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Wagon crunch hits export to Pak, Rs 200-cr goods stuck
Low power demand saves the day as six thermal units trip
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Central team scouts for airport site in Ferozepur
Cong mulls replacing few sitting MPs in LS poll
PCC plans to bring SAD-BJP’s ‘failures’ in public domain
Bajwa seeks package for border areas
Vidya Devi
This young sarpanch aims to promote community farming
Jagjivan Singh
Jakhar: Akalis forcing Badal to retire
Videograph polling process: Cong
Finally, FIR in Pannu case
KS Pannu
Tarn Taran police assault victim refused admission in govt school
‘AIG’s attacker’ gets VIP treatment
Govt yet to pay for Yannick’s treatment
2 Patiala officials booked for fraud
Suicide case: Lovepreet had tried to kill herself earlier too, claims police
Five arrested for enacting
Rs 17-lakh Sunam robbery
Six pistols, ammo seized
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Wagon crunch hits export to Pak, Rs 200-cr goods stuck
Amritsar, June 29 While the traders have been blaming the Railways, the latter argued “the matter was never brought to its notice”. Talking to The Tribune, leading exporter Rajesh Setia said, “For the last one month, the Railways has been sending 34 empty wagons from the Attari railway station to Pakistan as part of an interchange exercise. These could well have carried our goods. Setia said they had also demanded 20 wagons, instead of the present 14, in the Samjhauta Express. “Let alone increasing the number, the Railways decreased it to 12, leaving the traders high and dry.” He said they had got a mere 15 Pakistani wagons a couple of days back and 34 a week ago, but all were in a rickety condition. He said they could not even shift trade to the road route as the items they had been exporting were not permitted through that medium. Among them are spices, grocery items, dyes, seed and clothes. He alleged the railway officials were neither attending their phone calls nor responding to their mails. Flaying the "dictatorial attitude" of the Railways, he alleged it appeared least bothered about the bilateral trade. Another prominent trader, Rajdeep Uppal, said the entire infrastructure at the rail cargo facility in Amritsar was in a shambles. He said ever since the India-Pakistan trade gained momentum, all agencies barring the Railways had contributed in one way or the other. “There is absolutely no infrastructure. The godowns are in a mess while there aren't any roads. There are no security measures in place despite the fact that the rail cargo facility witnessed major drug recoveries last year that included 150-kg heroin,” he added. Earlier, exporters Rajesh Setia, Mukesh Sindhwani, Rajdeep Uppal, Dalip Singh, Jaspal Singh and Bhupinder Singh held a meeting and demanded that 34 Indian wagons parked at Attari be provided for loading export cargo. On the other hand, Divisional Railway Manager NC Goyal said the matter had never been brought to his notice. He also denied receiving any mail or phone call from the aggrieved traders. Incidentally, this is not the first time that the exporters are facing such a trouble. In November last, goods worth Rs 600 crore were held up at the rail cargo facility as Pakistani traders had stopped cement export to India in view of repeated seizures of heroin. It had led to a decline in the arrival of rail wagons from the neighbouring nation while the availability of Indian wagons too was inadequate.
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Low power demand saves the day as six thermal units trip
Jalandhar, June 29 Tripping of six units could have led to a major power problem in the state. Since the demand for power was low, the supply remained disrupted only for one to two hours in some districts, including Bathinda, Mohali and Moga. Preliminary investigations by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) indicate there was a dip in voltage of the 220-KV line that led to tripping. KD Chaudhri CMD, PSPCL, said: "Our priority is to ensure that all the thermal units start functioning at the earliest." Sources said three units of the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant were made operational by the evening. GS Chhabra, Director (Generation), PSPCL, said: "The fourth unit of 250 MW capacity will take 24 hours to become operational. Boiler leakage has been detected in the unit which is normal after sudden tripping". Chhabra said one unit of 110 MW capacity of Bathinda thermal plant was made operational at 5.55 pm and a unit of 210 MW capacity of Ropar thermal plant was expected to start soon.
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Central team scouts for airport site in Ferozepur
Ferozepur, June 29 The AAI team, led by Narender Mukhija Joint General Manager (Civil Engineering), inspected various sites for setting up the airport and had discussions with the local civil and military authorities. Mukhija said a feasibility report would be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation that will take a final decision on the matter. The AAI officials said the domestic airport would be set up on around 500 acres. The team also visited the abandoned air strip in Fattuwala village which was earlier used as an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) by the Air Force in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The Army has 400 acres of land in its possession in the area and it plans to build houses for its troops.
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Cong mulls replacing few sitting MPs in LS poll
New Delhi, June 29 To counter this, the central Congress leadership is toying with the idea of replacing some sitting Members of Parliament and present “new and vibrant younger faces” to woo the voters. There are 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. Eight are with the Congress, four with the Akali Dal and one with the BJP. Sources in the Congress said the party was facing a piquant situation. The party think-tank is worried, especially about non-Jat Sikh votes drifting towards the Akali Dal in urban areas. It is estimated the population of non-Jat votes in the state is around 38 lakh. A confidential survey report on ‘Transmigration of votes from Congress to other parties in Punjab’ has warned that unless the Congress gears up to gatecrash into the non-Jat votes in the state, it may not get success to the desired extent in the next Lok Sabha elections. The report has been prepared for the central Congress leadership by a dedicated team of the party researchers and strategists. They carried out an extensive survey across Punjab to understand the ‘ground zero’ situation. The report claims a common complaint that surfaced during interaction with people from all walks of life was that many sitting Congress Members of Parliament were “disconnected” with the public. They are neither propagating the party’s achievements and future vision nor countering the SAD-BJP propaganda. As per the survey report, the party should consider replacing some MPs for the next Lok Sabha battle. The parliamentary constituencies of Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur need the high command’s pointed attention. It has also suggested that popular party MLAs may be considered for elevation to the Lok Sabha contest. The report highlights that, traditionally, the rural vote comprising Jats, non-Jats and other communities was “shared” by the Congress and the Akali Dal whereas the urban vote was largely divided between the Congress and the BJP. But due to the migration of non-Jats from rural to urban areas on account of better education opportunities and civic amenities, this demographic situation had changed, it says. “The Akali Dal has spread its base to urban areas also by adopting Hindu candidates, which has become a matter of concern for the BJP too,” the report points out. The report says, “The Badals have managed to control the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the supreme religious body of the Sikhs. They have managed to install Avtar Singh Makkar, who is a non-Jat (Khatri), as its president to tighten its grip on the non-Jat votes, both in rural and urban areas.” The BJP has also started intensifying its efforts to consolidate its traditional vote bank of Hindus by “exploiting their religious sentiments in urban areas”. The saffron party will use Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its ‘brand ambassador’ to put the election campaign in full stream. The team has pointed out that no serious effort was being made by the Congress leadership in Punjab to counter the high-pitch propaganda of the SAD-BJP combine. The survey report has suggested that the Punjab Congress leaders should be instructed to explain to the people that the ever-rising prices of petrol, food and vegetables were linked to “international slowdown and other factors that were beyond the Union Government’s control.” And, it says, people should be told that, despite this, the UPA government had been able to maintain a steady economic growth and contain inflation to a large extent. To counter the ‘social engineering strategy’ of the Akali Dal and the BJP, the central Congress leadership must quickly chalk out a meticulous action plan. “The Congress will have to puncture the propaganda balloon of both the parties by a fierce campaign well in advance - not on the eve of the polls,” the report has recommended. A senior Congress leader, who understands the mindset of Punjab voters, is of the opinion that if party icon Rahul Gandhi could kick-start the election campaign from Amritsar by paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana temple, it would send a positive signal to the non-Jat and Hindu population. Findings of a survey The Congress needs to gatecrash into the non-Jat votes, which are drifting towards the SAD in urban areas The complaint of voters that several Congress MPs are ‘disconnected with the public needs to be addressed The party should consider replacing a few MPs for the next Lok Sabha elections
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PCC plans to bring SAD-BJP’s ‘failures’ in public domain
Chandigarh, June 29
At the meeting, the leadership is expected to dwell on chalking out a strategy to adopt an aggressive stance against the state government.
PCC spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the main issue that the Opposition would highlight was the government's failure to provide unemployment allowance to the youth, something that it had promised in its manifesto.
"We are going to make it a big issue in the days to come as the state government has cheated the unemployed youth of Punjab, whose number is being shown much less by the authorities concerned so as to avoid costs," he said.
The second issue, Khaira said, was the state government's "inability" to timely evacuate the thousands of pilgrims who were stranded at Joshimath, Gobind Ghat and other places following flash floods in Uttarakhand.
"Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been making false claims regarding rescue operations. It was the Army, the ITBP and other paramilitary forces that rescued Punjab pilgrims," he said. "Punjab even failed provide its own helicopter in this hour of crisis to the state pilgrims and preferred to hire a private copter, which also remained parked near Dehradun for several days due to reasons best known to the government," said Khaira.
"The government purchased the helicopter by spending public money. It must explain why it remained parked idle when Badal and his deputy Sukhbir were holidaying abroad. It could have well been used for evacuating the pilgrims," he said. What Cong will highlight Government ‘failure’ to provide unemployment allowance to the youth ‘Inability’ to timely evacuate the pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s ‘false’ claims regarding the rescue operation
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Bajwa seeks package for border areas
Chandigarh, June 29 Bajwa said the migration of industrial units to other states would stop if border areas were developed. He said 274 industrial units had shifted out of Punjab between 2004 and 2010 and the state had lost out on an investment of Rs 3674.79 crore. He said Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilika districts were the least developed.
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PANCHAYAT Elections
Fazilka, June 28 Agile and articulate at 80, she undertakes a round of the village every morning, enquiring the well-being of all. Vidya Devi was encouraged to take up social work by her late husband Chaudhary Raja Ram Jyani, who was a renowned footballer. "I will work arduously for the welfare of my brethren, with whom I have been associated since the past six decades," says a determined Vidya Devi. Pushpinder Kaur (32) of Rampura village in Fazilka, a graduate, is one of the youngest candidates to have been elected sarpanch. She wants to carry forward the good work done by her late father-in-law Parmjit Singh, who was president of the sarpanches association, Fazilka. She says she will raise a colony for the destitutes. Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg said 35 candidates had been unanimously elected sarpanch and 363 as panches. As many as 56 booths of the total 642 booths in the district had been declared hyper sensitive and 184 as sensitive, he added.
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This young sarpanch aims to promote community farming
Moga, June 29 Talking to The Tribune, Jagjivan said he wanted marginal farmers to adopt community farming to cut their input costs and increase profitability. He said he would visit their houses to persuade them. "If they adopt community farming through village cooperative society and diversify the cropping pattern, they will surely earn more profits," he said. He also aims at improving education level in village schools which he thinks would help in the long run to change the socio-economic status of the people. For the past 10 years, he had been serving as a panch of his village. He was later appointed nambardar. He had filed his nomination papers for the post of sarpanch, but the villagers decided to elect him unopposed by convincing his rival candidates to withdraw in his favour. "I want to change the mindset of the people and get them out of the garb of corruption, caste politics, and chaotic administrative/legal system", he said. The village has a population 5,000 people and has 22 acres of common land. There is a stadium and a grain market over 10 acres while the remaining 12 acres have been leased out for farming to generate funds. The village has a famous shrine of Muslim saint Baba Damu Shah where more than 50,000 people pay obeisance every Thursday. The total earning of this religious place is more than Rs 1 crore annually. The shrine's committee has already extended monetary help for various development works.
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Jakhar: Akalis forcing Badal to retire
Sangrur, June 29 He alleged the youth wing of the SAD wanted to oust Badal from Punjab politics to capture the SAD at all levels. But Badal was not interested in NDA post as he wanted to remain active in Punjab politics, he added. Jakhar, who was in Lehragaga today to condole the death of senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal's mother-in-law Harcharan Kaur, held Akalis responsible for attack on IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu in Uttarakhand. He alleged the government was not interested in holding a free and fair probe into the incident.
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Videograph polling process: Cong
Chandigarh, June 29 The PPCC today submitted a memorandum to the Punjab State Election Commission and sought that videography should also be allowed on the request of any candidate at his own cost. It was necessary for ensuring free and fair elections, the memorandum signed by Tarlochan Singh, Chanranjit Channi and Gurpreet S Kangar, vice-presidents of the
PPCC, said.
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Finally, FIR in Pannu case
Chandigarh, June 29 The case was registered against unidentified persons at Joshimath police station in Chamoli district under Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from delivering his duty), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Chamoli Superintendent of Police Ajay Joshi said, “I received a copy of Pannu's complaint, forwarded by the Punjab Government, today itself... We will have to trace the assailants, mostly outsiders (from Punjab).” Joshi, however, refused to comment on whether anybody had been detained for questioning. Pannu had submitted a detailed complaint about the incident to the Chief Secretary, which was forwarded to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. A section of the crowd had resorted to “unprovoked” physical assault on the officer during the relief operations following flash floods at Gobind Ghat in the hill state. While Pannu claimed the group got infuriated when he turned down their demand for priority in evacuation, the attackers had alleged the officer used foul language. After the FIR, the investigations will be transferred to the Punjab Police. Punjab has already constituted a Special Investigation Team under Inspector General of Police Sanjeev Kalra, which will tie up with their Uttarakhand counterparts for the probe.
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Tarn Taran police assault victim refused admission in govt school
Amritsar, June 29 The department, however, has rubbished the claim as “false”. The girl today met National Scheduled Caste Commission Vice-Chairman Rajkumar Verka seeking his intervention in the matter. She claimed she had sought admission in Class XII (medical stream) and had met the District Education Officer (DEO) (Secondary) Paramjit Singh in this connection. She said Verka had directed her to meet the officer. She alleged the DEO, however, refused her admission and advised her to join a private institute. She said she had completed her Class X a year ago and could not continue her education as schools were located at faraway places from her village. “I am being victimised as I am a Dalit...the infamous assault case could also be the reason,” she claimed. Verka said he had directed the DEO to treat her case on sympathetic grounds as the girl had passed through trauma. He said he would raise the issue with the Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner. The DEO, however, said the admission was denied as “the girl expressed her inability to come to school regularly”. “Seventyfive per cent attendance is mandatory in government schools, but the girl said she will not be able to meet the criterion. So, I advised her to take admission in a private school,” he said.
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‘AIG’s attacker’ gets VIP treatment
Patiala, June 29 He remains at the hospital even though Dr Ashish, Head of the Medicine Wing, had declared a few days ago that he was fit and ready to be shifted back to Patiala Central Jail. Sunny had allegedly attacked SS Mand on the night of December 24, 2012. After his arrest, a Ludhiana court ordered that he be kept in judicial custody. On May 30, Sunny was shifted to the Patiala hospital after he had complained of uneasiness in his chest and high blood pressure. Sunny was then shifted to an air conditioned room in a special ward in the hospital. “In his heavily guarded room, he meets his well wishers and eats outside food as jail officials stand as mute spectators,” said a senior doctor. Dr Ashish said, “When I declared him fit, the medical superintendent instead of shifting him back to prison formed a medical board.” VK Sharda, Medical Superintendent, Government Rajindra Hospital, refused to comment. Dr Harshinder, official spokesperson of the hospital, said she would mark an inquiry into the matter
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2 Patiala officials booked for fraud
Patiala, June 29 The police has registered a case of fraud, cheating and conspiracy and is conducting raids to arrest the accused.
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Suicide case: Lovepreet had tried to kill herself earlier too, claims police
Mohali, June 29 Balwinder Singh, Superintendent of Police (Detective), Mohali, said, “The victim had first tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrist at Mohan Lal’s official residence after having an argument with his wife Promila.” Promila was also present at Lovepreet’s Zirakpur flat on May 27 when she had committed suicide. Mohan Lal was today produced in the court after the culmination of his three-day police remand. The court sent him in judicial custody. The SP said the police would more charges in the case once they get the reports of CFSL and blood samples of the victim. SP Balwinder Singh said the police was investigating several angles in the case. Mohan Lal had surrendered before the Mohali police on June 26 after a case under Section 306 of the IPC was registered against him on the complaint of the victim’s father Lakhwinder Singh, an Assistant Sub-Inspector in the Punjab Police. The police said Lovepreet had an illicit relationship with Mohan who was already married. Lovepreet was persuading Mohan to marry her. Lakhwinder Singh, who has been demanding a CBI probe in the case, alleged that his daughter was raped and murdered by the police officer.
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Five arrested for enacting
Rs 17-lakh Sunam robbery
Sangrur, June 29 Raj Kumar Raju, a Sunam-based trader, had lodged a complaint with the police on April 10 that some persons robbed him of Rs 17.5 lakh and shot at him when he was returning to Sunam from his store, located on Neelowal Road near Sunam. Thereafter, a case under the Arms Act was registered. The police found that he had staged the robbery as he could not return Rs 1 crore to creditors. Mandip Singh Sidhu, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Sangrur, said Raj Kumar Raju had hatched the conspiracy in connivance with five others. He said the .12 bore rifle that was used to shoot Raj Kumar in the leg belonged to Raj’s father. Raj paid his five accomplices Rs 2 lakh for the crime. The SSP said the police today arrested Raj Kumar Raju, Vipan Tandon, Jagseer Singh, Amanpreet Sharma and Manjit Ram while Devinder Singh was still absconding. The police also recovered the car and the rifle used in the crime.
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Six pistols, ammo seized
Ferozepur, June 29 The consignment was recovered from a small burrow along the Sutlej. Aditya Mishra, IG, said during the wee hours today, the jawans posted at BOP Joginder observed some movement across the fence through their handheld thermal imagers. After a search, the jawans found the arms consignment.
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Thirty-six-year-old Jagjivan Singh, who has unanimously been elected sarpanch of Lohara village on the outskirts of
Moga, is determined to change the fortunes of marginal farmers and landless
labourers, besides improving basic amenities in the village. Talking to The Tribune, Jagjivan said he wanted marginal farmers to adopt community farming to cut their input costs and increase profitability. He said he would visit their houses to persuade them.
on Punjab Director General of School Education Kahan Singh Pannu during rescue operations in the hill state about a week ago.
Talking to The Tribune, Jagjivan said he wanted marginal farmers to adopt community farming to cut their input costs and increase profitability. He said he would visit their houses to persuade them.
