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Moga bypoll
Officials blame PPCB for
toxic Buddha Nullah, Kala Sanghian
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Sukhbir to lead in Moga
High Court reserves verdict in Saini case
Akali Dal dares Cong to distribute Majithia CDs
PCC chief Amarinder Singh and party leaders at Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib, near Jagraon, on Monday. A Tribune photo Sanjha Morcha’s Dhaliwal files papers
Unpaid contractor refuses to hand over DIET building
Punjab school curriculum to be more interactive
After 3 days, Ropar thermal plant unit resumes operations
Notice to Punjab on permits to diesel-run autos
Patiala NCC group best in region
Kids campaign against drugs
Bains dismisses Delhi police chief’s
objection
Another Shame
Akali sarpanch booked for murdering girl
SAD (Delhi) youth wing chief held
Amritsar jail break
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Moga bypoll
Amritsar, February 4 Addressing mediapersons after felicitating newly elected DSGMC members at Teja Singh Samundari Hall here today, Sukhbir stated that the SAD already had its MLA in Haryana and it had contested Delhi Assembly seats too. “Now, the party will take a call whether it should put up candidates on seats where the Sikhs are in dominance.” he said. He announced that the party would fight the next Vidhan Sabha elections in Delhi on the party symbol. To a query on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being projected as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Sukhbir said the SAD would go along with the NDA decision on the issue. Asked about the Moga byelection, he said he was certain that SAD candidate Joginder Pal Jain would win with a record margin. Addressing the newly elected DSGMC members, Sukhbir said the Sarnas had lost the elections “because of their arrogance and we must take a lesson from their defeat.” He described the elections as the reaffirmation of the Sikhs’ faith in the supremacy of Akal Takht. He said the message was clear- that anybody trying to divide the Panth for petty personal interests would be punished. Outlining the agenda of the newly elected DSGMC, Sukhbir said it would work for introducing measures to bring about greater transparency in its working and financial management and would constitute an education board for schools and colleges being run by it. Earlier, the newly elected DSGMC members paid obeisance at Darbar Sahib.
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Officials blame PPCB for
toxic Buddha Nullah, Kala Sanghian
Patiala, February 4 The lackadaisical approach of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in taking stern action against the industrial units flouting the norms is one of the major reasons behind the non-compliance of the norms. Though the PPCB functionaries claim they have been conducting regular raids at industrial units in the past year, the number of raids has gone down considerably. The Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana and Kala Sanghian drain in Jalandhar are the two worst-affected drains in the state. Buddha Nullah has now become a perennial problem for Ludhiana. Industrial units release untreated waste in the nullah late in the evening. The nullah stretches along 28 km and the jet black untreated effluents released into it are visible at certain places, thereby, belying the claims of the PPCB that all was well in Ludhiana. There are hundreds of dyeing and electroplating units in Ludhiana that generate hazardous waste. Though the authorities claim that dyeing units have installed individual Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), sources have said that many of the ETPs do not meet the prescribed norms and some are not even operational. Many of the electroplating and dyeing units are owned by political bigwigs. Similarly, a distillery in Banur also violates the pollution control norms. It has laid underground pipes and discharges its untreated waste in the Gunda Nullah in Jansuha village in Rajpura. The nullah merges with the 25 Dara drain, which flows into the Ghaggar. The board functionaries have failed to monitor the inflow of the toxic effluents into the Kala Sanghian drain even though the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had directed the PPCB to do so in May 2011. In Amritsar district too, industrial units continue to release untreated waste in open drains through underground pipelines. The Chadha Sugars & Industries Ltd owned by Ponty Chadha group, in Kiri Afghana village, Gurdaspur, had been sealed by the PPCB twice on account of gross violations of pollution control norms. When allowed to operate, the mill reverts to its old practices and violates the norms again. “It is beyond our understanding why the PPCB does not impose harsh punishment to the mill owners and register cases against them,” said one of the board officials, preferring anonymity. PPCB chairman Ravinder Singh denied that Banur distillery released its untreated waste into the nullah in Rajpura. “The sewage from Chandigarh flows into the nullah and we have got water sampling which shows that the water is not toxic,” he claimed further. His reply was similar when asked about Buddha Nullah. “The electroplating units send their waste effluents to the Common Effluent Treatment Plant and dyeing units discharge treated waste into the Buddha Nullah. “In the Kala Sanghian drain, the Leather Complex waste is released only after being treated at the Leather Complex Treatment Plant,” he added.
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Sukhbir to lead in Moga
Chandigarh, February 4 Badal, who has been down with chest congestion for the last one week, has been advised bed rest for another two days. He has also been advised to avoid public places. Hectic campaigning in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections seemed to have taken its toll on Badal. Sources said Sukhbir was expected to lead from the front in the campaigning. The Chief Minister would participate at a later stage. Badal’s aide Gagandeep Brar said the Chief Minister was likely to be engaged in campaigning in Moga in the near future. He said Badal’s engagements would be finalised only after a review of his condition on February 6. He was advised bed rest for three days. He had resumed his official work in Chandigarh and even chaired two meetings over the weekend, but upon a review of his health, he was again advised bed rest till February 6. The sources said Sukhbir had proved his mettle in the DSGMC elections. He was expected to emerge as the main campaigner in the Moga byelection with the CM playing a supporting role, they added.
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High Court reserves verdict in Saini case
Chandigarh, February 4 A non-government organisation, Voices for Freedom, had earlier challenged Saini’s appointment. It had filed a petition in public interest before the High Court on the ground that Saini was facing a trial for abduction and other offences. The petitioner had contended: “On the basis of allegations that Saini is involved in the abduction and physical liquidation of three persons sometime in the year 1994, this court referred the investigation against him to the CBI. “After detailed investigations, it filed a report confirming the abduction and physical liquidation of three persons and accordingly a charge sheet was filed and sanction was accorded by the competent authorities.” The petitioner contended that one of the “questions of law of substantial public importance” was whether a person, facing trial before the CBI Court for abduction, could be treated as “having a very good record for the purpose of being appointed to the post of Director- General of Police.” The matter was taken up suo motu after a Division Bench dismissed the petition. The case saw the Punjab Government come under fire with amicus curie-cum-senior advocate Balgopal questioning the state government’s logic
in defending the DGP even after it had sanctioned his prosecution. Balgopal stated that the prosecution sanction had been granted by the Punjab Government, in the process gioving the go-ahead to the CBI to continue with the proceedings in the abduction case allegedly involving Saini. Subsequently, the CBI had filed a charge sheet in the case. The Punjab Government, however, defended the appointment on the grounds that Saini was an officer of impeccable integrity who had only been charge-sheeted and not convicted. “This is a professional hazard of the police service... The Punjab Police had to work under tremendous pressure during turbulent times,” the state had argued while defending the appointment.
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Akali Dal dares Cong to distribute Majithia CDs
Moga, February 4 Amarinder had recently announced that the Congress would distribute 10,000 such CDs in Moga, the constituency where bypoll would be held on February 23. The Badal Junior said, “Why is not Amarinder distributing the CDs? He had made similar claims in the run-up to the Delhi gurdwara elections as well, but never distributed them.” Sukhbir also asked the local party leaders and workers to join hands for ensuring SAD candidate Joginder Pal Jain’s victory. Former Director General of Police Paramdip Singh Gill, the SAD nominee from Moga in the recent assembly poll who had so far not campaigned for Jain, was also present on the occasion along with senior party leader Jathedar Tota Singh, Majithia and BJP state chief Kamal Sharma. Predicting Jain’s victory by a record margin, Sukhbir said he would himself stay in Moga till the bypoll to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, Moga (city) Congress unit president Navdeep Singh Sangha, who was ousted from the party recently, joined the SAD today.
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Voters will punish turncoat Jain: Capt
Moga, February 4 Presiding over a meeting of team leaders assigned poll duties at different polling stations, he asked them to work wholeheartedly to expose the “misdeeds” of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance on their return to power. Claiming that Moga would mark the beginning of the end for the Akalis, he said the Badals should prepare themselves for a rude shock as the byelection would be a verdict on the “failures of the government, corruption, high-handedness and heavy taxes.” Amarinder said he would personally monitor and coordinate the poll campaign by holding meetings with different groups of leaders and reaching out to the people in all 53 villages of the constituency as well as those residing in Moga city. Jagraon: Amrinder alleged that SAD candidate Joginder Pal Jain was a businessman not a politician. Jain had joined hands with the ruling alliance to protect his business interests, he added.
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Unpaid contractor refuses to hand over DIET building
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 4 This stands in sharp contradiction to the state government’s tall claims of generously financing its drive to improve the education infrastructure. The construction work was started in 2009 and the estimated cost of the building was Rs 1.5 crore. The department had issued Rs 75 lakh as the initial payment, however, when it failed to release the funds, the construction work was stopped. When the matter was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he directed the authorities to finish the construction as soon as possible and the construction work resumed. Balwant Singh said the construction work was completed in 2010 but he refused to hand over the building to the Education Department as it had not released the final payment of Rs 75 lakh. The department later released Rs 50 lakh in installments but it was yet to make the final payment of Rs 25 lakh, he said. Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan said the department had failed to make the full and final payment. He said the final payment would be made soon.
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Punjab school curriculum to be more interactive
Mohali, February 4 “These committees have been directed to complete their review and finalise their recommendations before March 31 following which the new curriculum would be prepared for all the subjects except Maths and science, for which syllabi are being set by NCERT,” said Kahan Singh Pannu, Director General, Schools (DGS), Punjab. The books for the next session will follow the new syllabus and will become more interactive. As in smart schools, education will now become more activities-based, claimed
Pannu. Pannu said after the new curriculum was prepared, the government school teachers would be apprised of the advanced methods of teaching. “Under the Curriculum for Teacher Education-2009, special seminars and training sessions would be held for teachers,” said Pannu.
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After 3 days, Ropar thermal plant unit resumes operations
Ropar, February 4 One of the six units at the plant had to be put in an idle condition after the coal stocked in the godown dwindled drastically. On Thursday, the plant at Ropar had coal left for 11 days against the normative requirement of 25 days. The six units of the plant at Ropar use nearly 20,000 tonnes of coal every day. The plant had been facing shortage since the supplies from Panem company, based in Jharkhand, were affected due to agitation by local residents in November. On Saturday, the plant had a mere 2 lakh tonne of coal left in its stock. The management has saved over 10,000 tonnes of coal by keeping one unit shut for three days, said sources.
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Notice to Punjab on permits to diesel-run autos
Chandigarh, February 4 The federation stated the authorities had stopped issuing and renewing permits to the diesel-run autos, in compliance with the orders issued on February 15, 2010, by the High Court. New permits were issued only to LPG-run autos, and the federation members were forced to buy them. However, they had to wait for eight to 10 hours for
refuelling. At the same time, some manufacturers came out with diesel-run four wheelers, which were being used as
autorickshaws.
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Patiala NCC group best in region
The banner is awarded on the basis of the group’s performance in various competitions held during the year at Thal Sainik, Nau Sainik and Vayu Sainik camps as well as the Republic Day
camp. — TNS
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Kids campaign against drugs
Moga, February 4 They reminded the voters of their duties and responsibilities towards society and asked them to reject those who tried to lure them. The children raised slogans and went door to door in the village. They said the people should strengthen the principles and values of democracy by choosing the right candidate with a clean image who did not use the influence of money and drugs to influence voters.
— TNS
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Bains dismisses Delhi police chief’s objection
Chandigarh, February 4 He was responding to Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar objecting to Punjab policemen providing security to certain candidates who were Delhi residents. Bains said: “The leaders were provided security as per the norms.”
The state continued to provide security to certain retired police officers “who are not permanently based in the state,” he added.
— TNS
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Another Shame
Amritsar, February 4 The Kabir Park police post located barely a few meters from the spot moved into action only after being approached by the aggrieved party. Eyewitnesses said the molesters seemed to be on drugs. Seated in a car (PB-02-BX-2090), they made obscene remarks about the girl. When she objected, they started abusing her and held her by the arm. Her teammate tried to intervene but was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon. He sustained injuries on his arm. The Cantonment police has registered a case under Sections 354, 294, 323 and 34 of the IPC against unidentified persons. Harinder Singh, in charge of the Kabir Park police post and investigating officer in the case, said the culprits were yet to be identified. But the residence of the car owner in Adarsh Nagar had been raided.
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Akali sarpanch booked for murdering girl
Ferozepur, February 4 The Ferozepur police has booked Akali sarpanch Surjit Singh and Jaswant Singh on the complaint of deceased’s brother Shingara Singh for keeping the girl in illegal custody and thereafter eliminating her. Shingara Singh told the police that five years ago he had sought Surjit Singh’s help to reach a compromise with a party in connection with a police case. Thereafter, Surjit Singh started frequenting his house and lured his sister into a relationship on the promise of getting her a job. Sources said Gurmeet went missing from her house in 2008. Surjit Singh allegedly arranged her marriage with Jaswant Singh though the girl continued to live with him. Senior Superintendent of Police Varinder Pal Singh said the girl’s body was identified by her father and other family members.
— OC
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SAD (Delhi) youth wing chief held
Amritsar, February 4 Paramjit Singh Sarna, SAD (Delhi) chief, said a Punjab Police team reached Raja’s residence yesterday, claiming that it had a search warrant. “They took Raja away. We intimated the Delhi Police which set up nakas. But they had left by then,” he said. Sarna alleged that Raja had been arrested as he had actively campaigned in the DSGMC elections. He said he would meet the Union Home Minister in this regard. The Tarn Taran SSP claimed that the state police had not flouted any norms in arresting Raja.
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Amritsar jail break
Tarn
Taran, February 4 He was arrested from Gaur Singh village, 40 km from here, along with his two accomplices Gurpreet Singh alias Kalu of Marri Gaur Singh and Ankush alias Kawaljit Singh of Naraingarh village. The Amritsar rural (Mohkampura) police has already nabbed Suraj Kumar from Jaura Phatak in Amritsar on January 9. The third accused, Budh Singh, is still at large. Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kamaljit Singh Dhillon said Narain, a resident of Thatgarh village, had formed a new gang. The police had recovered four stolen motorcycles, one country-made pistol, one kg of intoxicant powder and two sharp-edged weapons from their possession, he added.
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Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal today said that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was seriously considering the issue of fielding its candidates in the Sikh-dominant areas of UP, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Chandigarh, February 4
The Income Tax Department has recovered Rs 3 crore from three Punjabi singers whose residential premises were raided in December, 2012.
The investigations wing of the department had conducted raids on the residence of Miss Pooja at
Rajpura, Gippy Grewal at Mohali and Diljit Dosanjh at Ludhiana and seized some incrementing documents.
TNS
Chandigarh, February 4