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Whistleblower IFS officer shifted
Chief Justice inaugurates Gurdaspur judicial complex
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Mohali’s PUDA Bhavan mortgaged for
Rs 500 cr
CM seeks Planning Commission’s
help for assessing flood losses
Eye on Lok Sabha poll, SAD-BJP govt set to dole out sops
Centre draws flak for denying job on compassionate ground
412 farm suicides in Muktsar in 23 years
Amloh youth killed in US cremated
Navjot apprises Rajnath of ‘ills’ afflicting state BJP
State police, BSF rights violators, alleges panel
Akali groups clash in Badal’s presence
Capt opens front against Bajwa
Diarrhoea outbreak in Phagwara village
Factory blast kills woman
Drain breach wreaks havoc
2 students suspended under anti-ragging rule
Man booked for raping student
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Whistleblower IFS officer shifted
Ferozepur, August 24 Sources said the pressure to shift Tiwari had been mounting for the last few months since he had initiated a drive against encroachments and illegal sand mining. Following heavy losses incurred by the mafia, the latter had even held a meeting to devise a strategy to get Tiwari shifted using their political clout, the sources said, adding some of them had even tried to approach Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his recent visit to the flood-affected areas in this district. During his crusade against illegal encroachments, Tiwari reclaimed around 450 acres of forest land worth around Rs 125 crore which had been under illegal occupation for the last 15-20 years. The sources said during this process, around 15 incidents of attack on forest officials had been reported concerning which several FIRs were lodged. Despite serious threat perception to his life, Tiwari, who was also provided police security, continued his mission. The Forest Department had planned to plant 16 lakh saplings on the reclaimed land to enhance the green cover. However, after the news of the DFO's transfer reached the land mafia, the latter again encroached one acre of forest land in Bageke village and damaged around 1,000 saplings already planted there. The sources said around 900 acres of forest land was still under illegal possession in this division and more than 12 cases were pending in various revenue courts in this regard. Tiwari had also unearthed cases where valuable forest land had been fraudulently transferred in the name of private persons. Fact file
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Chief Justice inaugurates Gurdaspur judicial complex
Gurdaspur, August 24 The complex has been built at a cost of Rs 44 crore and has 17 courtrooms, a spacious library, a canteen and a bank. The foundation stone of the building was laid by Justice Ranjit Singh, the then Administrative Judge, Sessions Division, Gurdaspur, on March 26, 2011. The project had hit a roadblock following a scarcity of construction material although the authorities kept insisting that the construction was being delayed due to "technical reasons". Those present on the occasion included 12 judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, besides Gurdaspur District and Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kumar Garg, Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha and members of the District Bar Association. Later, the judges' entourage moved to Pathankot where Chief Justice Kaul inaugurated a similar judicial complex. Pathankot District and Sessions Judge Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Chief Judicial Magistrate Randhir Verma, Deputy Commissioner Siben C and Senior Superintendent of Police SK Kalia were present.
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Mohali’s PUDA Bhavan mortgaged for
Rs 500 cr
Chandigarh, August 24 Apart from this building (its value has reportedly been assessed at Rs 300 crore), the PUDA has mortgaged some other assets with the bank in order to raise the loan limit to Rs 500 crore. In all, the PUDA has been directed to raise Rs 1,000 crore so that the state government could meet its liabilities for August. Top officials in the state government told The Tribune that the loan was sanctioned earlier this week. The PUDA is now in talks with another public sector bank to raise another loan of Rs 500 crore by the month-end. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, however, continues to be in a denial mode. To a query during a function in Muktsar today, he denied the state government had either raised loans by mortgaging its properties or had any plans to do so. “Nothing as such has happened. The financial position of the government is sound enough to meet its fiscal obligations. The loan propaganda is a malicious campaign launched by the Congress,” he said. However, The Tribune has found that besides raising these loans by mortgaging its properties, Punjab has raised loans worth Rs 1,650 crore against its stock security. Sources in the State-Level Bankers Committee of Punjab confirmed that these loans had been raised from the Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Patiala, Malwa Grameen Bank, Punjab State Cooperative Bank and Punjab and Sind Bank. The maximum loan of Rs 654 crore has been raised from the Punjab National Bank, followed by Rs 541 crore from the Punjab State Cooperative Bank. This year, Punjab has been allowed to raise capital worth Rs 9,200 crore from the market so as to meet its growing expenditure needs. The state has been allowed to raise Rs 700 crore each month by auctioning its state development loans. So far, the state has raised Rs 3,500 crore through this medium. Sources said that because of its precarious financial condition, Punjab was floating its development loans in the beginning of each month and thus managing to get Rs 700 crore, which along with Rs 900 crore, the average monthly tax revenue from Punjab's own resources, was being used to ensure the state was able to foot the employees' salary and pension bill of Rs 1,681 crore a month. Loans raised this fiscal 3,500 crore rupees from the market by auctioning state development loans 1,650 crore rupees as loan against stock security 500 crore rupees by mortgaging PUDA properties CM still in denial mode CM Parkash Singh Badal, however, continues to be in a denial mode. He said the state government had not raised any loan by mortgaging its properties. He called it a “false propaganda” by the Congress.
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CM seeks Planning Commission’s
help for assessing flood losses
Midda (Muktsar), August 24 Speaking to mediapersons after visiting the flood-affected villages in the district here, the Chief Minister said, “The losses caused by the floods is a national issue and it is the responsibility of the entire nation to bail the people out in this hour of crisis.” He said the Centre must dispatch a high-level team of the Planning Commission to tour the flood-ravaged regions of the state and suggest precautionary measures to avoid such a situation in the future. Badal said the state government would also raise with the Finance Commission the issue of enhancing the amount of relief to the flood victims. “The relief amount is inadequate and revising it is the need of the hour so that the losses of people can be minimised,” he said. Gidderbaha woes go unheard n The CM failed to meet the flood-affected people of Gidderbaha assembly constituency, represented by Congress MLA Amrinder Raja Warring who had recently hogged the limelight by barging uninvited into a Sangat Darshan. A survey conducted by the district administration has found that 48 villages in Gidderbaha sub-division have been affected by the floods. Badal, however, met the people of Muktsar, Malout and Lambi assembly constituencies.
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Eye on Lok Sabha poll, SAD-BJP govt set to dole out sops
Chandigarh, August 24 Come September, and the state is all set to roll out these welfare schemes to woo the marginalised sections of society. Official sources say Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has been holding regular meetings with the officials concerned and a string of functions is now lined up to announce and start these schemes next month so that the targeted population has had a taste of these sops before the elections are announced. To begin with, the state government will distribute scholarships worth Rs 30,000 each to students of Class XI (passed out of government schools) who had scored over 80 per cent marks, in Jalandhar on September 6. The government will also roll out the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Yojana wherein health cards will be distributed among all beneficiaries of the atta-dal scheme. They will get a cover of Rs 30,000 each. This scheme is being rolled out from Bathinda on September 16. Besides, the state will distribute over 1.50 lakh bicycles to girl students under the Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme at a function in Ludhiana in the first week of October. The state is also all set to re-launch its atta-dal scheme by lowering the rate of wheat from Rs 4 per kg now to Rs 1.50 per kg. (Rs 0.50 per kg less than what the UPA Government is offering under the Food Security Act). In its new avatar, the scheme will cover almost 35 lakh families (around 1.82 crore individuals). The state will not have to incur any major expenditure if it were to lower the price of wheat. Since the Centre will give money for wheat at Rs 2 per kg, the state will now have to incur the differential cost (at the rate of Rs 0.50 per kg). For 35 lakh families, the state will have to spend just Rs 4 crore per month from its kitty," said an official. With the atta-dal scheme turning to be the game changer in the 2012 assembly elections, the SAD-BJP government is convinced that it is the "sop route" that will lead them to success at the hustings. Never mind that the state is barely able to meet its liabilities, and has now been forced to borrow money by mortgaging its properties. But when it comes to taking political mileage by doling out schemes in the name of welfare, the state comes out with ways to implement these at the minimum cost to the exchequer. Though most of the sops being rolled out now were announced in the state's budget and budgetary allocations were made for these, the bureaucrats have come up with ways to rev up other schemes in a way that there is not much additional burden on the exchequer. Forthcoming launches
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Centre draws flak for denying job on compassionate ground
Chandigarh, August 24 The censure came by the Division Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Surinder Gupta on a petition filed by Shakuntala Devi against the Union of India and other respondents. “Suffice it would be to say that the petitioner has been subjected to hostile and arbitrary treatment,” the Bench asserted. Her application for the appointment of her son on compassionate ground was turned down by the authorities concerned. Subsequently, her application against the order dated February 18, 2008, was rejected by the Central Administrative Tribunal. She told the court that her husband, employed as a counter salesman, died in harness on September 8, 2005. She moved an application for employment of her son on compassionate ground under the ex gratia policy. But the application was turned down by an Assistant Controller. The ground taken was that a family of five with income of Rs 1,767.20 was considered below the poverty line. But she was receiving family pension of Rs 3,484 per month. Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted: “On perusal of the information received by the petitioner under the Right to Information Act, we have no reason to doubt that the authorities have acted in the instant case discriminately to deny the petitioner's legitimate claim. The policy of ex gratia has been apparently abused by the officers on pick and choose basis. “The communications dated March 18, 2009; May 2, 2009, and June 4, 2009, reveal that there are not one but numerous instances where employees in the rank of clerks or class-III posts unfortunately passed away in harness while in service and their dependent family members have been given appointment as well as family pension much more than the so-called poverty line. “Similarly, the terminal benefits received in those cases are more than the amount received by the petitioner and other dependents of her deceased husband. The authorities have followed no uniform criteria, nor have applied their mind in the facts and circumstances of the petitioner's case while rejecting her claim”. Allowing the writ petition, the Bench directed the respondents to consider her son’s claim for employment under the ex gratia policy “strictly on the basis of their policy and ignoring the grounds cited in the impugned order”.
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412 farm suicides in Muktsar in 23 years
Muktsar, August 24 Puran Singh, BKU’s Muktsar unit president, said they had covered only 90 of the total 264 villages in the district. He said the list would be handed over to the state government for seeking compensation to the kin of the deceased. “We have prepared our list. Now, it is up to the state government to verify figures at its end and issue compensation. It is the administration’s duty to help the affected families come out of the financial mess,” said Gurbhagat Singh, BKU’s Muktsar senior vice-president. Before compiling the figures, said Gurbhagat, a public announcement was made in the villages and the residents themselves came forward with the details of the
dece-ased farmers and farm labourers. He said the state government too had conducted a survey by involving officials of three universities, but these “failed to include several names”. “The state government should conduct an overall survey as per the data collected by us,” he said. Gurbhagat said the state government had identified 102 suicide cases in Muktsar and had even promised to pay Rs 2 lakh to the next of the kin. However, only 51 families had received the compensation amount so far that too half of it (Rs 1 lakh), he said. Financial crisis
Dithering on relief
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Amloh youth killed in US cremated
Amloh, August 24 Surveillance video showed a thin man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, shoot Manpreet. The man was wearing a mask. Avtar Singh Bhamarsi, who brought the body from US, said, “Manpreet Singh Ghuman (27) worked in South Lake Tahoe city in El Dorado County in California.” Non Resident Indian (NRI) Satnam Singh Chahal, North American Punjab Association activist, said, “The Punjabi community in the US was shocked by the incident.” Former minister Randhir Singh Cheema, SAD vice-president and councillor Darshan Singh Cheema and SGPC member Ravinder Singh Khalsa were present.
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Navjot apprises Rajnath of ‘ills’ afflicting state BJP
Sources close to Dr Sidhu said the one-on-one meeting, which took place at the BJP office in the national capital, lasted for 35 to 40 minutes. They said she apprised him of the prevailing condition in the state BJP even as he gave her a patient hearing. Sources said he assured her that he would initiate necessary measures to bring the situation back to normal in the state unit. She also reportedly told the party president that the state BJP unit was turning a blind eye to her as well as her MP husband who had already been sidelined in the party and that she had no problems with the SAD. Dr Sidhu had disclosed on Friday that she had sought an appointment with Rajnath Singh so as to voice her concerns before him. Sidhu had termed the state government as directionless early this week in an outburst over the alleged denial of grants to her Amritsar East constituency. She had alleged that Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal had promised grants worth Rs 100 crore to her constituency, but she had got nothing till now. She had also questioned the logic of appointing her to the post of Chief Parliamentary Secretary when no files were being given to her.
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State police, BSF rights violators, alleges panel
Moga, August 24 Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser of the SFJ, said Sikhs living in Canada would urge the Canadian government to declare the Punjab Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) as violators of human rights. He alleged several Canadian Sikhs had been abducted, tortured and killed by Indian security forces in Punjab since 1984. Earlier, the family members of Canadian victims had decided to file legal suites against Sukhbir Badal for commanding a police force that had been "involved in torture and extra-judicial killings" of at least 12 Canadian citizens. Sukhbir had cancelled his visit to Canada fearing his arrest and mass demonstrations against him. The Canadian government had expressed its inability to provide security and immunity to him in any case that might be filed against him.
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Akali groups clash in Badal’s presence
Chibbaranwali (Muktsar), August 24 The altercation was preceded by another unsavoury incident when some flood-affected people of nearby Khunde Halal village turned down the state government’s offer for compensation. To counter the unruly SAD activists, who hurled abuses at each other, the police used mild cane-charge and pushed them out of the ‘pandal’ (tent) raised for the Chief Minister’s function. But the situation took an ugly turn as both the groups clashed again on a nearby road. In the melee, the turban of an elderly man was also tossed in the air. The episode lasted for an hour. Though the Chief Minister left the village, the situation continued to be tense. Ironically, Deputy Inspector General (Bathinda range) Amar Singh Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police (Muktsar) Surjeet Singh, Superintendent of Police NPS Sidhu, Deputy Superintendent of Police KPS Chahal were present when all this happened. A resident of Khunde Halal village said: “The ruling SAD has been divided into two groups. One group is of the people originally belonging to the Akali Dal while the second faction is of those who switched loyalty from the Congress to the ruling party.” He said the first group wanted construction of a drain whereas the other group was opposed to the idea. A senior official in the district administration said Khunde Halal village was badly affected due to waterlogging and the construction of a drain would have proved beneficial for the residents.
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Capt opens front against Bajwa
Chandigarh, August 24 In a statement issued here today, Amarinder Singh said he had noticed over the last few days that the PPCC president had started announcing candidates for different parliamentary and assembly segments. “Bajwa is overstepping his brief by nominating candidates for assembly and parliamentary segments in Punjab. This will only send a wrong signal to party rank and file,” he said. A few days ago, Amarinder Singh had announced a campaign tour, which was seen parallel to the PPCC chief’s “Mass Contact Programme”. After remaining quiet for a while, it appears Amarinder Singh has again started asserting his position in the party and has sent clear signals to his supporters that he continued to be an active player in Punjab politics. A feeling had been gaining ground among Amarinder Singh’s supporters that they were being given a raw deal by the new Congress leadership. Amarinder Singh’s today’s statement, which is likely to lead to a heated debate in the party’s rank and file and also generate bitter response from the Bajwa camp, is a clear indication that when need be, he would not hesitate in speaking his mind on key party affairs. It is for the first time that Amarinder Singh has directly taken on Bajwa since the latter assumed charge in March. The former Chief Minister, who headed the state unit for several years, said allotting the ticket was the prerogative of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Bajwa is overstepping his brief by nominating candidates for assembly and parliamentary segments in Punjab. This will send wrong signals among the party rank and
file I regard Capt Amarinder Singh but I am only answerable to the party high
command
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Diarrhoea outbreak in Phagwara village
Phagwara, August 24 More than 60 patients complained of abdomen pain while 24 patients of diarrhoea and gastroenteritis were admitted to hospitals in Bilga, Noormahal and Phillaur. Dr RL Wasan, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, along with Dr Satish Sood, an epidemiologist, and a team of doctors visited the village this evening. Confirming diarrhoea outbreak in the area, the CMO said five water samples had been taken and they had also written to Phillaur SDM Jasbir Singh to take necessary action. As many as 58 patients complained of diarrhoea symptoms at a medical camp held in the village. Five thousand tablets of chlorine were distributed.
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Factory blast kills woman
Batala, August 24 The explosion was so powerful that the son of the deceased was thrown into the middle of the road due to the impact while the window panes of nearby houses were also shattered. The police said the deceased, Shanti Devi (45), and her son Roshi (25) were working in the factory while their three colleagues had left the premises a couple of hours before when the incident. A fire incident was stated to be the reason behind the blast.
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Drain breach wreaks havoc
Abohar, August 24 Cotton, other crops and orchards spread on over 2,000 acres in Sayeedwala village near the Abohar-Sriganganagar road have been submerged in water. Hundreds of NREGA workers were found carrying sand bags to plug the breach. Local residents were also seen trying to prevent the water from entering their houses. At the same time, people in Dharangwala, Kerakhera, Bahawalbasi, Gaddandob and Ramgarh villages faced an acute shortage of drinking water as waterworks in the area had been inundated.
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2 students suspended under anti-ragging rule
Amritsar, August 24 These holidays are observed in medical colleges as per the Supreme Court directions to give newcomers time to adjust to the new environment. During this period, all senior students are not allowed to come to the college or hostels. Two students of MBBS second year, Rahul Bhagat and Rohit Kumar allegedly violated the directions. The two were spotted in a hostel room during an inspection by the hostel management. The duo had allegedly consumed alcohol during their stay and confronted the hostel authorities when questioned. Karamjit Singh, deputy hostel warden, said: "The two students have been suspended for indiscipline for 15 days. Though they had not indulged in ragging, they violated rule regarding anti-ragging holidays."
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Man booked for raping student
Tarn Taran, August 24 In her complaint, the victim, a student of Bir Baba Budha College, Thatha, alleged that the accused offered her a lift in his car while she was on her way to the college. She alleged that instead of dropping her at the college, the accused took her to a deserted place and raped her. Thereafter, the accused abandoned the girl at Attari Road in Chabal town. Deputy Superintendent of Police Daljit Singh Dhillon said investigations were on into the case.
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Midda (Muktsar), August 24
Amloh, August 24
Chibbaranwali (Muktsar), August 24
Amritsar, August 24