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Three SPs suspended for indiscipline
HIV cases in state down by 5%
Govt’s no to PSPCL bailout package
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Ponty
Chadha Case Fallout
Chandigarh shootout
Farmer killed by pet monkey
Kabaddi brings Badal brothers together
Illegal hoardings to go: Sukhbir
Built in record time, Bathinda airport yet to take off
Medicine shortage hits Ludhiana govt store
90 found suffering from cancer in Fatehgarh: DC
Under-invoiced cycle import worries local industry
Notice to Punjab on Garg’s anticipatory bail plea
3-year jail for 6 in
Rs 1.5 cr bribery case
Govt in dock over Saini’s appointment
Commission agent held in paddy scam
Road rage claims life in Moga
Swindlers’ gang busted, kingpin nabbed
Bogus bills worth
Rs 60 crore unearthed
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Three SPs suspended for indiscipline
Chandigarh, December 5 The spokesman said there had been complaints against Grewal that he “often consumed liquor and created a nuisance in police stations.” He had not made efforts to check crime in the area. He said Chahal, as SP (Operations) did not take interest in his official work, did not even bother to wear his uniform and would attend office as per his whims. He was reportedly consuming liquor while on duty. “Ghuman showed slackness while on security duty of the President of India by pretending to be ill. He did not perform other important security duties at Amritsar either. These lapses on his part led to serious security and other problems.” Departmental action has been initiated against the three officers, the official added. In August this year, six “most undeserving” police officers, two each from the police commissionerates at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar were removed from field duty. The services of SK Asthana, IGP, were suspended for misuse of manpower. The services of Vimal Setia, District Transport Officer, Amritsar, have also beem suspended with immediate effect for “failure to check plying of illegal buses in the district”. Cracking The Whip The suspended officers, Jaskirat Singh Chahal, SP (Operations), Gurdaspur; Paramjit Singh Grewal, SP (Detective), Batala; and RS Ghuman, SP (Headquarters), Tarn Taran; have been told to report to the Punjab Police Headquarters District Transport Officer, Amritsar, also suspended for failure to check plying of illegal buses
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HIV cases in state down by 5%
Chandigarh, December 5 The state has succeeded in curtailing the menace among female sex workers (FSWs), men having sex with men (MSM) and injecting drug users (IDUs) through focused interventions. The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS was 31,961 in 2011. The number was 56,928 in 2009. The incidence of infection among IDUs has declined from 14 per cent (2008-09) to 2.8 per cent (2011-12). Raji P Shrivastava, Chairperson of the Punjab State AIDS Control Society, said: "Despite the good results, there is a requirement to increasingly focus on the IDU population where HIV positivite cases are three times more than the national count". Dr NM Sharma, Additional Project Director, Punjab State AIDS Control Society, said: "the success of the Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) in Punjab has been replicated in 62 disticts, including Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Moga, Patiala and Ropar in Punjab, at the national level. "The process involves sub-lingual buprenorphine being provided to the IDUs under direct medical supervision. The treatment has shown to reduce drug use, high-risk behaviours and HIV transmission among IDUs", he explained. Opioid substitution treatment, using methadone, has also been initiated in Kapurthala and Bathinda as a pilot project in partnership with NACO and the
UNODC.
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Govt’s no to PSPCL bailout package
Chandigarh, December 5 “After examining various aspects of the package, we have reached the conclusion that the package has been cleverly designed to bail out various banks from where the power utilities have taken loans and not to benefit power companies in the states,” said a senior official. “The bailout package comes with several riders that would be impossible for the state government to implement,” the official said. The remaining loan would have to be paid by the state government by issuing bonds to lenders and by paying interest on the bonds. One of the conditions laid down by the Centre was passing the State Electricity Distribution Responsibility Bill. Another condition was part privatisation of power distribution. Both the conditions were not acceptable to the state power corporation, it is learnt. Sources said with the issuance of bonds, the state’s borrowing limit would have been be curtailed, which was not acceptable to the state government. At present, the net annual borrowing limit of the government is Rs 9,900 crore. With the issuance of bonds, the limit would have come down by Rs 1250 crore per annum. “Any decrease in the borrowing limit could create serious trouble for the state that is already starved of funds,”, said a government functionary. With the PSPCL operating loss coming down to a few hundred crores from the more than Rs 1,000 crore last year, the state government is hopeful that the power utility will be able to manage its fiscal affairs in due course. Central Govt’s Terms One of the conditions laid down was passing the State Electricity Distribution Responsibility Bill Another condition was part privatisation of power distribution Both the conditions were not acceptable to the PSPCL
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Ponty
Chadha Case Fallout
Chandigarh, December 5 A Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain put on notice the Punjab and the Central Governments. As the petition filed in public interest by advocate HC Arora came up for hearing this morning, the Bench issued notices for January 13, 2013, to the State of Punjab, the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Home). The Bench also issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Appearing
in person, Arora referred to newspaper reports to say several influential
persons residing in other states had been granted the benefit of police
security at Punjab Government’s expense. Among them, he claimed, was Haryana’s
former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Himachal Pradesh Member of
Parliament Anurag Thakur The reports, he added, had not been rebutted by the Deputy Chief Minister during his conversation with mediapersons. Quoting Section 3 of the Police Act, 1888, Arora asserted that security personnel of the Punjab Police were required to act under the police authorities of other states, if deployed outside the home state. Further, Section 4 of the Police Act prohibited police personnel from any state to be deployed outside the home state, without the consent of the other state government. The
petitioner said that Punjab Police personnel deployed for security in other
states were not reporting to the police authorities of those states. Also, they
were discharging their duties in other states in an illegal manner without the
consent of the government there.
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Chandigarh shootout
Moga, December 5 Jaspreet Singh alias Jassa, one of the nephews of Keetu and an accused, is still eluding arrest. He allegedly fired shots at Keetu's supporters, including Youth Akali Dal leader Taranjit Singh and his associates, in Chandigarh on
Monday. DSP (central), Chandigarh Police, Ashish Kapoor said an FIR had been registered against those involved in the shootout, including Jassa who managed to flee. Taranjit and his associates Gurpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Satwant Singh
Sohi, have been arrested. Moga SSP Surjit Singh Grewal said special police teams had been constituted to nab
Jassa. "A .32 bore revolver, which he probably used in Chandigarh shootout, was also used by him to murder his uncle", he claimed. The SSP ruled out the involvement of Jassa's associates - Rashpal Singh Bhatti alias Kala and Bittu Mehalkana Wala who were involved with him in the Chandigarh shootout - in the murder of
Keetu. On the run Former SAD MLA Malkiat Singh Keetu was allegedly killed by his three nephews on October 29 Though most accused have been arrested, Jaspreet Singh alias
Jassa, one of the Keetu's nephews, is on the run Jassa allegedly fired shots at Keetu's supporters in Chandigarh on Monday The Moga police has now formed special teams to nab Jassa
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Farmer killed by pet monkey
Phagwara, December 5 Panicky village residents informed Forest Department officials who installed a “cage” near the village fields in a bid to catch the killer monkey.
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Kabaddi brings Badal brothers together
Doda (Muktsar), December 5 Pradesh Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh and his estranged younger brother Malwinder Singh had shared a stage during a sports event in Patiala a few days ago. The Badal brothers denied a political patch-up. But their smiling faces and long conversations raised many an eyebrow. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was seen wishing his uncle
(chacha) and touching his feet. When approached, the Chief Minister said: “ This is not the first time that we have met. We have held meetings in the past too. We are in touch with each other and will continue to do so.”
Gurdas, who looked rather frail, said: “Whatever Badal Sahib has told you is true. We will always be in touch with each other.” The Badal brothers were together on stage for more than two hours.
Gurdas, who is a diabetic, had infection in his feet. He was wearing sandals bought for him by his elder brother from the US. When contacted, Deputy Cm Sukhbir Badal ruled out a reunion with
Manpreet.
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Illegal hoardings to go: Sukhbir
Phagwara, December 5 Sukhbir was talking to mediapersons after paying obeisance on the anniversary of Sant Tarlok Singh in Dhesian Kahna village near
Goraya. He said the Punjab government was of the view that it was the responsibility of the district administration concerned to ensure that the outdoor advertisement policy passed by the state cabinet recently was implemented in its letter and spirit. He said the authorities concerned should ensure that no illegal hoardings were allowed in any city. To give more teeth to the law against illegal hoardings the Cabinet will soon approve a bill providing for criminal proceedings against persons responsible for erecting such hoardings, he added. He said as per the new advertisement policy, electronic billboards would adorn all the cities and illegal hoardings defacing the planned look of cities would be taken seriously.
Sukhbir also sought cooperation from saints and seers in launching a concerted drive against drug addiction in the state. He said Punjab was paying dearly for being a border state. He added taking into account the seizures made by the security agencies in the past three years, the Centre must ask the BSF to strengthen vigil to check inflow of drugs and narcotics from across the border. Reiterating his resolve to hold a dope-free kabaddi tournament, Badal said that dope test report of the Indian team (men) had already been received. No dope positive player would be allowed to play in the tournament, he said. Sukhbir said his aim was to take kabaddi to the Olympic level and he would propose an exhibition circle kabaddi match in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
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Built in record time, Bathinda airport yet to take off
Virk Kalan (Bathinda), December 5 The 40-acre-wide Civil Airport, 27 km from Bathinda, has been built at a cost of Rs 25 crore. The dream project of the Badals is now awaiting aviation companies to begin flights. "When I first came here, I thought I was in a mini Chambal ki ghati. Before beginning the work, we had to level the sand dunes. Waterlogging was another troubled area," said Sanjay Tripathi, airport director. The airport's apron has a parking facility for two Boeing 321 (150 seaters). The parking facility can be expanded depending on the air traffic. The present terminal has been built over an area of 1,500 sq m. Now that the airport is ready, the big question is when the flights will start. The airport's infrastructure is gathering dust due to the delay in its inauguration. The airport authorities have awarded the contract of cleaning the machines and premises to a company for Rs 7 lakh. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently said the flights would start only after the Central Government inaugurated the project. "We have reduced VAT on fuel from 21 per cent to 5 per cent. This will lure aviation companies to refuel from this airport," he said. Sources, however, said it might take a while for the flights to start. The winter schedule of the airlines had already commenced and it might not be easy for them to introduce new flights, they said, adding three companies - Spicejet, Religare and Ventura - had so far shown interest. The project has proved a boon for Virk Kalan villagers. It led to escalation in land prices. One acre land, which was worth Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, was acquired for nearly Rs 8 lakh for the project. The cost of the land now has shot up to Rs 25 lakh per acre. Some claim the price of land near the airport may shoot to Rs 70 lakh per acre once the airport becomes functional. The airport project also generated employment for villagers. Nachhatar Singh, a welder in the village, said he had been earning about Rs 10,000 per month. "My income doubled after I started working as a supervisor at the project, apart from handling the welding work," he said. Sukhwinder Singh, another villager, said several farmers earned thousands of rupees per month by leasing out tractors to the construction company. "Many villagers also worked as labourers," he said. The village road which was earlier marked by potholes has been laid with concrete. Nearly 50,000 cubic meters of sand dug out from the airport land was used to build a grain market in the village. However, the villagers have a grouse. "It is being called Civil Airport, Bathinda. The name of our village should be added to it. We have given our land for the project. We want to be on the world air route map," said Bikar Singh, a member of Virk Kalan panchayat. Interestingly, locals also do not seem to be happy with the access road passing through the village. "Gradually, vehicular traffic will rise and move at a high speed, which may cause accidents," said Sukhwinder Singh. Delay in inauguration The airport's infrastructure is gathering dust due to the delay in its inauguration. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently said the flights would start only after the Central Government inaugurated the project Land prices escalate The project has proved a boon for Virk Kalan villagers. It led to escalation in land prices. One acre land, which was worth Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, was acquired for nearly Rs 8 lakh for the project. The cost of the land now has shot up to Rs 25 lakh per acre Project brings jobs The airport project also generated employment opportunities for villagers. A large number of them worked as technicians, supervisors and labourers. Several farmers earned thousands of rupees by leasing out their tractors to the construction firm Villagers’ grievance The airport has been named as Civil Airport, Bathinda. The name of our village should be added to it. We have given our land for the project. The village should be given due recognition. We want to be on the world air route map: say villagers
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Medicine shortage hits Ludhiana govt store
Ludhiana, December 5 The store sells medicines worth Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 daily and more than 30% of the patients go back empty-handed as the prescribed medicines are out of stock at the stores. Dr A K Handa, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Ludhiana, said, "We have been provided with a list of as many as 218 medicines, even though our requirement is that of 235 medicines. However, JAS only has 118 of these medicines. There are five pharmaceutical firms that are run by the Government of India namely Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL), Rajasthan Drugs Pharmaceutical Limited (RDPL), Karnataka Drugs Pharmaceutical Limited, BCPL and HAL which provide these medicines to JAS through super stockists. There are 120 more pharmaceutical companies which are permitted to provide generic drugs to JAS." He said the demand-supply gap is too large as the demand is high and the supply is low. The quantity of medicines supplied to us is very little. Dr Handa said, "We ordered 65 drugs on August 28 but received only 8 drugs on September 25. We received some of the drugs like Amoxyclauv (625 mg) only two months ago." It was in November 2008, when JAS was launched at government hospitals under a centrally sponsored scheme with much fanfare but it proved to be a damp squib as many medicines were not available. People complained against the authorities at these stores for overcharging and selling branded medicines. JAS was reopened by Rogi Kalyan Samiti of Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital on September 5 last year. An employee working at JAS said, "The medicines that we sell here are 3-4 times cheaper than branded ones.” Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Health) Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said, "Earlier, JAS were opened at 23 centers but did not function properly. JAS was supposed to sell only generic medicines but soon branded medicines were sold there. As a result the generic medicines were not sold and returned to pharmaceutical firms after passing their expiry date. So the pharmaceutical firms stopped sending stock. I got to know about this problem from directors of different pharmaceutical companies. Now I have taken up the issue. After a month as many as 460 drugs will be supplied to all the JAS in the state and I have requested the government to open 9 more stores in Amritsar district alone. If other states can run JAS successfully why can’t Punjab. I will get it done." Cheaper medicines
Medicines at a JAS store are 3 to 4 times cheaper than branded ones. Ceftrione (antibiotic) 1 gm costs 37.50 rupees at JAS while branded Ceftrione costs 135 rupees. Similarly, 10 capsules of Amoxycillin (500 mg) costs rupees 23, while branded capsules cost rupees 55. Cost of 10 Amlodipinebasilate (5mg) tablets is 3.80 rupees, and a branded tablet of the same salt is 32.70 rupees. Out of stock B-complex tablets, multi vitamin capsules, Ranitidine and Domperidom, Atropine, Ondansteron injections, eye drops, ear drops
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90 found suffering from cancer in Fatehgarh: DC
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 5 While addressing the meeting of the district health society, Mahajan said that a survey was being conducted in the district to identify the people suffering from cancer so that they could be given timely treatment. He said under the scheme, free treatment worth Rs 1.5 lakh was being provided to cancer patients. Mahajan said auxillary nurse midwives, anganwari workers and girls undergoing nursing training were involved in a door-to-door survey to identify the patients suffering from the disease and to find out why it spread in the area. He directed the Civil Surgeon and Senior Medical Officers to take further steps to complete the survey on time. The DC said Rs 13.59 lakh had been issued to the district under the Mata Kaushal Kalyan scheme and out of the amount, Rs 11.22 lakh had been provided to 1,122 pregnant women until October 31. He directed all Senior Medial Officers to ensure the timely utilisation of the grant of Rs 10,000 issued to the primary health centres under the National Rural Health Mission so that more funds could be allocated to these centres. He also directed the doctors to test tuberculosis patients for HIV. He ordered the Civil Surgeon Dr Gurpaal to install banners near public places, government offices and educational institutions to raise awareness on the ill effects of smoking. Civil Surgeon said 35 banners had been installed at various places in the district till date and the state collected Rs 30,000 from 115 persons penalised for smoking at public places. Fighting cancer Under the Chief Minister's cancer relief fund, Rs 88.68 lakh had been spent on the treatment of 79 cancer patients Cancer patients are
entitled to free treatment worth Rs 1.5 lakh under the scheme
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Under-invoiced cycle import worries local industry
Ludhiana, December 5 Even as the customs duty on cycles had been increased in the 2012-13 Budget, reports suggest that bicycles and their spare parts continue to be imported from China as many importers resorted to under-invoicing. The local bicycle industry wants the government to fix the floor price on imported bicycles at more than Rs 150 per kg which, they say, will help in checking cheap imports. Gurmeet Singh Kular, President, United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, said, "To neutralise the impact of the hike in customs duty, importers have started indulging in under-invoicing of bicycles and their spare parts.” Badish Jindal, President, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association, said, "The floor price of imported cycle should be fixed."
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Notice to Punjab on Garg’s anticipatory bail plea
Chandigarh, December 5 On November 9, the Vigilance Bureau had lodged a cheating and forgery case under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC along with Section13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Vigilance Bureau police station in Patiala. The Bureau had registered the case against 10 persons, including Garg. — TNS
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3-year jail for 6 in
Rs 1.5 cr bribery case
Barnala, December 5 The accused were also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each. The accused are Amar Nath Sharma, Amarjit Singh Chadha, Bhupinder Singh Walia, Surinder Singh Bhora, Varinder Sharma and Baghel Singh Jhaloor. One Tejinder Singh, alias Toti, was acquitted by the court. Three other accused in the case, including Kirtan Singh Tohra and Malook Singh, have already died. On the complaint of a Barnala resident Vinod Kumar, the police had registered a case against several persons under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act at the Kotwali police station in Barnala in 2002. In October 2002, the then Special Judge, Barnala, had charged the accused of cheating Vinod Kumar and other 500 persons of Rs 1.50 crore between April 1999 and December 2001.
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Govt in dock over Saini’s appointment
Chandigarh, December 5 As the matter came up for hearing before a Division Bench, Supreme Court’s senior lawyer KN Balgopal stated that the prosecution sanction had been granted by the Punjab Government, in the process giving the go-ahead to the CBI to continue with its proceedings in an abduction case allegedly involving Saini. Subsequently, the CBI had filed a charge sheet in the case. Referring to a CBI communication to the Punjab Government, Balgopal said the authorities were well-aware of the facts of the criminal case against Saini. Now, terming him as officer with impeachable integrity, the government was attempting to support him. It was, in a way, going against its own prosecution sanction, Balgopal further argued. The High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had taken a suo motu notice of his appointment. A Division Bench said it would pursue the case, even as it dismissed a petition filed in public interest in the matter by an NGO, ‘Voices for Freedom’, that had challenged Saini’s appointment on the ground that he was facing a trial for abduction and other offences. The petitioner had contended: that one of the “questions of law of substantial public importance is whether a person, who is facing a trial before a CBI court for abduction can be treated as having a good record for the purpose of being appointed to the post of Director-General of Police.”
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Commission agent held in paddy scam
Moga, December 5 A senior official of the Crime Branch said that Lakha was involved in making bogus purchases of paddy on his and some of his family members’ names. The quantity of paddy produced from the land owned by his family was shown much more on papers than the actual production, he said. Former District Food and Supplies Controller Sukhdev Singh had alleged that Lakha Singh actually bought the paddy from a rice mill which was purchased in the black market. As many as 1,92,973 bags of paddy belonging to the Pungrain, state-owned procurement agency, were allegedly sold to local commission agents by Noor Rice Mill located at Kasubagu village near the Ferozepur Cantonment.
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Road rage claims life in Moga
Moga, December 5 The police said the victim Pawan Kumar of Moga city, who used to supply bakery products to local shopkeepers, was going in his jeep when his vehicle hit the motorcycle of the said youths. They first thrashed him and then hit him with iron rods. Thereafter, they left him in a pool of blood and fled away from the spot. A seriously injured Pawan was rushed to the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, where he succumbed to his injuries. Sub-Inspector Jaswinder Singh said that an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC had been registered against Ganja Singh and Luvjit Kumar, both local residents.
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Swindlers’ gang busted, kingpin nabbed
Bathinda, December 5 The gang had allegedly fleeced many persons of lakhs of rupees by promising them a salary of Rs 6,000 per month for sending 2,000 SMSes. The accused took Rs 4,500 from each victim for providing them SIM cards and mobile phone sets. SSP Mansa Narendra Bhargav said the main accused, Parveen Kumar, was challaned by the Chandigarh police for illegally using a red-beacon and a VVIP sticker on his vehicle. “The accused was wanted in Mansa in a case of employment fraud,” said the SSP. The police later nabbed him from Chandigarh on the day of hearing of his challan. His two accomplices Kuldip Singh and Devinder Singh were also nabbed. The police has seized Rs 37,000 from Kuldip and 60 gm of gold from Devinder. —TNS
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Bogus bills worth Rs 60 crore unearthed
Ludhiana, December 5 "The department raided their premises, located on Gill Road in Muradapura and seized laptops, computers, loose slips and bill books. The father-son duo filed bogus bills worth Rs 60 crore causing a huge loss to the state exchequer," said Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Jaskaran Singh Brar. They had been doing this for three years. "They submitted fake documents to the department and ran fake firms which filed bogus bills," added Brar.— TNS
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The number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the state is down by 5 per cent, according to a survey by the National AIDS Control organization (NACO). Official figures show that the incidence of infection among injection drug users(IDUs) has decreased from 26.1 per cent in 2008 to 21.02 per cent in 2011.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal
(Pash) and his younger brother Gurdas Singh Badal (Dass) today shared a stage for the fist time after their separation some years ago when Gurdas Badal’s son Manpreet quit the SAD to launch the Punjab People’s Party.They were here for the Kabaddi World Cup matches.
Building an airport is not an easy job. But it may become a Herculean task if it is to be built in a water-logged and semi-arid region dotted with huge sand dunes. This task was faced by engineers of the National Airport Authority of India
(NAAI) at Virk Kalan where they built an airport in record 16 months.
The Centre had offered the package a few weeks ago and had asked the state governments concerned to accept or decline the same by December 31.The Centre had offered to reschedule the payment of 50 per cent of short-term loans secured from banks by the power utilities.This meant that the Rs 5,000 crore short-term loan secured by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited was to be rescheduled. Of the total rescheduled loan, 25 per cent was to be given to the state governments concerned as an incentive for implementing the package terms.