UT Finance Secretary, said, “The matter for providing more land to the governments of Punjab and Haryana were under consideration. We have asked for details of their requirements and will try to give them maximum space possible out of limited land resources at our disposal.” A senior UT Administration official said, “It sounds very illogical why Punjab and Haryana are eyeing land in an already congested Chandigarh. Punjab has built several offices in Mohali and the township has an open area around it. Therefore, the state government should consider shifting offices there. Chandigarh might soon be crying for a breathing space in case more housing societies are allowed and elaborate complexes for offices too come up. Similarly, Haryana should make offices in Panchkula.” In a restructuring bid, all the offices concerning Punjab state education will be shifted to the building of the Punjab School Education Board in
Mohali.
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Diversification: Central team to visit Punjab today
Patiala, October 5 A delegation led by Union Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna is scheduled to visit Punjab tomorrow to hold talks with the state authorities in this regard. Punjab farmers have been growing wheat and paddy for the past four decades. Highly placed sources said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had held several meetings with various department heads and progressive farmers in the past one week to understand the impact of the decision. “Punjab officers are likely to seek more funds and central assistance to promote crop diversification in the state,” said a senior officer. Punjab contributed 43.83 per cent wheat and 30.40 per cent rice to the Central pool in 2011. “It is time we shifted from the wheat-paddy pattern as we have depleted our underground water table and soil, ” said Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Director, Milkfed, one of the members who will hold talks with the Central team.
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Prof Mohan Singh Mela from Oct 19 Chandigarh, October 5 Jagdev Singh Jassowal, founder of Prof Mohan Singh Memorial, which organises the event, said several teams from Punjab and neighbouring states would participate in the festival. The festival would open with an academic session that will see participation by poets like Surjit Patter, Darshan Battar and Sukhdev Singh. It will be held at 'Nanoki' village near Nabha.
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Police remand for two KZF members
Phillaur, October 5 Sources said the police was working on a theory to prove the two had contacts with militant Kulbir Singh Barapind. The police had arrested Sandip and Sukhwinder after recovering 2.7 kg of RDX hidden at Poonia village (near Banga) and Saifabad (near Phillaur), two China-made pistols, three bombs, three detonators, two-timers and 11 cartridges. "During preliminary investigation, it was found that Sandip had attended a training camp in Pakistan for a month last year. He and his gang have been trying to revive terrorism in Punjab by recruiting youths for the organisation. The gang is active in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Nawanshahr districts,” an official said.
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Muktsar double murder accused held after a year
Ludhiana, October 5 The accused, Mandeep Singh, a resident of Sriganganagar, who along with his wife Chunar Lamba jumped parole in May 2011, had killed his aunt in June this year and amassed her entire property. Mandeep, who was travelling on an SUV, was stopped at police check post on Ferozepur road late last night. Harinder Singh Chameli, SHO Sadar, who had been posted as SHO Muktsar city when the killing took place, identified Mandeep Singh. Mandeep got panicky and tired to escape but his vehicle was intercepted by police party. He was then apprehended and taken to police station. The Muktsar police was also informed about the arrest. The accused was living in Mohali's Sector 70 by changing his identity. He had constructed cottages in Baddi and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh and was using them as his hideouts. Mandeep is the nephew of a DSP in the Punjab Police. Police officials, who came from Muktsar to arrest Mandeep, said the double murder accused was suspected to be enjoying police patronage. The couple was on the run for over a year and committed another murder after coming out of jail. Muktar city SHO Jasvir Singh said property dispute, including 200 acres of prime land in various parts of the state, was the reason behind the twin killings. Jasvir Singh said Mandeep, who used run a motor mechanic shop in Ludhiana, got married to Chunar Lamba. He said Chunar's uncle Mohanbir Lamba had huge wealth and the duo hired contract killers for killing him.
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Faridkot ASI held taking bribe Faridkot: The Vigilance Department on Thursday nabbed an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) with the Faridkot police while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a victim in an assault case. Baldev Singh, posted at the Sadar police station, initially demanded Rs 50,000 from Jalore Singh of Jhotiwala village.Though the latter had received minor injuries, the ASI offered to add Section 295 of the IPC (outraging religious feelings) in the FIR against the accused. He later settled for a bribe of Rs 20,000. — TNS
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Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today hit out at the Congress-led UPA Government claiming the bogey of militancy was being deliberately raised in view of the coming Assembly elections.
While Operation Bluestar is back in the limelight with the attack on Lt Gen KS Brar
(retd) in London recently, work on Operation Bluestar Memorial, that is being built by the Damdami
Taksal, is in full swing at the Golden Temple here.
Various farmer and labour organisations today resorted to rail and road blockade at different points in Amritsar to lodge their protest against the delay in procurement of paddy as well as hike in diesel prices and FDI in retail sector.
Scores of activists of these outfits hit the rail track at Rayya, near Amritsar, blocking the rail traffic for around three hours between 1 pm and 4 pm, besides resorting to road blockade at
Attari, Rayya, Ajnala, Majitha, Beas and Chogawan areas of the district.
Chandigarh, October 5
The partial withdrawal of subsidy on LPG cylinders has upset the SGPC budget, which has escalated by Rs 18.73 crore annually. The price of LPG cylinders being used at gurdwaras run by the committee has more than doubled with the withdrawal of subsidy.