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Poultry farms, factories pollute Ghaggar
Tribune News Service

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Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 22
A large number of Congress workers joined the SAD under the leadership of Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary, SAD, during a function organised here on Monday.

Addressing the gathering, Chandumajra said the successive Congress governments at the centre always meted out step-motherly treatment to Punjab. “We lost our water for producing rice, we use five times more diesel, fertilizers and pesticides to produce food grains for the country.” He urged the like-minded members of the Congress to join the SAD. — OC

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 22
Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party today staged a protest against the contractor of the Sirhind bus stand for extorting money from auto-rickshaw drivers and roadside vendors.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the executive officer of the municipal council.

District president Manoj Gupta said workers of the contractor consumed liquor during daytime and harassed the general public.

Gupta said if the contractor did not stop charging fee from poor auto-rickshaw drivers and roadside vendors, they would be forced to launch an agitation against the contractor. He said they would not allow the contractor to fleece the poor as they made ends meet with difficulty.

Contractor Sukhkit Singh said he had signed a contract and charged Rs 50 from a vendor for parking rehri at the bus stand. He claimed that he was not fleecing anyone and was following rules. He said he never took anything from auto-rickshaw drivers.

MC executive officer Bhushan Rana said as per the contract, the contractor could charge Rs 10 from bus drivers and Rs 20 as parking fee at night.

He said if the contractor was charging fee from others, it was against the rules and he would soon mark an inquiry.

District secretary Shashi Bhushan, councillor Pawan Kalra, Narender Kumar Prince and Vinay Gupta were also present.

Ambala, April 22
After the strict attitude adopted by the district administration and procurement agencies, the contractor at Ambala City grain market has started lifting wheat on a war footing. The contractor lifted around one lakh bags of wheat on Sunday, while earlier only around 20,000 bags were lifted daily.

SDM Mukesh Ahuja along with market committee secretary Mohit Beri conducted a surprise inspection at the grain market on Sunday. A number of arhtiyas and farmers complained to him about the slow lifting of wheat. They alleged this was leading to lack of space in the market, due to which they had to dump their produce on the HUDA ground.

Following this, the SDM directed the contractor to expedite the lifting of crop or face strict action. The president of Anaj Mandi Arhtiya Association, Duni Chand Danipur, said the problem of lack of space would be solved if the lifting continues at this pace.

The SDM also checked the quality of wheat being purchased by the procurement agencies. He found that two of the grain dealers were filling contaminated wheat in bags. He directed the market committee secretary to suspend their licence for one week.

Ambala, April 22
Students of the Emax Group of Institutions took out a candle march on the college campus and also organised a signature campaign against the Delhi rape incident today.

The protest started with a signature campaign in which over 200 persons signed the pledge to save women from crimes.

Students gathered on the college campus and raised slogans against the rape accused and the Delhi Police. They demanded a death penalty for the accused. They also prayed for the victim.

Chandigarh, April 22
Despite the new district courts complex in Sector 43 being equipped with the video-conferencing facility, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Paramjit Singh Bheora was brought to the court for hearing from Tihar Jail in Delhi today, causing a lot of inconvenience to the general public as well as costing lakhs of rupees to the state exchequer.

For Bheora's security, 400 police personnel were deployed in and around the courts complex and the hearing lasted for 10 minutes as the case was adjourned to May 12.

Both Paramjit Singh Bheora and Jagtar Singh Hawara, assassins of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, are brought to the court from Tihar jail and the video-conferencing facility, which was inaugurated with much fanfare last year, has not been used even once for their hearing.

Moreover, the UT police spends lakhs of rupees on fuel and other security arrangements for their production.

Court sources said the UT district authorities had written to the Tihar Jail authorities asking them to produce the terrorists through video-conferencing, but to no avail.

"Repeated reminders to the jail authorities to produce Bheora and Hawara through video-conferencing have fallen on deaf ears and they are not cooperating, for ‘reasons best known to them’," a court official said.

Litigants had to face harassment today with so many security checks in place.

The courts complex resembled a cantonment and security was extended to the Inter-State Bus Terminus in Sector 43 even as the police checked all vehicles and blocked way for entry of cars to the bus stand.

BKI terrorists Bheora and his accomplice Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted in the Beant Singh assassination case, were shifted from the Burail Jail in Chandigarh to Tihar Jail in New Delhi for the hearing of the bomb blasts in New Delhi in 2004. Hawara, however, had sought exemption from appearance in connection with his appearance in New Delhi.

Hawara, Bheora and two other accomplices, Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh, had escaped from Burail Jail in January 2004 by digging a tunnel.

While Hawara and Bheora were arrested from Delhi, the other two Tara and Singh are still absconding.

With the arrest of Narain Singh Chaura, the alleged main conspirator in the jailbreak case, the defence counsel, AS Chahal, today moved plea to ensure that Chaura was presented before the court to face trial in the case.

Chaura, arrested by the Punjab Police in February, was in April 2011 declared a proclaimed offender by the court in this case.

“As Chaura is also one of the accused in the case. We have demanded that he be presented before the court to face the trial, as he has already been arrested,” said AS Chahal, defence counsel. The application will come up for hearing on August 12.

Mohali, April 22
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) rank officer Satpal Singh shot at sub-inspector Jaipal following an altercation at the Police Lines, Phase 11, last night.

The agitated cop missed his target as the bullet brushed past Jaipal. The police has booked Satpal Singh under Section 336 of the IPC at the Phase 11 Police Station here today.

According to DSP Ajinder Singh, Satpal Singh, who was on the VIP duty here, shot at Jaipal from his service revolver.

The police said Satpal, posted at Moga, was in an inebriated state when the incident occurred. The station house officer of the area Gurdip Singh reached the spot and investigated the matter. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 22
In a neck-to-neck fight, retired IAS officer Gurinderjeet Singh Sandhu defeated Tegvir Singh Sibia to retain the top post of the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Elections for the post of president and other office-bearers of the golf club were held here yesterday. The result of the president’s seat was declared today whereas results for other 11 seats will be announced tomorrow.

Sandhu got 594 votes while Sibia received 541 votes. After the final counting, about seven votes were found invalid, reducing the winning margin to 46.

This would be Sandhu’s sixth term as the president of the club. Earlier, Sandhu was elected as the top man in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2012.

“I am happy that the members of the club have again shown faith in me. I will try to fulfill the expectations of all those who supported me. As promised, the prime agenda is to clear the ongoing lease-issue and improve facilities at the golf club,” said Sandhu.

Yesterday, the Chandigarh Golf Club witnessed a record turnout during the annual governing body elections. A total of 1,142 votes were cast that turned out to be the highest polling ever since the formation of the club.

Sandhu faces a tough challenge ahead as the club is embroiled in several controversies. A tug-of-war between the UT Administration and the golf club over the issue of lease money has been going on for the quite some time. The issue is pending in the High Court as the UT Administration has proposed to raise the annual lease money to Rs 1.61 crore. The golf club has been paying Rs 1 lakh annually.

A brawl that took place recently on the greens of the club has brought the name of the club in news.

Punjab Chief Secretary RS Mann, Congress MLA from Punjab Randeep Singh Nabha and former captain of the golf club SS Laihal were engaged in a violent scuffle with a Lieut-Col Vijay Singh Sandhu (retired), who allegedly attacked them with golf clubs and abused them. Later acting on a complaint, the police registered a case against Randeep Singh, SS Laihal, Milkha Singh and RS Mann for allegedly beating and threatening Sandhu under Sections 323, 506, 34 of the IPC.

Randeep Singh Nabha filed a counter complaint against Colonel Sandhu under Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC. The golf club had also ordered an inquiry into the case. 

Chandigarh, April 22
Denying any controversy with the local police over pending security bills, Ness Wadia, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, said his relation with the Chandigarh Police is rock solid.

He was in the city for a match between Kings XI Punjab and Pune Warriors held last evening. He claimed to have good faith in the local police. “I don’t even remember about any controversy. Everyone is aware of efficiency of the police force and even on a personal note, I have been maintaining good rapport with the Chandigarh Police. There is no question of any indifferences between us,” said Ness Wadia.

“The Kings XI Punjab has joined hands with the Chandigarh Police for the women empowerment campaign. Our team captain Adam Gilchrist as a volunteer for the Chandigarh Traffic Police has encouraged residents of the city to drive safe. If there were any differences between the side and the police, then such collaboration would not be happened,” he added.