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Spat between Badal, Dikshit escalates
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SGPC removes Harmandar Sahib head granthi
Paddy stubble burning acquires political hues
UPA discriminating against us: Sukhbir
Pakistan looking for Badal family’s missing relative
Rampant adulteration in sweets, bakery products, says Health Department
CM honours 43 litterateurs
Will set up factories if states provide land: Rly Minister
HC bars recruitment of
rural associate teachers
Murder case registered two years after death
9 killed in separate accidents
34-kg heroin seized
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Delhi CM tells Badal to mind his own business
Ludhiana, November 17 Responding to a query on the letter that Badal had written to the Prime Minister, Dikshit said she had neither read the letter nor received any communiqué in that regard. In his letter, Badal had alleged that the Congress-led Delhi Government was interfering in the affairs of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) to further its vested political interests. He had also alleged that the proposed amendment to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1971, had triggered the clashes at Gurdwara Rakabganj. Dikshit, who was interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme at Nehru Sidhant Kendra here, said the proposed amendment will be put up in the Delhi Assembly for approval and notification. She claimed that it was not the first time that amendments had been proposed to the Gurdwara Act. Claiming that action had been taken in connection with the clashes and that the Delhi Government was aware of its responsibility, she added that the Badal Government need not give directions on this to the Delhi Government. On the issue of the Delhi Government blaming Punjab for smog hanging over the Delhi skyline, she clarified that it was not the Delhi Government that had put the blame on Punjab. The Delhi Government's observation was based on NASA data, she added. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari, who was in the city, said politicisation of such (gurdwara clash) sensitive issues should be avoided.
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SGPC removes Harmandar Sahib head granthi
Amritsar, November 17 The decision was reached at the SGPC executive committee meeting held at Gurdwara Sri Degsar Sahib, Katana in Ludhiana. Giani Mal Singh has been appointed acting head granthi whereas Giani Jagtar Singh Amritsarwale will be the additional head granthi of the holy shrine. Though Bhai Jasvinder Singh will continue to work as a granthi at Harmandar Sahib, he has been barred from performing ‘path’ at the time of its live telecast for next six months. The SGPC executive also decided to open a nursing college at Sri Anandpur Sahib and Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College at Bhagta Bhai area in Bathinda. It has also decided to form a new department to look after agricultural land of gurdwaras being run by the SGPC. The executive also gave its nod to complete the paper work of 13.8 acres of land, which has been donated to the SGPC by Deedar Singh Bains in the USA. The executive approved enhancement in its cancer funds to help more people fight the dreaded disease. The executive also decided to open a school for speech and hearing impaired children in
Ludhiana.
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Paddy stubble burning acquires political hues
Gurdaspur, November 17 Plumes of toxic smoke rising from the burning fields not only give rise to fog but agriculture experts say this pollution plays havoc with the environment of the area. Police officials claim that they are under pressure from political bigwigs, particularly those who have been appointed halqa (constituency) incharge of the very Vidhan Sabha seats they had lost in the recent assembly elections, from booking erring farmers. Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha said in the absence of any law against stubble burning, he was left with no option but to impose Section 144 of the CrPC. Experts say this section was imposed in cases of emergency where there was an apprehended danger of some event that has the potential to cause nuisance or damage to public tranquility. While prohibitory orders are given under Section 144, a case is registered under Section 188 of the IPC for violation of this order. Despite the imposition of Section 144, the police is yet to book even a single farmer under Section 188, though it is a bailable offence. But, Trikha denied that the district administration was under any political pressure for not booking farmers in the district where five senior Akali politicians rule the roost. However, several police officials claim that every time they want to take action against farmers, they get a telephone call from one of the five Akali leaders restraining them from going ahead. A senior official said every six months when the state harvests paddy or wheat, the Punjab Government issues advertisements in major newspapers, appealing to the farmers not to burn the left-over stubble. “These orders, however, go up in smoke as farmers do not care two hoots for such diktats,” he said. An agriculture expert claims that farmers have an option to sow wheat with the help of zero-till drill, also called as “happy seeder”, rotavator or a roto-drill. “But, farmers take the easy option of burning stubble instead of using these devices. They know that with politicians supporting them, the police cannot dare to book them,” an official said.
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UPA discriminating against us: Sukhbir
Participating in a discussion here today, Sukhbir said: “Even after the Metrological Department declared that Punjab had suffered a 42 per cent rain deficiency, the highest in the country, the Union Government refused to give a single penny to the state as drought relief”. The states helping the UPA survive numerically at the Centre were being favoured, he alleged. Terming it “a dangerous phenomenon”, Sukhbir said: “It shows that we have not matured to run a coalition that gives equal treatment to all states.” Rubbishing the charge that regional parties were responsible for political instability in the country, Sukhbir said: “People chose regional parties after national parties failed to fulfill their aspirations and decision-making became too centralised. All parties should accept coalition politics and learn to run a coalition in a mature manner”. On corruption, the Deputy Chief Minister claimed Punjab had set an example in this regard. The state was all set to put 99 per cent citizen services online, remove physical interaction of public with the state, evolve transparent procedures and minimise discretion of the authorities that led to corruption, he added.
'Real estate policy soon'
Addressing a press conference later, Sukhbir said the state would announce a real estate policy by December 15. He said real estate would be given the status of industry. The policy would include hosts of incentives like hassle-free and time-bound clearance, uniform code for all cities, unlimited heights, besides rationalised charges, he said.
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Pakistan looking for Badal family’s missing relative
Lahore, November 17 Rajvinder Kaur Gill, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, went missing shortly after she arrived in Lahore in August to attend a conference. Her father, Sikandar Singh, wrote a letter to Sukhbir, seeking the Deputy Chief Minister's help in finding his daughter. Sukhbir handed over a copy of the letter to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to Lahore earlier this month. Sikandar had served in the Indian Air Force before moving to Canada 13 years ago. Other members of his family, including Rajvinder, who is in her 30s, joined him in 2007. "My daughter then moved to Switzerland after she got a job in a bank in Zurich. She went to Lahore to attend a conference in August and remained in touch with me for a few days. She told me that she was going to meet a journalist, Iqbal Hussain of News One, before we lost contact with her," he wrote. Imdad Bhatti, a journalist of the Urdu daily Jang, said Sikander Singh had spoken to him over the phone from Canada. He quoted Sikander as saying that his daughter had fallen in love with a man on the Internet who had introduced himself as Krishna from Lahore. Bhatti said Singh had told him that his daughter went to Lahore to meet Krishna. It was not clear whether Krishna "was an imposter or not". After learning of the incident, Sharif ordered the Punjab Home Department to look into the matter. The department subsequently wrote to provincial police chief Haji Habibur Rehman and intelligence agencies to look into the matter. Rehman said an investigation into the matter was underway. An official said Kaur had stayed at Hotel One in Gulberg area before she disappeared. Asked whether there was a possibility that Kaur may be in custody of intelligence agencies, the official said: "It is a sensitive matter and let the probe be completed."
PTI
Last seen in August
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Rampant adulteration in sweets, bakery products, says Health Department
Ashok Kumar and Balwinder Singh, Food Analysts at the State Food and Drug Laboratory, Punjab, said: “We found starch powder and refined oil in khoya; and soya powder, milk powder, refined oil and liquid glucose in milk. Similar ingredients were found in cheese and curd. We found that most sweetmakers, instead of using silver foil to decorate sweets, are using aluminum foil, which is harmful. In mustard oil, crude rice bran was found. The reports revealed that several bakery products were also not up to the mark.” The analysts said: "While many bakers didn't disclose which colour they had added to the eatables, some used non-permitted colours." The Health Department collected more samples of eatables and sweets this year. Kumar said: "Out of 1,248 samples received this year, 716 and 532 samples were collected in the month of October and November, respectively. Last year, we received 1,106 samples, out of which, 756 samples were collected in October and 350 samples in November. As many as 133 samples failed the purity test last year.'' When asked how many samples had failed the purity test this year, Kumar said, "We are yet to compile the report."
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CM honours 43 litterateurs
Chandigarh, November 17 Addressing a gathering at Punjab Bhawan after honouring 43 literary personalities, Badal said from next year, the prize money for Shiromani Sahit Rattan awardees would be doubled to Rs 10 lakh. Similarly, the Shiromani Sahitkar awardees would get Rs 5 lakh. Award recipients for 2010: Dr Mohinder Kaur Gill (Punjabi Sahit Rattan), Dr Tejwant Mann (Shiromani Punjabi Sahitkar), Shiv Prasad Bhardwaj (Shiromani Sanskrit Sahitkar), Surinder Gill (Shiromani Punjabi Kavi), Dr Harbhajan Singh Bhatia (Shiromani Punjabi Alochak/Gian Sahitkar), Veena Verma (Shiromani Punjabi Sahitkar, Videshi), Darshan Singh Bhau (Shiromani Punjabi Sahitkar, outside Punjab) and Sukhdev Singh Grewal (Shiromani Punjabi Bal Sahit Lekhak). For 2011: Prem Parkash Khannvi (Punjabi Sahit Rattan), Surjeet Hans (Shiromani Punjabi Sahitkar), Dr Krishan Kumar Rattu (Shiromani Hindi Sahitkar), Dr Rubeena Shabnam (Shiromani Urdu Sahitkar), Dr Mahesh Chander Gautam (Shiromani Sanskrit Sahitkar) and Surjeet Judge (Shiromani Punjabi Kavi). The Chief Minister also bestowed upon three special awards to Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, Harvinder Singh Khalsa and Gulzar Singh
Shaunki.
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Will set up factories if states provide land: Rly Minister
Chandigarh, November 17 During his visit to the Special Science Express mobile exhibition, stationed at the city railway station, he said no land was available in Chandigarh to set up a factory. Bansal said if both the state governments took the initiative to earmark land for rail factories, the ministry would consider their proposal. On building a high-speed corridor project in the city, Bansal said the stations at Delhi, Chandigarh and Amritsar would be developed after the successful implementation of a similar project in Hyderabad. He said approving three more trains to connect the city with north and south India was a priority. Instructions had been issued to railway officials to submit a proposal in this regard, he stated. Bansal said after finishing these projects, proposals to connect the city with other parts of India would be taken up.
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HC bars recruitment of
rural associate teachers
Chandigarh, November 17 Acting on their plea, Justice Dhindsa restrained the Department from finalising the recruitment being carried out in response to a public notice dated September 9, inviting applications for filling up the posts. In the petition filed through advocate HC Arora, the petitioners had stated that the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) had, vide circular dated February 11, 2011, declared that a candidate seeking appointment as a teacher in any school must clear teachers eligibility test (TET) to be conducted by an agency appointed by the state government concerned at least once a year. The grievance of the petitioners was that the Punjab Government conducted TET only once on July 3, 2011. Arora added the petitioners could not qualify the test in July, 2011. In September this year, the Punjab Education Department notified the 5,078 posts of rural associate teachers. Seeking directions to the state government to conduct a TET test before filling the posts, he said an order in this regard would enable a large number of candidates, like the petitioners, who could not qualify the TET test in July, 2011, to acquire the qualification. Those passing B.Ed examination may also get a chance to acquire TET qualification for submitting application for the posts.
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Murder case registered two years after death
Moga, November 17 The probe was conducted on the directions of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC). It has not only raised doubts on the working of the local police but also put the civil administration in a spot. Kulbir's body was recovered on June 5, 2010, from near the house of Davinder Singh at Saffuwala village in the district. The deceased's father had claimed that his son was murdered, but the police did not listen to him and initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 CrPC. The police reported this incident to the district magistrate (DM) and the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) concerned, but the officials did not conduct any probe even as the viscera report confirmed that the youth had died of poisoning. The aggrieved father then moved the PSHRC, which had issued orders to the crime branch to conduct a probe. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rattan Singh Brar held the probe. On his recommendation, a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered yesterday. SHO Ravi Sher Singh said: "We will soon find out the guilty during the course of investigation".
Case file
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9 killed in separate accidents
Amritsar/Ferozepur, November 17 The victims have been identified as Sherry Vohra, a resident of Green Avenue, Jashneet Singh and Sukhpreet Singh, both residents of New Delhi. A head-on collision between a motorcycle and a truck near Sohian Kalan village claimed the life of two persons who were riding the motorcycle. They have been identified as Jaspal Singh and Ravinder Singh Neeta, both residents of Loharkan Kalan village. In another incident, four persons were killed and two seriously injured following a head-on collision between a Bolero jeep and a truck on the Moga-Amritsar highway near Makhu. The truck’s cleaner, Harjit Singh, was also injured while its driver lakhwinder Singh fled the spot. The deceased have been identified as Wajir Singh, Vakil Kumar, Chander Mohan and Anil Kumar, all residents of Hisar in
Haryana.
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34-kg heroin seized
Amritsar, November 17 BSF Inspector General Aditya Mishra claimed that it was the biggest seizure of heroin in this sector in the past two years. Mishra said the recovery was made following a tip-off. He said on Friday evening, BSF men observed some suspicious movement from the Pakistani side near the fence. The BSF men launched a search operation but it was only today morning that they found 34 packets of heroin, a Chinese pistol magazine and eight cartridges. This year, the BSF has seized over 278 kg of heroin. Fake Indian currency amounting to Rs 46.21 lakh and 23 weapons were also been recovered. Nineteen Indian smugglers were arrested while seven Pakistani smugglers and four Pakistani intruders were shot dead,” said
Mishra.
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Gurdaspur, November 17
New Delhi, November 17
Ludhiana, November 17