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Capt ridicules Sukhbir’s claim
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Mini Bus Service Scheme quashed
Resolution on fortifying ties with Pakistan passed
Ludhiana, December 20 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will appoint district level office bearers in 308 districts of 10 states by January 13, 2013, under the operation "Mission Buniyad", said Dharam Singh Dabas, the central observer of the AAP in Ludhiana today. He said the district meetings for constituting the district units will be held on December 22 in Jalandhar, on 23rd in Ludhiana, on 25th in Hoshiarpur, on 27th in Ropar and on 30th in SBS Nagar.
Cong effigy burnt in Anandpur Sahib
Amol Rattan to be sworn in as an Additional Judge today
Security review to free more manpower: Punjab DGP
Saline water areas suitable for fish farming, say experts
PIL seeks CBI probe into ASI’s killing
Morinda man held with fake vehicle documents
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assembly in session
Chandigarh, December 20 “We have pre-empted major terrorist strikes by busting various modules and arresting terrorists,” he claimed. He said in Punjab 10 persons, including two naxals, had been held and cases filed against them whereas 68 civilians, 142 security personnel and 99 naxals had been killed in 1,755 incidents of Naxalite violence in the country. Sukhbir said that Punjab had been declared the safest state in the country by the Union Government. Punjab ranked 25th (of the 28 states) as far as the incidence of cognisable crime was concerned whereas Congress-ruled Kerala was the most crime-prone state. He said a comparative study conducted by the NCRB showed in Punjab there had been a 4.8 per cent decline in the crime rate from 2007 to 2011 whereas during the Amarinder Singh regime of the Congress, the crime rate had increase by 18.2 per cent. Amritsar had registered a decrease of 1.4 per cent in the corresponding period. He said Ludhiana had registered a decrease of 20.7 per cent against the 10.9 per cent rise seen during Amarinder’s regime. Sukhbir said that as far as crime against women was concerned, Punjab was placed at number 19 whereas Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh was at number 2, Rajasthan number 4 and Haryana number 14. The state, that had the highest density of Scheduled Caste population in the country, had seen 90 incidents of crime against Dalits against 4,016 incidents in Andhra Pradesh, 7,702 in Uttar Pradesh and 5182 in Rajasthan. Appreciating the Punjab Police for effective recovery of stolen goods during the last five years, he said 74.1 per cent stolen goods had been recovered during 2011, the highest in the country, against a meagre 49.4 per cent during the Amarinder regime. “Will the Union Home Minister resign as there has been a mere 4 per cent recovery of stolen goods in Delhi,” Sukhbir asked. Crime down?
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Capt ridicules Sukhbir’s claim
Chandigarh, December 20 “Just shutting your eyes on the law and order problem does not mean that everything is well”, he told Sukhbir, pointing out that had it been so, a police officer would not have been killed while saving the honour and dignity of his daughter and a minor girl would not have been abducted from her home in Faridkot. “If your intentions are genuinely sincere to cleanse the party of criminals, then begin with your brother-in-law Bikram Majithia, who is the greatest goon in your party who can threaten and intimidate people even inside the assembly”. Ridiculing the Deputy CM for claiming credit for curbing terrorism and Naxalism, the former Chief Minister said: “do I need to remind you that your father had run away during terrorism while you had been sheltered abroad while Congress fought terrorism in Punjab”. He said a traffic police constable was beaten up by a Youth Akali Dal leader in Gurdaspur on December 7, 2012, an official in the office of the Block Development Officer at Sanaur was beaten up by an Akali sarpanch on December 12, an SHO of the Ghanaur police station had been assulated by an Akali leader, a young hotelier had been murdered in Jalandhar by a nephew of the then Akali MLA last year and a truck union president of Jagraon was shot dead on December 3.
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Capt, Jakhar visit Bhaini Sahib
Bhaini Sahib (Khanna), December 20 The International Sangat had on December 18 burnt the effigies of HS Hanspal and Namdhari Darbar vice-president Surinder Lyal, alleging that they were trying to create a divide in the sangat. International Namdhari Sangat president Navtej Singh, while casting aspersions on Hanspal's role in the appointment of Thakur Uday Singh as the sect head, had claimed that Hanspal and Lyal wanted to draw political mileage. This angered Lyal who called the International Sangat a fake organisation. During Amarinder's visit today, Hanspal, MLAs Arvind Khanna, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Punjab Youth Congress president Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary and senior functionaries of the Namdhari Darbar, were present at Bhaini Sahib. Amarinder recalled the time he had spent with the late Satguru and appreciated his "selfless service to humankind." Later, interacting with mediapersons at the helipad at Raian village, he criticised the state government for "failing to maintain" law and order. Alleging that some SAD leaders had unleashed a reign of terror on the state by sheltering law-breakers, he appealed to the Chief Minister to take action against those disrupting law and order in Punjab.
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Mini Bus Service Scheme quashed
Chandigarh, December 20 "There should be no traces of doubt that the oblique object for which the scheme appears to have been formulated is to shelter the mini bus private operators to run and operate on the indicative or monopoly routes to the exclusion of their competitors." the Bench asserted. It said that Punjab had a "chequered history" of successive attempts made by the government to favour mini bus operators. "The Punjab Mini Bus Service Scheme, 2010, is hereby quashed and mini bus permits issued or renewed illegally are hereby declared illegal, null and void." The 111-page judgment was delivered by the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath on a bunch of petitions filed by Vijayant Travels and others. The Bench minced no words to say the scheme was patently illegal and a colourable exercise of power to protect existing mini bus operators. It was also ultra vires of Section 99 of the Motor Vehicle Act. Going into technicalities, the Bench said a scheme under Section 99 could be formulated only for areas or routes to be exclusively or partially run and operated by state transport undertakings. "It is an admitted fact and has not been denied by the respondents that none of the STUs in the State of Punjab own mini buses and are not in a position to operate even on a single route included under the 2010 Scheme," the Bench said. Moreover, the STUs had not forwarded any proposal in this regard.Their opinion was also not sought by the state government before formulating "the scheme for operation of mini buses by STUs to complete or partial exclusion" of private operators. "Where is the question of providing efficient, adequate or economical road transport service to the passenger public when the STUs possess neither mini buses nor have expressed their willingness to run and operate on identified routes," questioned the Bench. The Bench said even after the lapse of two years since the scheme was launched, permit had not been granted to any STU for any indicative or monopoly route. "However, private mini bus operators whose operations have been protected are undoubtedly thriving upon their monopoly on such routes," the Bench said, adding that the scheme talked of future mini bus operations by STUs, when nothing was being operated at present". Before parting with the orders, the Bench ruled that a clause in the scheme was unduly tilted in favour of private mini bus operators as it gave them 80 per cent share compared to 20 per cent of that of STUs in all future operations on the indicative routes.
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House ruckus: Majithia says he’s ready for probe
Chandigarh, December 20 Admitting his outburst against Congress MLA Rana Girjit Singh during the course of the debate yesterday, the minister, however, said the Congress should read his reaction in the right perspective and not politicise the matter. “I was overtaken by emotions after the Congress legislator abused my mother." Winding up the debate on law and order, an emotional Majithia said that perturbed at what had transpired in the assembly yesterday, he had remained awake the entire night because "I could not understand as to what my mother, who is deeply religious woman, had done to invite such abuse”. The minister said the Congress was acting in such a manner because it was frustrated and did not want to face a debate. He also said while he had withstood Congress slogans calling him a murderer, the “tolerance level" of Rana Gurjit was only too well-known. He showed a picture of Rana Gurjit slapping party leader from Amritsar OP Soni some years ago.
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Resolution on fortifying ties with Pakistan passed
Chandigarh, December 20 The resolution was moved by SAD legislator Harpreet Singh. Speaking on the issue, he stressed the need to open old trade routes, including the Grand Trunk Road to Lahore and beyond to Central Asia, besides the Silk route. He said there was a need to increase access to international borders from Attari for economic development of the region. Industries Minister Anil Joshi, seconding the resolution, said Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had laid the ground work for improving the ties with Pakistan during his recent visit to Pakistan and that the Centre should build on this goodwill. Others who spoke on the resolution were Bibi Jagir Kaur and Tota Singh. The resolution was put to voice vote and passed unanimously in the absence of Congress legislators who boycotted the House proceedings today. What it says
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Sukhbir calls Capt ‘clean chit CM’
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said in the Assembly that Capt Amarinder Singh functioned as a "Clean chit CM" during his stint in power. "Amarinder gave clean chits to everyone, whether it was the clean chit given to the then minister Gurchet Bhullar in the Tarn Taran murder case, the one to the police in Mannawala firing on farmers or the open encouragement given to Ludhiana police personnel who brutalised nursing students," he said. Majithia mocks at state Cong chief Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia said Pradesh Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh, who had been showing the 'khunda' (traditional Punjabi staff) to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during the Assembly elections earlier this year was today praying for his (Badal's) long life. "It is good to know the person who is worshipped by the entire state is also being worshipped by Amarinder," he said. Manoranjan Kalia’s tips to curb crime While participating in the debate on law and order, former Minister and BJP legislator Manoranjan Kalia said there was always scope for improvement. He suggested adopting a deterrent mechanism so that criminals are wary of going on the wrong side of the law. Majithia draws Manpreet ire In a statement, PPP chief Manpreet Badal has said that Majithia had crossed all limits by using unparliamentary and threatening language while participating in a debate on the law and order situation in the state. "It was a shameful act," he said.
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Aam Aadmi district units by next month
Ludhiana, December 20 The district level office bearers will establish the party units at the village, ward and college level. In the next phase, the state unit will be established, he added. — TNS
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Cong effigy burnt in Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib, December 20 Led by district party president Parvesh
Goel, party workers raised slogans and accused the Congress legislators of behaving in an unconstitutional manner.
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E-payment to be streamlined by next week: Power Corporation
Patiala, December 20 The facility was started by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) about two years back. Since the very beginning there were complaints
that either the bills were not uploaded on the website or the consumers were unable to log in
into their accounts. There are about 76 lakh power consumers in Punjab. Though, PSPCL functionaries admitted flaws in the e-payment system, none was willing to
speak on record. When contacted, PSPCL Chief Engineer (Commercial) Sohinderjit Singh claimed that the e-payment system would be streamlined within the next
seven days. "The central server in Ludhiana has been upgraded. Within a week, the e-payment system will be streamlined and the consumers will no longer face any problem in checking their bills and making online payment," he said. Officials at the billing section said that of the 104 divisions in Punjab, on-the-spot billing was available at 57 divisions, covering 33 lakh power consumers. The officials said that the process to extend the facility in another 24 divisions was underway. Under the system, a corporation employee feeds the reading into a devise and the bill is generated instantly which is given to the consumer. Suvidha charging consumers
It is learnt that Suvidha and Easy Bill outlets are charging money varying from Rs 5 to Rs 10 from power consumers to enable them to pay their electricity bills. Following an agreement with the PSPCL last year, Suvidha Infoserve (P) Limited, Mumbai and Easy Bill Limited, New Delhi, had set up 188 and 433 outlets in the state, respectively. " We have asked the companies to make sure that their franchise outlets do not charge the consumers," said a senior officer.
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Amol Rattan to be sworn in as an Additional Judge today Chandigarh, December 20 Initially, the names of five lawyers were recommended for elevation to high court judgeship by the collegium of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The lawyers included Puneet Jindal, GS Bajwa, Lisa Gill, and Kamal Sehgal. Available information suggests while the name of Lisa Gill has been kept on hold, the other names have not been given a go-ahead for elevation. While Amol Rattan Singh was functioning as a law officer of Punjab, Kamal Sehgal was a Haryana law officer. The other three had been practising in the high court for more than a decade. This is the second time in the recent past that some of the names sent for consideration have not been cleared for elevation as high court judges. The high court collegium had earlier sent the names of Suvir Sehgal, Sunil Chadha and JS Puri for elevation, but they were sent back. At present, the Bench strength in the high court is 42 against the sanctioned strength of 68.
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Badal attends Akali leader’s cremation
Patiala, December 20 People from all walks of life gathered at his village to catch the last glimpse of Raja Narinder on this solemn occasion. Praying for the deceased's soul, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said Raja Narinder was a great human being and had dedicated his life to the welfare of people. His death is a major loss to SAD. He will live in the hearts of millions, who have always adored him, he added. Narinder Singh was born on 10 March, 1924, at Ghamroda village in Nabha. After completing his graduation, he entered into active politics. He remained as the president of the Nabha municipal council and in the year 1962, he became the chairman of the Block Samiti Nabha. In his decade long political career, he served Akali Dal in various capacities. During the tenure of Lachman Singh Gill as Punjab CM, Narinder Singh became minister for the first time in year 1968. Later, he served as minister in the Parkash Singh Badal-led government in the year 1970. He remained as an MLA in 1985 from Nabha and was elected from Nabha in 1997 and served the government in the capacity of a minister.
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Security review to free more manpower: Punjab DGP
Amritsar, December 20 “During the first review, it was observed that many individuals were enjoying the security cover even as there was no threat perception to them. We have managed to free manpower to the tune of about 4,000 policemen by withdrawing security provided to undeserving individuals,” he said, adding the process of second review would start within 15 days. The DGP was here to participate in the first conference of the Commissioners of Police, which will begin tomorrow. The conference is being organised by the Punjab Police in collaboration with the Bureau of Police Research and Development. About 55 delegates from 47 commissionerates all over the country are likely to participate in the two-day conference. — TNS
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Saline water areas suitable for fish farming, say experts
Ludhiana, December 20 There are pockets of such land in Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Muktsar districts, where maximum number of farmer suicides have been reported. State government could have lent a helping hand to farmers in these areas, had they promoted acquaculture. Experts feel fish farming is a viable alternative for farmers in this region. Varieties of fish, including Rohu, Katla, Morak, Common Carp, Grass Carp and even Prawns can be farmed in these areas. Kanwarjit Singh Sidhu, Member, Planning Commission Sub Group for Development of Fresh and Cold Water Acquaculture, said, “A scientist at Punjab Agriculture University, with financial assistance from Ratan Tata Trust, had experimented on a chunk of land in Muktsar district. And by the end of the year, the farmer, on whose land the experiment was conducted, earned Rs 18,000 more than by growing routine crops,” said Sidhu. Another fish farmer Ajaib Singh said as a lot of infrastructure needs to be developed. "A Fishery Development Board needs to be formed. The state government needs to identify the land and convert it into ponds so that fish farming is promoted," said Ajaib Singh. Sidhu said a delegation of farmers had met government officials several times on this issue but to no avail.
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PIL seeks CBI probe into ASI’s killing
Chandigarh, December 20 In his petition against the State of Punjab, the Director-General of Police and other police authorities, Amritsar social activist Tarsem Singh contended that a fair and impartial investigation into the matter by the Punjab Police could not be expected in the case. He alleged that Rana enjoyed patronage of the ruling party. Tarsem Singh said a time-bound expeditious inquiry by the CBI should be ordered into the case. The petition will come up for hearing before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain tomorrow morning. The SAD-BJP government faced severe criticism for the killing of the ASI who was trying to save his daughter from eve-teasers. The incident had taken place on December 5. It had triggered a national outrage, until the SAD leader was arrested and later expelled from the party. At the time of the incident, the ASI was posted at the Gharinda police station. Rana was recently appointed district general secretary of the SAD for his “services to the party”.
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Morinda man held with fake vehicle documents
Rajpura, December 20 Earlier on Sunday, the Rajpura police had arrested Joginder Singh. “With Jaspreet’s arrest, we will be able to find out the modus operandi of the main accused Joginder Singh, who had been on the run for the past two years,” said police officials. — TNS
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Rebutting Congress accusations on law and order with National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said Punjab had seen seven casualities in terrorist violence whereas in Congress-ruled Haryana 68 persons had lost their lives in bomb blasts.
Chandigarh, December 20
