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Bikramjit’s murder: HC seeks report from police
Heads of key depts changed
Cops seal Muktsar village for drugs, but recover little
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No recoveries, yet 85 booked for drug peddling in Moga
Moga, May 28 The Moga police have booked 85 persons on the charge of drug trafficking in nine cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the district in the past two days.
Why no turbaned Sikh in Union Cabinet, Cong MLA asks Modi
Cong has no right to oppose dynastic politics: Singla
Synthetic drug racket: Cong accuses ED of slow probe
Spell out stand on Article 370, Cong to CM
Agri Bank sends notices to 4,500 defaulters
52% water samples fail potability test in Muktsar
Nanakshahi Calendar row
Supply up, price of Pak cement falls
Last pay drawn fixed as family pension
Bypoll on mind, Patiala MC scouts for funds
Finally, ray of hope for Deepa’s family
Bathinda airport may be commissioned in 2 months
BSF repatriates Pak national
Farmers told to use water sprinklers
Patwalia among 14 advocates designated senior by HC
100-acre food park to come up at Ladowal
HC: Provide separate toilets for women cops
High Court notice to Divya Jyoti Sansthan
ASI held taking Rs
7,000 bribe
Man killed, 4 booked
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Bikramjit’s murder: HC seeks report from police
Chandigarh, May 28 The directions came on a petition filed by the victim’s cousin Rajbir Singh. Seeking probe by an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he had alleged that fair, impartial and unbiased investigation was not expected from the local police as senior police officers were involved in the case. Moreover, “the local police was colluding and conniving with the accused and aiding them in evading the process of law”. The petitioner alleged the police was claiming that the main accused in the case was Inspector Naurang Singh. But Superintendent of Police (SP) Surinder Singh Mand too was involved in the present case. Yet, the police was not investigating the case from that angle. His counsel Sant Pal Singh Sidhu claimed that Bikramjit Singh was confined in Amritsar Central Jail in a murder case; and he was to complete the sentence in another few months. As he was suffering from a backbone problem, he was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital at Amritsar. On May 5, he was taken out from hospital by policemen before being kidnapped by another police party with the help of “private persons”. Sidhu added initially the police claimed he escaped from the hospital, but ultimately police Commissioner released a press note, claiming Bikramjit Singh had died in police custody and his dead body was found near Anandpur Sahib. The police concocted the story that Bikramjit Singh was involved in smuggling and died during interrogation. If such was the situation, the party would not have kidnapped him in a private vehicle before interrogating him at a private place. Besides this, the police hurriedly cremated the dead and conducted the postmortem examination themselves “Though now the local police have admitted that some of local police officials were involved in the present crime, they are not fairly investigating the matter. Inspector Naurang Singh, who has played a major role in the present crime, was still at large, Sidhu added.
What petitioner says
Case history
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Heads of key depts changed
Chandigarh, May 28 With today's transfer of 41 officers, the government has also made an attempt to rationalise work rather than concentrate key departments in the hands of a select few officers. The other two officers, NS Kang and Suresh Kumar, are serving as Financial Commissioner, Revenue, and Financial Commissioner, Development. With Punjab Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh tipped to leave for Delhi as a secretary in the Government of India, Kang and Suresh Kumar are in the reckoning for the post of Chief Secretary. Sources in the government say Rakesh Singh has already told the CM that he would like to serve in Delhi. His departure could take at least a month. Vini Mahajan, posted as Principal Secretary, Health, has been given the important portfolio of Finance. DP Reddy, who was holding the charge of the Finance Department along with Excise and Taxation, gets Industries. Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary, Industries, gets charge of Investment promotion. Vishwajeet Khanna gets back the charge of Civil Aviation. He retains the charge of the Labour Department. He will also head the Forest and Wildlife Department. Ravneet Kaur has been posted Principal Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs, and Roshan Sunkaria as Principal Secretary, Higher Education. Anurag Aggarwal gets the additional charge of Transport and remains MD, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board. A Venu Prasad has relinquished the charge of Civil Aviation, but retains Housing. Seema Jain has relinquished the charge of Secretary, Personnel, but continues as Secretary, Science Technology and Environment. Vikas Pratap, Director, Industries, gets the crucial portfolio of Secretary, Personnel. Jaspal Singh is Secretary, Finance and Planning instead of Secretary, Expenditure. Rajinder Singh, Additional Chief Electoral Officer gets the additional charge of Director, Industries and Mining. S Karuna Raju, who was transferred on the orders of the Election Commission, is back as Director, Rural Development and Panchayats, and Priyank Bharti is back as Director, Local Government. Pirthi Chand gets the special charge of Special Secretary, Welfare of SCs. He retains the charge of Transport Commissioner.
Key positions
35 police officers shifted
Chandigarh:
In a major shake-up, 35 senior police officers have been shifted in the state.
RK Jaiswal has been posted as Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana. Kunwar Vijay Pratap is Commissioner of Police,
Jalandhar. Lok Nath Angra has been shifted as IGP, Punjab Armed Police (PAP). J Nilambari Vijay has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, and Naveen Singla as Deputy Commissioner of Police,
Jalandhar. Ishwar Singh takes charge as Director, Narcotic Control Bureau. He gets the additional charge of
IGP, Police Training School, Phillaur. Sanjeev Kalra is IGP (Security); Nirmal
Dhillon, IGP (Zonal) Jalandhar; Paramjit Singh Gill (IGP-Zonal) Patiala; and Amardeep Singh Rai
(IGP-Vigilance). Bikram Pal Singh has been posted as SSP Batala; Dhanpreet Kaur
(SSP Kapurthala); Sanmeet Kaur (SSP Nawanshahr); Harsh Kumar Bansal SSP (Khanna); Gursharan Singh Sandhu
(SSP Moga); Kuldeep Singh Chahal (SSP Muktsar); Gurpreet Singh Toor (SSP
Ferozepur); and Swapan Sharma (SSP Fazilka).
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Cops seal Muktsar village for drugs, but recover little
Muktsar, May 28 A large number of policemen were deputed to swoop down on this village on the Ferozepur road. Loaded in buses, MUVs and other vehicles, over 300 police personnel acting on specific information entered the village around 5 am today, creating panic among villagers. Some people started hiding, fearing a militant attack. Police officers raided each house but the recovery was little. Some villagers said, “The police might have got wrong information. Our village is not infamous for drugs. The quantity of drugs recovered substantiates our claim.” As per a statement issued by the Muktsar police in the evening, DIG (Bathinda range) Yurinder Singh; Senior Superintendent of Police, Muktsar, Surjeet Singh; Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Narinderpal Singh; Deputy Superintendents of Police Kamalpreet Singh and Jaswant Singh; six Station House Officers; in charge, CIA; 200 head constables and constables, 60 women police personnel and others had sealed the village today.
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No recoveries, yet 85 booked for drug peddling in Moga
Moga, May 28 However, in all these cases neither have the police made any recovery of drugs nor have they arrested anyone. All these cases were registered after getting “tip-offs”. Sources said the police relied on informers to book a large number of persons without looking into the veracity of their claims. One of the accused youths said he was falsely implicated by the police at the behest of the ruling Akali leadership as he had campaigned against an Akali candidate in the recent elections. “It’s just a case of political vendetta against me,” he alleged. He said he would file a petition in the Punjab & Haryana High Court and expose the nexus of politicians and police to frame charges against innocent people. Sources said an “informer” had yesterday given names of 21 persons to Inspector Parsan Singh, SHO of Moga (rural) police station, saying they were involved in the smuggling/selling of drugs. The Inspector allegedly registered a case against them without verifying the information. On similar lines, cases of drug smuggling have been registered against 12 persons in the Kot-ise-Khan police station, 10 persons in two separate cases in Ajitwal police station, four persons in Nihalsinghwala police station, eight persons in Moga City-I police station, six persons in Moga City-II (south) police station, eight persons in Badhni Kalan police station, six and eight persons in Mehna police station.
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Phoolka takes on Harsimrat over Nanavati report
Ludhiana, May 28 Phoolka said the commission had recommended that four cases be registered. These cases had been investigated by the CBI. "Nanavati mentioned in his report that 241 cases closed by the police were not sent to courts for trial. Unfortunately, he recommended that only four of the cases be re-opened. Justice can be done only if the remaining 237 cases are reopened too,” said Phoolka. Phoolka said the Kejriwal Government had constituted a SIT to reinvestigate the remaining 237 cases and that it should be made functional. Phoolka sought the Prime Minister's package for the rehabilitation of the riot victims should be implemented by the Modi Government. The package includes jobs for the victims’ families.
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Why no turbaned Sikh in Union Cabinet, Cong MLA asks Modi
Chandigarh, May 28 “The Sikhs have a history of supreme sacrifices in defending the country. Starting from fighting the Mughals to the struggle for Independence, Sikhs have always been in the forefront. So far, Sikhs had always found a place in the Union Cabinet. But Modi has broken the norm and hurt the Sikhs,” he said in a statement. He said the Congress had made Giani Zail Singh as the country's President and Dr Manmohan Singh its Prime Minister. “Even non-Congress governments headed by Morarji Desai and HD Deve Gowda gave representation to the Sikhs. It is baffling why Modi has ignored turbaned Sikhs while forming his Cabinet. “Modi was vocal in seeking their support while campaigning in Punjab, but has decided not to have a turbaned Sikh as minister,” he said.
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Cong has no right to oppose dynastic politics: Singla
Chandigarh, May 28 He said the last Lok Sabha had 40 MPs belonging to political families. Their father, mother or grandparents had been either ministers or CMs. “I fail to understand on what basis Punjab Pradesh Congress (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa and spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira are criticising the SAD for dynastic politics,” he said. “Bajwa’s father was a politician. His wife is an MLA. His brother is a senior office-bearer in the party. This means the entire family is in politics and holding important positions,” Singla pointed out. He said the Congress leadership had played a crucial role in abolishing the princely states immediately after Independence. Now most of the royal families were in politics. Interestingly, he said Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was the right choice for being inducted in the Union Cabinet because she had performed well in the last Lok Sabha, taking part in debates and raising policy issues. Also, being from Bathinda, she would contribute to the development of the area which was backward.
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Synthetic drug racket: Cong accuses ED of slow probe
Jalandhar, May 28 The reaction came after Damanvir Singh, son of former minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) despite repeated summons in the case. Sukhpal Khaira, spokesperson, PPCC, said: “Damanvir’s public appearance in Jalandhar on Monday clearly indicates that the ED is going soft against him.” Damanvir recently visited Jalandhar along with his father after the latter resigned from his cabinet post. They were accorded a rousing welcome by Akali leaders. Sources said the ED was unlikely to summon Damanvir again till it received documents seized by the Income Tax Department from the premises of a businessman and an alleged accused, Chuni Lal Gaba. Though ED officials refused to comment, the sources said any further development in the matter was expected only after June 4. “A special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Patiala, has asked the IT Department to provide documents seized from the premises of Gaba to the ED on June 4. Hence, the future course of action will be decided after June 4,” said an ED official preferring anonymity.
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Spell out stand on Article 370, Cong to CM
Chandigarh, May 28 Sukhpal Singh Khaira, PPCC spokesperson, said: "Under a well-planned conspiracy, the minister has sought a debate on this sensitive issue, knowing fully well its devastating implications." He claimed this stand of the Modi-led BJP Government was not in tandem with the SAD ideology. Badal, he said, had been vociferous votaries of a federal structure with more powers to the states. This also found a special mention in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. " Hence, the Congress would like to know Badal and his party's stand on the issue," Khaira added.
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Agri Bank sends notices to 4,500 defaulters
Chandigarh/Mansa, May 28 Under Section 67 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, the Assistant Registrar can act under various Revenue rules to recover the dues from defaulters. Under Section 63 of the Societies Act, action against a defaulter can be taken by the District Collector. Official sources said a sum of about Rs 450 crore was to be recovered from the farmers and others by various branches of the Development Bank. The latter is given funds by NABARD for purchasing agriculture implements such as tractors, discs and other machinery besides starting allied jobs such as dairy farming and poultry farming. It also lends money for buying household goods. Every year, the Development Bank advances Rs 600 crore to farmers and others. It has no other source of funding except for the funds received from
NABARD. However, its loan recovery rate is 60—70 per cent. Influential persons with political connections are its main defaulters. Sources said against the top 4,400 defaulters, the recoverable amount was Rs 185 crore. Earlier, the bank had recovered Rs 145 crore under the one-time settlement scheme and Rs 55 crore by
issuing notices. The Lambi branch of the Development Bank has 750 defaulters, the Malout branch 1,240, the Gidderbaha branch 500 and the Muktsar branch 1,516. The Mansa branch has 1,280 defaulters, Sardulgarh 1515, Budhlada 2,130, Bathinda 990, Nathana 900, Rampura Phul 1,650, Talwandi Sabo 1,080 and Rama 650 defaulters. The recoverable amount of the Central Cooperative Bank and its branches in various districts is Rs 525 crore. However, there has been a decline in the
the non-performing assets of the bank.
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52% water samples fail potability test in Muktsar
Muktsar, May 28 Out of 98 water samples lifted from across the district this year, 51 have been declared non-potable. The report of 10 more water samples is awaited. Shockingly, the water being supplied in the schools, too, is non-potable. About 57 per cent of the water samples collected from schools in Muktsar district have failed the test. Out of 28 water samples lifted from schools, only 12 have passed the test. The result of additional four samples is awaited. Similarly, nearly 67 per cent of the water samples lifted from water works too have failed to clear the test and declared non-potable. Health department officials lifted 21 water samples from water works this year, but only seven could pass the test and the remaining 14 failed the test. The situation is the worst in Doda block, where nine out of 11 water samples lifted from water works failed
to clear the test. In Lambi block too, three out of five water samples lifted from water works failed to clear the test. The information procured from the health department revealed that seven out of nine water samples lifted from schools in Chief Minister’s Lambi Assembly segment failed to clear the test. Surprisingly, the water sample collected from Dasmesh Girls’ Senior Secondary School,
Badal, too failed to clear the test. The records reveal that in Lambi block, 12 out of 20 water samples lifted from various locations failed to clear the test. In Chak Sherewala block, six samples failed and six passed the test. In Doda block, 17 water samples failed, while 10 cleared the test. In Alamwala block, six samples failed the test and 15 cleared it. In Muktsar urban, eight water samples failed the purity test while five passed it. In Malout town, one sampled failed to clear the test while four
passed. Gulshan Rai, Civil Surgeon, Muktsar, said, “Our teams collect water samples from various locations and test whether it is potable or not. If the test report comes negative, the departments concerned are told to take immediate corrective measures. Besides, we even clean the water sources and supply chlorine tablets.” The Malwa belt of the state is worst affected from cancer. Even the surveys conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre since 2009 revealed high percentage of uranium in groundwater.
Survey by health department
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Ponds in Abohar full of hyacinth
Abohar, May 28 Stink emanates from these ponds, which have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Sahib Ram (Kandhwala Amarkot), Om Parkash Nirania (Dangarkhera), Devinder Pal (Dhaani Bishesharnath), Balwinder Singh (Bahawalbasi), Gurdas (Diwankhera) said the village panchayats had not been able to caution residents against dumping of waste in the ponds. In most of the villages, waste water released from houses and cattle sheds was discharged through temporary drains in the ponds. Warnings issued by the state government notwithstanding, the panchayats or the civil administration had once again deferred action to remove encroachments around the ponds, probably due to parliamentary elections, which were preceded by Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections. The Supreme Court had on January 28, 2011, directed all the state governments to prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorised occupants of gram panchayat/shamlat land for common use by villagers. However, the administration has turned a blind eye even when the Punjab Civil Secretariat had told all concerned to follow the directions of the apex court, villagers said. At some places, pucca houses had come up on such land during the
past few years. People resented that grants received under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act had not been utilised to get the ponds cleaned by giving jobs to card holders. Some members of village panchayats said boundary walls needed
to be provided after demarcating the land allotted to such ponds, besides taking up major cleansing operation using JCB machines since manual work was not technically feasible at this
stage. The state should release funds for this, they demanded. They feared that the situation may worsen during the monsoon that begins next month as dirty
water would overflow to residential areas, spreading diseases. "Students and women too had to pass through streets inundated with dirty water overflowing from ponds in our
village during the past three monsoons,” said Vikram of Kandhwala Amarkot village.
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Nanakshahi Calendar row
Amritsar, May 28 SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar condemned the move of the Pakistan High Commission, saying, “We had sent a list of pilgrims to the Pakistan High Commission for issuing visas for the ‘gurpurb’, but they declined to issue the same, following which we decided not to send our jatha.” He made it clear that the SGPC would observe the ‘gurpurb’ in India on June 1 only and also appealed to the Sikhs across the world to follow the amended calendar. He also hit out against the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which looks after the gurdwara affairs in Pakistan, saying that its policies are “dangerous and misleading for Sikhs”. He said the Sikh community didn’t need any permission from the ETPB to observe their ‘gurpurbs’, adding that the Sikhs would only follow the directions of the Akal Takht. DSGMC president Manjeet Singh GK also confirmed that they had also got the passports of the pilgrims back from the Pakistan High Commission as they too have decided not to send their jatha to Pakistan. A total of 500 pilgrims were supposed to leave for Pakistan to observe the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev there. Out of these 500, half were a part of the SGPC jatha. In another development, Makkar has also flayed the alleged incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Pakistan. Will send jatha to Pakistan: Sarna Former DSGMC president and SAD (Delhi) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said they would be sending a jatha of Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan to observe 'gurpurb' on
June 16 as per the original Nanakshahi Calendar At loggerheads
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Supply up, price of Pak cement falls
Amritsar, May 28 Bedi said the high cost of sand and its short supply led to the decrease in the prices. He said at present sand in the region was brought from Jammu and Kashmir. He said 100 cubic feet of sand was available at about
Rs 3,200. It has made construction a costly affair. Bedi’s firm had entered into an agreement with Sharif Sugar Mill, promoted by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to import 7,000 tonnes of sugar last year. He said, “The cement imported from Pakistan is normally supplied to Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.” He said development activity was very slow in the region. Besides, individuals had also stopped construction activity due to the high input costs. Sources in the Customs Department said the prices fell due to the demand and supply gap. About 80 trucks of cement are arriving in India daily. This has created a glut of Pakistani cement in the domestic market, whereas the demand is sluggish. On the other hand, the rate of Indian cement has decreased by 10 per cent. Construction material trader Harpinder Singh said a sack of Ambuja Cement that was earlier sold at Rs 340 in retail was now available at Rs 310. Similarly, the price of JP Cement fell from Rs 315 to Rs 290 and ACC from Rs 345 to Rs 315.
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Last pay drawn fixed as family pension
Chandigarh, May 28 The government has issued a notification in this regard. An official spokesperson said special family pension would be fixed equal to the last pay drawn by the dependents of the deceased employee and it would be given to the dependents on the basis of notional retirement of the employee (till completion of 58 years of age).
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Bypoll on mind, Patiala MC scouts for funds
Patiala, May 28 The recent drubbing of its candidate in the Patiala (urban) and Patiala (rural) segments had brought into spotlight the working of the corporation controlled by the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. The government would obviously like to win the bypoll and the local leadership would like to improve its performance by completing almost all major works, sources said. "Projects worth around Rs 30 crore are pending. These include laying of new roads, repair of the existing ones, improving the sewerage system and providing clean drinking water," they said. The ruling SAD-BJP alliance got only 16,342 votes in the urban segment, which is not even half of the votes polled by debutant Aam Admi party (AAP), which got 35,676 votes. Patiala Mayor Amrinder Bazaz is trying his best to get more funds for Patiala as the recent drubbing of SAD-BJP candidate Deepinder Dhillon has raised many a finger on his style of functioning. "I will meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal soon and seek more funds for the development of the city wards," he said. Sources said Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra or his brother Charanjit Dhaliwal could be the candidate from Patiala (urban) segment. They would, therefore, like to complete all pending development works in the coming two months. "The bypoll will have to be held within six months of Captain Amarinder Singh's resign. For the SAD-BJP to win this seat and oust the royal family from Patiala, they will want to ensure they get sufficient grants," they added. Cabinet minister Surjit Singh Rakhra said he would apprise the Chief Minister about the fund crunch being faced by Patiala. He would also ensure that ample funds were available, he added. "We won't let shortage of funds hamper development works in Patiala, but I will make sure that every penny is put to optimum use in the city and funds are spent in a transparent manner," he said. SAD-BJP councillors not serious: Cong Sanjiv Bittu, Leader of Opposition and Congress councillor in the MC, said the SAD-BJP councillors did not turn up to meet the committee formed by the Punjab Government to get feedback on property and house tax. “This shows non-seriousness of the SAD-BJP councillors. They did not bother to take up issues concerning the people. However, we submitted our demand to lower the house tax as well as the property tax with immediate effect," he said.
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Finally, ray of hope for Deepa’s family
Chandigarh, May 28 The victim’s mother Balbir Kaur and wife Harpreet Kaur had been running from pillar to post for the past two years in search of justice, alleging that Deepa had been murdered by certain influential youths of their village Parowal. Their pleas to senior police officials, including the DGP, fell on deaf ears. The family then approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court even as Deepa’s US-based uncle Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu started a website: www.justicefordeepa.com. “He had animosity with none. He did not touch drugs. Yet the police officials kept ignoring our pleas, insisting that he had died of a drug overdose,” said Sidhu while talking to The Tribune on the phone from Yuba City. As directed by High Court, the crime branch of the Punjab Police has now set up an SIT which,will conduct a fresh probe into the circumstances leading to Deepa’s death, said Jalandhar DIG Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Deepa, a happy-go-lucky person, was found dead on the evening of January 19, 2012 and the Garhshankar police registered a case of natural death under Section 174 of the CrPC. The postmortem and autopsy report showed death because of organo phosphorus (pesticide) poisoning. “ We last heard from him at 4 pm. Late in the evening, we were informed that he had fallen ill while he was at his friend’s workshop and had later died at the Garhshankar Civil Hospital. A land dispute may be behind all this,” said Deepa’s wife.
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Hans quits dera ‘gaddi’
Jalandhar, May 28 Hans, popularly referred to as “Sai”, said for six years he had served the dera with devotion and would remain associated with it. “I will continue to visit the dera but now administrative and other works will be looked after by the dera committee,” he said. Hans, who is also SAD vice-president, said for a long time he had been thinking of setting up a Sufi centre in Punjab. “With the help of Gahira village on the Jalandhar-Nakodar road, a Sufi centre has been raised at Panj Peer
Darbar. The centre will be inaugurated tomorrow,” he said. Hans said he would also make efforts to spread awareness on drug addiction and its repercussions. Hans had lost the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Jalandhar (Reserve) constituency as SAD nominee On being denied the party ticket this time, he first revolted against Akali candidate Pawan Kumar Tinu but later softened his stand on the intervention of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh
Badal. Hans, who campaigned for SAD candidate Harsimrat Badal in Bathinda, may be appointed chairman of some board.
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Bathinda airport may be commissioned in 2 months
Chandigarh, May 28 The Badal Government had earlier accused the Congress Government at the Centre for stalling the three projects. The state government is keen on getting international flights started from the Chandigarh airport within a month as licences to two flight operators have already been issued. Talking to The Tribune today, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that the Bathinda airport, ready for the past two years, could not become operational as the UPA Government's Civil Aviation Minister was not willing to inaugurate it. "The Chief Minister met the minister and wrote to him on four occasions, but in vain. The Congress did not want the state government to get credit for the airport and the minister did not respond. Now, with our own government in place in New Delhi, we will get the Bathinda airport commissioned within two months," he said. Sukhbir said that ILS at the Ludhiana airport was a must for improved visibility and safe landing of flights. "Since there is a huge demand for regular flights from Ludhiana and for its connectivity with all major cities and business hubs, we are now expanding the runway from 3,500 ft to 7,000 ft. The process for land acquisition for expanding the runway has begun,” he said. Maintaining that his focus was infrastructure development, the Deputy CM said till the time the Mohali International Airport was ready, he had personally initiated international flights from the Chandigarh airport. He said he had held meetings with two private airline operators who
had got licences to start flights from Chandigarh to Dubai. “This should start within a month," Sukhbir said, adding that the process to start another civil airport at Adampur was on.
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BSF repatriates Pak national
Amritsar, May 28 The BSF authorities
said initial investigations revealed that nothing objectionable was found from his possession. They said Iftikhar
was handed over to Pakistani Rangers on humanitarian grounds. Iftikhar had crossed
over to the Indian territory from the Roranwala border outpost area.
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Farmers told to use water sprinklers
Moga, May 28 Farmers have been advised to adopt this
technology to cultivate maize and other crops as it saves more than 50 per cent water. Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, in charge of the seed farm, who conducted the demonstration, said the Nihalsinghwala sub-division had already been declared a dark zone due to overexploitation of the underground water, by
the Union government. Therefore, he said, it was the need of the hour to adopt new technologies to save natural resources. He said the maize crop required less water as compared to other crops, and so, farmers should not use water unnecessarily. While giving the demonstration to farmers, he said the government provided 70 per cent subsidy for the installation of sprinkler in fields. He said the sprinkler system was suitable for all types of soil except heavy clay.
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Patwalia among 14 advocates designated senior by HC
Chandigarh, May 28 Deepinder Singh, one of the 14 advocates designated senior by the Full Court of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has largely been dealing with service matters. The other advocates designated senior include those whose names were sent for elevation by the High Court
collegium, but returned by the Supreme Court collegium. Among them are Birender Singh Rana and Puneet
Jindal. The other lawyers designated senior are Vijay Kumar Jindal, who was Additional Advocate-General in Punjab AG office for five years, UT former senior standing counsel Sanjay
Kaushal, Rupinder Singh Khosla, who recently resigned as Assistant Solicitor-General of India, Shailendra Jain, BR Mahajan, Gurinder Singh Gill, Manjit Singh
Dalal, Rajesh Garg, Sanjeev Manrai and Arun Walia.
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100-acre food park to come up at Ladowal
Chandigarh, May 28 The proposal meant to promote the food processing industry has been mooted by the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation. Badal directed the managing director of the Punjab Agro that the detailed project report of the food park, including approvals, worth approximately Rs 150 crore, should be finalised within three months before its submission to the Ministry of Food Processing.
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HC: Provide separate toilets for women cops
Chandigarh, May 28 The directions came on a PIL filed by advocate HC Arora. In his PIL placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli, Arora referred to information received from senior superintendents of police under the Right to Information Act. He was told that at least 36 of 46 police stations were without the facility. Arora told the court that he had earlier sent a demand notice to the respondents for providing separate toilets for policewomen. But in response, the Home Department did not disclose steps it intended to take in this regard.
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High Court notice to Divya Jyoti Sansthan
Chandigarh, May 28 The development is significant as this is the first petition to be filed by a “relative”. The earlier petitions were filed by driver Puran Singh. Also seeking directions for the postmortem examination of his father’s body, Jha made it clear that he suspected Ashutosh Maharaj was poisoned in an attempt to grab and usurp his movable and immovable assets.
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ASI held taking Rs
7,000 bribe
Moga, May 28 The complainant, Gurpreet Singh of Manuke Gill village, had stated that he had a minor dispute with one of his relatives who had complained against him to the local police.
Gurpreet’s brother Manpreet Singh and another Devinder Singh were picked up by ASI Iqbal
Massih, in charge, Dina Sahib police post.
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Man killed, 4 booked
Ropar, May 28 Sarabjeet's father Kehar Singh said his son had returned from Andhra Pradesh yesterday. He told him that he was on way to home in the auto-rickshaw of a local resident, Jagjeet Singh. But he did not return home. Jagjeet Singh said Sarabjeet had got down at Kainor village and left with Harpreet, Ranjit, Gurinder and Avtar. A case has been registered.
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The Muktsar police launched a three-hour-long search operation at Seerwali village early morning after sealing it.
Traders in the region have stocked up huge quantity of Pakistani cement as its prices fell by about 15 per cent in the Indian market. Rajan
Bedi, an importer of cement and sugar from Pakistan, said prices had decreased by about Rs 35 per sack. The 50-kg sack that was sold at Rs 260 each a week ago is now being sold for Rs 225.
Finally, the family of Garhshankar farmer Jagdeep Singh Deepa, 26, whose mysterious death was initially explained as a case of ‘drug overdose’, has begun to see a ray of hope with a Special Investigation Team (SIT) being set up by the Punjab Police.
The Punjab Government today affected a major administrative reshuffle. From changing heads of key departments to having 12 new deputy commissioners- the CM’s stamp is apparent in the transfers.
Senior IAS officer Jagpal Sandhu is now Home Secretary of Punjab. He takes over from SS Channy, who retires on May 31. With Sandhu’s appointment as Secretary, Home Affairs, all IAS officers of the 1983 batch are now on key positions in the state government. 
Sources said 4,500 defaulters had been sent such notices. Official sources said from each branch of the Agriculture Development Bank, 50 farmers and others, who topped the defaulters’ list, had been issued notices. Prior to that, they had been issued ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ warning notices. The Assistant Registrar issues ‘E’ notice to farmers who have defaulted on payment for two years. They are given 15-30 days to pay the loan.
With the National Democratic Alliance Government in the saddle, Punjab is hoping for early inauguration of its Bathinda airport, an Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Ludhiana airport and clearance for the Mohali International Airport.