|
|
|
|
|
SAD blames poll loss on drug trade, bickering
'Patronage’ to drug
peddlers |
|
|
PSPCL resorts to short-term purchase
Woman loses foetus after police assault
Quit Badal Govt, Bajwa tells BJP
Excise Dept fixes maximum rates for liquor at marriage palaces
Farmers shift to cotton as guarseed prices
fall
Missing man’s family demands CBI probe
Fire damages rice worth
Rs 40 lakh
17.75% students fail English exam
SGPC pension for kin of 3 convicts
CM pays tributes to late BJP leader DC pulls up absentee employees
Farmer axed to death by brother State records second highest wheat yield
Sikh hotelier Chatwal wants sentencing adjourned
Sikh gets over £18,000 for racial abuse
Get nod to sell property, HC tells Irrigation Dept
HC questions state on policy for housing colonies
Akalis clash over water;
ex-sarpanch booked
Dera follower killed as bus hits mobike
Robbery case cracked, 4 students held
Two held for murder
|
|
'Patronage’ to drug
peddlers
Begowal (Kapurthala), June 3 Speaking on the sidelines of the death anniversary of Baba Prem Singh Muralewale, the Chief Minister said: “I would like to ask Sharma if he has any proof on the involvement of political leaders in the drug trade. Sharma meets me often, but he has never talked on the matter. He should substantiate his allegations so that strict action can be initiated against those guilty.” Sharma had said that the drug mafia in the state operated without fear because it had political backing. Badal today said that anyone found involved in the trade would not be spared, irrespective of his position. On drug charges against Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia, the Chief Minister said if there was any proof against him, he would not hesitate to initiate action against the minister. “We will take action against everyone engaged in the trade, big or small. I will not hesitate to resign from my post if any proof regarding my involvement in this crime is found,” the Chief Minister said. On former minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur’s resignation after his son’s name cropped up in the drug racket, Badal said: “Phillaur tendered his resignation on moral grounds even though the charges have yet to be proved.”
Badal said the SAD-BJP Government would soon review property tax in view of the massive resentment against it. The decision to levy the tax in urban areas was taken jointly by SAD and BJP leaders, he added.
|
||
|
PSPCL resorts to short-term purchase
The PSPCL has purchased 650 MW from outside the state at high rates to meet demand during the peak paddy season. The demand during the corresponding period last year had touched 8,900 MW whereas the availability was 8,071 MW. Paddy sowing starts in the state in a fortnight. Reliable sources said following a decline in power generation at the state's thermal plants, the PSPCL had resorted to short-term power purchase and was spending crores on furnace oil. The per unit oil consumption during April-May was four to seven times higher than the previous years. During May 2014, more than 4 lakh litres of oil, costing 2.5 crore, was used at the Lehra plant. Auxiliary power consumption, which normally remains below 8 per cent, increased to 9.4 per cent in May at the Lehra thermal plant. This means, about 50 lakh units of power, worth Rs 4 crore, was consumed. The Bathinda thermal plant, which generated 1,325 lakh units in May 2012 and 1,496 lakh in May 2013 generated only 835 lakh units of power in May 2014. The Ropar thermal plant generated only 4925 lakh units in April 2014 and 5,435 lakh units in May 2014. The generation was 6,890 lakh units in April 2012 and 7,785 lakh units in April 2013. The per unit oil consumption was almost double than that during the previous years.
Spell out status of private plants: Capt
Lashing out at the SAD-BJP Government, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that contrary to the claims of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, the state was facing a severe power shortage and the situation was likely to get worse once paddy transplantation began. Amarinder asked the government to spell out the status of various private power plants in the state. He said one of the reasons for the PSPCL's recurring losses was the failure of the state government to compensate the corporation for free power to the agriculture sector. “This has hit the PSPCL. It has not been able to buy coal which in turn has affected power generation. The PSPCL is trying to make up for the losses by regularly increasing power tariff, making it one of the most expensive in the country,” said
Amarinder. Any hike in the power rates would be detrimental to the growth of the industry, he added.
No crisis, says Sukhbir
Chandigarh: Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a meeting of SAD workers here on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said the state's power generation capacity had been augmented. But the state was facing obstacles in ensuring a regular coal supply to its power plants. "Once the problem of coal supply is tackled, there will be no power shortage. We are still supplying adequate power to the agriculture sector," he claimed. On the demand by Sikh organisations for a UN-backed probe into Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh riots, he said rather than petitioning the UN, the organisations should approach the Modi Government. Asked if his party would back such a demand, he said the issue would be decided at a party meeting.
|
||
|
Will form next govt in
state: Kejriwal
Amritsar, June 3 Addressing mediapersons after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and tributes to the martyrs at the Jallianwala Bagh, Kejriwal said: “The people of Punjab gave four seats to AAP in the recent Lok Sabha election. It indicates that they are fed up with the politics of the Akali Dal. They are fed up with rising corruption, hooliganism, rampant drug addiction and unemployment. Earlier, the people had no option, but this time, they saw an honest alternative in AAP. They have shown immense faith in us for which we thank them.” He said the Punjabis had made a huge contribution to the first freedom struggle and going by their mandate it seemed they had taken a lead in the “second freedom struggle” too in which they would together create a new Punjab free from drugs, corruption and unemployment. He said they had won four Lok Sabha seats despite the fact that they hardly had any resources, time and organisation to fight the elections. “We will gear up for the 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab and fight it with full force,” he said while hoping that AAP would form the next government in the state. On former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s charges against AAP, Kejriwal said he did not want to get involved in the politics of allegations and counter-allegations. “We are here to clean the political system and not to reply to anybody’s charges,” he said. Replying to a query, Kejriwal denied any tussle within the party’s state unit. “We are new in politics. Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Jarnail Singh will soon tour Punjab extensively and hold meetings with the leaders of state and district units before submitting their report on the
basis of which an organisational structure of the party will be set up in Punjab,” he said. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas expressed gratitude to the people of Punjab for “voting wisely and keeping alive the second freedom struggle”. Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann said they would take up the issues concerning Punjab as also the party’s agenda in Parliament. He said issues like drugs, education and healthcare would top their agenda. All four party MPs - Bhagwant Mann, Dharamvir Gandhi, Sadhu Singh and Harinder Singh Khalsa - were present.
Ruckus outside
Jallianwala Bagh
Unruly behaviour of AAP activists marred Kejriwal’s Amritsar visit on Tuesday. AAP workers first misbehaved with a few photojournalists at the Golden Temple
Complex before entering into an altercation with mediapersons at the Jallianwala
Bagh. The workers created a ruckus outside the office of Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust secretary SK Mukherjee and broke his office door while trying to force their way into the press conference. Party leaders, including Kejriwal, looked upset and asked the workers to exercise restraint. They apologised to the media for their party worker’s behaviour.
Greater focus on
Punjab, Delhi
Kejriwal held a meeting with party MPs and leaders at a city hotel. Sources said the party had decided to focus more on Punjab and New Delhi in view of its performance there in the recent past. AAP has won four of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. Similarly, it had made a dream electoral debut in the Delhi Assembly election in December last year, winning 27 seats out of 70.
Party workers booked for blocking road Hoshiarpur: The Mukerian police have booked 11 AAP workers for staging a dharna in Mukerian and blocking the national highway. The party workers were protesting against alleged police inaction in a murder case. Sulakhan Singh and Dyal Singh, both of Mukerian, comrade Santokh Singh of Kotli Khas, Onkar Singh of Hajipur and Aman Thakur of Mukerian were among those booked. They alleged the police had failed to take action in the Ravinder Minhas murder case, nine months after the crime.
— OC AAP recognised as state party Moga: The
Election Commission of India has recognised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a
state party in Punjab after reviewing its performance in the recently held Lok
Sabha poll. The party has won four seats, obtaining 24.4 per cent votes. AAP is
already a recognised state party in Delhi with broom as its symbol. — TNS
|
||
|
Woman loses foetus after police assault
Mansa, June 3 The victim was admitted to Mansa Civil Hospital on May 21 for two days. But when the bleeding in her womb didn’t stop, doctors in the hospital referred her to Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. Dr Ranjit Rai, SMO, said: “When the fluid in her womb continued to decrease, we referred her to Rajindra Hospital. This loss of fluid could have led to the termination of her pregnancy.” The victim’s father, Bhadur Singh, said, “Even though we have asked the police repeatedly to book the erring policemen, no action has been taken. We will now knock on the doors of the court to get justice.” Bhupinder Singh Khattra, SSP, said he would look into the matter.
|
|
Excise Dept fixes maximum rates for liquor at marriage palaces
Patiala, June 3 The government order aims at clipping the wings of the liquor mafia. There were complaints that liquor contractors often reached marriage functions "with their henchmen in connivance with local police and excise officials" to check whether the stock of liquor being served there was bought from the nearby vend or not. Now the function organisers will be free to buy liquor from any vend in the excise circle in which the marriage palace is located and not necessarily from the nearest vend. This will allow them to buy liquor at competitive rates. Under the earlier arrangement, the organisers of marriage functions were bound to buy liquor from the nearest vend in the area and the contractors often charged exorbitant rates for it. "This was seen as one of the major reasons why people opposed the SAD-BJP alliance in the recent elections," sources said. Excise and Taxation Commissioner Anurag Verma said all AETCs had been asked to circulate these rates to all marriage palace owners in their areas and to request them to prominently display these at their marriage palaces/banquet halls. "The rates have also been put on the website of the department (www.pextax. com). All ETOs (Excise) have been directed to give a copy of these rates to the organiser of the function at the time of grant of L-50A permit for serving liquor," he added. Verma said anyone found overcharging would face penalty. The penalty would be Rs 1 lakh for the first offence, Rs 2 lakh for the second offence and the liquor vend would be closed for a month if the offence was repeated the third time. "If any organiser of any function is overcharged, he should immediately complain to ETO (Excise) or the AETC of the area. He may also lodge a complaint on helpline number 18002582580," he said.
The directive
|
|||||
|
Farmers shift to cotton as guarseed prices
fall
Faridkot, June 3 “Two years ago, when the prices of guarseed rose as high as Rs 25,700 per quintal, a majority of farmers in the semi-arid cotton crop area shifted to guarseed in North India. However, in the past few months, as the prices have come down to Rs 4,100-Rs 4,300 per quintal due to little demand from key consumers in the US and Canada, many farmers have shifted to cotton this season,” said IJ
Dhuria, director, material, Vardhman Group of Textile Industry. “Poor returns from guarseed have prompted farmers, mainly in Haryana and Rajasthan and to some extent in Punjab, to shift back to cotton in this season,” said
Dhuria. Meanwhile, cotton growers have been getting good prices for their crop in the past one year. With over Rs 1,000 per quintal increase in cotton prices in the last one year, the farmers are getting between Rs 5,400-Rs 5,500 per quintal, he said. The Northern India Cotton Association’s estimates state that about 15 per cent area under cotton cultivation in Haryana and Rajasthan will increase. In Punjab also, the guarseed producers are not happy with the decreasing prices of this crop. While a large number of these guarseed farmers have shifted to cotton, many of them have planned to grow Basmati as during the last season, this food grain had got them remunerative prices to farmers. “As Basmati fetched farmers up to Rs 4,000 per quintal last season, we expect tremendous increase in area under Basmati cultivation,” said Jagjit Singh
Sekhon, chief agriculture officer, Faridkot. Besides the weak export demand this season, there is a huge carry-over stock of guarseed from the last season due to a low export demand and better sowing reports from good rains in Rajasthan and
Haryana. Guarseed is the key material for producing guar gum which is used as a thickening agent and additive in food products such as instant soups, ice creams, processed meat products and
yoghurt. Besides, it also has industrial applications in paper and textiles, ore flotation, explosives and fracturing of oil and natural gas formations. India accounts for a major chunk of the global supplies and the commodity is mainly exported to the US. “India being the major supplier of guar gum with 80 per cent of the global export, Indian exporters had a monopoly in deciding the price trend,” said Tarsem
Sachdeva, a commission agent in Faridkot.
|
|||||
|
Fire damages rice worth
Rs 40 lakh
Moga, June 3 “I have informed the FCI authorities about the incident. We will jointly assess the loss,” Meena said. Sources said rice worth Rs 40 lakh had been damaged. The local police have registered a case and begun investigations to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
Fire at Amritsar vegetable market Amritsar: A fire broke out at the wholesale vegetable and fruit market at Vallah here on Tuesday morning. It took 13 fire tenders five hours to contain the fire. No loss of life was reported. About 200 stalls of fruit and vegetables and seven vehicles were destroyed in the fire.
|
|||||
|
Missing man’s family demands CBI probe
Faridkot, June 3 The family alleged that Manoj Kumar the police had failed to make any headway. “We are apprehensive that my brother's life is under threat,” said Neetu, sister of the missing employee. The police said there were many angles to the “kidnapping” case. They said a huge amount of money was robbed from three ATMs in Jaitu, Bargari and Jaitu towns of Faridkot district within two hours of the employee going missing from his house on May 25. There were many unanswered questions from the beginning and new questions came up everyday, said HS Parmar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Faridkot. Investigation officers said the way three ATMs were robbed raised suspicion about the accused being somebody who was well-acquainted with the functioning of ATMs and loading of cash in these machines. Ashok Kaushal and Gurdit Singh, social activists who sat in the dharna, said as the police had failed to make a headway in the case in 10 days, they wanted the case to be handed over to the CBI for speedy investigation. Curious case of ATM thefts
|
|||||
|
17.75% students fail English exam
Mohali, June 3 Out of the 3,74,969 students, who took the exam, 3,08,423 students passed. Out of the 71 subjects in the class, the performance of the pupils was worst in this subject. With a pass percentage of 82.31 in social studies, the students have not fared well in the subject either. As many as 66,062 students of the total 3,73,639 pupils who took the exam could not clear it. But what is alarming is that 23,203 students out of the total 3,75,343 students across the state failed in the Punjabi exam. The pass percentage in the subject is 93.81. Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said, “Punjabi is our mother tongue and we should get a 100 per cent result in it. So many students failing in the subject is a cause for concern.”
|
|||||
|
SGPC pension for kin of 3 convicts
Chandigarh, June 3 Mithu Singh Kahneke, SGPC member from Mansa, told The Tribune that the family of each convict would be given Rs 5,000 per month as pension. An appeal against their conviction would be filed in the higher court and the expenses would be borne by the SGPC. Kahneke said the convicts belonged to marginal families. The Mansa-Budhlada-Bathinda-Salabatpura belt had witnessed tension post-2007, following a clash between dera followers and certain Sikh bodies.
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Sikh hotelier Chatwal wants sentencing adjourned
New York, June 3 In a submission before US District Judge I Leo Glasser, lawyer Jonathan Sack yesterday requested an "adjournment of the sentencing" from July 31 to around October 23, citing the need for more time to gather relevant information for Chatwal's pre-sentence report and sentencing submissions on his behalf. Sack said Chatwal has lived in India, Ethiopia as well as the US and "gathering information about his background and substantial activities at those locations has proved time-consuming." Sack said the alternative date in October was agreeable to federal prosecutors. Chatwal, 70, a Padma Bhushan awardee and major fund raiser for former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act by making more than $180,000 in federal campaign donations to three candidates through straw donors who were reimbursed and to witness tampering. Chatwal is free on a $750,000 bail and has surrendered his passport. — PTI
|
|
Get nod to sell property, HC tells Irrigation Dept
Chandigarh, June 3 The direction came on a petition filed by Jagdev Singh against the state and other respondents. During the course of hearing, the counsel for the petitioner referred to sale-purchase agreement entered into with the Executive Engineer, Canal Division, Abohar. According to him, the petitioner was supposed to make payment as per the terms of the agreement. A query was then put to the state counsel whether the Executive Engineer had the authority to enter into an agreement with the petitioner. Pursuant to the order dated March 31, an affidavit was filed by Devinder Pal Singh, Under Secretary, Government of Punjab, Department of Irrigation. Referring to the affidavit, the state counsel said, "The Executive Engineer,
Canal Division, Punjab, was competent to enter into agreements with private parties to sell property owned by the Irrigation (Canal Department)". He also prayed for additional time to address the court at length. Accepting the prayer, Justice Rajan Gupta fixed July 23 as the next date of hearing in the case. Justice Gupta said: "In case the Irrigation Department proposes to sell any other government property, it shall seek prior permission of this court." The development is significant as the issues concerning mortgaging and sale of government properties have been raised before the high court earlier also. In February 2012, the state had told the high court that properties belonging to the municipal corporations would not be mortgaged. The assertion came on a petition filed by Sunita Rinku and others. Citing political reasons, they said "since the government is in election mode and wants to disburse money to corporations where their electoral holding is weak, the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company is sought to be created" for mortgaging MC property and raising loans. The petitioners had also expressed apprehension that the properties would eventually be sold, due to non-payment of the loan.
|
|
|
HC questions state on policy for housing colonies
Chandigarh, June 3 Justice Gupta also made
it clear that “all regularisation of unauthorised colonies/buildings/structures pursuant to Punjab Land (Special Provisions) Act, 2014, shall be subject to decision of this writ petition”. The state counsel too submitted that the government was required to examine “whether any further application for regularisation of unauthorised colonies, plots, structures, etc. would be entertained by the state authorities during pendency of this petition”. As the case came up for resumed hearing, Justice Gupta referred to information received from Secretary, Punjab Housing and Urban Development Department, which said 56 out of 3,096 applications received for regularisation were accepted. As many as 1,08,263 applications were received for regularisation of plots or buildings. Out of the total, 78,284 have been accepted. Seeking additional time to file a detailed affidavit on the number of colonies and constructions regularised in the state pursuant to the policy, Punjab Additional Advocate-General V Ramswaroop said, “The number of such regularisations was much more and detailed figures were awaited from the departments concerned.” The case will now come up in July for the state to file its affidavit. The state government had initially constituted a committee comprising ministers Bikramjit Singh Majithia, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Anil Joshi and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Som Parkash to review its previous policy on the issue. The committee deliberated the matter in “larger public interest and decided to reframe the policy so as to make it simple and understandable”. Punjab Governor then notified the new policy for compounding and regularisation of unauthorised colonies, plots and building in the colonies in the state.
|
|
Akalis clash over water; ex-sarpanch booked
Muktsar, June 3 Sources said Pinder, whose wife is the incumbent sarpanch of Chak Uttar Singhwala village, was laying two pipes from a canal distributary towards his residence. Some Akali workers and residents of Badhai village objected to it, saying that they were already getting minimal water supply during the ongoing paddy season. Sources said Pinder did not relent following which a clash occurred between Pinder’s supporters and Badhai residents. Pinder allegedly opened fire at the other group, but no one was injured. The sources said Pinder fired four gunshots even in the presence of some policemen, who took away his weapon, but did not arrest him. Later, Badhai villagers gheraoed the SSP’s office seeking registration of a criminal case against Pinder. Kuldeep Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police, ordered the DSP concerned to register a case against the former sarpanch and arrest him. The accused has absconded.
|
|
|
Dera follower killed as bus hits mobike
Muktsar, June 3 The deceased has been identified as 28-year-old Pawan Kumar, a native of Kauni village. He suffered a head injury. He was taken to a private hospital but the doctors there referred him to the Faridkot hospital. He died on the way. The condition of Bohad Singh, who was on the pillion, is critical. An eyewitness said the accident occurred as the bus driver tried to overtake another vehicle. He lost control and the bus hit the motorcycle. He said the speeding bus threw the motorcycle a 100 ft away and then hit an electricity pole. Efforts were on to arrest the driver, identified as Jaswinder Singh.
|
|
|
Robbery case cracked, 4 students held
Muktsar, June 3 The accused were identified as Amar Singh, Vipan Kumar (both from Dabwali Dhabh village), Sukhbir Singh and Gurmeet Singh (both from Kakhanwali village). Two accused were students of DAV College, one of Maharaja Ranjit Singh College while the fourth one had just cleared class XII from Kalgidhar School.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked state BJP president Kamal Sharma to produce evidence on the role of politicians in the drug trade.
Sharma had, in a statement yesterday, said that the drug trade in Punjab could not flourish without political patronage and that people wanted the “big fish” behind bars.
Faridkot,
June 3
Moga, June 3
the function, Badal said the former Chief Parliamentary Secretary was not a person but an “institution”, adding that Sahi devoted his life for the service of the weaker sections of society.
“The popularity of Sahi can be gauged from the fact that after his death, people of the area elected his wife Sukhjit Kaur Sahi with a record margin from Dasuya,” he said.
Reiterating the commitment of the state government for ensuring all-round development of Dasuya, Badal said he was duty-bound to finish the works
initiated by Sahi. OC
A Dera Sacha Sauda follower was killed and a young farmer injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a motorcycle on the Muktsar-Malout highway here this
morning. The bus belonged to the Dabwali Transport Company that is owned by the Badal
family. The police said the bus, which was on its way to Jalandhar from
Abohar, had been
impounded. The driver fled.
Patiala, June 3