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Thieves decamp with 400
school
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Punjab to install CCTVs to check crime
Amarinder: I got threat call for opposing Bluestar Memorial
State’s dairy sector in crisis
Rahul’s ‘wake up’ call ignored: Brar
CBI told to probe murder case involving MLA’s brother
Farmer commission
chief bats for maize cultivation
For training the jobless, govt to collaborate with Germany: CM
Develop holistic approach, Governor tells students
Power corp JEs to strike work on October 18
Doubts raised over state govt’s claim on number of sex workers
Nanded on Green Pilgrimage Network
HC: Can’t count trial period for remission
Assault on tehsildar: HC raps police for shielding accused
False case against patwari
Retired judge files plea against delay in probe
PIL on minority status to Sanskrit
Man opens fire at wife, son
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Thieves decamp with 400
school computers in 4 yrs
Chandigarh, October 15 The scheme to install computers was started in 2008. On an average, 100 computers have been stolen per year. Though the computers provided to schools come with an insurance plan, there is no such provision for cylinders The theft of cylinders, therefore, will affect the students, as they will no longer be served mid-day meals. Hardev Singh, a physics teacher at a school in Hoshiarpur district, said, “Computers from our school were stolen in August. We are likely to be provided new ones within a month. But the bigger issue is how to ensure that such incidents do not recur, especially when hardly any school in the state has a security system in place.” Karnail Singh, posted at a government school in Mau Sahib in Jalandhar district, said:“The theft of gas cylinders is more serious than that of computers as these do not come with an insurance cover.” A principal of a school in Patiala district said that a majority of schools were without a watchman and a sizeable number did not even have a boundary wall. “In such a situation, it is easy for the thieves to strike after school hours,” he says. A teacher at a school in Tarn Taran said: “Our school gas cylinder was stolen a few months ago. We had to arrange for another one. But that too was stolen. Now, teachers are managing the meals by gathering firewood.”
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Punjab to install CCTVs to check crime
Patiala/Sirhind, October 15 "Gradually, the system will be put in place for all cities," he said adding the objective was to ensure crime prevention and traffic management. "The photographs of POs/criminals will be uploaded in the CCTV systems across the state. In case any criminal is captured by a CCTV, the system will scan it with the help of face recognition software and alert the policemen on duty," he said. Meanwhile, speaking at a function in Sirhind, Sukhbir announced Rs 300 crore for the four-laning of Patiala-Sirhind-Chandigarh state highway. Preneet confidant, ex-minister join SAD Patiala Congress leader Ajay Thapar, a close confidant of Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, today joined the Akali Dal along with his 101 supporters in presence of the Deputy Chief Minister. Three-time MLA and former Congress minister Dr Harbans Lal along with his hundreds of supporters also joined the SAD at a rally at old Dana Mandi in Sirhind where Sukhbir welcomed him into the party fold.
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Amarinder: I got threat call for opposing Bluestar Memorial
Chandigarh, October 15 He said the caller asked him as to why he was issuing statements against the construction of the memorial. “I asked the caller his age. He, in return, asked me what had that to do with the memorial issue. I replied that his age had everything to do with the discussion”. Amarinder said he told the caller that industrialists were making a beeline for other states and if the atmosphere in the state was vitiated again, things could turn from bad to worse. Meanwhile, sources said a senior police officer had rung up Congress Legislature Party Leader Sunil Jakhar, telling him that the latter’s name had come up for discussion during a meeting of a radical group in Germany. The sources said the discussion had centred on “teaching him a lesson” for speaking out against the construction of Bluestar Memorial during the last Vidhan Sabha session. The CLP Leader is reported to have asked the state police to take appropriate steps, if need be. The sources said the radicals were well-entrenched in Germany as the latter was most liberal in granting asylum to such elements during the days of militancy in Punjab.
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State’s dairy sector in crisis
“The procurement price of milk has come down between Rs 35 and Rs 45 per kg fat in the recent weeks. However, the prices of various inputs required to run a dairy farm have gone up,” said Daljit Singh Sadarpura, president of the Dairy Farmers’Association. “We appeal to the state government to act fast and stop the procurement of milk from Rajasthan to protect local dairy farmers,” said Sadarpura. He said the farmers had taken heavy loans to set up dairy farms. As of now, Punjab produces one crore litres of milk daily. Its production varies from season to season. It goes down to almost half during the summers and rises during the monsoons. Of the one crore litres of milk produced, about 11 lakh litres is procured by milk plants operated by Milkfed. About 20 lakh litres of milk is procured by private milk plants and the remaining is supplied to the market through milk vendors. Milkfed is procuring milk at an average price of Rs 390-Rs 410 per kg fat and private milk plants at Rs 360-Rs 390 per kg fat. Sources said milk plants in Haryana were procuring milk at Rs 360 per kg fat. The state dairy farmers blame the Central Government for the crisis. “When it was time to export milk products such as milk powder, the Centre banned it. This resulted in a huge stock of about 80,000 tonnes of milk powder in the country which could not be exhausted even during the lean summer months,” said Parminder Singh Chalaki, Chairman of the Mohali Milk Plant. The state has about 3,000 tonnes of milk powder but the price of the product in the international market has gone down. Milk powder has a limited shelf life. Sources said the Maharashtra and Karnataka Governments had extended a helping hand to milk producers, giving them a subsidy of
Rs 2 per kg of milk.
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Rahul’s ‘wake up’ call ignored: Brar
Chandigarh, October 15 Terming their reaction to the "wake up" call on drug menace given to them by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi as devoid of any sense of responsibility, Brar said both the leaders had chosen to mislead the people of the state on the issue rather than safeguarding their interests. The CWC member said Rahul had chosen to act responsibly and warn the people against this destructive tendency due to which they were losing their loved ones. He said Rahul had not only cautioned the youth against this menace but also highlighted the apathy of the SAD-BJP government.
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CBI told to probe murder case involving MLA’s brother
Chandigarh, October 15 The directions by Justice Paramjeet Singh came after the victim’s son-cum-complainant demanded a CBI probe on the grounds of irregularities by the police. At least six instances of alleged irregularities were pointed out in the plea. In his application filed through his counsel Charanjit Singh Bakhshi, complainant Harjinder Singh had alleged that his father was “brutally murdered by Amarjit Singh alias Jeeti, brother of MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu”. Alleging “blatant illegalities” by the police, he said though prime accused Dilwar Singh was arrested on December 24, 2010, the weapon used in the crime had not been recovered until now. “The police did not even seek his police remand. Therefore, no custodial interrogation of Dilwar was conducted by the police. The police simply sought his judicial remand and so, the local police has conducted no investigation vis-ŕ-vis the role of an arrested person…,”the petitioner alleged. “Even the “empties” recovered from the spot have not been sent to laboratory for examination. The gross irregularity is being blatantly committed to demolish the case of the petitioner as stated in the FIR,” he said. The investigation was not moving ahead with a clear intent that the challan against the accused already arrested was not put to court within 90 days from their arrest so that they could be granted the benefit of bail from the court. Moreover, “in absolute abuse of the process of law and in order to make a counter version, Dilwar Singh was admitted to Fortis Hospital, Mohali, with alleged gunshot injuries. These injuries are patently self-inflicted and this fact is clearly borne out from a bare perusal of the examination of the doctor at Fortis. “The malafides of the police is apparent from the fact that so far, the police has not recorded the statements of eye-witnesses,” he said. On the other hand, the petitioner said he had been told by reliable sources that the statements of his witnesses had been fabricated by the police.
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Farmer commission
chief bats for maize cultivation
Firwaria
(Amritsar), October 15 Kalkat said to make the maize venture profitable, the commission had recommended to the state government to develop a processing industry for the crop. The commission Chairman was here to take note of a new technique to develop sugarcane saplings, which has been devised by Amritsar- based farmer Major (retd) Manmohan Singh. It
is for the first time that the technique has been used for developing
sugarcane saplings. Kalkat appreciated Manmohan Singh’s initiative.
The water table in Punjab, he said, was fast-receding due to the
wheat-paddy crop cycle. “Farmers must become part of the crop
diversification programme and reduce the area under paddy. Otherwise,
the soil’s health will suffer an irreparable loss,” he said. At
present, 68 lakh acres of land is under paddy in Punjab. There was a
need to bring it down to 40 lakh acres, he said. “The state
government should encourage private companies to set up maize
processing units to prepare ethanol. In the US, people use a mixture
of ethanol and petrol as fuel for vehicles. Ethanol is also used to
manufacture alcohol,” he said. Initially, the state government
would sow maize on 200 acres of land. “Several hybrid varieties will
be grown. Whichever gives the highest yield will be recommended to the
farmers by the commission,” said Kalkat. Kalkat also advocated
sugarcane cultivation. “The state government plans to increase lthe
area under sugarcane by at least 1 lakh acres,” he said.
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For training the jobless, govt to collaborate with Germany: CM
Sujanpur, October 15 The rally, which was also addressed by former Union Minister Vinod Khanna, was organised at the initiative of BJP national executive member Swaran Salaria. Both Khanna and Salaria are in the race for the BJP ticket from the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency. The Sujanpur Vidhan Sabha segment is a part of the constituency. The other aspirants, academician SK Punj, state president Ashwani Sharma and former Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal, was on the dais with the Chief Minister. Salaria, who had ensured the victory of all three BJP candidates from the Bhoa, Sujanpur and Pathankot seats in the last assembly elections, managed to outdo his rivals by roping in the Chief Minister to address the Vikas Rally. Badal said unemployment was a matter of concern and his government was collaborating with Germany which had evolved a system under which vocational schools imparted technical knowledge to students for a couple of days in a week.They spent the remaining time in industrial units for training. Among others who attended the rally were former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, Dinesh Babbu, Bhoa legislator Seema Devi and former Pathankot Improvement Trust Chairman Anil Vasudeva.
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Develop holistic approach, Governor tells students
Jalandhar, October 15 The Chancellor said there were three kinds of technologies - relevant technology needed by the people in their day-to-day life; technologies used by industries to produce goods required by a section of the population and technology to expand our “horizons”. Earlier, Patil inaugurated an auditorium Hall at the CT Group of Institutes. He also presented medals and degrees to students in various disciplines. He exhorted the students to develop a holistic approach. Dr Isher J Ahluwalia, an eminent economist also spoke. Among those present at the function were MP Singh, Principal Secretary to Governor, SK Munjal, Chairman, PTU Board of Governors, Charanjit Singh Channi, Chairman, CT Group, MP Punia, Director, NITTTR, Pursartha, Director, Technical Education, Prof Dr MK Surappa, Director, IIT, Ropar, HS Bains, Registrar, PTU, and Buta Singh Sidhu, Dean,
PTU.
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Power corp JEs to strike work on October 18
Patiala, October 15 The engineers, under the banner of the Council of JE, PSEB, have announced to strike work on October 18.Council president RK Choudhary said the JEs were being neglected as far as pay scales and promotion avenues were concerned. “The power corporation management has adopted a different yardstick for resolving pay scale issues of technocrats (senior engineers) and JEs. The pay scales and allowances of senior engineers have been decided without any deliberations at the Wage Formulation Committee. On the other hand, despite a different pay structure for the JEs by the Punjab Government, the corporation has not implemented the same,” he said. Council general secretary Davinder Singh said: “The JEs work round the clock and handle important assignments. The management has overlooked their genuine demands. “The corporation has not even enhanced the promotion quota of engineers as has been done for those in the government sector”.
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Doubts raised over state govt’s claim on number of sex workers
Faridkot, October 15 The Punjab State AIDS Control Society and the Punjab Health System Corporation told the Supreme Court in August 2, 2011, during the hearing of a case on the plight of women sex workers and plans to rehabilitate them, that Punjab had 20,253 sex workers. It was claimed that the state had no red light area. But in reply to an RTI application by Faridkot advocate Mangat Arora, who questioned the basis of this precise number, the Punjab State AIDS Control Society said the figures were based on a study conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and 20,253 was only an estimated figure.
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Nanded on Green Pilgrimage Network
Amritsar, October 15 DP Singh Chawla, CEO/superintendent of Takht Shri Hazur Sahib Committee, said: "It is an honour for the historical city. We will work harder to provide best sustainable resources to the pilgrims visiting Hazur Sahib. We will focus on promoting environment conservation as per the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev." "The joining of Nanded on the Green Pilgrimage Network will create enormous compassion for nature among the Sikh community. We will initiate eco-projects in collaboration with Shri Hazur Sahib Committee," said EcoSikh India manager Ravneet Singh.
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HC: Can’t count trial period for remission
Chandigarh, October 15 “The period undergone by an accused as an undertrial cannot be taken into consideration for awarding remission, though that period shall be set off against the total period of the sentence and the sentence given in paragraph 645 of the Punjab Jail Manual to fix the limit of remission will be the total sentence as awarded by the court on conviction,” the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath has ruled. The significance of the judgment can be gauged from the fact that the Bench has directed that copies of the order be circulated among all concerned “in the state governments of Punjab, Haryana and the UT, Chandigarh.” The Bench has also disagreed with the “contrary principles laid down in Joginder Singh's case” and has over-ruled the same. The ruling came on a petition filed by Dharam Pal against the State of Haryana and other respondents. Dharam Pal alias Swami Kalyani was named as an accused in FIR No 65 dated March 29, 2003, registered for rape and other offences at the Mahesh Nagar police station in Ambala under Sections 376 and 506, IPC. The court of Additional Sessions Judge, Ambala, held the petitioner guilty before sentencing him to rigorous imprisonment for seven years. The aggrieved petitioner’s appeal was dismissed by the High Court vide order dated February 24, 2010. The petitioner’s contention was that the “jail authorities should count and award remission on the period already undergone by him as an undertrial.” His counsel submitted that the remission for the under-trial period of two years, one month and 19 days, should also be awarded to him. As per the reply filed by the state, the petitioner had undergone a sentence of five years, five months and 19 days as in November 2011. The Bench concluded the jail manual essentially provided for remission for “good conduct of a prisoner during the period of his detention as an incentive for not committing any prison offence after conviction. “It is only after the award of the punishment that the prisoners are put to hard labour or hard task and their good conduct is kept under observation to grant remission. The question of extending benefit for the period during which the prisoner was in remand detention, thus, would never arise.”
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Assault on tehsildar: HC raps police for shielding accused
Chandigarh, October 15 The two already stand charge-sheeted for a murderous assault on Major Gurjinder Singh Benipal (retd) in 2009. Pronouncing the orders in an open court this morning, Justice Ranjit Singh also rejected the probe done by a second special investigative team in complete contravention of provisions of law. Mincing no words, Justice Ranjit Singh ruled that the constitution of a new SIT to reinvestigate the case was illegal; and upheld the investigation done by the first SIT after which Karwal and Bains were charge-sheeted. In his 47-page judgment, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “This is nothing but a fresh investigation or a reinvestigation aimed at saving some influential people”. Justice Ranjit Singh also hauled up the public prosecutor for acting at the behest of the accused. “The public prosecutor and the investigating agency in this case apparently are acting more on the side of defence, whose duty is to present the truth before the court. The criminal trial or investigation is not to be reduced to be mock trials or shadow-boxing or fixed trials. The judicial criminal administration system is to be kept clean and beyond the reach of whimsical, political wills or agendas and is to be insulated from discriminatory standards, types of which are prohibited by the mandate of the constitution”. Justice Ranjit Singh added: “The police as well as the private respondents otherwise have referred to certain aspects which primarily is a defence of all the accused persons and more appropriately has to be raised before the court. It cannot be but for some influence that such an indulgence is extended to the respondent accused at this stage. It would sound a bit extraordinary action. One would wonder in how many cases, the police will decide to investigate a case after submission of a challan on a representation of the accused as is being done in this case.” Justice Ranjit Singh concluded: “Any investigation done by second SIT is beyond the jurisdiction and power of the investigating agency. I also find that there is not much need for carrying out this investigation, which is just to leave somebody off the hook. If it was only a further investigation, then why it could not be entrusted to the previous SIT. Why this change. As if that, this SIT is to suit the interest of some one influential?”
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False case against patwari
Chandigarh, October 15 The report came up for perusal before Justice Mahesh Grover of the Punjab and Haryana High Court this morning. Taking up the report and hearing counsel Navkiran Singh, Justice Grover issued notice of motion for January 30, 2013. The Union, vide its letter dated March 3, had complained that Banarsi Dass, SP (Vigilance), Moga, had registered a false case against Mohan Singh, patwari, and arrested him on February 18. The report says it has been found that Shiv Kumar, SSP (Vigilance) Patiala, Jaspal Singh, SSP, Ferozepur, and Ishar Singh, Sub-Inspector, were accused of initiating and misusing proceedings against Mohan Singh; "and in this act, SP Singh, Joint Director (Administration) Vigilance Bureau, is also included. It is recommended to initiate the required legal action against them". "In implicating Mohan Singh in Ferozepur case in illegal manner and humiliating him, Jaspal Singh and Banarsi Dass are directly involved. They have done the proceedings at the instance of Shiv Kumar. Therefore, it is recommended to register an FIR against these officers under concerned sections of the IPC…. "It is revealed that attempts have been made by the police officers by adopting tactics to harass and defame the said Patwari. "During the inquiry, some such facts have been revealed from which it seems that Shiv Kumar by misusing his position has made a lot of property in Patiala. In this regard, Mohan Singh has separately brought it to the notice of the government. It is recommended to conduct a separate inquiry". The inquiry report has been submitted by IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu.
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Retired judge files plea against delay in probe
Chandigarh, October 15 Justice Bains, also the Chairman of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, said he was highlighting the scam which is "being hushed up due to involvement of high profile people, including two nephews of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and higher police officers" In the petition filed through counsel RS Bains, Justice Bains also sought directions to Inspector General of Police (Crime) SS Chauhan to complete the inquiry/investigation entrusted to him by the Principal Secretary (Home). Justice Bains said the inquiry was regarding "gambling money looted by senior Punjab Police officers, including RP Mittal, the then Commissioner of Police, Amritsar; and FIR number 179 dated October 9, 2011, stood registered under provisions of the Gambling Act at the Amritsar Sadar police station. He said in October 2011, his organisation received a complaint that the police had caught red handed a number of persons and recovered a huge amount after conducting a raid at Shalimar Night in Amritsar. But, not only was the case hushed up, the gambling amount recovered from the spot was misappropriated. He added news reports were also published that the police had apprehended 180 couples of rich families and seized Rs 80 lakh. But, the case was registered only against 42 persons and the recovery of Rs 9 lakh was shown. After a team of their organisation was constituted to unearth the truth, it was found that senior police officers in Amritsar had "formed a gang with the motive of looting money from gamblers during the festival season". It was also found that Bahadur Singh, the then ADCP (Crime), was head of the team of police officials having Mittal's patronage, Justice Bains said, adding in the present case, a gambling programme was on at Shalimar Nights Resort on October 8, 2011 and a person having a minimum of Rs 3 lakh could participate. "The name of this club was Amritsar Round Table 203 and one of its organisers was Puniajit Singh Chatha, who is the son of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's sister". Also among the apprehended persons was Kanwar Kohli, a nephew of the Prime Minister.
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PIL on minority status to Sanskrit
Chandigarh, October 15 The directions came while disposing of a petition filed by social activist Hemant Goswami. He contended: "Sanskrit, which is at present spoken by less than 15,000 people across the country, has not been considered till date by the government for according minority status".
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Man opens fire at wife, son
Malout: A man allegedly opened fire at his wife and son in aqn attempt to kill them. The police said Charanjit Singh, a resident of Nagpal Nagri, fired from his pistol and injured his wife Tirlochan Kaur and son Parampreet Singh. Deputy Superintendent of police Manwinderbir Singh said: “The victims are not in a state to give their statement.
The police has started investigations in the case. No case has been registered so far”. —
TNS
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Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today unveiled a Rs 100-crore CCTV project for all cities of Punjab.
Speaking to mediapersons during his visit to the annual Saras mela today, Sukhbir said Ludhiana would be the first district where cameras would be installed at strategic
locations
Punjab Governor Shiv Raj Patil, who is also Chancellor of Punjab Technical University, gave away degrees to 198 students at the 10th convocation of the university.“We have the potential, knowledge, expertise and professional capability and we must pool these resources to achieve better results in the field of technical education. You are students of a technical
university.Therefore, you carry the burden of developing such technologies,” he said.
Chandigarh, October 15