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Pre-monsoon showers cheer farmers
Rain brings misery to Ludhiana, Patiala residents
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Houses in villages to have numbers
Renovated recently, Bathinda plant’s unit breaks down
Four more HC Judges sworn in
Govt broadens scope of inquiry into books scam
Badal okays Rs 20 crore
for upgrading prisons
20 members of jatha return from Pakistan
7 of Rampura Phul killed on way to Hemkund Sahib
Welfare scheme beneficiaries to get online payments from July 1
3-year RI for ex-DTO
HC commutes death term, says murderer only attempted rape
Singer Nachattar Gill booked for rape
6 held in Nawanshahr sarpanch’s suicide case
Assam resident held for cheating kidney patients
SI among 3 policemen suspended
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Pre-monsoon showers cheer farmers
Ludhiana/Moga, June 13 Experts of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) said 178 mm rainfall in Ludhiana district in one day was not normal at this time of the year. Dr Kulwinder Kaur Gill, Agro Meteorologist, PAU, said: “On an average the region receives 64.4 mm rain in the entire June. Today’s 178 mm rainfall is unusual. The rain started following thunderstorms early in the morning and till 8.30 am, the city recorded 108 mm of rain”. The monsoon usually arrives in Punjab in the last week of June. But, this year, it may arrive early. A senior official of the Met Department said the monsoon is expected to hit Punjab a week in advance in view of the pre-monsoon showers. While the normal date of the arrival of the monsoon in the region is between June 29 and July 5, this time it may arrive by June 24. The Met Department says the showers will continue for next 24 hours and the sky will clear only on Saturday. “The rain is good for the farmers wanting to transplant paddy as they were feeling helpless due to power cuts and dry weather. But the rain can cause damage to summer moong,” Dr Gill added. Widespread rainfall was witnessed in the entire Malwa belt in the last 24 hours. Apart from the farmers, the rainfall has also come as a relief for the power corporation, which had been struggling to ensure assured eight-hour supply to the paddy farmers. “We were finding it tough to provide sufficient power for irrigating paddy fields but the pre-monsoon showers have certainly eased the situation,” a senior official said. Apart from paddy, the rains have come as a boon for maize, cotton and moong growers. 57 mm rain in Sangrur Moderate to heavy rain was witnessed in various parts of Sangrur district today. In the city, 57 mm of rainfall was recorded whereas the figure varied for other parts of the district. Though the rain brought cheer to the farmers, it threw normal life out of gear as rainwater gathered in the markets and low lying areas. Passengers were also at the receiving end as rain accumulated in the main block of the local bus stand. 15 hurt as lightning strikes village Barnala: Fifteen labourers, 10 of them women, sustained burn injuries when lightning struck Tallewal village (near Barnala). The victims were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. Six of them sustained serious burn injuries. Sources said the labourers were engaged by a farmer for transplanting paddy in his fields. Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh, Senior Medical Officer, said one of the victims, Bhola Singh, who was critically injured, had been referred to Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, while the remaining were under treatment at the Civil Hospital. Barnala Deputy Commissioner Indu Malhotra directed the Assistant Civil Surgeon and the SMO to treat the victims free of cost. The DC also said she would seek financial assistance for the injured under the Natural Calamity Relief Fund.
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Rain brings misery to Ludhiana, Patiala residents
Ludhiana/Patiala, June 13 Power supply remained disrupted in more than one-fourth of the Ludhiana localities for hours together. In most of the affected areas where power supply had failed since early morning hours, people had to go without water supply as well. KL Sharma, Chief Engineer, Central Zone, PSPCL, said at least 100 feeders out of 500 in the city developed snags due to felling of trees on LT and PVC cables as heavy rain and high velocity winds lashed the region. He said by afternoon, most of the disturbed feeders were made operational and the power supply was restored. “About 12 feeders where cable-end boxes had to be repaired are still non-functional, but normal power supply will be restored in the city soon,” Sharma added. In Patiala, the pre-monsoon showers exposed the tall claims of the Municipal Corporation and turned several parts of the city into puddles. Despite the MC spending crores on laying a new sewerage system, it failed to solve the problem of waterlogging. In Model Town, Charan Bagh, Sewak Colony and Sant Nagar areas, rainwater entered several houses.
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Houses in villages to have numbers
Chandigarh, June 13 With the judgment, the High Court paved the way for holding of the panchayat poll in the state. The judgment comes less than a month after the Division Bench hearing the case asked the state not to issue a notification for the poll. Pronouncing the orders this morning, the Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain said the Panchayat Secretary of the gram panchayat concerned would maintain the record of the house numbers and update information in case of any change. For the purpose, the Bench gave the state a year’s time. “Let this exercise be started after the elections and be completed within a year and the status report be put up on the file of this case,” the Bench said. The development is significant as one of the grounds taken by the PPCC to challenge the delimitation process was that “the wards have not been formulated on the basis of geographical contiguity as no house numbers have been shown in the notification of the proposed wardbandi”. It was argued that “until and unless the house number was mentioned in the proposed wardbandi, the actual geographical contiguity could not be ascertained”.In its detailed order, the Bench asked the state to in future give wide publicity in the electronic and print media to the exercise of carrying out the delimitation of wards for gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad poll. The notification of “proposed wardbandi or its substance” should also be accompanied by “a coloured site plan showing formation of separate wards so that appropriate opportunity could be availed of by the voters for the purpose of filing objections,” the Bench added. Going into the merit of the case, the Bench asserted it was in “full agreement” with the state's counsel that it was not possible to maintain the exact contiguity “in certain circumstances "as some house were located in farms." Referring to the petitioner’s submission that the state officials were maintaining a complete secrecy for manipulation of electoral boundaries of the constituencies, the Bench asserted: “The principle of gerrymandering cannot be invoked with a purpose to say that the formation of wards was done in such a manner which could benefit only the ruling party and is a disadvantage to the Opposition. “No instance has been quoted on record in this regard to persuade this court to think otherwise. “We are also in agreement with the respondents that they had given due publicity to the proposed wardbandi as a result of which 6,231 objections were received. Those objections were duly dealt with by the competent authority, out of which 2,922 objectors were successful and errors committed were removed”. Complete exercise in a year, state told Let this exercise be started after the elections and be completed within a year and the status report be put up on the file of this case On the principle of gerrymandering The principle of gerrymandering can’t be invoked with a purpose to say that the formation of wards was done in such a manner which could benefit only the ruling party and is a disadvantage to the Opposition. No instance has been quoted in this regard to persuade this court to think otherwise — Division Bench On publicity to proposed delimitation We are in agreement with the respondents that they had given due publicity to the proposed wardbandi as a result of which 6,231 objections were received — Division Bench
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Renovated recently, Bathinda plant’s unit breaks down
Bathinda, June 13 The unit, upgraded to 120 MW (28.80 lakh units is its daily generation) from the earlier 110 MW capacity, may take over two weeks for renovation. Though the power demand was less today owing to widespread rain across the state, the unit’s closure is likely to be felt once the demand rises in the coming days. Sources said the repair work on the unit is likely to cost around Rs 40 lakh whereas Rs 50 lakh daily would be the loss due to suspended generation. The losses could be higher in case the repair work takes more than two weeks. It would only be known after the internal components of the turbines are checked. The tripping has also raised a question mark over the quality of the renovation work undertaken by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) as well as the plant’s maintenance unit. Chief Engineer HP Singh said there was some trouble with the automatic lubrication system of the turbine. No trained staff Plant insiders say the damage could have been avoided had there been trained staff to handle the unit. Of the 107 posts of engineers at the plant, 48 are vacant. Not only this, there are only 15 turbine, boiler and desk controllers available against the sanctioned strength of 64, meaning more than 75 per cent of the posts (49) lie unfilled. When the unit tripped, no technical official was posted. Sources said had the turbine controller been present, he could have easily averted the damage. The Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association had only last week cautioned the Power Corporation management about the perils of staff shortage. Mounting losses
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Four more HC Judges sworn in
Chandigarh, June 13 Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also administered the oath to Justice Paramjeet Singh, Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi and Justice Rameshwar Singh Malik as permanent Judges. Less than three years ago they were administered oath as Additional Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. At a simple, but impressive, ceremony attended by sitting and retired Judges of the High Court, bureaucrats and advocates, the Judges swore to "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established". With the elevation of Justice Parsoon, the number of High Court Judges has risen to 42 against the sanctioned strength of 68. His name was cleared for elevation along with three District and Sessions Judges from Punjab and one from Haryana. Available information suggests their elevation has been delayed by a few weeks. Hailing from Kalka, Justice Parsoon was a topper throughout. After graduation in Law from Panjab University, he topped the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial Branch) examination in 1978. He became Additional District and Sessions Judge in 1993 and was elevated as District and Sessions Judge in 2005. The elevation is significant as pendency of cases is directly linked to the shortage of Judges. Till last year, more cases were filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court than disposed of the previous year, resulting in a pendency of more than 2 lakh civil and criminal cases. The High Court's annual report for 2012 indicated that 1.08 lakh cases were disposed of in the year while 1.16 lakh new cases were instituted in the High Court. Pendency was up by 7,454 cases.
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Govt broadens scope of inquiry into books scam
Chandigarh, June 13 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had on May 27 ordered a probe by Justice (retd) AN Jindal into the "irregularities" in the purchase and supply of library books and science kits. The inquiry was to be completed in three months. However, instead of conducting a full-fledged inquiry under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952, Higher Education Secretary Anjali Bhawra had issued an office order in this regard. The officer reports to Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka who is in the eye of a storm because of his role in appointing purchase committees. The government had earlier claimed that the committee formed under Bhawra would yield quick results because only documents had to be examined. It now seems to have had a change of heart. The Secretary, Home, DS Bains, has issued orders bringing the inquiry under the ambit of the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952. Now any individual can approach the committee and demand to be heard. Bains said there was no need for Cabinet approval for appointing a committee under the Act. The terms and conditions would be determined by the Education Department, he said. The opposition Congress has been claiming that the terms of reference specified by the Secretary, Higher Education, deliberately did not include the name of the Education Minister. It was alleged this was done to bail out Maluka and make a scapegoat of department officials. Justice Jindal yet to start work
Sources said Justice Jindal was yet to start work, even after a fortnight of his appointment, even as a central probe team had already examined all documents pertaining to the case in the past two days. Bains said such inquiries took time to start. He said Justice Jindal was yet to be given an office and staff.
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Badal okays Rs 20 crore
for upgrading prisons
Chandigarh, June 13 A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister in a meeting with officials of the Jail Department yesterday. Badal laid thrust on modernisation of jails on the scientific lines. Approving a comprehensive plan submitted by the Jail Department to upgrade the entire security system in prisons, Badal sanctioned Rs 20 crore for installing high powered jammers, door metal detectors and other equipment and for buying new vehicles. He asked the department to execute the work in a phased manner so as to bring more efficiency and transparency. Underlining the need to check the supply of drugs inside jails, the Chief Minister also directed the department to take steps to curb this illegal practice. Badal also gave his approval for recruitment of 573 trained ex-servicemen from the Punjab Ex-servicemen Corporation for deployment in jails to aid the police in keeping a strict vigil over visitors. Expressing concern over the rising incidents of indiscipline amongst jail inmates, Badal asked the department to discourage this trend by taking appropriate measures. He said accountability of the officers concerned must be fixed in such cases. Fortifying jails
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20 members of jatha return from Pakistan
Amritsar, June 13 Behniwal alleged that they were allowed to return only on the intervention of the Indian High Commission there. He alleged that jatha members who accompanied him to Lahore for the martyrdom day of ther Fifth Guru were denied the opportunity to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Panja Sahib. “Let alone extending cooperation, the PSGPC created hurdles in our way,” he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan Rangers handed over the body of Sikh pilgrim Jaswinder Singh, who died of cardiac arrest yesterday, to the Indian authorities at Attari. — TNS
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7 of Rampura Phul killed on way to Hemkund Sahib
Bathinda, June 13 Two other persons from the area were injured while one is missing. The deceased belonged to different families and were part of a large group on pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib. Those killed were Prabhjot Singh (18) of
Rampura, car driver Gurmukh Singh (25) of Mandi Kalan, Ajaib Singh (55), Shingara Singh (60) of
Himmatpura, Angrej Singh (26) of Rampura Phul, and Inderpreet Singh (28) of Bhucho
Kalan. Lakhbir Singh of Pitho village is still missing.
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Welfare scheme beneficiaries to get online payments from July 1
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 13 Over 30,000 beneficiaries of 15 welfare schemes will get direct online payments from July 1. While presiding over a meeting to review the progress of the Aadhaar Card project, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Arun Shekri directed the officials to complete 100 per cent work on Aadhaar cards in the district at the earliest. He said the target to attach saving accounts of beneficiaries of various government schemes with the Aadhaar card should be completed by June 20. He said the LPG subsidy would also be transferred directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries. Therefore, the Aadhaar Card was necessary to avail the subsidy. He further directed the officials to complete the LPG subsidy scheme work by July 15. The DC instructed heads of all educational and technical institutions to ensure that the students have the Aadhaar Cards.
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3-year RI for ex-DTO
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 13 Petitioner Rajwant Singh Mann, a resident of Kumbh village, said he was running a truck company with a fleet of 40 trucks. In 2008, Rana, the then Fatehgarh Sahib DTO, impounded two of his trucks at the Nabipur police post and imposed a fine of Rs. 19,000 on him. He said when he approached Rana, he demanded Rs 50,000 and the matter was settled for Rs 20,000. He informed the Vigilance Bureau about the matter and Rana was caught red-handed with Rs 20,000. The court awarded him a one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and a two-year imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 15,000 under Section 13(2). — OC
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HC commutes death term, says murderer only attempted rape
Chandigarh, June 13 The verdict came on a murder reference filed by the State of Punjab against Salim Masih of Kala Afgahana village in Gurdaspur district. He had bludgeoned the victim to death with a brick after an attempted rape. Taking up the reference and an appeal against the death sentence filed by Masih, the Division Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice SP Bangarh asserted, "This case would fall in the category of rarest of the rare only if the deceased would have been raped and then done to death." The prosecution stated that on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2009, Navraj Singh, the complainant in the case, and one Gurbax Singh were walking down a village street when they heard shrieks from the victim's house. In the light of an electric bulb, they found Salim Masih attempting rape. They alleged that Salim Masih picked up a brick lying nearby and gave two blows on the victim's forehead. After Navraj Singh and Gurbax Singh raised an alarm, Masih ran away. The victim was moved to Batala Civil Hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries. Pleading innocence, the accused claimed he was working with Navraj Singh as a farm labourer and had an altercation with him due to non-payment of salary. After hearing both the sides, the trial court sentenced him to death for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 IPC. Taking up the matter, the Division Bench asserted: "The counsel for the appellant, Masih, rightly contended that when the trial court came to the conclusion that the appellant had only attempted to commit rape, the case of the prosecution should not have been categorised as a case in the category of rarest of the rare -- rightly in our view. "The imposition of death sentence upon the appellant is a harsh punishment that must be set aside by declining the murder reference made by the trial court for confirmation of death sentence."
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Singer Nachattar Gill booked for rape
Ludhiana, June 13 The city police claimed that the accused develpoed physical ties with the girl on the pretext of helping her become a top model and sending her abroad. They have been booked under Sections 376, 420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC and the IT Act 2000, for rape, fraud and criminal conspiracy. Gurveer Singh Station House officer (SHO), PAU police station, said the accused were booked last night following a thorough investigation by senior officers. Questions are being asked at the outgoing Commissioner of Police, Ishwar Singh, ordering an FIR against the singer on his last day in office. The girl, a resident of Haibowal, told the police that the singer took her to a hotel in Chandigarh, where he gave her a drink laced with sedatives and took objectionable pictures of her. She alleged that the three other accused raped her in a similar fashion at a hotel in Singapore. The matter first came to light in February when the victim approached the Commissioner of Police and the latter marked an inquiry into the case. At first Additional DCP- I Nilamberi Jagdale and ACP- West Gurpreet Kaur Purewal were asked to investigat the case. The inquiry was later shifted to ACP-North J Elanchezhian. Gill allegedly told the investigating officers that a friend of the aspiring model was pressuring him into settling the issue by paying him Rs 1 crore. The girl alleged that she came in contact with the pop singer during a beauty pageant at Jalandhar in 2006 where Gill was one of the judges. She was adjudged the first runners-up at the pageant. She claimed that during the function they exchanged mobile numbers. The two started talking to each other frequently and soon their friendship turned intimate. The girl met the singer at hotels in Phillaur and Ludhiana. The girl said her ties with the singer turned sour after she asked him why she was not being featured in his music albums. She alleged that city residents Charandeep Singh of Hambra Road and Jagdeep Singh and Raja of Waddi Haibowal took advantage of her plight.They took Rs 20 lakh from her parents promising to send her abroad. She claimed that when they were in Singapore, Raja and Jagdeep raped her and also made an MMS. She alleged Charandeep established ties with her on the pretext of helping her seek legal action against those who had exploited her. Despite repeated attempts, Gill was not available for comment.
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6 held in Nawanshahr sarpanch’s suicide case
Nawanshahr, June 13 Those arrested have been identified as Rattan,
Swarna, Harbans Lal, Mohan Lal, Sucha Ram and Pawan. Chaman Lal, sarpanch of Chhuchhewal village, had allegedly committed suicide on June 4. In his suicide note, he had held nine persons responsible for his act. A case was registered against all the persons named in the suicide note. The opposition parties had been accusing the police of adopting dilly-dallying tactics in nabbing the accused allegedly under pressure from the ruling party. Dr. Raj Kumar
Verka, vice-chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and Rajesh
Bagha, chairman, Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes, had also sought a report from the district administration and the police. Besides, leaders of various political parties, including state BSP president Parkash
Jandali, Punjab Youth Congress chief Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, Punjab Mahila Congress president Nimisha
Mehta, senior BJP leader Varinder Kaur Thandi had action against the accused.
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Assam resident held for cheating kidney patients
Ludhiana, June 13 The accused, Perth Perteen Gahai alias Baba, a resident of Mori Gaon village in Jaagi Road (Assam), was arrested from the bus stand area. His accomplice, Narinder Kumar of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, is absconding. Station House Officer (Sadar) Amandeep Singh Brar said the gang had gathered lakhs of rupees by duping several kidney patients in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. It was Gurjeet Kaur (50), a resident of Jaswant Nagar in Ludhiana, who brought the matter to the notice of the police recently. Gurjeet said she came to know about Baba and Narinder while she was undergoing treatment at a private hospital on the Ferozepur Road. She alleged that technicians Sukhwant and Anil (working at the hospital) introduced her to Sandeep, another technician working at a super-speciality in Chandigarh. Sandeep, she claimed, introduced her to Narinder, a government schoolteacher who himself was a kidney recipient. Narinder reportedly promised to arrange a kidney for Gurjeet from a donor either in Assam or Odisha. On November 23 last year, she along with her son-in-law flew to Kolkata where they were introduced to Baba. The accused allegedly took Rs 15 lakh from her on the pretext of completing formalities for arranging a donor. Several months passed but the accused failed to arrange a kidney. As Gurjeet’s condition worsened, she demanded her money back. The accused, however, threatened to kill her son-in-law in case the “deal” was snapped. On May 5, she managed to escape from Kolkata and reported the matter to the police. Lure of easy money Investigating Officer Ram Pal Singh said Narinder Kumar (50) was undergoing treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh, when he met Baba, a post-graduate in music from Assam. Baba had been visiting the city for the treatment of his mother. As both had to spend a lot on treatment, they allegedly decided to dupe gullible patients on the pretext of arranging a kidney for them. Baba said he used to place advertisements in vernacular newspapers to entice people suffering from kidney failure. They also contacted technicians working in private hospitals and promised a share in profit for referring patients to them.
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Printing of fake currency case in sangrur
Sangrur, June 13 All the three policemen have been suspended in connection with a criminal case registered against them under Sections 409, 489-A, 489-C and 201 of the IPC. The case against them was registered on June 11 and an owner of a printing press, Amit Kumar, for printing fake currency and destroying the evidence (fake currency notes worth Rs 1.41 lakh), related to the case. Sub-Inspector (SI) Jarnail Singh (Ex-SHO), Head Constable (HC) Teja Singh, and HC (Naib court) Balwinder Rai have been suspended. Sidhu said a departmental inquiry had also been entrusted to Moonak DSP Harinder Singh, who had been asked to complete the inquiry in a month. Sidhu said the DSP (Rural), Sangrur, Gurpreet Singh Dhindsa, had been made the investigating officer in the case to look into the matter. The SSP said he had also ordered the checking of all ‘malkhanas’ situated in 22 police stations of the district. These ‘malkhanas’ would be checked by the DSPs of the areas concerned to verify whether all case properties there are intact or not. They would submit their checking reports to him within 15 days, he said. It has been mentioned in the FIR registered against the policemen and the owner of the printing press that during checking of the ‘malkhana’ of the Sadar police station, Ahmedgarh, a case property that is fake currency worth Rs 1.41 lakh, was found missing. When asked about it, SHO Jarnail Singh, HC Teja Singh (in-charge of the malkhana) and HC (naib court) Balwinder Rai could not give any satisfactory reply. The FIR further reads, “Later on secret investigation, it came to notice that as they had lost the fake currency notes (Rs 1.41 lakh), they got the same printed from Amit Kumar and also produced it in the court. Fearing that their secret may be exposed any time, they later destroyed the evidence (fake currency). case file
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