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Another embezzlement comes to the fore
Dehradun institute roped in for Green Punjab Mission
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Four of NRI family among five killed in accident
Service extension not for board, corpn staff
Underprivileged students denied scholarships: Khaira
State to have unique alternative power transmission system
Dy CM discusses progress works with industrialists
Short of doctors, govt looks for cure in campus placement
Tip-off from Britain led police to ice drug racket
HC orders DNA test on Ludhiana sarpanch
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Another embezzlement comes to the fore
Gurdaspur, October 13 The alleged fraud came to light after some Congress leaders, including Member of Parliament Partap Bajwa and Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, today held a spot inquiry at the village, falling in Dhariwal block. The guidelines of the scheme mention that grants should be directly credited into the accounts of beneficiaries. But in this case, the entire amount was credited into the village sarpanch’s account. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Rakesh Kumar and sarpanch Varinder Singh were also present on the spot. The inquiry was ordered by Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha after Bajwa pointed out "anomalies" in the Union Government-funded schemes at a District Vigilance and Monitoring Committe yesterday. When Bajwa and Randhawa asked to show where the new houses meant for villagers holding BPL (below poverty line) cards stood, the sarpanch "had no reply". "All the sarpanch could show were a few houses constructed several years ago. He is also guilty of giving grants worth Rs 90,000 to his uncle, who already owns a palatial house. The funds were used for renovation,” claimed Bajwa. The Deputy Commissioner claimed he was already seized of the matter and a probe had been ordered much before Bajwa and Randhawa held the inquiry. The Congress-duo, however, alleged that lower-rung officials were hand in glove with the sarpanch, "who was close to a senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and a former Cabinet Minister". They alleged that several affluent Jat Sikhs, owing allegiance to the ruling SAD, had also been extended benefits. The sarpanch, however, refuted the allegations. He claimed that the panchayat had passed a resolution allowing him to purchase construction material for building houses. "This, too, violates the guidelines under the scheme. A criminal case should be registered against the sarpanch," demanded Bajwa. Randhawa claimed that the earlier inquiry was a "sham" as officials were allegedly toeing the line of the Akali leader, who wielded considerable influence in the constituency. "The leader is trying to stonewall the inquiry by asking the officials not to conduct physical verification of the houses," he said. The Congress leaders said they would move the high court in case the district administration failed to act. Recently, Punjab Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike had to quit from the Cabinet when a similar scam came to the fore in his Attari Vidhan Sabha constituency. Bungling alleged
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Dehradun institute roped in for Green Punjab Mission
Dehradun, October 13 Green Punjab Mission, a project worth Rs 1,900 crore, aims at increasing Punjab's forest cover from the existing 7 per cent to 15 per cent. While Principal Chief Conservator of Forests HS Gujral signed the MoU on behalf of Punjab, Dr PP Bhojvaid, Director, FRI, signed it on behalf of the institute. Badal said it was his dream to increase the green cover of the state. "A massive afforestation programme under the mission will be launched with the involvement of the forest department and farmers. The FRI will provide technical support to ensure the success of the programme," he said. Plantation of industrial timber and ornamental tree varieties would be carried out under this programme. He said to ensure the proper price for timber grown by the farmers, the timber market would be strengthened and upgraded throughout the state. The Chief Minister also handed over a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to the Director, FRI. Dr PP Bhojvaid said the FRI had started the process of supplying quality seeds and plants to the Punjab Forest Department and efforts were on to control the eucalyptus gall vasps disease. He said a district-wise training programme for the frontline staff and forest officers would be started soon. Gujral highlighted different aspects of the project and expected the Punjab Forest Department would achieve the objective of the mission with the cooperation of the FRI. Dr VK Bahuguna, Director-General, Indian Council of Forest Research and Education, said the mutual cooperation between the Punjab Forest Department and the FRI should also be followed by other states. "Punjab has set an example in the agriculture sector and is all ready to set another example in the forestry sector", he added.
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Four of NRI family among five killed in accident
Jagraon, October 13 The accident occurred near Sidhwan Khurd village, 10 km from Jagraon on the Ludhiana-Moga highway, around 7 am. A collision occurred between a Punjab Roadways bus and a car collided. The bus later hit a motorcycle on which the college student was riding. Such was the impact of the collision that all the victims died on the spot. The deceased have been identified as Australia-based NRI Sandeep Kaur (32), her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sarpreet Kaur, father-in-law Kulwant Singh, mother-in-law Manjeet Kaur and the college student, Robinpreet Singh. The NRI family belonged to Talwandi Suba Singh village in Tarn Taran district while the youth was a resident of Baraich village near Mullanpur Dakha. Six other persons, including Sandeep's husband Sherjeet Singh, brother Jaswinder Singh, brother-in-law Baljinder Singh and car driver Kuldeep Singh, were critically injured. Two girls travelling in the bus also received minor injuries. Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the local Civil Hospital where the bodies of the victims were kept. A large number of family members and well-wishers gathered at the hospital. The police has started investigations and registered a case against bus driver Gurmeet Singh.
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Service extension not for board, corpn staff
Chandigarh, October 13 At present, the retirement age for the state government employees is 58 years, which can now be extended by a year. A further extension of a year can also be given when an employee attains the age of 59 years. Sources said a number of employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had applied for extension in service, but the higher authorities concerned refused to entertain their applications. The high-ups contended the notification regarding the extension in service only covered the state government departments. As such, about 2 lakh employees working with various boards and corporations were beyond its purview, they said. Principal Secretary (Finance) Satish Chandra said the matter will be brought to the notice of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal next week. He said Badal's approval was required to extend benefits of the scheme to the staff of various boards and corporations. Marked by bias
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Underprivileged students denied scholarships: Khaira
Chandigarh, October 13 Addressing a press conference, former Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said: "The RTI reply revealed while the Directorate of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Welfare had allocated Rs 87.05 crore for scholarships to minority students for the academic year 2011-12, the state government released only Rs 22.66 crore. Even out of this amount, a little over Rs 15 crore was actually distributed among the beneficiaries". The former MLA said for the post-matric scholarship, Rs 39.42 crore was allocated, but Rs 22.66 crore was released. Similarly, not a single penny was paid to students of matric and pre-matric for whom Rs 8.65 crore and Rs 38.98 crore were allocated, respectively. "The apathetic act of the government is a gross injustice to the poor and underprivileged students. This is in sharp contrast to the announcement of Rs 1-crore grant to a school in Sanawar by the Deputy Chief Minister," he said.
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State to have unique alternative power transmission system
Chandigarh, October 13 Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the state was now investing in the transmission and distribution system to reduce transmission losses and to upgrade it to meet the generation capacities. "Since we are sure that the new power plants in the state will be commissioned by the end of 2013, our focus is on improving the transmission and distribution system," he said. The ring main circuit being envisaged for the state will have GIS mapping of all 132 KV and 220 KV sub-stations. It is learnt that 400 KV sub-stations will be set up at Muktsar, Makhu, Nakodar, Rajpura and Dhuri, and these will be connected in a circular circuit through HT transmission lines. This would ensure an alternative transmission system for supplying power in case one of the HT lines developed a snag. A number of towers will have to be erected at a circular distance to create a ring. Sukhbir said the state had invested Rs 3,900 crore on strengthening transmission and distribution network which included the construction of grid sub-stations and laying new transmission lines. Earlier, while speaking at the inauguration of the Conference of Power Reforms for the North, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry yesterday, Sukhbir reiterated that Punjab would be power surplus by December, 2013. "By next year, Punjab will have its own generation capacity, including BBMB share of 8,816 MW with 355 MW share from central projects, 1,033 MW from share of ultra mega projects, 647 MW share from Damodar Valley project and 436 MW from NRSE projects," he said.
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Dy CM discusses progress works with industrialists
New Delhi, October 13 Among the industrialists present were Sunil Kant Munjal (Hero Group), Malvinder Singh (Fortis Healthcare), Mohit Gujral (DLF India), Rakesh Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel) and Kamal Oswal (Nahar Industries). Shiromani Akali Dal Member of Parliament Naresh Gujral also attended the meeting. The Deputy Chief Minister said the Punjab Industry Department had already finalised a plan to set up industrial clusters. He said the work on acquisition of land for the Dera Bassi cluster had already started. Other clusters were being planned in Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Gurdaspur, he said. Sukhbir said the Punjab Government had already promulgated an ordinance to create a special purpose vehicle for handing over the maintenance of industrial areas to industrialists. He said Punjab was planning edu-cities in Mullanpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar and he had already invited top universities to set up their centres on the pattern of the Oxford University.
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Short of doctors, govt looks for cure in campus placement
Ludhiana, October 13 At present, the concept is followed by various private firms, especially in the information technology sector. Companies go hunting for fresh talent in management colleges of repute and offer attractive pay packages to deserving candidates. Speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a function here today, Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said, "We will woo doctors doing their post-graduation. If private companies can take to this route to fill their vacancies, why can’t we. We will try to persuade the doctors to join the government sector.” The Minister was in the city to inaugurate a naturotherapy wing at Arya Shri Atam Ram Jain Hospital. The Health Department has been reeling under a shortage of specialist doctors. More than 100 such posts have been lying vacant for long. Recently, the department had also tried the mode of ‘walk-in interviews’. “The state government recently issued a notification that on the 16th of every month, the Health Department will hold walk-in interviews for specialist doctors. As September 16 was a Sunday, the interviews were organised the following day. About 50 per cent of the candidates who appeared were offered joining letters. But, it needs to be seen how many of them actually join,” he said.
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Tip-off from Britain led police to ice drug racket
Chandigarh, October 13 The UK police had informed its India counterparts that a Ludhiana-based unit had supplied salts for medicine to a company near London which had amphetamines (rave party drug). A police official said: "The address supplied to us was incorrect. But a thorough investigation gave us important leads. Some of the leads even matured into arrests". Certain important developments in this direction included the arrest of drug lord Raja Kandola and the discovery of an ice manufacturing unit near Samrala in August. Recently, the police recovered 70 kg of the drug from Sukhwinder Sukha, a former terrorist, from Rajasthan. An ADGP-level officer said: "The arrest of a Croatian during a raid in Samrala had given links to more foreign hands involved in the drug trader in the state". A senior officer said: "Punjab was fighting narcotic terrorism on a large scale. From a mere transit point, the state has turned into a safe haven for drug mafia.” Ice is a rave party drug. It numbs the brain. With ice, it is easy to fox youngsters, particularly girls, because this drug is tasteless and odourless.
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HC orders DNA test on Ludhiana sarpanch
Ludhiana, October 13 The action followed after a woman of Hawas village near here approached the High Court claiming that the sarpanch, Mann Singh, allegedly raped her, following which she got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. The woman claimed, “I came in contact with the sarpanch 18 years ago. He was a self-styled Godman then and had a considerable following. As I was childless, I used to visit various shrines seeking blessings for a child. Once I happened to meet Mann Singh, who raped me.” She said she remained quiet all these years fearing social boycott. As Mann Singh’s following swelled over the years, he later became the village sarpanch. The woman alleged that Mann Singh even made a video of the rape incident. The victim lodged a complaint against the accused at Meharban police station in 2000. “I kept on visiting the police station but no action was taken. Finally, I approached the High Court in 2010,” she said. The court directed the police to investigate the matter. On the other hand, villagers claimed that the woman was in a relation with the sarpanch, but parted ways with him later. The sarpanch rubbished the allegations. “She is levelling allegations against me at the behest of a villager, Sukhdev Singh. I have agreed to undergo the DNA test. I am cooperating with the police.” Meharban Police Station SHO Inderjit Singh said, “It is a very old case. So far, the sarpanch is cooperating with us.”
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The Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute (FRI) will be greening Punjab in the next eight years.
Ludhiana, October 13
