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Badals eyeing vote bank through mega health camps
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Inspire or force docs for rural areas: CM
Dy CM’s Pak visit rekindles hope for better trade ties
Riot-hit demand fresh probe
Sidhu playing true self in reality show, says his wife
Shruti case: Arrests help solve several robberies
State told to upload copies of FIRs on net
High Court clears decks for appointing drug inspectors
Details on safeguards to check mining sought
Appointment of lab attendants set aside
Plea against cycle scheme dismissed
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Badals eyeing vote bank through mega health camps
Mansa, November 3 The venues of both such camps, one at Badal village and another at
Mansa, fall in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by Harsimrat Kaur
Badal. However, the utility of such camps is questionable when basic medical infrastructure is lacking in civil hospitals and primary health
centres. Besides, there is a shortage of doctors and paramedical staff. The government has not been able to find a qualified technician to operate an ultrasound machine in the local civil hospital. There is a perennial shortage of doctors due to which patients may not get the post-health camp care. Due to lack of beds, patients bring their own cots to the Mansa Civil Hospital. There is a general feeling that the government will not need such camps if hospitals are equipped with the required facilities. Though the Chief Minister and government officials talk of service to the people through such camps, the underlining idea is to project Harsimrat as the person behind these camps. Speaking at the first day of the health camp here today, Badal repeatedly lauded Harsimrat for inspiring him to hold a camp in Mansa after the success of a similar camp in Badal village. The Chief Minister said he could not say no to his daughter and would do anything she says for the benefit of the people of
Mansa. Harsimrat also remained active at the camp. She kept making rounds of chambers of doctors and mingled with the public and asked their well-being. She also took officials to task for any laxity in
arrangements. Badal also touched an emotional chord with the public recalling how his granddaughter
(Harsimrat's daughter) opposed the contesting of elections by her mother. He said Harsimrat took up the challenge of contesting against Capt Amarinder Singh's son. The political observers say Badals don't want to leave anything to chance for the 2014 parliamentary
elections. Manpreet Singh Badal is likely to contest against Harsimrat from
Bathinda. The Congress will also to field a strong candidate from this seat.
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Inspire or force docs for rural areas: CM
Mansa, November 3
The Chief Minister also announced that doctors serving in rural areas would be given a preference in MD course. Badal also used the occasion to hit out at the Congress-led UPA government for not fixing the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat: “The Central Government is insensitive towards Punjab’s farmers, who should have been rewarded for producing a bumper crop despite drought in several areas.” Punjab Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said the Union Government too had announced an incentive of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 a month for doctors posted in rural areas. “By holding medical camps, Punjab has launched a crusade against cancer. It is curable if detected in an early stage,” the Health Minister said. Mittal said that there was more phobia of cancer in the state than actual figures on the ground. He claimed a fresh survey from October 1 to October 31 of six lakh households in the state had reported “a mere 2,000 cases”. He said a similar survey would be conducted in December as well. Bathinda MP Harsmirat Kaur Badal lauded the initiative of the state government to provide quality health services to the people at their doorstep.
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Dy CM’s Pak visit rekindles hope for better trade ties
Amritsar, November 3 Among the issues featuring in the agenda of the delegation are negative list for trade via the Attari-Wagah land route, lack of infrastructure for trade on the Pakistani side and Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. The issue of negative list holds great significance. Once implemented, it will give a huge push to the trade and industry in Punjab. While Pakistan blamed infrastructural constraints for restricting the import list for Wagah, a section of Punjab traders opined that it was the result of influence of strong trade lobbies operating from Mumbai and Karachi ports. As far as infrastructure is concerned, unlike India, which has raised a massive infrastructure in the form of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) spread over 118 acres in Attari, Pakistan has a check post which operates from an area of just 9 acres. This is a huge mismatch. Pakistan needs to augment its trade facilities in near future. CII National Council on Public Policy member Gunbir Singh said it was imperative that the Deputy Chief Minister impressed upon the Pakistan government to drop the positive list for trade via Attari-Wagah to pave the way for the negative list. "The current policy favours the Karachi-Mumbai lobbies and affects region across The Radcliffe Line." He said the trade potential across this border was between $6-10 billion per annum, he said. Khanna Paper Mill MD Suneet Kochhar, who will be part of the delegation, said it would be a great opportunity for traders on both the sides to explore new trade avenues in each other's country. "The possibilities are immense. We can export paper, agricultural products, textiles, hand tools, bicycles, and sports goods". CII Zonal Council chief DP Singh said the visit was a positive development, though its outcome would depend on the political climate prevailing in Pakistan. He said the coming together of two Punjabs augured well and there was a lot of trade potential.
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Dress up decently,
govt diktat to teachers
Chandigarh, November 3 "Some teachers dress in a provocative manner. It has a negative impact on the children who get more interested in dressing up fashionably instead of concentrating on studies," the communication read. The letter, signed by DGSE Kahan Singh Pannu, came on directions of Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka, who held a high-level meeting on October 27. Officials at the district level had pointed out that certain teachers wore inappropriate dresses to schools. The department also took serious note of students flaunting fashionable dresses and bringing gadgets to schools. Students in a large number of schools were found not adhering to the dress code, the officials said at the meeting. The DGSE has asked the school authorities to ensure that teachers wore decent dresses and students proper school uniform. Bhupinder Kaur, a retired headmistress, said: "When Pratap Singh Kairon was the Chief Minister, women teachers in government schools were asked to dress up in white suits or other sober colours. This lent a grace to their personalities". An officiating principal, requesting anonymity, said: "Government schoolteachers are aware of the dressing sense in context of the atmosphere they work in. In more than two decades of my teaching experience, only once women teachers of our school asked one of their colleagues not to wear sleeveless suits to school". A senior woman teacher said: "I find it strange that our head office is equating dressing sense of teachers with that of students. The matter should have been dealt with more decently. Something needs to be done to ensure that students adhere to the school uniform." A
schoolteacher in Jalandhar district said: "One can debate whether
it is appropriate to compare dressing sense of students with that of
teachers. However, there is no denying the fact that certain teachers
dress up too gaudily. It will be appropriate if the teachers wear
sober clothes to schools."
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Riot-hit demand fresh probe
New Delhi, November 3 “As many as 2,733 Sikhs were killed in the riots, as per official records. All those names have been put up here today for everyone to see,” said senior advocate HS Phoolka. Juswin Singh, a student of Khalsa College, Delhi University, said, “We want the United Nations Organisation to probe the matter since the government and the judiciary have clearly failed to bring the culprits to justice.” The protesters marched alongside a mobile exhibition named “Forgotten citizens” that had started from Amritsar last week. The exhibition displayed pictures clicked during the riots.
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Sidhu playing true self in reality show, says his wife
Mansa, November 3 "He is always courteous to ladies, more like a fatherly figure. I am happy at his performance," she said, adding winning or losing the game show was not important. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a health camp here, she said she had planned 39 more sting operations like the one she did against a senior doctor in Mohali. "You will see them soon. At present, I am busy with some work," she said. She said the department would provide generic medicines to the patients from next year and take steps to bring down the cost of treatment.
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Shruti case: Arrests help solve several robberies
Faridkot, November 3 Tahira Hidayat Sufi, wife of a Lahore-based industrialist, was robbed on April 15 in the town. She lodged a complaint with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi after the police failed to arrest the culprits. But now, the police has made some headway with an accused in the Shruti kidnapping case admitting to his involvement in the robbery, sources said. These youths have been committing crimes since they were in their early teens. “Several of them became hardcore criminals before they reached the age of 20,” said a senior police officer. Rajwinder Singh Ghalli, one of the arrested accused, is already facing 10 criminal cases, including two of murder and seven of attempt to murder. He is a proclaimed offender in all the cases. He committed his first crime in December 2008. Another arrested accused, Amna Gill, is involved in five criminal cases, including that of attempt to murder. He committed his first crime in May 2009. Raju Battar, another accused, is booked in four cases of criminal assault. Goldi and Amna Tyrewala are booked in two criminal cases. Babbu, Sahil, Sunny Ganja and Lucky also have a few cases registered against themselves.
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State told to upload copies of FIRs on net
Chandigarh, November 3 In a petition, advocate Ajay Jagga had sought directions for uploading the FIRs after these were registered. Jagga claimed the directions would be of great help to the economically weaker and “depressed part of the society” who were unaware of the technical procedures to avail a copy of the FIR. He said another difficulty faced by people were that “the FIR is normally handwritten in many of the police stations, which are neither readable nor legible. “The problem can be fixed by registering an FIR only in a typed version.”
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High Court clears decks for appointing drug inspectors
Chandigarh, November 3 In the petitions against the State of Punjab and other respondents placed before Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa, Ashu Garg and other petitioners had challenged the recruitment process and short-listing of candidates for appointment as drug inspectors under the Department of Health and Family Welfare. Going into the background of the controversy, the petitioners had contended that an advertisement was issued on May 2, 2010, by the department, inviting applications for recruitment to various posts, including 37 posts of drug inspectors. Educational and other qualifications too were specifically stipulated in the advertisement. Filing the petition at the stage of short-listing itself, the petitioners had contended that the respondent-authorities went ahead to shortlist the candidates and were proceeding with the process of recruitment without adhering to the qualifications and other eligibility conditions prescribed in the advertisement and statutory provisions regulating the appointment to the post of drug inspectors. Elaborating, the petitioners contended that ineligible candidates not even possessing the prescribed experience for the post were short-listed. The petitioners added that after participating in the written examination, they were shown as ineligible on the ground that they had not qualified the matriculation examination with Punjabi. In a counter-affidavit, the Director, Health and Family Welfare, on the other hand, took a categoric stand that the recruitment process has been conducted strictly in terms of the statutory rules and eligibility conditions in the advertisement. Representing the selected candidates, counsel RS Bajaj submitted that experience for appointment as drug inspector was not required under the statutory rules; and objection raised by the petitioners was due to misinterpretation of the rules. Dismissing the petitions, Justice Dhindsa rejected the argument that the short-listed candidates were ineligible as they lacked the requisite experience while observing that “the same is founded on a clear misreading of the relevant statutory provision”. Justice Dhindsa said a corrigendum was issued on May 22, 2010, and displayed on the department website laying down the requisite condition of having passed Punjabi up to matriculation. The corrigendum was issued prior to last date of submission of application. As such, there is no merit in the submission that the eligibility conditions were changed or altered while the recruitment process was on, he added.
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Details on safeguards to check mining sought
Chandigarh, November 3
The directions came on a petition filed by Darshan Singh through counsel Mansur Ali just three days after the High Court turned down Punjab government’s plea to allow auction of mining sites in the state. At that time, the High Court had made it clear that it was still not convinced that a proper mechanism had been evolved to carry out mining in an eco-friendly manner. The Punjab Government counsel had earlier claimed that environmental clearance had been obtained to carry out mining. The Bench, however, questioned the State on the mechanism evolved to implement the 32 specific and 21 general conditions for environmental clearance. The Bench indicated that without the mechanism in place to prevent environmental degradation, it was not too keen to allow mining in the State. The state counsel, on the other hand, asked the court to allow mining for a specific duration, as a ban on mining was resulting in illegal mining, causing loss to the exchequer. The Bench refused to accept the argument that illegal mining would thrive, if it was not legally allowed. The Bench added it had not banned mining, but had merely issued directions that mining could not be carried out without proper environmental clearance and implementation of conditions imposed in it.
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Appointment of lab attendants set aside
Chandigarh, November 3 Justice Rajesh Bindal of the High Court held "the process does not inspire confidence and deserves to be set aside", while allowing a bunch of petitions filed by Dalbir Singh and other petitioners against the State of Punjab and other respondents. The petitioners had stated that on April 27, 2011, an advertisement was issued by the Board for selection to 31 posts of laboratory attendants. After 4,752 candidates applied for the posts, a written test for short-listing the candidates was held in which 4,594 candidates appeared. The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the process adopted by the Board for selecting candidates was arbitrary; and the merit was given a complete go by. The candidates meritorious in their studies or who had topped the written test were ignored, he argued. “On the other hand, those with average or even below-average marks in their studies and quite low in merit in the written examination were selected by being given higher marks in interview,” he contended. Taking up the petition, Justice Bindal observed in reply to certain paragraphs of the writ petitions, "It has specifically been admitted by the Board that selection has been made on the directions of the State Government". Justice Bindal added four candidates out of the 15 selected had apparently passed matriculation examination in the third division. "Nine out of 15 candidates selected in general category belong to
Muktsar. Despite the fact that some of the selected candidates had not secured good marks in their matriculation examination and were not having any experience whatsoever, they still were given very high marks in knowledge of science practical equipments and interview". Justice Bindal concluded: "The posts be re-advertised for selection afresh within a period of two months by prescribing the criteria for selection and the process for short-listing in advance".
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Plea against cycle scheme dismissed
Chandigarh, November 3 The petition, placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, was filed by the Organisation for Protection of Human Rights against the State of Punjab and other respondents. Taking up the petition, the Bench asserted the Government of Punjab issued a notice for inviting tenders for purchasing two lakh bicycles under the scheme. For certain technical reasons or otherwise, the government cancelled the tender. The petitioner had challenged the cancellation of tenders by filing this present petition as public interest litigation. The Bench concluded: “We fail to understand what public interest is there in a cause like this. More so when those companies which had submitted the tenders can always challenge the action of the government. For this reason, we are not inclined to entertain the petition”.
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mega health camps fetch votes for the
SAD-BJP alliance? Political observers feel that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is hoping that the health camps may translate into votes like his Sangat Darshan programmes during the assembly elections.
Thousands of Sikhs marched through Delhi streets today in memory of those killed in the 1984 riots.
Demanding a fresh probe into the riot cases, the protesters marched amid tight security. They displayed posters bearing names and addresses of those killed in Delhi. Members of various Sikh organisations later organised a “path” and “ardaas”.
