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State braves deficient monsoon to produce record harvest this year
Pak-bound bus breaks down near Mandi Gobidngarh
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Parties gearing up to battle it out as DSGMC elections draw near
Former DGP Gill raises banner of revolt against ex-MLA Jain
Former DGP PS Gill adresses his supporters at a meeting in Moga on Saturday.
A Tribune photograph
Muktsar man makes paragliding possible in plains
Have high regards for Mittal: ADGP
Castrate rapists: Phoolka
Send advance copies of writ petitions to state, HC to advocates
Two more arrested in panch murder case
Patiala gang rape case: SI held for suicide
Cabinet minister Surjit Singh Rakhra with the family of the victim at Badshahpur village on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Head Constable booked
Abducted minor girl recovered
Gurdaspur police nabs accused 24 days after sexual assault
8 rapes in three months in Ludhiana
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State braves deficient monsoon to produce record harvest this year
Chandigarh, December 29 The agriculture sector has generated a revenue of about Rs 5,000 crore for the state government, equalling the subsidy given to it in the form of free power. The government collected the funds through VAT, market fee, infrastructure and rural development fund etc. Despite facing a deficient monsoon season, it was one of the best years for the state’s economy. Due to adverse weather conditions, farmers in the state had to make additional expenditure to nurse the paddy crop for which the state has still not compensated the farmers. This year, the state has also been under a lot of pressure from the Centre to urge its farmers to break the wheat-paddy cycle. Though the subject has been discussed for a long time, the centre government this year has made it clear that the state farmers need to diversify into other crops. Not once but several times during the year, the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has told the state government that there will be no takers for Punjab rice in the near future as most of the rice eating states had become self sufficient. The Centre was not even prepared to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat. The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price had recommended that wheat MSP be frozen as wheat had been stocked with the Union Government in large quantities. However, on the intervention of the Agriculture Ministry, the Centre had to increase the wheat MSP by Rs 65, raising it to Rs 1350 per quintal. The Punjab Government has its work cut out and needs to quickly take steps in order to persuade farmers in the state to start growing other crops such as maize and sugarcane. At the recently held meeting of the National Development Council, the State Government sought Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre to break the paddy-wheat cropping cycle and switch over to other crops. It has also urged the Centre to set up a technology mission to facilitate the diversification in paddy and wheat surplus states. Punjab has been paying a heavy price for growing paddy. The power subsidy bill of the State Government has already crossed Rs 5,000 crore. There has been constant depletion of sub-soil water as paddy needs to be heavily irrigated. Moreover, the practice of burning paddy residue has raised environmental concerns. The government is preparing an action plan to address all environmental issues.
What the future holds
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Pak-bound bus breaks down near Mandi Gobidngarh
Mandi Gobindgarh, December 29 The bus was brought to a workshop near Red Light Chowk where it was being repaired. The bus driver Nasheer Shah and his assistant Gohar Rehman said, “The bus started from Delhi at 6 am and it was due to reach Lahore by 6 pm.” “An alternative arrangement had been made wherein a Punjab Roadways Bus from Amritsar was to transport the passengers but no bus has arrived till yet,” an official said. After the bus couldn’t be repaired in Mandi Gobindgarh, the bus was taken to a Tata agency in Khanna. The police had to remain on their toes for the whole day.
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Parties gearing up to battle it out as DSGMC elections draw near
Amritsar, December 29 He claimed that the image of the DSGMC is better than that of the SGPC, adding that the people will give their mandate on 25 years of SAD (Badal) rule and five years of our rule in the DSGMC. On the other hand, SAD Secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema said they've already announced their first list of 15 candidates and the rest too would be declared soon. He said all the leaders of the party would be in New Delhi to campaign for the SAD (Badal) candidates, while the poll campaign will be led by SAD (Badal) President Sukhbir Singh Badal
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Former DGP Gill raises banner of revolt against ex-MLA Jain
Faridkot, December 29 Gill convened a meeting of over 2,000 supporters in Moga apparently in a bid to show off his support. In his address, Gill refrained from making any harsh comment about Jain, but "humbly" demanded the party to reconsider its decision to field Jain in the Moga byelection. Most of his supporters, however, attacked Jain "for his history of indulging in political vendetta and entangling a large number of Akali workers in fake criminal cases during the Congress rule in Punjab". Kuldeep Singh, a former president of the Moga Municipal Council (MC), said if the party did not reconsider its decision to field Jain, it would lower the workers' morale, which could even lead to party's defeat in the election. "How a defector can be relied upon? Jain has joined the Akali Dal to protect his business interests," alleged Kuldeep Singh. Demanding the ticket for the former DGP, Ranwinder Singh, a party leader, said workers and leaders of both the Akalis and the Congress were disgruntled after the announcement of ticket to Jain. They would leave nothing to chance to ensure Jain's defeat in the election, he said. Though Gill desisted from using any harsh words against Jain, he said conveying the feelings of party workers and leaders to the high command was his responsibility. The party should reconsider its decision to field Jain keeping in view the feelings of the party workers, he said. Besides Gill, another Akali stalwart, Tota Singh is also "highly dissatisfied" with the Jain's induction into the party as it would clip his son's ambition of replacing his father after the lalter shifted to the Dharamkot seat. Blaming Jain for dragging his family in the Moga sex scandal, Tota Singh's son Barjinder Singh said: "Everyone knows who is responsible for attempts to tarnish the image of my family. Two councillors who were used by Jain to name me in the scandal have also joined the Akali Dal along with him. I wish to iron out differences with Jain. But it will take some time". In this inter-party struggle, Akali leaders have already initiated an exercise to keep the flock of their supporters intact. Congress leaders are also trying to prevent the chances of more local party leaders swaying to the Akali
Dal.
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Muktsar man makes paragliding possible in plains
Muktsar, December 29 Presently this man is imparting free training to those persons willing to learn basic techniques of adventure sports like paragliding, parasailing and paramotoring that too in the land left barren by the waterlogging in nearby Charewan village. He even claims to have spent nearly Rs 7 lakh to buy paragliders, other stuff required for this purpose from his own pocket. So far, in his journey of 15 years, he has trained above 500 persons, including boys and girls, not only from Punjab but from nearby Haryana as well. One of his trainees is even earning money by showering flower petals on weddings, other ceremonies after flying in the air with his paramotor. Mann has also twice participated in the pre-World Cup of paragliding.
The idea and innovation
“The idea of flying in air came to my mind after watching a movie in 1997. That time, I along with my friend from Dhanuala decided to learn the basic techniques of paragliding and went to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, where we attended a camp and learnt the basic techniques in almost two weeks,” said Jagjit Singh Mann. “Thereafter I invented a tow winch machine in 2005, which I attached with a tractor and made possible to fly in the air in plains,” claimed Mann. He said that a person, who wants to paraglide, is first tied with the glider, which is already attached with the tow winch machine fixed on a tractor and with the air-pressure, the person starts flying in the air.
Taking it forward
“Though my friend, Bhupinder Singh, who had also learnt the paragliding along with me, decided to make paragliding as his source of income, I rejected the idea. I continued it as my passion and opened an Institute, under which, so far, I have trained above 500 people recommended by the Nehru Yuva Kendras that too without any fee,” maintained Mann. He, however, does not give the credit of his success to himself. “The actual credit goes to my father, who is the source of my inspiration. Once I saw his memento, which he had got in a debate competition, that day I decided if he can win a memento then why I can’t. Since that day, I never looked back and not only won nearly a hundred trophies in various competitions, but also decided to do something for the society,” said Jagjit Singh Mann, recalling his old days.
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Have high regards for Mittal: ADGP
Jalandhar, December 29 Mittal had allegedly lost his temper during a public function at the PAP headquarters in Jalandhar cantonment on not being received by the PAP head and ADGP Sahota. The minister could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. A source said: "The inauguration function of a health centre was organised by the Health Department. The PAP was not directly involved. Had the function been organised by the PAP, its officials would have formally received the minister at the entrance and would have accompanied him during his stay in the complex. Despite this, all officials on duty, including ADGP Sahota, were present at the venue." BJP state president Ashwani Sharma merely said: "Protocol should be followed in case of all the ministers."
About protocol
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Castrate rapists: Phoolka
Bathinda, December 29 “Many European countries have castration as punishment to the rapists while several other countries have castration as an alternate punishment,” he said. Dwelling on the ways to avoid tragedies like the one happened in Samana (Patiala) where a gangrape victim committee suicide after being allegedly harassed by the investigating officer, Phoolka called for a need to change the system of dealing with rape cases. He said the FIR in rape cases should be registered without first registering a DDR (daily diary report). Investigation in rape cases should be given to women officers. “Most of the times, a rape victim has to answer inconvenient questions during police investigation. When a male police officer poses such questions to the victim, who is already devastated, she feels humiliated and harassed oblivious to the procedure,” he said. Phoolka called for positioning at least one woman officer at each police station who is trained to handle rape cases and is entrusted the task of conversing with the victims.
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Blast at Ropar Thermal Plant
Ropar, December Over 200 kilolitre oil worth Rs 1.25 crore was destroyed and the tank was completely damaged, said Superintending Engineer Satnam Singh. The blast took place in oil tank no. 2. The intensity of the explosion was such that the upper portion of tank fell at a distant place, the superintending engineer said, adding there was no threat to the power generation units as the damaged tank was situated more than a kilometre away. Ropar Deputy Commissioner PK Aggrawal, who reached the spot, said ten fire tenders from Ropar, BBMB, and Mohali were pressed into service to control the blaze.
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Send advance copies of writ petitions to state, HC to advocates
Chandigarh, December 29 Logging on to technology for expeditious disposal of cases, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the advocates to email advance copies for the writ petitions to nodal officers and nominated counsel of government departments and undertakings. The advance copies can be sent “by other means” also. The directions come into force from January 2013. The government officers, statutory bodies and public sector undertakings have already been asked to nominate their counsel or nodal officers. The High Court has also made it clear that failure to file an advance copy would lead to objections by the Registry. The Registrar-Judicial of the High Court has, in fact, asserted: “All the members of the Bar are requested that before filing the writ petition in January, 2013, an advance copy be served upon the nominated counsel/nodal officer of the respective departments through e-mail or by other means, failing which an objection will be raised by the Registry”. The directions to the advocates have been issued in wake of observations made by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain on October 19. The order passed by Bench said: “For filing of writ petitions, etc., there is a requirement of serving advance copy to the opposite side…It is observed that over a period of time, practice is developed whereby the rule is not adhered to and in every petition filed by the petitioners, exemption from service of prior notice on the respondents is prayed for. “With this practice, the very purpose of this rule is defeated. This is causing unnecessary delays, in as much as, when the notice of motion is issued, the respondents are to be served through the process of the Court. “In case advance notice is served upon the official respondents, they can be represented at the time of preliminary hearing itself. It will also lessen the burden on the registry to a great extent. We, therefore, direct that henceforth the registry will not allow exemption from service of advance notice of motion…. “The Registry is, therefore, directed not to entertain any writ petition unless prior notice on respondents is served in accordance with the rules. Even if exemption is prayed for, it shall not be allowed and the rule shall be strictly followed”.
setting precedent
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Two more arrested in panch murder case
Sangrur, December 29 The Dirba Station House Officer Krishan Kumar said this evening the police had today arrested Raghubir Singh, son of Gursewak Singh, resident of Longowal village, and Hardeep Singh, a resident of Namol village. He said both had been produced in a court at Sunam that remanded the two in police custody till January 2. He said earlier, the police had arrested Shaminder Kaur (Longowal) and her daughter Jaswinder Kaur (Dhanaula) in this case. The remaining accused would also be nabbed soon, he said. The attack on the family of the deceased Hakam Singh was allegedly made due to some land dispute. The Dirba police had registered a case against Gursewak Singh and his wife Shaminder Kaur, Jasbir Singh (son of Gursewak Singh) and his wife Harmeet Kaur, all residents of Longowal village; Deepa, a resident of Namol village, and some others. The case was registered against them under Sections 302, 307, 452, 120-B, 148, 149 of the IPC and 25/27/54/59 of Arms Act.
On the offensive
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Patiala gang rape case: SI held for suicide
Patiala, December 29 The SI was yesterday booked under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment to suicide. "A total of five arrests have been made in the case so far. Besides the SI, the other are Chinder Kaur, Balwinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Sandeep Singh," said Patiala IG Paramjit Singh Gill. Daljit Kaur (name changed) was allegedly raped by two men in a small farm motor room at a village in Ghagga subdivision on Diwali evening (November 13). She later committed suicide following police "inaction" in the case. Located some 15 km away from Badshahpur, the dingy motor room technically falls under the jurisdiction of the Sangrur police. Villagers claim local resident Sandeep Singh, named in the FIR and arrested yesterday, has no role in the incident. However, the FIR lodged on the statement of the victim states that Sandeep was waiting for the two accused when they brought her to the crime spot. "The police should verify the claims made by the victim's family before taking any action," said villagers gathered at the spot to meet the committee members investigating the case. The Chief Minister had yesterday formed a three-member committee, headed by ADGP (Crime) Jaswinder Singh, IG (Crime) Shashi Prabha Diwedi and IG (Zonal) Patiala Paramjit Singh Gill, to probe the case. Diwedi today inspected the scene of crime. She also met Sandeep's wife who pleaded that her husband was innocent and did not step out of the house that evening.
case file * Daljit Kaur (name changed) was allegedly raped by two men in a small farm motor room at Badshahpur village in Ghagga subdivision on November 13 *
The victim later committed suicide following police "inaction" in the case
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Head Constable booked
Amritsar, December 29 The shocking incident took place in Ajnala falling under the Amritsar rural police district in October this year. One held for raping woman In another incident, the Bhindisaida police has arrested one person in a case of rape. The complainant alleged two persons forcibly took her to a secluded place where they raped her repeatedly on December 23. They later left her near her home on December 27. She informed her parents about this and later a case was registered. The arrested accused has been identified as Manjit Singh. His accomplice Jaspal Singh is absconding.
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Abducted minor girl recovered
Bathinda, December 29 SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar said the girl has been recovered within five days of the incident. The medical examination confirmed that the victim was raped.
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Gurdaspur police nabs accused 24 days after sexual assault
Gurdaspur, December 29 The police, acting under pressure piled by residents and trade unions and with the Punjab and Haryana High Court keeping a hawk's eye on the proceedings, arrested labourer Radhey Shyam from an undisclosed location this morning more than three weeks after the gruesome incident had shocked the villagers. A case under Section 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) was registered at the Dorangla police station following which the police questioned nearly 80 persons, a majority of them being youngsters of nearby villages, before it nabbed the accused. The girl was allegedly molested before being murdered on December 5. Addressing a press conference, Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Raj Jit Singh said the sugarcane field from where the body of the girl was found was thoroughly combed for vital clues following which the police managed to zero in on Radhey Shyam who had been working as a labourer in these fields for the last 10 years. The SSP said a special team comprising SP (Detective) Jagjit Singh and SHOs of Dorangla and Bhaini Mian Khan police stations, had been constituted to crack the case. The SSP claimed the police had initially zeroed in on as many as 13 labourers and after interrogation, it managed to nail Radhey Shyam. On the delay in solving the case, the SSP said: "We delayed the arrest so as to be sure about the accused. We now have a foolproof case against him". Earlier, with the police failing to nab the accised, various trade unions, residents along with the kin of the deceased had staged a massive protest outside the Deputy Commissioner's office yesterday in protest against the police inaction in the case.
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8 rapes in three months in Ludhiana
Ludhiana, December 29 In one such case, a jilted lover had set a 17-year-old girl on fire in Shimla Colony area in Jodhewal Basti on October 6. The victim later succumbed to her injuries. It was found that she was two months' pregnant. Gopi and his friend were arrested for rape and murder. At present, they are lodged in jail. In another case, a man had allegedly raped his stepdaughter in Jodhewal Basti area.
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The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation Bus ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’ came to a grinding halt on the national highway near Lal Bhatti Chowk, Mandi Gobindgarh, around 10.30 am today after developing a technical fault in its engine.
Faridkot, December 29
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. And I had also dreamt of flying in the air in 1997, which not only came true for me but for others in our area too,” says Jagjit Singh Mann, a native of Muktsar, who is district coordinator of Nehru Yuva Kendra.
The local police today arrested Sub-Inspector (SI) Nasib Singh, the dismissed police post in charge of Badshahpur who was the investigating officer in the rape case of a teenager.
The SI was yesterday booked under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment to suicide. "A total of five arrests have been made in the case so far.
Paying a dear price
Talking to The Tribune, DSGMC Chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said though they're yet to release their first list of candidates, they've already started the campaign in around 90 per cent of the seats that are going to polls on January 27. "We've finalised 40 out of the total 46 candidates and they've completed their first phase of campaigning. They've already checked the voters' lists besides placating the disgruntled leaders in their respective areas." He claimed that all their candidates would meet the voters before January 10. Sarna said that they will rope in Sikh intellectuals and not political leaders for their poll campaign. "Among politicians, we may get former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to campaign for us," he said. Sarna further said they would be seeking votes on the plank of more transparency in gurdwara affairs, better management in 'sarais' and maintaining 'Sikhi Saroop'.