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AAP winner in 33 Assembly constituencies, major parties worried
Know your MP
‘Sack Bajwa, bring Capt’ chant reaches AICC |
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Maximum NOTA votes in Ferozepur
Cabinet reshuffle likely, two heads may roll
YPS, PPS students win laurels in ISC exam
Boy killed, 25 pilgrims hurt as canter overturns
Lehra power unit trips, supply hit
Sans streetlights, rail bridges become danger zones
Staff crunch affects work at Fazilka ITI
18 months on, water metering policy yet to be cleared
Bihari youth ends life after 10-hour drama
PRTC to launch special bus service for women
Squalls cause breaches in canals, 300 acres
inundated
Labourers protest lack
of vehicles to lift wheat
SGPC team crosses over to Pakistan
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AAP winner in 33 Assembly constituencies, major parties worried
Chandigarh, May 18 These parties had dismissed AAP as a “fading phenomenon”. Now, they have begun to see AAP as a force to reckon with. While AAP was a clear winner in 33 Assembly constituencies, the Congress was on the top spot in 37 constituencies, the SAD on 29 and the BJP on 16. Its success in Punjab has certainly made AAP more ambitious. It is now looking for candidates for the byelections on three Assembly seats of Dhuri, Talwandi Sabo and Patiala (Urban) vacated by Arvind Khanna, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Capt Amarinder Singh, respectively. The party leadership hopes to improve its performance, taking the tally to at least 50 seats, say sources. "We are studying the reasons behind emergence of AAP in Punjab and its lead on a number of seats," said Shiv Dayal Chugh, chairman, Punjab BJP's disciplinary committee. The PPCC leadership too is discussing a strategy to counter AAP in the coming bye-elections. It fears that the party may pose a big threat to the Congress during the next Assembly elections. Even Harsimrat Kaur, MP-elect from Bathinda, did not forget to mention AAP in a statement issued today. She pointed out that AAP had got a seven per cent vote share in Bathinda. AAP, that won four Lok Sabha seats, was placed second or third at a number of Assembly segments. In Gurdaspur, where PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa and BJP's Vinod Khanna got 3,46,190 votes and 4,82, 255 votes, respectively, AAP's Sucha Singh Chhotepur got 1,73,376 votes. In Amritsar, which saw a clash between Congress' Capt Amarinder Singh (4,82,876 votes) and BJP's Arun Jaitley (3,80,106 votes), AAP's Dr Daljit Singh cornered 82,633 votes. In Khadoor Sahib, SAD's Ranjit Singh Brahmpura polled 4,67, 332 votes and Congress' Harminder Singh Gill 3,66, 763 votes whereas AAP's Baldeep Singh bagged 1,44,521 votes. In Jalandhar, greenhorn Jyoti Maan got 2,54, 121 votes compared with 3,80,479 votes polled by Congress' Santokh Singh Chaudhary and 30,94,498 polled by SAD's Pawan Kumar Tinu. In Hoshiarpur, AAP's Yamini Gomar polled 2,13,388 votes. Though Akali leader PS Chandumajra and Congress heavyweight Ambika Soni bagged 3,47,394 and 3,23,697 votes in Anandpur Sahib, AAP's Himmat Singh Shergil polled a startling 3,06,008 votes. In Ludhiana. AAP's HS Phoolka got 2,80,750 votes against 3,00,459 polled by Congress' Ravnit Singh Bittu and 2,56,590 polled to SAD's Manpreet Singh Ayali. Fathegarh Sahib saw AAP's Harinder Singh Khalsa stealing the show, bagging 3,67,293 votes against the 3,13,149 votes polled by Congress' Sadhu Singh. In Faridkot, AAP's performance was spectacular. Its candidate Prof Sadhu Singh humbled Joginder Singh of the Congress (2,51,222 votes) and SAD's Paramjit Kaur Gulshan (2,78,235 votes), bagging 4,50751 votes. In Ferozepur, AAP's Satnam Paul Kamboj polled 1,13,412 votes. Sangrur saw AAP's Bhagwant Maan register a thumping win with a record 5,33,237 votes compared with SAD's 3,21,1516 votes and 1,81,410 votes polled by Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla. In Patiala, AAP's Dr Dharamvir Gandhi trounced Congress heavyweight Preneet Kaur, bagging 3,65,671 votes. Preneet polled 3,44,729 votes. It is evident that AAP has not only eroded the BJP, SAD and Congress vote banks but has also replaced the Left and the BSP as the third force in Punjab.
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The Tribune takes a look at the performance of various parties in Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha constituencies and profiles its newly elected Members of Parliament. The Aam Aadmi Party bagged four seats in its debut parliamentary poll
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‘Sack Bajwa, bring Capt’ chant reaches AICC
New Delhi, May 18 Capt’s stature grows
The Congress’ central leadership is already feeling the heat following the party’s bad performance in the state under the leadership of Partap Singh Bajwa, who was appointed Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president last year. Senior AICC functionaries told The Tribune that "remove Bajwa, bring Amarinder" calls had already started pouring in. The Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab and Haryana, Shakeel Ahmad, said: “As of now, leadership change in Haryana and Punjab is not being discussed. Any deliberation on the matter can take place only after the Congress Working Committee meeting tomorrow where the party’s performance in every state will be analysed.” Capt Amarinder Singh, a permanent invitee to the CWC, will meet Ahmad in Delhi tomorrow, sources said. Congress’ grave losses in Punjab, where it had expected to do well, will be discussed at the CWC meeting. Party functionaries admit in private that Capt Amarinder’s victory has elevated his position not only in the state, but nationally too and the party would have to offer him a role he picks for himself. “It is for Capt Amarinder Singh to open his cards,” said some leaders, adding that the demand for a change in the PPCC leadership would grow shriller by the day and the matter would have to be addressed eventually. Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar today demanded Bajwa’s resignation saying: “Bajwa failed to take advantage of the strong anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP Government in the state. He lost an easy battle. He must resign.” Demands for Bajwa’s resignation have also come from Punjab legislators Kewal Dhillon and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi. Ahmad said AAP’s emergence in Punjab was baffling. “AAP clearly gained from the fact that there was anti-incumbency against the state government, anti-incumbency against the Centre and anti-incumbency against our sitting MPs. All our three MPs from Punjab are fresh faces — Capt Amarinder Singh in Amritsar; Chaudhry Santokh Singh in Jalandhar and Ravneet Bittu (new constituency of Ludhiana). All old faces have lost.” Ahmad said that these factors would be discussed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee tomorrow where a future strategy for the state would be worked out.
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Gurdaspur chief quits
Gurdaspur: Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, president, Gurdaspur District Congress Committee, today resigned following the defeat of PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa. Randhawa is also Dera Baba Nanak MLA from where Bajwa lost by nearly 24,000 votes. Bajwa lost the election to BJP candidate Vinod Khanna by 1,36,106 votes.
In his letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, Randhawa said: "I have failed to deliver and execute my duties as president of the party’s Gurdaspur unit following which I am tendering my
resignation." Randhawa also targeted the state Congress leadership saying: "The state Congress is ridden with dissidence which the party leadership failed to contain. There are cases where personal scores were settled leading to indiscipline in the party." He said: "We failed to captialise on the strong anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP combine."
— TNS
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Khaira too puts in papers
Chandigarh: Punjab Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira on Sunday resigned from his post. In his resignation letter to AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he said: "I tried my best to strengthen the party in the state. But we were unable to convert the strong anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP Government into votes. I
take the moral responsibility for the party's poor performance and offer
my resignation."
Khaira claimed that he had to bear the brunt of opposing the Badal-Majithia-Kairon clans with six "false" criminal cases slapped against him. A major section of Congress leaders have started rallying around Capt Amarinder Singh. PPCC vice-president Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi was the first senior Congress leader to have openly targeted Bajwa for his "failure to lead the party effectively". He had asked the party high command to remove Bajwa as soon as the results were out on May 16.
— TNS
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Dera men killed my father, claims Ashutosh’s son
Jalandhar, May 18 At a press conference, Dalip said, “The state government should order a high level probe into the matter and Ashutosh’s body be handed over
to us so we can perform the last rites.” Dalip said he was willing to undergo DNA test in order to prove that he was Ashutosh’s son. Dera representatives have refuted all the allegations. Dalip has already filed a petition in the High Court, demanding that the body of Ashutosh be handed over to the family. The next date of the hearing in the court is May 28. On January 29, the doctors had declared Ashutosh clinically dead. Dalip claimed his father had been regularly in touch with him over the phone. He said Ashutosh had told him that his life was in danger. So far, the state government has chosen not to interfere as the matter is sensitive. Puran Singh, who claims to be the former driver of Ashutosh, also demanded a CBI probe into the matter. Despite repeated attempts by mediapersons, Dera chief spokesperson Swami Vishalanand could not
be contacted.
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Harsimrat claims ‘historic’ mandate
Chandigarh, May 18 Advising Manpreet not to try to “hoodwink" the people, she claimed she had won a “clear and decisive victory” and even increased her vote share vis-a-vis the 2012 Assembly elections. “In stark contrast, my rival Manpreet Badal has lost 1.15 lakh votes, despite stitching together a ‘grand coalition’ and even succeeding in propping up an AAP candidate.” Harsimrat said the PPP-Congress-CPI-SAD (Longowal) had together secured 6.10 lakh votes in the 2012 Assembly elections. "Now this combination led by Manpreet polled just 4.94 lakh votes... National parties too aligned against me. The Congress and the CPI failed to arrive at an understanding on any seat in the country, except Bathinda". She alleged that AAP had colluded with Manpreet to put up an “ineffective and weak candidate” who deliberately led a lacklustre campaign. “A former PPP leader brokered a deal between Manpreet and the AAP leadership under which the candidature of the AAP candidate was delayed and then given to a rank outsider just before the nominations." Harsimrat said this conspiracy was borne out by the poll result with the AAP securing a mere 7 per cent votes in Bathinda even as the party recorded a 24 per cent vote share state-wide. "Manpreet first dumped his own party (PPP). When he realised that he would lose his security deposit if he contested on the kite symbol, he switched to the hand symbol in desperation and pleaded with a fledgling party (AAP) to prop up a weak candidate," Harsimrat alleged. "All this did not help much and Manpreet lost from the two Congress segments in the constituency,” she added.
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sad-bjp’s poor performance
Chandigarh, May 18 Insiders in the state BJP indicated that after Anil Joshi, yet another minister from the party and a chief parliamentary secretary would lose their place in the Cabinet. Even the organisation of the state BJP would see a change. Humiliated over the defeat suffered by BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in Amritsar, one of the three BJP ministers, Anil Joshi, has already tendered his resignation. Top BJP sources said the state unit would see a change in the coming days. "Joshi's resignation has already been sent to the party's in charge of Punjab affairs Shanta Kumar and a final call will be taken by next week after the government at the Centre is formed. The final call on changing the ministers will be taken by the party high command although the clamour for a change within the party is getting louder," he said. The sources said another BJP minister from the Doaba region and a chief parliamentary secretary from Majha, too, were expected to be asked to step down. The reason is not just the poor performance shown by the minister but also because he could not secure a lead for the Akali-BJP candidate in his own Assembly constituency. In case of the CPS, too, the BJP candidate suffered a defeat by over 30,000 votes in the Assembly segment represented by the CPS. The party high command is upset with the CPS for speaking openly against the party leadership and not cooperating in the election. The Akali-BJP nominees lost in the segments represented by the minister hailing from Doaba region by over 21,000 votes and in Amritsar North represented by Anil Joshi by 18,726 votes. Though the dominant alliance partner, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is unlikely to change any of its ministers, the party is rethinking its strategy on choosing its candidates for elections and also for governance. The party has already set up a three-member committee. Sources said it was only to quell discontent within the party's core committee meeting yesterday that it was decided to set up the panel immediately. Members of the core committee had reportedly brought up the issue of poor governance and high handedness of party leaders that led to voters turning away from them. Sources said party's chief patron was livid at the unimpressive show by the party. The fact that the candidates who were handpicked by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal — Manpreet Singh Ayali, Deepinder Singh Dhillon, Kulwant Singh and Pawan Kumar Tinu, besides Jaitley — had all lost the election, has also forced the core committee to analyse its strategy. Though the party had earlier said it would take action against ministers who did not give a lead to party nominees, the issue has been put on the backburner as of now. As many as five SAD ministers have failed to give a lead to the party nominees.
Rethinking strategy
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Three more policemen sacked for ‘killing’ jail inmate Bikramjit
Amritsar, May 18 AK Mittal, DIG, Border Range, dismissed Narang Singh who was earlier posted with the Batala police and at present attached with the Counter Intelligence Wing on a temporary basis. Narang Singh has been charged with kidnapping (364 IPC), murder (302 IPC) and destroying the evidence (201 IPC). A police probe has pointed out that head constable Amandeep was a drug addict and he connived with other policemen for kidnapping Bikramjit Singh from Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. Both Amandeep and Lakhwinder were known to Bikramjit as they were his jail guards in the past. Both of them have been charged with kidnapping, wrongful confinement (365 IPC) and criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC). Meanwhile, Bikramjit's family today held a bhog ceremony. A large number of people and political leaders attended. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Virsa Singh Valtoha, Harminder Singh Gill, Laxmikanta Chawla and Navdeep Goldy were present. The victim's family members reiterated their demand for a CBI inquiry in the case and threatened to gherao the residence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal if their demand was not met. Valtoha assured the family members that he would take up the matter
with the CM. Police teams today conducted raids in various parts of the state, besides in neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to nab the remaining accused.
Cong seeks CBI probe Amritsar: Sukhpal Singh Khaira, PPCC spokesman, has said the SAD Government should order a CBI probe into Bikramjit’s murder. "How can junior level policemen commit such a heinous crime unless patronised by higher officials and politicians,"
he asked.
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YPS, PPS students win laurels in ISC exam
Patiala, May 18 In the commerce stream, Akshita Singla topped with 94.75 per cent marks. Mehramat stood second with 92.75 per cent marks and Anmol Mehta third with 91.75 per cent marks. Other achievers were Amrita Kang 91.75 per cent, Udaiveer Singh Sidhu 91.5 per cent in humanities and Akshit Saini 90.75 per cent
and Tanveen Lambha 90.75 per cent in the commerce stream. A total of 90 students of the school appeared in the ISC 2014 examination and 11 students scored above 90 per cent marks. As many as 27 students scored 80 per cent and above marks. The school has produced one of the best results in the region. Vireet Randhava, topper in humanities, says she owes her success to hard work and self-belief. “I am thankful to my parents for their continuous support and encouragement and to my teachers for their guidance,” she said. Vireet was the Head Girl, a good athlete and debater at school. Her aim is to do Psychology honours. Askhita, the Deputy Head Girl of the school, topper in the commerce stream, maintained a balance between academics and other activities. “I was consistent in my studies throughout the year. However, I think co-curricular activities develop your critical thinking skills that help you in life,” she said. She wants to pursue Economics honours. Meanwhile, Punjab Public School, Nabha, students also made a mark in the ISC 2014 exams. Out of the total 112 students who appeared in the exams, 110 obtained a first division. In the science stream, Eastpal Singh topped in the school with 93.5 per cent marks, Neena Sidhu stood second with 92.75 per cent and Gurwinder Singh and Robindeep Singh stood third with 92.5 per cent. In the commerce stream, Arshdeep Singh Brar is first with 89.25 per cent, Chakshu Chhabra is second 88.75 per cent and Sevanti Goyal is third with 88.25 per cent. In humanities stream, Gurman Singh and Samiksha Panda stood first with 85.5 per cent, Sukhmandeep Kaur Goraya second with 84.25 per cent and Noor Dhanoa third with 80.5 per cent. School headmaster Dr Jagpreet Singh complimented the students on their meritorious performance and lauded the efforts of the school staff. He urged the staff and students to raise the bar even higher in the coming years. In the British Co-Ed High School Nishtha Gupta topped with 97 per cent marks and scored 100 marks in mathematics, while Sahil Bansal stood second with 92 per cent. Saira Singh topped with 93 per cent in humanities and Arshdeep Kaur Sandhu stood second
with 90 per cent.
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Boy killed, 25 pilgrims hurt as canter overturns
Hoshiarpur, May 18 A group of around 50 people from Chhehrata in Amritsar district had gone to Baba Balak Nath temple at Deot Sidh in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh in a canter. On their way back the driver lost control over the vehicle and it overturned. The residents of the area rescued the passengers. Satnam Singh (14), son of Jaspal Singh, got seriously injured. He was declared brought dead by the doctors at a private hospital in Una. Vishesh Kumar, the in charge of Pandogha police post of Himachal Police, said most passengers escaped with minor injuries. He said the rest were admitted to Hoshiarpur Civil Hospital. Pilgrimage turns deadly
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Lehra power unit trips, supply hit
Patiala, May 18 The sources said
power supply was hit in many districts for over a couple of hours
during the day and afternoon. After failing to restart the unit, the
PSPCL management decided to start unit No. 3 of the Lehra plant and
unit No. 2 of the Ropar plant to tide over the power crisis. “None
of these units are likely to start generation today due to the
engineers’ agitation”, officials said. The power generation in
the state has already been hit due to coal shortage. At present, only
four of the 14 units in the three state thermal plants are functional.
Power purchase The PSPCL
purchased 70 lakh units of power on Sunday at Rs 3.58 per unit. It had
bought 28 lakh units on Saturday at Rs 3.62 per unit. The variable
cost of generation at Lehra is Rs 2.36 per unit, Bathinda Rs 2.75 per
unit and Ropar Rs. 2.80 per unit. In view of poor monsoon prediction
and engineers' agitation, the PSPCL management is facing a daunting
task to meet power demand during the paddy season, beginning June 10.
from Saudi Arabia a few months ago Coal crisis The coal supply to
all the three state-owned thermals by Panem is yet to be resumed
fully. The firm is required to supply six coal rakes daily, one at
Bathinda, three at Lehra and two at Ropar
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Sans streetlights, rail bridges become danger zones
Abohar, May 18 Nai Abadi resident Ramesh Kumar was killed and two other locals, Pancham Kumar and Shalu, were injured seriously when two motorcycles collided today on the RoB near Dangarkhera village on the Abohar-Fazilka road today. Locals said the road had become slippery due to downpour. Ramesh and Pancham were on their way to a brick kiln located near the village and Shalu was returning to Arya Nagar here after dropping his father at a grain yard in Jhumianwali village. Emergency highway ambulance and Nar Sewa Narayan Sewa volunteers shifted the trio to Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here. Doctors on emergency duty declared Ramesh as brought dead. Om Parkash Nirania of Dangarkhera village said NGOs and the panchayat had sent memorandums to the PWD Chief Engineer and other top officials but no efforts were made to switch on the streetlights on the RoB. Power Corporation officials said no connection had been sought so far. The streetlights on the RoB on the Abohar-Hanumangarh state highway have not been repaired even as the then Sub-Divisional Magistrate Charandeep Singh had in February told PWD, Power Corporation and Municipal Council officials to make the lights functional within a week. The situation on the RoB on the Abohar-Malout road is no different. Ishan and Vikram of Arya Nagar were injured as the motorcycle which they were riding on slipped while averting collision with a bicycle on the Malout road today. Both were shifted to the Civil Hospital. Most of the accidents in the sub-division during the past three years occurred on or around the railway over bridges here.
No connection sought: Power corp
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Staff crunch affects work at Fazilka ITI
Fazilka, May 18 Sources said more than 400 students have been getting technical education of various subjects. Out of the total 33 posts of instructors, 22 have been lying vacant since long. Two posts each of electrician, trainer, machinist, fitter, drawing instructor, allied trade, communication electrician and one post each of wireman, English stenographer, Punjab stenographer, plumber, welder, refrigeration and conditioning have not been filled since long. NGO Shiksha Sudhar Committee patron Raj Kishore Kalra said technical teaching was being carried out by engaging temporary faculty members. Along with the shortage of teachers, vacant posts of clerical and other staff has also affected the functioning of the ITI. Out of 11 posts of clerical staff, nine posts, including three of clerk, two of senior assistant, one of superintendent, store keeper, pharmacist, hostel superintendent have been lying vacant. A senior functionary of the ITI said the Central Government had provided sufficient funds for necessary equipment, machinery and building but the state government’s indifferent attitude towards posting technical staff had hit studies adversely. The institution is spread over 22 acres of land. The interesting part is that a major portion of the complex has allegedly been “captured” by security forces. A Punjab Home Guard battalion had established its office in the ITI complex decades back. The Punjab Police have been running police lines from the residential quarters meant for technical and clerical staff. Repeated requests followed by litigation by the ITI management to vacate the land have proved futile. Vacant posts
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18 months on, water metering policy yet to be cleared
Jalandhar, May 18 All official formalities, including approval from Municipal Corporations, have long been completed. However, the SAD-BJP alliance, which was already facing flak from urban voters for making huge recoveries by imposition of property tax and regularisation of illegal colonies, chose to keep the water policy pending. This despite the Punjab and Haryana High Court fixing March 31, 2012, as the deadline for getting it notified. Special Secretary-cum-Director, Local Bodies, Prem Chand Arora said the file was with the Local Bodies Minister. He was to get it cleared in the Assembly but could not because of the imposition of the model code of conduct. When questioned about the court deadline, he evaded a reply saying his predecessors in the director’s post would know better about it. Sources said by delaying the implementation of the water metering policy, the state was allowing an indiscriminate use of water by consumers. Moreover, various Centre and World Bank-sponsored projects were not coming as 100 per cent recovery of water bills was a pre-requisite for such schemes. They said the recovery of water bills was less than 40 per cent as there were thousands of consumers with illegal water connection in all the cities. The sources said people owning property of less than five marla area were enjoying complete waiver from water bills since July 2006, when the meter policy was abolished. The expenditure that the MCs are making by way of maintenance of tubewells, electricity bills of motors and salaries to the staff on water supply is far more than the income being recovered under the same head. While an amount of Rs 48.6 crore was incurred by Jalandhar MC in 2012-13, only Rs 19.45 crore was recovered from consumers. In 2013-14, the recovery stood at Rs 20 crore while the expenditure jumped to Rs 53.05 crore. As per the new policy, all consumers in the city have to install an ISI-certified water meter and get it tested from MC staff. The department has also made various slabs for power bills.
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Bihari youth ends life after 10-hour drama
Ajitwal (Moga), May 18 All efforts to persuade Yadav failed. He kept shouting “Modi bhagao, Lalu lao”. He also said he would come down only if Lalu Yadav came here to request him. Later, he caught hold of a power supply line and kept hanging there for a couple of minutes before losing the grip and falling down. His head hit the cement blocks erected around the pole. He died on the spot. Gurmeet Singh, DSP (D), said the victim was upset over Lalu Yadav’s poor show and BJP’s win in the
poll.
Poor rescue efforts Sources said the district administration hardly made any sincere effort to rescue the youth even as his life hung by a thread for more than 10 hours. The authorities failed to put up a net or mattresses under the pole to prevent injuries to him in case of his fall
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PRTC to launch special bus service for women
Patiala, May 18 The routes are
Patiala-Samana, Patiala-Nabha, Patiala-Sangrur, Sangrur-Bathinda,
Bathinda-Malout and Bathinda- Dabwali. The PRTC management has carried out a survey to find out the rush hours on these identified routes. On the basis of the findings, the PRTC has drafted a schedule of bus timings. Though no male passengers will be allowed on these buses, the male family members and relatives accompanying women passengers will be allowed to board these. Moreover, while these buses will have male drivers, the conductors will be women. The PRTC has around 50 female conductors on their rolls, but they are currently working in the advanced booking and ticketing department.
PRTC Managing Director Bhupinder Singh Rai said the management would initially assign four buses from its existing fleet on the Patiala-Chandigarh route. “We had made the arrangements to launch this service earlier, but due to the model code of conduct, we had to postpone the project. Now, we will start the service from the first week of June,” added
Rai.
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Squalls cause breaches in canals, 300 acres
inundated
Abohar, May 18 At least 300 acres of land has been submerged due to breaches in sub-canals near Dangarkhera, Bahadurkhera, Raipura and Sappanwali villages in Balluana and Abohar segments. Govt officials led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rajpal Singh, Irrigation Sub-Divisional Engineer Jai Chand and Junior Engineer Devi Lal were able to minimise damage by diverting gushing water to Abulkhurana and Sayeedwala drains at least in two villages. The controllers of the supply at the headworks have been told to bring discharge of water to zero to facilitate plugging of the breaches by Monday. Chanan Singh, a farmer, said water had also affected some orchards on the Abohar-Fazilka road. Electricity supply was suspended in areas connected with two sub-divisions of the Power Corporation as an old tree fell on a high-tension wire electricity pole outside a school on the Abohar-Sriganganagar road at 11.50 pm. The same could be restored at 11 am today. However, vehicular traffic remained affected on some of the link roads due to felling of trees. Trees also fell in the railway complex outside the residential quarters.
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Labourers protest lack
of vehicles to lift wheat
Abohar, May 18 Labour union president Prem Pal said contractors engaged by government agencies had not been able to lift about 12 lakh bags
of wheat from 36 purchase centres in the Abohar sub-division for the past few weeks. More than 2.5 lakh bags of wheat exposed in open at the main grain market here were badly affected by incessant rain. Sheds have also not been repaired for the past five years even as the Mandi Board earned crores of rupees on the account of market fee etc. The protesters threatened to lock all entry gates of the grain market on Monday if adequate arrangements were not made.
Labourers’ woes: Labour union members resented that only five tractor-trailers, against the requirement of at least 50 such vehicles, had been provided to lift wheat stacks at the new grain market in Abohar
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SGPC team crosses over to Pakistan
Amritsar, May 18 Among the major issues to be discussed would include adopting the amended version of Nanakshahi Calendar to commemorate the Sikh religious occasions. At present, the PSGPC follows the original Nanakshahi calendar. This had led to the denial of Pakistani visas to Sikh pilgrims from India on various occasions in the
past. Makkar said they would try to persuade the PSGPC to follow the amended Nanakshahi calendar and hand over the responsibility of the upkeep of the gurdwaras to the SGPC.
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Disturbed over the poor poll performance of Lalu Yadav’s RJD, a migrant Bihari youth climbed atop a power transmission poll and jumped to death after a high drama for more than 10 hours on the Ajitwal-Kokri road in the district today.
Eyewitnesses said the youth, Sham Yadav of Jahanabad district of Bihar, climbed the pole late last night. When some people noticed him in early hours today, they persuaded him to come down.
The Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) is all set to roll out four special buses for women on the Patiala-Chandigarh route from the first week of June. The management had initially identified seven routes for starting this service in view of the heavy rush of female students and working women on these routes. But they will start the service on the Patiala-Chandigarh road on an experimental basis. The service would then be extended to other routes.
