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Major part of Golden Temple Plaza opens
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Nodal agency for speedy probe in drug cases
soon
Law Dept will vet govt directives: HC
Power tariff hike to hit industry hard, says Mittal
PTU to reschedule MBA examination
Breach in Sirhind canal, villagers blame admn
DSGMC member asks Sirsa to resign
Bathinda power plant’s two units trip
Kapurthala man shot in Philippines
PSEB Class XII result today
Vote buying
charge
2 killed, eight hurt in mishap near
Rajpura
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Major part of Golden Temple Plaza opens
Amritsar, May 10 Sources said the work on the open area of the plaza in front of the main entrance of the shrine was expected to be over by August-end. Though the project was supposed to be completed by Diwali last year, it is consuming a lot of time as it involves intricate work on marble, especially brought from Rajasthan. A number of craftsmen engaged in the work hail from Rajasthan. The plaza is spread over 8,250 sq m. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is personally monitoring the project. The authorities had partially opened the plaza for the devotees on Diwali last year which had eased congestion on the main gate of the shrine. The sprawling area facilitates seating arrangement for the pilgrims in the form of benches built beautifully around the trees planted in the plaza. Besides, the new jora ghar (shoe-keeping facility) and gathri ghar (baggage room) have been opened. In the second phase, a number of facilities are to come up in the basement. Among these are a state-of-the-art interpretation and information centre for tourists, a VIP lounge, a bank, an ATM, an airlines and railway enquiry, a multipurpose hall, a security and services area, toilets and other public conveniences. The holy shrine is visited by thousands of devotees from across the globe every day. Their number crosses the one-lakh mark on special occasions like Gurpurb. The work on the plaza project was started in May 2011.
New look
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Nodal agency for speedy probe in drug cases
soon
Chandigarh, May 10 With hundreds of people booked under the NDPS Act languishing in jail for years while the trial goes on, the government has created this agency to look into each of these cases to ensure a speedy trial. The agency will look into cases where the investigating officers are allegedly trying to help the accused in getting bail by not seeking extension in time required for chemical analysis of drugs seized from them. In a number of cases, chemical examination of the drug seized is delayed because of shortage of manpower at the testing laboratories. In such cases, the investigating officers are supposed to file for extension of time (beyond 180 days since the time of arrest as specified under the law) for filing of a
challan. In cases where the extension has not been sought, the accused can get advantage of bail. The nodal agency will ensure that there is no delay in submitting application for extension. The notification for creation of the agency has been issued by the Home department. All police commissioners, DIG (Crime) and deputy superintendents of police are its members. Information related to each case registered under the NDPS Act will be collected on a fortnightly basis from DSPs posted in all districts. The agency will meet regularly and scrutinise all drug related cases registered in the state. The agency will also issue guidelines to remove hurdles in drug cases. It will issue instructions to all investigating officers for expeditious disposal of cases. Every two months, this nodal agency will submit a review report of all cases to the Home Department.
About the panel
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Law Dept will vet govt directives: HC
Chandigarh, May 10 The directions came on a petition by Nanak Chand against Punjab and other respondents. Working as a workshop attendant, he was seeking promotion as social studies master. For the purpose, his counsel placed reliance on instructions dated April 25, 1972, and September 26, 2001. The reference was also made to an earlier order passed by the authorities concerned, whereby similarly situated employees were promoted. Justice Bindal asserted that the workshop attendant was not part of the feeder cadre for promotion to the master’s post in terms of the Punjab State Education Class III (School Cadre) Service Rules, 1978. As such, directions could not be issued to the state to consider and promote the petitioner. Referring to an earlier case, “Gurdeep Singh Gill versus the State of Punjab and others” decided on March 21, 1996, Justice Bindal asserted that it was not open to the government to issue administrative instructions to create new source of recruitment, if rules did not provide for promotion to the post of teachers from a particular post. Any such instructions were liable to be ignored, being contrary to the statutory rules. But subsequent to the judgment, the state issued instructions dated September 26, 2001; April 17, 2003; and May 2, 2003 providing for promotional avenues to certain employees, who were not a part of the feeder cadre for a post as per the statutory notified rules. Justice Bindal added: “The fact remains that despite specific judgment pertaining to the Education Department being there, dealing with the issue that no promotion should be made on the basis of administrative instructions, if statutory rules do not provide for such a promotion, instructions were issued on September 26, 2001, April 17, 2003, and May 2, 2003. The same has not only resulted in creating avoidable litigation, but shows conduct of the officer issuing instructions that he has no respect for the judgment of this court. The action of the officer concerned is prima facie contemptuous.” Before parting with the orders, Justice Bindal ruled: “The counsel for the state seeks time to apprise the court of the officer, who had approved issuance of these instructions to proceed against him in accordance with the law. It is directed that in future, if any instructions are to be issued by the government departments, these will be first vetted from the Law Department, which will mention in the instructions the provisions of the statutory rules.”
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Power tariff hike to hit industry hard, says Mittal
Ludhiana, May 10 Mittal said if the increased power tariff was implemented, it would hit the industry badly and affect the the spirit of the Mohali Industrial Summit. He said the state’s industry was already suffering. “If the production cost is increased, it will affect the industry's profitability. Besides, it will lead to lower revenue for the state,” he said. Meanwhile, the Fastener Manufacturers’ Association of India and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Undertaking condemned the PSPCL’s proposal to hike power tariff. They urged the Chief Minister and his deputy Sukhbir Badal to issue instructions to the PSPCL to not only revoke the move, but also provide relief to the industry.
Cong opposes move Chandigarh: The Punjab Congress has opposed the proposed hike in power tariff to be announced by the PSPCL. In a release, Congress spokesman Sukhpal Khaira said the PSPCL had moved a petition with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission to purchase 5,047 million units of power worth ~2,000 crore this year. “The PSPCL in its petition has admitted that the state’s thermal plants will be unable to run to their full capacity due to the coal shortage. It has stated that
Rs 700 crore of the burden would be passed on to the consumers,” he said.
— TNS
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PTU to reschedule MBA examination
Jalandhar, May 10 Rajneesh Sharma, public relation officer of the university, said PTU had apologised to the students and their parents for the cancellation of the exam. The same would be rescheduled soon, he added. PTU had published the answer key of 20 objective type questions, including 10 fill-in-blanks in section A. The answers were printed on the last page of the question paper under the heading "KEY". The examination was taken by 6,500 students at various centres across the country. University sources said to maintain confidentiality, the authorities had deputed "not-so-literate" people to type question papers. The answers of the objective type questions were to be given only to the examiner, but these were by mistake typed on the question paper.
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Breach in Sirhind canal, villagers blame admn
Bathinda, May 10 National Disaster Response Force teams were called for immediate relief work. The incident took place at 4.30 pm, following which water flowed into low-lying areas. At least 150 acres of irrigated fields were submerged. As a relief measure, all water gates near here were opened. Water was diverted to Sindwan canal in Ludhiana region. Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said measures had been taken to reduce the flow of water in the canal. The police had been deployed in nearby areas to keep a watch on the situation, he said. He said the breach might have developed due to uprooting of trees following a storm in the evening. Work on plugging the breach would start by tomorrow morning, he added.
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Bathinda, May 10
A man from Sidhwan Dona village of Kapurthala was shot dead in the Philippines last night.
Sukhjinder Singh Sukhi (28) was working as a financer there for the past six years.
He was reportedly heading home in Zamboanga City when two assailants riding a bike fired multiple gunshots at him, leaving him badly injured. Victim’s brother Kuljinder Singh said, “Sukhjinder survived for two hours after the attack. He was being operated upon to remove six bullets from his body. He was rushed to hospital by our cousin, during which he named the accused.”
— TNS