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Fund-starved Patiala MC postpones auction of land
Bajwa: Govt lying on fiscal health
FIR quashed after alleged rapist marries victim
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Congress shielding its tainted leaders: Sukhbir
Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal lays the stone of a jail in Amritsar on Wednesday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Sidhus keep away from Deputy CM’s functions
Cong, Akali workers in credit war
Officials pacify agitated SAD and BJP workers in Ferozepur on Wednesday; and (right) the damaged foundation stone of a sewerage project. Tribune photos Sarna plans protest during Modi rally
Release DA instalments, demand employees
Safai sewaks protest unfair
practices of contractor
ED probe hints at
Rs 1,000 cr hawala racket
3-month extension for Jindal panel
Upper primary schools to have ‘English Corners’
Rs 440 crore in hand, govt to launch labour welfare schemes
Attack on Sikhs in US
NRI panel asks govt to act
2 children drown in bore well
Information on High Court functioning a click away
Three held with Rs
2.52 lakh fake currency
Pak intruder shot dead
Barnala couple killed in the Philippines
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Fund-starved Patiala MC postpones auction of land
Patiala, September
25 Meanwhile, the MC General House without putting the blame on anyone for the death of two sewer workers last week, decided to compensate the aggrieved families Rs 4 lakh besides awarding a job each to a member of both the families. At the General House meeting, when Congress councillors protested against selling corporation land, the MC postponed the decision to auction/sell the land. Earlier, the MC had planned to sell this land to repay a loan of over Rs 9 crore to Patiala Development Authority. “We objected to the sale of land as the city is left with very little common land and few playgrounds,” said Sanjeev Bittu, Congress leader. “The Supreme Court has ordered that the corporation has no right to sell such vacant lands as per the master plan of cities,” said Bittu. Patiala Mayor Amrinder Bazaz said the decision to sell, auction or lease out MC land had been postponed. “We will write to the government to take a final call on the matter,” he said. The House passed a resolution to acquire 20 acres in Dudarh village at Rs 50,000 per acre to set up a solid waste management plant that will pave the way for door-to-door collection of garbage. Further, the high building charges in Patiala had also been adjusted. In another important decision, Badoongar Road, Bhupindra Road to Model Town Road and Nabha Gate-Anaj Mandi Roads were declared commercial. Other key decisions *
Families of deceased sewer workers compensated `4 lakh and awarded a job
each * A resolution passed to acquire 20 acres in Dudarh village at Rs 50,000 per acre to set up a solid waste management plant
* The high building charges in Patiala adjusted * Badoongar Road, Bhupindra Road to Model Town Road and Nabha Gate-Anaj Mandi Roads declared commercial
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Bajwa: Govt lying on fiscal health
Bathinda, September 25 The people were being misled on the state's fiscal condition, with SAD leaders claiming that all was well. But the fact was that grants for various welfare schemes had not been released staand certain sections of employees not paid salaries.
Bajwa was in the city to address rallies as part of his party's mass contact
programme. He drew the attention of the gatherings to the taxes imposed in the garb of regularising residential colonies. Property tax and others surcharges were in the process of being levied, he warned. Alleging that the Badals were solely concerned with protecting the interests of its ministers, he said it was a matter of shame that the state once ranked at the top of the charts in terms of development was now at the bottom. He alleged that Central funds were being diverted to run Badal family's pet projects, most of which were "whimsical reminiscent of autocratic rulers of yore." He said the government's faulty policies had led to the flight of industry. He said sand and gravel mafia had assumed alarming propositions. Referring to
Bathinda, he said if development was to be measured by the number of foundation stones laid, the district would top the charts. But not a brick had been laid for the world-class cricket stadium, airport and five-star hotels. Leader of the Opposition Sunil
Jakhar, Ajit Inder Singh Mofar, Chiranji Lal Garg, Gurpreet Kangar, Harminder Singh
Jassi, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Makhan Singh, G S Tungwali, Ashok Kumar and Narinder Bhuleria accompanied
Bajwa.
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FIR quashed after alleged rapist marries victim
Chandigarh, September 25 Allowing the petition for quashing the FIR on the basis of a compromise between the alleged rapist and the victim, Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi minced no words to say: "The court is conscious of the fact that the offence punishable under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) is very serious. But the seriousness has to be adjudged keeping in view the facts of each case." In order to substantiate his decision, Justice Sanghi also referred to a Full Bench judgment of the Delhi High Court in Lajja Devi's case, which said the court was within its power to quash the proceedings for abduction or rape, if the girl was aged above 16 and stated that she had been with the accused of her own free will. In his petition against the State of Punjab and another respondent, the alleged rapist had earlier sought the quashing of FIR No 225 registered for rape and criminal intimidation at the Chhehrretta police station in Amritsar on October 22, 2012. Both the petitioner and the victim were taking coaching for elementary teacher's training at Amritsar. The court was told that before the allegations of rape surfaced, the two had developed intimacy and decided to tie the knot. But their parents did not agree. During the pendency of the trial, both the parties sorted out the dispute and decided to solemnise their marriage. The petitioner was granted ad-interim bail by the High Court, at his request, for performing the marriage. Before parting with the order, Justice Sanghi asserted: "The petitioner has solemnised the marriage with the prosecutrix and is happily residing with her. Therefore, continuation of the FIR and the consequential proceedings emanating therefore, would be sheer abuse of the process of law?... "The petitioner, as well as the prosecutrix, are above the age of 21 and have buried their grievances; and after effecting a compromise have solemnised their marriage. Therefore, there would be no use to allow the continuation of the proceedings before the court. The chances of conviction and sentence of the petitioner are bleak."
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Congress shielding its tainted leaders: Sukhbir
Amritsar, September 25 Talking to mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of road projects at Ram Diwali village, Sukhbir said the UPA Government’s decision to pass an ordinance, reversing the order of the apex court, was a clear indication that the “scam-ridden government was eager to save its tainted leaders and allies.”
Sukhbir said as in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Gujarat, the Congress had no future in Punjab either. He said these states were examples that once the Congress remained out of power for two consecutive terms, it did not stage a comeback. “In Punjab, the Congress is in for a shock in the coming Lok Sabha poll as it will be wiped out completely,” he claimed. He pooh-poohed Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa’s charge on “lack of development” in Amritsar, saying he should get “his eyesight checked.” He said it was a shame that despite a Sikh Prime Minister and a Sikh as Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, attacks on Sikhs abroad continued. He claimed that the NDA under the leadership of Narendra Modi would safeguard the rights of Indians abroad. Earlier, addressing a public rally at Ram Diwali, Sukhbir announced two world-class sports stadiums in Majitha and Mattewal and a 66KV sub-station at Mattewal. Denying the state was in a fiscal crisis, he pointed out that funds were being released for various projects. He laid the foundation stone of a jail in Amritsar. Refuting PPCC allegations on law and order in the state, Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that a report released by the Union Government placed Punjab on the top five states where there was peace and communal harmony. District Congress leaders Jagdev Singh Bagga and Satnam Singh Sarpanch Kazikot joined the SAD on the occasion. Will not re-contest: CPS Sidhu
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Sidhus keep away from Deputy CM’s functions
Amritsar, September 25 This was evident during Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal’s visit to Amritsar today. The Sidhu couple didn’t attend his functions. Sukhbir chose to duck media queries on the sulking MP, saying he did not want to comment on the matter.
Asked if the SAD would support Sidhu if fielded by the BJP from Amritsar, he said: “We will support whosoever is fielded by our partner.” Regarding any seat-swap and announcement of SAD-BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, he said it was too premature to announce names.
On the ‘boycott’ of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu by SAD councillors, he said he wasn’t aware about the matter.
Sidhu merely said that he would soon “take a big step forward in the line of duty” while refusing to elaborate. His wife Dr Sidhu said they were invited to the stone laying functions of the Deputy CM. but had received the invitation late last night when they had already finalised their plans for the day. She said she had written to the Chief Minister about her ‘boycott’ by local SAD
councillors. Interestingly, the foundation stone for upgradation of the Ram Diwali-Jhamke roadwork carried Sidhu’s name.
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Cong, Akali workers in credit war
Ferozepur, September 25 However, enraged SAD-BJP workers today damaged the stone laid by Pinki, blocked the Malwal road and raised slogans against the MLA. The SAD-BJP workers claimed that the stone for the project was laid by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal last week and that the MLA was trying to score brownie points. Vijay Syal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Raghubir Singh, Superintendent of Police (SP), pacified the agitated workers following which they lifted the dharna. Officials of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board said the process of sanctioning funds and allocation of tenders was supervised by higher officials in Chandigarh. Hence, they were not aware about the source of the funds provided for the sewerage project. Sources, however, said that a tender for laying sewer pipes in various parts of the district, amounting to Rs 100.50 crore, was floated by the state government recently. Whether it was partially or fully funded by the Centre could not be ascertained. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Manjit Singh Narang said he was not aware of the matter.
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Sarna plans protest during Modi rally New Delhi, September 25 Paramjit Singh Sarna, SAD (A) president, addressing a press conference here, said a large number of Sikhs carrying black flags would gather near Japani Park where Modi was to address a rally. Saran said he had written to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asking him to put pressure on the Gujarat Government to withdraw the cases. “If the Modi government does not do so, Badal should break his alliance with the BJP,” Sarna said. — TNS
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Release DA instalments, demand employees
Chandigarh/Mohali, September 25 The protesters started pouring in the city from various parts of Punjab early in the morning. The Chandigarh Police had made elaborate arrangements to deal with the situation. Leaders of various unions, including Sukhminder Singh, president BMS, Hukam Singh, general secretary INTEC, Dr Subhash Sharma, president AITEC, Bant Brar, president, CITU and Natha Singh, general secretary of CTU, addressed the gathering and demanded that two instalments of the Dearness Allowance (DA) be released by the Punjab Government and Chandigarh Administration as done by the Central Government.
All the speakers flayed the Central and the State Governments for their anti-people policies. The rally began at 12 pm and culminated at 3pm.
Mohali: With the Chandigarh Administration having allowed the trade unionists to hold rally in the city, Mohali Police today heaved a sigh of relief, here.
Swarndeep Singh, Superintendent of Police (city), said about 1,200 policemen had been deputed at all major entry points on the Chandigarh-Mohali boundary to stop the protesters from entering Chandigarh had it not granted them permission.
“Five SP-ranked officers and 10 DSPs were supervising the security arrangements made at Zirakpur, Mullanpur, Balongi and YPS Chowk at Phase 7. Apart from that anti-riot vehicles including Vajras and vehicles equipped with water canons were also stationed at the sites to deal with any kind of situation,” said Swarndeep Singh while adding that decision of the Chandigarh administration to grant permission to the union members to hold the rally there brought relief to them.
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Safai sewaks protest unfair
practices of contractor
Patiala, September
25 They alleged contractor Pawan Bajaj had been grossly underpaying them and not depositing their provident fund in their accounts.
They alleged the Army had not been performing their duties as the principal employer and not supervising the payments.
“Bajaj had been illegally deducting Rs 1,000 from Rs 3,200 that we get as salary every month,” said one of the safai
sewaks. Another sewak said, “Now that we have objected to this malpractice, Bajaj has started dismissing us one by one.”
The safai sewaks demanded that the Patiala Station Headquarters should check Bajaj’s arbitrary and illegal conduct. They have also approached the Central Labour Authorities in this
regard. While the Army authorities concerned could not be contacted, the contractor has rubbished the allegations, blaming his rivals of instigating the safai
sewaks.
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ED probe hints at
Rs 1,000 cr hawala racket
Jalandhar, September 25 Having seized documents in this regard, officials have now established that a Rs 1,000 crore racket was being operated from the premises of Happy Forex at Adda Hoshiarpur here, with its owner Jeewan Kumar allegedly working as the kingpin. Subsequent raids on the premises of other foreign exchange companies, including Surya Forex, Sonu Forex and Paul Garments, all three of Jalandhar, Transworld Forex Services of Phagwara and Goyal Forex and Durga International of Ludhiana, have proved the link between all these traders. Invoice books seized during a consistent operation reveal that the companies generated fake invoices to run the racket. The ED officials had on February 7 seized Rs 1.35 crore from Happy Forex. All the companies had been operating through similar agents in several countries, primarily Canada and Dubai. The probe has also revealed that the accused enjoyed the backing of politicians, police officials and hand tool exporters. It has been established that the companies evaded income tax by showing unaccounted money as income from exports. An official of the Enforcement Directorate said the process of cancellation of licences of all these operators through the Reserve Bank of India had been initiated. He said the case was being probed from various angles by various other agencies as well. The exposure *
The Enforcement Directorate had raided several foreign exchange firms in February and June *
Subsequent probe reveals over 50 operators are involved in the hawala trade *
Jeewan Kumar, proprietor, Happy Forex at Adda Hoshiarpur, is the kingpin *
The firms generate fake invoices to run the racket * The accused reportedly enjoy the backing of politicians, police officials and exporters *
The firms evade income tax by showing unaccounted money as income from exports
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3-month extension for Jindal panel
Chandigarh, September 25 A notification by the Home Department dated September 18 says: “Justice AN Jindal has said that despite his best efforts, the probe could not be completed within three months. He has requested that the term of the commission may be extended by three
months.” Justice Jindal, being paid Rs 2.50 lakh per month, has retired government officials Amarjeet Kumar as secretary and PC Gupta as registrar to assist
him. Justice Jindal had told The Tribune recently: “We have not had any witnesses yet to give us substantive leads into any of the scams under probe.” Reliable sources said since the library books, science kits and maps were supplied by different companies, compiling a comprehensive report on the correct procedure that should have been followed and the lacunae therein was taking
time. The probe will fix responsibility for allegedly issuing instructions to schools to collect overpriced science kits from specific locations.
Schools were sent an official communication by the Education Department to collect maps published by a specific publisher.
There was public outrage over library books meant for primary and upper primary classes carrying “obscene” material.
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Upper primary schools to have ‘English Corners’
Ludhiana, September
25 The Education Department has sanctioned a sum of Rs 62.53 lakh for establishing the English Corners in schools in all the districts of the state. Though the teaching fraternity has welcomed the decision aimed at improving English skills of students, they felt Rs 1,000 per school was too little to set up the
corners. They said the sum was not enough to buy the material that the department had suggested for establishing the corners.
As per letter issued by the State Project Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Authority, Punjab, to all the District Education Officers (DEO), the supplementary material in the English Corners would aid in making English language classrooms more communicative and student-centered.
The suggested items for the English Corners include story flash cards, consonant vowel cards, grammar flash cards, word-pitara cards and a teacher’s manual, pictionary, dictionary, cornucopia, hand-made charts, still models, toys, board-games, pronunciation charts, project files, content-based English DVDs, etc.
A government schoolteacher of the subject said, "The sum of Rs 1,000 is just not enough. Today, the cost of a good model or a game is no less than Rs 500. I feel this will hardly serve any purpose.”
Ludhiana has got the maximum funds (Rs 5,23,000) to cover 523 schools. The other districts to be funded for the project are Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fazilka, Jalandhar, Ropar, Patiala, SBS Nagar, Mohali, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Sangrur.
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Rs 440 crore in hand, govt to launch labour welfare schemes
Chandigarh, September 25 With an average of Rs 40 crore being added in the department's kitty as labour cess each year, the department will only be using the interest earned from the cess fund to pay for all the welfare measures. The money is being invested as term deposits in various banks so that the fund grows with the frequent hike in interest rates. The state collects 1 per cent cess on the construction of all new projects in the state. Though the cess was levied almost five years ago, it has remained unutilised for all these years. Labour Department officials told The Tribune that the Labour Welfare Board would now take up the issue of constructing low cost housing for the labour class. These housing units for labourers are proposed to be constructed on 10 per cent of land set aside by the developers for economically weaker sections. However, the details of the housing scheme are yet to be worked out before the proposal is taken up in the next labour board meeting. The Punjab Government statistics show that the number of labourers employed in factories is 6.08 lakh while the number of labourers employed in shops and commercial establishments is 2.15 lakh. The state will launch a pension scheme for labourers in association with LIC wherein a labourer will get a minimum pension of Rs 2,000 per month. A health insurance scheme is also on the cards. "We are also launching an education and skill development programme for workers and their children," said a senior official.
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Attack on Sikhs in US
Amritsar, September 25 Addressing mediapersons here today, the Jathedar said: "The Prime Minister must raise the issue of ensuring safety of life and property of Sikhs living in the US with President Obama. The Sikhs there are at the receiving end of racist attacks, which is a matter of grave concern." He said Sikhs had been bearing the brunt of hate crimes ever since the 9/11 attacks. He said though the Obama administration had done a lot in this regard, racist attacks were still being reported. Giani Gurbachan Singh said the SGPC would soon set up a Sikh mission at Yuba City in California to sensitise people about Sikh religion. He said there was a need of Sikh preachers who were well-versed in English and other foreign languages. The Jathedar said they had decided to form committees of Sikhs living in different countries, adding that these panels would help deal with issues being faced by the community there. He said these panels, working under the patronage of the Akal Takht, would resolve small issues on their own while they would bring serious issues to the notice of the Akal Takht. He also appealed Sikh intellectuals to send their write-ups about Sikh identity to the SGPC so that these could be published in different languages to spread awareness.
NRI panel asks govt to act
Chandigarh, September 25 The Chief Secretary has also been told to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for the welfare and safety of Punjabi NRIs settled in the US. The state government has been told to intimate the commission about the action taken in this regard by November 11.
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2 children drown in bore well
Moga, September 25 Preliminary inquiries revealed that water was filled by the construction contractor to soften earth for further digging. The sources said no fencing was done around the construction area. District Magistrate AS Thind said he had marked an inquiry. — TNS
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Information on High Court functioning a click away
Chandigarh, September 25 The charter has been uploaded on the High Court website and can be visited at at www.highcourtchd.gov.in. The charter is an endeavour to improve the justice delivery system. Justice Rajive Bhalla said the "Citizen's Charter" was an information brochure describing the location of the High Court and the working hours of courts, judicial branches and administrative offices. Also available were details of procedure for filing appeals. The charter also gave details regarding the inspection of judicial records and the method of obtaining certified copies of judgments, orders and documents. It informed the public of the procedure to obtain free legal aid and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the High Court. It contained a layout of the High Court for general guidance. A "case management module" had also been launched to help advocates to maintain an "e-dairy" of their cases. It provided complete status of a case by linking it to the "case status module". In other words, it was a case list of a particular advocate, giving details such as judgments of the decided cases. Advocates desirous to avail the facility had to apply to the High Court, procedure regarding which had been put on the website. This facility would be extended to the Advocate-General's offices, state government departments and others in due course. Computer committee chairman Justice Hemant Gupta said a "step-by-step" procedure was available to obtain a login ID for "e-dairy."
The initiative *
The charter is an endeavour to improve the justice delivery system *
It is an information brochure describing the location of the HC and the working hours of courts, judicial branches and administrative offices *
Also available are details of procedure for filing appeals, inspection of judicial records and obtaining copies of judgments and documents
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Three held with Rs
2.52 lakh fake currency
Sangrur, September
25 The accused reportedly were in contact with a Bihar resident and exchanged Rs 70,000 of genuine Indian currency with fake currency worth Rs 1
lakh. Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Sangrur, said the arrested persons were Gurdit Singh and Rajiv Kumar, both residents of Laad Banjara village (near Dirba), and Krishan Chand of Brahampura village. They had confessed to circulating fake currency worth Rs 25 lakh in the market so far, the SSP said. A case has been registered.
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Pak spy held in Amritsar
Amritsar, September 25 Tarwinder Singh of Kakkar Tarin village was nabbed from near the Army cantonment area on the Amritsar-Attari border. The police seized a Pakistani SIM card along with pictures of restricted areas, restricted Army manuals and a sketch of military installations from his possession. The police is investigating his "connections" in the armed forces which might have passed on such secret documents to him. "Preliminary investigations revealed that he came in contact with a Pakistan's intelligence agency when he went there as part of a religious jatha. A Pakistani official with the code name Rao Sahib allured him to pass vital information to them in lieu of financial benefits," said an SSOC official. He said Rao handed him a SIM card asking him to find pass on information about the movement of Army units in the Amritsar and Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur) sectors, construction of new bunkers, photographs of Army vehicles along with their formations signs, Army exercises and training centres. Sources said he was paid through Hawala transactions. Tarwinder Singh was produced in a local court which sent him to police custody for three days.
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Pak intruder shot dead
Fazilka, September 25 Sources said the jawans of 90 battalion noticed a person infiltrating into Indian territory from the Pakistani side. The intruder was asked to stop but he kept on marching towards the barbed wire fencing near the Border Observation Post, Swar, at Churiwala Chisti vil-lage. As he reached near the fence, the BSF personnel shot him dead, they added. Nothing significant had been seized from the possession of the middle-aged intruder, who was tall and well built and was wearing "salwar" and "kurta". The Fazilka sadar police has registered an FIR under the Foreign Act and the Indian Passport Act.
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Barnala couple killed in the Philippines
Barnala, September 25 Sources said a few unidentified persons attacked Kulwant Singh (43) and his wife Charanjit Kaur (40) in Ilu area of the Philippines with sharp-edged weapons and killed them. The couple was kidnapped earlier. Mukhtiar Singh, father of the deceased, today said his other son Udham Singh, who is also in the Phillipines, had informed him of the killings over the phone. Mukhtiar said Kulwant Singh and Charanjit Kaur, who ran a finance business, were kidnapped by armed persons when they were returning home. The assailants killed the couple after robbing them and then fled from the spot, he said. Mukhtiar said the duo had gone abroad around nine years ago to make money. The couple is survived by a daughter (21) and a son (20). — TNS
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Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today alleged that the Congress-led UPA Government was trying to bail out its leaders by making amendments to the Representation of People’s Act, despite clear directions of the Supreme Court that elected representatives facing conviction could not contest
elections.
the lying of a foundation stone here this evening. Congress MLA Parminder Singh Pinki laid the foundation stone of a sewerage project last evening. He said since the project was being financed by the Union Government and as he was the elected representative of the area, it was only right that he laid the stone for various developmental works in the constituency.
Several hundred members of various trade unions and employee associations staged a protest against inflation, contract system, privatisation and the anti-people policies of the State and Central Governments at Circus Ground, Sector 17, here today.
The safai sewaks of Non-Cantonment Military Station here staged a dharna in protest against the unfair practices of a contractor on the Patiala-Sangrur highway on Wednesday.
Having accumulated Rs 440 crore as labour cess, Punjab is finally set to launch a number of labour welfare schemes. From a pension scheme for labourers to constructing low cost housing units, the state is all set to woo the labour class.
With an average of Rs 40 crore being added in the department's kitty as labour cess each year, the department will only be using the interest earned from the cess fund to pay for all the welfare measures.
The money is being invested as term deposits in various banks so that the fund grows with the frequent hike in interest rates.
He said the people were seething with anger and the UPA regime would have to face the wrath of the countrymen in the coming General Election.
Chandigarh: Chief Parliament Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu today said she would not contest the next assembly elections. Wife of Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu, Dr Navjot quit the medical profession to join politics. She said her experience in politics had been "very frustrating and I am not able to serve the people in a manner I wish to.” She said politics was no longer public service but “a means to achieve other ends.” Regretting her decision to join politics, Dr Navjot said she would not quit mid-way and complete her term as MLA. “The people have elected me for five years and I will serve them for the full term,” she added.