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Sangrur district tops in
rice yield for second year
Hearing on Anil Joshi’s bail plea deferred for a day
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State tops in drug seizures during poll
Poll losses: Ministers may bear the brunt
Road outside CM’s house in Badal village caves in
Bikram Majithia serves ‘tankhah’ at Akal Takht
Nanakshahi Calendar Row
CVC probing ‘anomalies’ in water treatment project
Reveal number of Bluestar victims: Dal Khalsa
pseb class XII result
Farmers oppose WTO suggestions
Cong to form panels to fight vendetta cases
Won’t part with Bhai Rupa land: SGPC
Ban on security guards inside counting hall
Govt moves against IAS officer for graft
Bar Assn seeks security for Gorsi, Mahajan
HC: Self-financed varsities not
on par with state institutes
Shahi Imam receives threat letter
Woman, lover booked for husband's suicide
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Sangrur district tops in
rice yield for second year
Sangrur, May 12 Data states that Sangrur district has topped the state in per hectare rice yield with 47.24 quintals and it has topped the state in rice production with 12,90,000 tonnes. Barnala district is at the second position in rice yield per hectare at 46.77 quintals while Ludhiana district bagged the second position in the total rice production at 11,37,000 tonnes. Sangrur district has contributed 11.5 per cent in the rice production of the state during the Kharif 2013-14 season as the total production of rice has been recorded as 1,12,67,000 tonnes during this period. The paddy was produced on 2.73 lakh hectares in the district. The rice yield per hectare and production in Sangrur district was calculated on the basis of 188 “crop cutting experiments” of paddy, collected from 94 villages of nine blocks of the district. Crop cutting experiments are conducted in order to obtain fair, precise and accurate estimate of yield of crops. These experiments are conducted through the stratified random sampling technique. During Kharif 2012-13 too, Sangrur district had topped the state in rice yield (per hectare) with 47.05 quintals and also in the total production of rice at 12,99,000 tonnes. Chief Agriculture Officer, Sangrur, Dr Rajinder Singh Sohi said it was a matter of pride for the district for the second consecutive year. He said efforts would be maintained to remain at the top. Survey results
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Hearing on Anil Joshi’s bail plea deferred for a day
Amritsar, May 12 The case will come up before the court tomorrow. The two lawyers had dragged Joshi to court in four cases, including the dual vote case in which the court issued bailable warrants against Joshi. In the remaining three cases, two defamation cases and a case of criminal trespass, the court issued
non-bailable warrants against the minister. Joshi had filed a bail application before the court in this regard and the hearing was scheduled Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements have been made around Joshi's residence at Medical Enclave here in view of the Congress protest against him tomorrow and the BJP’s counter-protest. District Congress president Rajeev Bhagat said they would hold a protest march. He said the police had not booked Joshi despite the fact that Mahajan had named him in his complaint. On the other hand, BJP leaders are mobilising the party cadre in Joshi's support. Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said 1,000 men would encircle Joshi's residence and the anti-riot police pressed into service. Phoolka seeks probe Earlier in the day, Supreme Court lawyer and Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader HS Phoolka sought a CBI inquiry into the attack on advocate Mahajan and his brother. He met the injured advocate at a private hospital here. Phoolka said Joshi should resign on moral grounds. He said the dual votes and then the attack on persons pursuing the matter through lawful channels revealed that Joshi did not have faith in democracy. He said he would stand by any person, be it a commoner, a Congress leader or a
SAD-BJP worker, if justice was denied to him. He said he was here to lend support to
Mahajan. Phoolka said the law and order machinery in the state was not functioning independently and the public should stand up against
“goondaism”. He sought a high-level probe by the CBI into the case. On the
non-bailable warrants against Joshi, Police Commissioner Aulakh said the department could not take suo moto notice of it and the police would act only if got written orders from the court.
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State tops in drug seizures during poll
New Delhi, May 12 Punjab’s seizures come out to be around 75 per cent of the 185 tonnes seized across the country. The state emerged second in seizure of liquor, with 11.5 lakh litres being seized. Andhra Pradesh tops in cash seizures with Rs 153 crore, followed by Karnataka Rs 28 crore , Maharashtra Rs 25.67 crore, Punjab Rs 12.99 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 25.05 crore and Uttar Pradesh Rs 24.07 crore. Andhra Pradesh also tops in liquor seizure with 1.44 lakh litres, with Gujarat following at third position with 11.32 lakh litres. West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are next to follow. The huge seizures stem from the 20,349 teams of flying squads and static surveillance deployed during by the EC during the elections. The drugs were nabbed by central agencies like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Narcotics Control Bureau that were working with the poll panel to track money and drugs. The EC teams had sleuths from various central agencies to track funds, bank transactions, suspicious property purchases, foreign transfers and financial brokers. They will examine bank deposits, fixed deposit of large amounts, sudden purchase of huge volume of gold by traders for onward sale to clients, ‘hawala’, stocks, foreign funds and cash transfers. It was easy to track transactions in banks and government-regulated financial units, an official said. A filter was set in computerised network, which sends signals of transactions to sleuths. The same system was adopted in stock markets and commodity exchanges, he said. All airports in the country, major railway stations, hotels, farmhouses, ‘hawala’ agents, financial brokers, cash couriers, pawn brokers and other suspicious persons engaged in the movement of cash were under surveillance by the Income Tax Department.
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Poll losses: Ministers may bear the brunt
Chandigarh, May 12 Those ministers whose contribution to better the poll prospects of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance’s Lok Sabha candidates is found to be lacking are likely to lose their job. The SAD, which is in an alliance with the BJP, though, cannot do much about the performance of the three BJP ministers. However, the party may press its alliance partner for the need to change its leaders in case the alliance candidates’ poll prospects were harmed because of the performance of the three ministers. This exercise has become important for the ruling alliance not only to discard the non-performing ministers but also to do away with the performing-yet-controversial ministers whose “reputation” in the eyes of the public led to an anti-incumbency against the ruling alliance candidates. Though the final decision would only be taken after the results for the 13 Lok Sabha seats were declared on May 16, sources said all the ministers had been informed about this decision by the party leadership towards the end of the campaigning to ensure that the SAD-BJP alliance put up a united front. Sources said once the results were announced, the lead or loss of the candidate in each assembly segment would be analysed. The party, under its president Sukhbir Badal, was gearing up to undertake a microscopic examination of each minister’s performance, said sources. Two of the ministers, while speaking to The Tribune, confirmed that they had received a communiqué to this effect from the party high command. But they said “it was merely meant to ensure that the party candidates got support from all leaders”. Alliance partner BJP may have to follow suit
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The issue at stake
— Compiled by PK Jaiswar
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Don't allow ad hoc staff at counting booths, says Cong
Amritsar: The Congress on Monday wrote to the Election Commission, expressing the fear that ad hoc employees may be deputed at counting booths in Amritsar on the bait that their services would be regularised, if they "favoured" the BJP candidate. Congress candidate Capt Amarinder Singh’s election agent Karanpal Sekhon said the party had received reports that ad hoc employees were being deputed for counting even though EC rules did not allow this. Only gazetted officers could be put on the job. Sekhon said it should be ensured that no manipulation is allowed during the counting of votes on May 16.
Candidates to get round-wise details, says Bajwa Chandigarh: The PPCC, in a press note on Monday, claimed that the Election Commission had issued instructions to all returning officers to make available photocopies of the round-wise details of the votes counted and secured by each candidate to the candidate or his polling agent as demanded by PPCC chief Partap Bajwa. These copies would be signed by the returning officer and the observer. A Congress delegation had called upon the CEC to issue instructions to supply CDs of the videography recordings of the counting process and to declare the results immediately after the completion of counting.
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Road outside CM’s house in Badal village caves in
Badal/Muktsar, May 12 The departments concerned today deployed a number of labourers and technical experts, along with heavy machinery, to do the necessary repairs. The Chief Minister is scheduled to visit the village tomorrow. In May last year, the Chief Minister had called various officials and directed them to complete the laying of the sewerage in his village without any delay. Villagers said though the officials had speeded up the work at the behest of the Chief Minister, they had apparently compromised with the quality of work. Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Badal village, said, “With the efforts of the ruling Badals, the sewerage system was laid in our village but either the construction material or the design is faulty, which is causing the caving in of roads.” Pramod Chand, executive engineer, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, said, “Most of the stretch that had caved in due to the sewerage has been repaired. The leftover work would be done soon. There is no fault in the newly constructed sewerage.” The condition of Muktsar-Jalalabad, Jalalabad-Guruharsahai bypass roads near Muktsar town is similar, which caved in at many locations.
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Bikram Majithia serves ‘tankhah’ at Akal Takht
Amritsar, May 12 Mediapersons were not allowed to click Majithia’s photographs inside Akal Takht. A group of persons, including his security personnel, accompanied him. Majithia landed in trouble during a public rally here on April 25 when he distorted Guru Gobind Singh’s hymn by incorporating BJP candidate Arun Jaitley’s name in it. The Sikh clergy awarded him “tankhah”, directing him to perform “langar sewa” at all five Takhts, besides holding an “akhand path” at Akal Takht, washing utensils at the langar facility and listening “gurbani” for three days. Majithia began serving his “tankhah” from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, on May 6. A day later, he performed “sewa” at Takht Sri Patna Sahib and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded on May 8.
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Nanakshahi Calendar Row
Amritsar, May 12 Till date, the PSGPC has been sticking to the original Nanakshahi Calendar, which has resulted in the denial of Pakistani visas to Sikh pilgrims from India on various occasions in the past. Now, there are reports that the SGPC and the DSGMC (Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee) are persuading the PSGPC to switch over to the amended calendar, while some Sikh organisations in the US and Canada are asking it to maintain its stand. As per the amended calendar, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev will be observed on June 1, while it falls on June 16 according to the original calendar. Talking to The Tribune, DSGMC president Manjeet Singh GK said a DSGMC delegation had already left for Pakistan to hold talks with the PSGPC and the Pakistan government regarding Sikh issues. He said the issue of Nanakshahi Calendar figured among their priorities, though the delegation will take up issues such as Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and maintenance of historic Sikh shrines in Pakistan. The delegation is being led by former DSGMC president Avtar Singh Hit. Talking to the media before crossing over to Pakistan through Attari border on Sunday, Hit said there were instances in the past when Gurpurabs were observed in Pakistan as per the original Nanakshahi Calendar, while the Sikhs in India were following the amended calendar which was approved by Akal Takht. “We will take up the matter with the PSGPC and try to convince them to follow the amended calendar,” he said. Another delegation member Kuldeep Singh Bhogal said they would urge the Pakistan government to facilitate one-year visas for granthis and raagis to better manage the affairs of the historic Sikh shrines in Pakistan. On the other hand, talking on phone from Pakistan, former PSGPC president Bishen Singh said they were yet to take a final call on observing the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev in Pakistan in June. He rejected reports regarding various Sikh organisations pulling them in different directions. “We have full authority to take a decision regarding the Gurpurab and nobody can influence our decision. The meeting is an annual feature that we hold before observing any event,” he added. Matter of faith
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CVC probing ‘anomalies’ in water treatment project
Faridkot, May 12 Officials of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Faridkot circle, have been accused of causing a loss of
Rs 7.89 crore to the state exchequer by tweaking norms to favour a private company. The CVC has asked the Chief Secretary to take action in this regard. Rejecting the bid of
Rs 9.89 crore, the department allotted the chlorination project to treat drinking water to a company at a much higher rate of
Rs 17.78 crore, alleged Ashok Jain, the complainant. Raj Kumar Talwar, Superintendent Engineer, refuted the allegations. “Procedure was followed and tenders were allotted in a transparent manner,” he said. In his reply to the government and the CVC, Talwar claimed that the complainant’s bid was rejected as per the laid down specifications. The complainant alleged: “As per the rules, a verification of the bid security is done in the first stage, followed by evaluation of technical specifications. Disclosure of the financial bids is done in the last stage. But to favour a particular firm, the department opened the technical and financial bids simultaneously and rejected us on technical grounds.” Talwar said: “The evaluation of bids is an internal process. The rates of the complainant were much higher than what he claimed in his complaint.”
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Reveal number of Bluestar victims: Dal Khalsa
Amritsar, May 12 Addressing a press conference here today, Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said they had resolved to organise a conference followed by a “genocide remembrance parade” on the eve of the Operation Bluestar on June 5. He said the conference would be held in the open and the march would start from the Hall Gate and conclude at Akal Takht where an ardas would be performed to pay tribute to those killed in the Army operation. He said a new dimension had been added with disclosure of “involvement” of the British government in planning the attack. “The role of the Akali leadership is also under the scanner,” he said, adding that all these issues would be highlighted during the commemoration functions of the Operation
Bluestar.
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pseb class XII result
Mohali, May 12 “A majority of these subjects were not popular among students earlier. The trend has changed now, as a number of students are opting for these subjects,” PSEB secretary GS Bath said. The 40 subjects include Urdu, dance, agricultural marketing, tools and process, industrial leather goods, automobile suspension and controls, food processing, plant management, fabric structure and designing, textile testing, and dying. “In all, 783 students opted for automobile suspension and controls. Altogether, 405 students each opted for food processing and plant management,” Bath said. On other subjects, he said of the 192 subjects, only six had pass percentage less than 90 per cent. These are maths, history and appreciation of art, political science, agriculture, rural development and environment, and gurmat sangeet. “In maths, the pass percentage is 87.02 per cent, while in political science, it is 88.74 per cent,” Bath said, adding that rural development and environment, and gurmat sangeet had the lowest pass percentage of 50 per cent. The overall pass percentage has increased to 84.42 per cent from 78.97 per cent last year. Top honours
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Farmers oppose WTO suggestions
Chandigarh, May 12 They threatened to launch an agitation if the recommendations were implemented. The decision was taken at a seminar on “Decisions of the Bali Conference, Government Policies and Future of Agriculture” organised by the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU-Rajewal) here. BKU president Balbir Rajewal said: “The implementation of the Bali recommendations will mean doing away with the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and signal the end of the state procurement agencies. This will lead to more dependence on the private sector which will not be in farmers’ favour.” Earlier, Devinder Sharma, food and trade policy analyst, and Gian Singh of Punjabi University gave a presentation. Sharma said: “It is sad that Indian economists failed to see the game plan of the powerful nations. They (developed countries) want our government to do away with the farm subsidies. In contrast, they are doling out billions in subsidies. For example, the US has fixed a target of ~1,000 billion subsidies for farmers in the next 10 years.” Gian Singh said more than 2.86 lakh farmers committed suicide from 1995 to 2012, but a government study in seven districts put the figure at 4,687. “The figure is understated as families abstain from giving the correct information because of fear of rejection of their insurance claim. The situation is more dangerous than visible,” he added.
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Cong to form panels to fight vendetta cases
Hoshiarpur, May 12 Every district unit will have its own panel of lawyers to contest the cases of Congress men who face harassment at the hands of the ruling alliance. Inderpal Singh Dhanna, chairperson, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) legal cell, said: “We don’t have faith in the SIT constituted for investigating assault on PPCC legal cell convener Sandeep Gorsi, advocate Vinit Mahajan and his brother in Amritsar. We want the matter to be investigated by a sitting or retired judge of the High Court.” Dhanna said: “The assault on the two advocates is a clear case of vendetta. We demand registration of a first-information report (FIR) against Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi and his immediate arrest.”
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Won’t part with Bhai Rupa land: SGPC
Bathinda, May 12 Makkar claimed the SGPC was the legal owner of the 161-acres plot. He said the Supreme Court had given the verdict in the SGPC’s favour. He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had also been apprised of the matter, and that he would meet the SGPC members in Bathinda tomorrow.
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Ban on security guards inside counting hall
Chandigarh, May 12 A spokesman said the only exception would be SPG protectees or other similarly placed persons who can be permitted to take along one SPG guard in civil clothes. — TNS
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Govt moves against IAS officer for graft
Chandigarh, May 12 The 1998 batch IAS officer is posted as Director, State Transport. The complaint (a copy of which is with The Tribune) sent to the Chief Minister alleges that all suppliers of goods to the state Transport Department, including big names such as Tata, Ashok Leyland, Bosch and Mico, had faced harassment at the hands of the officer. Reliable sources in the state government said the complaint would be referred to the CM for permission for initiating action against the officer. “The charges levelled against the officer are serious. Once the CM's sanction is obtained, we will conduct a thorough probe into the allegations,” said an official. The complaint against Gurjar was reportedly sent by minister to the Chief Secretary last month. When no action was initiated against the officer, the Transport Minister sent a reminder to the Chief Secretary. Kohar said: “The government functionaries were busy with the election process. So I sent a reminder to the Chief Secretary." Gurjar described the allegations levelled against him as baseless. “This is an anonymous complaint. No inquiry has been initiated against me. The complaint has only been marked to a particular branch in the Personnel Department,” he said. Gurjar said spare parts had been bought from Tata Motors, Mico and Bosch while Ashok Leyland supplies chassis for buses. The companies were supplying the parts at rates much higher than those in the market. "The rate contract firms of the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings were supplying these at lower rates. So we initiated the process of e-tendering, that saved the government a lot of money. I have also initiated other steps in the department to bring in efficiency," he claimed. The complainant has alleged: “Owing to non-clearance of payments, the quantum of local purchases have increased in the depots of Punjab Roadways and local suppliers are supplying duplicate/cheap quality material, which is harmful for the Punjab Roadways buses. The efficiency of buses has decreased.”
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Bar Assn seeks security for Gorsi, Mahajan
Chandigarh, May 12 In the petition, filed in public interest through Bar Association secretary Saurav Khurana, it has been alleged that the advocates had been attacked at the instance of the minister in an attempt to "eliminate" them for exposing the “fraud and forgery” committed by him in the dual vote case. The petition said the minister had time and again attacked the advocates through workers, at times firing upon them. The Bar Association has sought directions to the State of Punjab, its Director-General of Police and two other respondents to provide adequate protection and security to the two. Directions have been sought to hand over the probe in the attempt to murder case against Gorsi to an independent agency. The executive body of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association has passed a resolution condemning the attack, president of the association Anmol Rattan Sidhu said.
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HC: Self-financed varsities not
on par with state institutes
Chandigarh, May 12 Rapping the Punjab Government for acting in haste, the High Court has held that Adesh University’s right to run institutions, admit students and fix fees was taken away without even granting it an opportunity of hearing in violation of principles of natural justice. Taking up a petition by Adesh University and another petitioner, Justice GS Sandhawalia quashed a decision dated December 7, 2012, whereby it was held that admissions to medical and dental colleges, including the private ones such as Adesh University and other private universities, were to be carried out as per the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET). It was also decided that fees for private institutions, including medical and dental institutes at Adesh University, would be on a par with fees fixed by the government. The decision was to apply to other private universities such as Desh Bhagat and universities that would come up in future. Justice Sandhawalia noticed that benefits were denied to Adesh University on the grounds that “it could not have higher rights than Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjabi University, Patiala; and Panjab University, Chandigarh. Accordingly, it was held that the fees also would be the same as fixed by the government for other private medical/dental colleges”. Justice Sandhawalia said the reasoning that the university could not be placed at a higher pedestal than the ones receiving grant-in-aid from the state government could not be termed justified. “The petitioner-university is self financed and not receiving any grant-in-aid and, therefore, once the state legislature has given certain autonomy it cannot be equated with the state universities which are funded by the state government or by central government…. “Thus, the state government’s decision to properly analyse the provisions of the Adesh University Act, 2012, and the autonomy granted to the petitioner, suffers from non-application of mind and requires a fresh look…. “On the issue of not granting opportunity of personal hearing, this court is of the opinion that the state acted in haste…. Accordingly, order dated December 7, 2012, is quashed. It will be open to the petitioner-university to apply afresh in accordance with the provisions of the University Act, 2012, for seeking the necessary permissions which are required. “The State Government then will take into consideration the applications filed and may call for necessary material or record and take a decision on the right of the petitioner-university after hearing its representative and take a decision in accordance with the law…. It will be open for the state government to call for all necessary material which is required, as the petitioner-university is yet to comply with the statutory requirements of the 2012 University Act before taking necessary decision.”
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Shahi Imam receives threat letter
Ludhiana, May 12 The Shahi Imam had accused the leaders for trying to vitiate the polling process. The letter, written in Punjabi, was received by Shahi Imam on May 8. It was sent through post. It stated that the Shahi Imam had committed a mistake by commenting on Togadia and Kishore and threatened him with dire consequences. Modh Mustkeem, special secretary to the Shahi Imam, said if anything happened to the latter, the Commissioner of Police would be responsible for it. "It has been four days since we reported the matter to the police. But the cops have failed to nab the persons who wrote the letter," said Mustkeem. "Today, we visited the office of the Commissioner of Police and handed over a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harsh Bansal," he said. Jatinderpal Singh, SHO, Kotwali, said they had received a complaint from the Shahi Imam and senior police officers were investigating the matter. About the cleric
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Woman, lover booked for husband's suicide
Tarn Taran, May 12 Rajwinder reportedly used to remain away from her house for days, which was objected to by Surjit. On Sunday too, when Surjit complained to his mother-in-law Sarabjit and her sister Guno, they said Rajwinder could not severe her relationship with Amritpal. Thereafter, Surjit consumed poison. The police said the accused were absconding. — OC
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The Election Commission (EC) today said a total of Rs 331 crore was seized as unaccounted cash and another 225 lakh litres of unaccounted liquor — all probably intended to be supplied to woo voters.
