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Kanakwal rattled by fire at refinery
3 brothers killed over land dispute
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Hike in railway fare and freight
Industrialists feel let down by govt
Gaba’s son in 3-day police custody
Indo-Pak trade back on track
Harsimrat begins thanksgiving tour from Lambi
Process begins for two byelections
Decision to set up AIIMS shocking, says Khaira
RTI: Activities of land grabbers go unchecked
Samrala farmers destroy crop as payment held up
Tax refund scam unearthed
Suspended by Maluka on
graft charge, SDO cries foul
Middle schools to be upgraded, says Cheema
High Court gets three new judges
Will restore gurdwara in Lahore: Sarna
tribune impact
Short-staffed BBMB re-employs retired officials
Fake documents racket to get US visa unearthed
One killed, 2 hurt in accident
Wife, paramour held for killing man
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Kanakwal rattled by fire at refinery
Kanakwal, June 20
The residents saw a thick smoke emanating from the vacuum gas oil (VGO) treating unit. The flames were doused by automatic water sprinklers installed at the unit and three fire tenders at 7.30 am. By that time a thick cloud of smoke had engulfed the area. Three fire tenders were called to fight the flames. The residents were aghast to find shrapnels in their homes. The sharp iron particles burnt cots on the roofs of several houses. The angry residents held a protest march against the refinery authorities and the state government. Darshan Singh of Kanakwal village and hundreds of other residents raised slogans and demanded that they be immediately shifted to a ‘safer’ zone. Kanakwal sarpanch Sukhmani Singh and Hassu sarpanch Narinder Singh alleged that the noise and smoke emanating from the refinery round the clock had made their life miserable. Senior district officials from Bathinda, including the SDM and the tehsildar, visited Kanakwal village and heard the residents’ grievances. The staff at the refinery, a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum and Mittal Energy (HPMEL), did not allow any mediaperson inside the premises. But Gurpreet Bhullar, SSP, was allowed in to take stock of the situation. In a press note, a company spokesperson said a fire had broken out in the vacuum gas oil treating unit at 6.30 am. The residual oil was allowed to burn off. There had been no casualty or injury. A probe has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the fire. It is not clear if the probe is an internal affair or is to be carried out by the civic authorities. Sources said one of the pipelines from the vacuum gas oil unit which removes sulphur from crude oil had burst, leading to the fire. Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg did not respond despite several calls on his cellphone. About the accident
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3 brothers killed over land dispute
Ferozepur, June 20 The deceased were identified as Kulbir Singh (45), Karnail Singh (40) and Gurmit Singh (32). The fourth brother, Gurdarshan Singh, who was seriously wounded, was admitted to the Civil Hospital. He was said to be out of danger. The rival groups, one led by Kartar Singh’s sons, and the other by Sohan Singh’s sons, had been at loggerheads over the panchayat land for the past few years. Kartar Singh and Sohan Singh are brothers. Those killed today were Kartar Singh’s sons. In 2009, then district development and panchayat officer had asked the village panchayat to take over the ownership of the disputed land. The order could not be executed as the affected party approached the High Court which reportedly decided against the occupants and the panchayat took over the land. Village residents claimed that sarpanch Balwinder Kaur and panch Baljit Kaur, wife of the deceased Karnail Singh, wanted to take possession of the land but were not being allowed to do so by Sohan Singh’s sons. Gurpreet Singh Toor, SSP, said 12 persons had been booked. Among them were Balbir Singh, Dalip Singh, both sons of Sohan Singh, Gurbachan Singh, Ranjit Singh, Narinder Singh, Harjinder Singh, sons of Balbir Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Jarmal Singh, both sons of Dalip Singh, Iqbal Singh, Joga Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Kikkar Singh and two others. Kikkar Singh is a BJP leader who wields a considerable clout in the area. The SSP said Harjinder Singh, Narinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh had been arrested. Three others, who had sustained minor injuries in the clash, were being treated under police protection. The village plunged into sorrow after the incident. Residents vent their ire on police officials, damaging the vehicle of the
SHO, Sadar.
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Hike in railway fare and freight
Chandigarh, June 20 The commission, which has completed all formalities such as public hearings, has written to the state’s power department but is yet to get a response. If the state government continues to give free power to the agriculture sector and the poor sections, it will have to undertake in writing to the commission that it would fully compensate the PSPCL for providing free power to the targeted sections. The subsidy bill of the state government is likely to touch Rs 6,000 crore for the current fiscal year. Sources said the commission did not appear in the mood to order a hike in the tariff. However, owing to the hike in the rail freight, it may have to do so. Besides, the commission may order the hike to neutralise inflation. Shock wave for power firms
Cong leaders hit out
The arbitrary hike will badly hit the common man. Are these the good days (achhe din) ahead for the country promised by the BJP leaders at the top of their voice during their
campaign? Capt Amarinder, Congress mp ‘Govt’s hidden agenda’ Partap Singh Bajwa,
ppcc chief
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Industrialists feel let down by govt
Ludhiana, June 20 Sharply reacting to the first unpopular decision of the NDA Government, Badish K. Jindal, president, Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII), said the hike was contrary to the government’s claim to contain inflation and at this stage any more burden on the industry was undesirable. “Location disadvantage will render the industry based in Punjab (and Ludhiana) non-competitive,” he said, adding that things would not improve until the government decides to allow private participation in railways. Mohinder Aggarwal, secretary, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, said it was a hasty decision. The Modi government should have undertaken an exercise to plug losses and explore alternative sources for revenue generation rather than putting additional financial burden on passengers, trade and industry. Chairman of Knitwear Club Vinod Thapar lambasted the government for increase in fares and freight. He said the input cost as well as transportation cost of finished goods would increase, which was bound to have a cascading effect on overall price line. The people from different strata of society expressed their displeasure over the increase in fares. “Rail passengers will have to shell out more for travelling while prices of all other items will also go up due to the hike in freight rates,” said Ravinder Joshi, a sales executive with a private company. While the railway authorities were still in the process of framing a new fare chart, it was stated that rail passengers will have to pay an upward of Rs 70 to travel in Shatabdi Express from the city to the national capital while fare in the sleeper class from Ludhiana to New Delhi will go up by around Rs 30.
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Gaba’s son in 3-day police custody
Jalandhar, June 20 Monu was nabbed by a team of the Patiala police near Doraha and a case was registered against him at the Fatehgarh Sahib police station. Monu was produced in a Fatehgarh Sahib court today. He was remanded in three-day police custody. Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardial Singh Mann is heading the investigations into the drug racket that was busted after the arrest of drug lord Jagdish Bhola. “Monu ran a pharmaceutical factory in Gagret, Himachal Pardesh. He is suspected of supplying pseudoephedrine (used in making synthetic drugs) to the drug peddlers. Hence, his arrest was important. We are hopeful of getting crucial information about others involved in the trade”, said a police officer. He indicated that more arrests were likely in the next few days. Meanwhile, Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh today criticised Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for giving a clean chit to Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia without holding an inquiry into Majithia’s alleged role in the drug racket. “Despite the fact that names of senior Akali leaders have surfaced in the scam and there is documentary evidence against them, no action has been initiated against them,” he said. Speaking to The Tribune, he pointed out that Phillaur (SC) MLA Avinash Chander would often hold press conferences from Monu’s father Chunni Lal Gaba’s Goraya office. (Gaba has been interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in the drug racket). “Gurmail Singh, alias Bhola Haripuria, one of Avinash’s key aides was rounded up by the police on June 3 but was let off. He has reportedly fled India. Manjeet Singh Billa, district vice-president of the Youth Akali Dal, a confidant of Avinash, has been arrested under the NDPS Act. But no action has been taken against Avinash,” he said. Avinash could not be contacted for comment. Sources said he was out of the country.
Nine held with heroin worth
Rs 6.5 crore
Tarn Taran: The district police have arrested nine drug peddlers and recovered 1.3 kg of heroin worth Rs 6.5 crore in the International market, sources said. Seven members of a gang, including Gurjant Singh, Dharminder Singh, Vicky, Balkar Singh, Swaran Singh, Devinder Singh and Sukhbir Singh, were nabbed by a team led by Inspector Rajwinder Kaur at a naka near Gehri village, 40 km from here, on Thursday evening. They were travelling in Safari without a number plate. The local police recovered 150 gm of heroin each from Surinder Singh of Tharu and Daljit Singh of village Chamba Kalan. They were booked under the NDPS Act.
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Indo-Pak trade back on track
Amritsar, June 20 The porters had proceeded on strike on Thursday, alleging that an official at the ICP had “misbehaved” with one of them. They alleged that the official manhandled a porter, Davinder Singh, on June 18 while he was unloading cement from a Pakistani truck. On the other hand, sources in the ICP said that the two sides were at loggerheads after the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) authorities objected to the alleged lax approach of the porters while performing their duties. An ICP official said, “The porters work at the ICP till midnight and they are supposed to unload all the trucks that arrive from Pakistan in a day. However, at times they do not unload goods from a few trucks, as a result of which they have to be sent back to Pakistan. In such a scenario, these trucks return to the ICP the next day for unloading.” He said they had time and again told the porters to do their job properly or else they would have to hire labour from outside. He alleged that they didn’t even allow labourers from outside to work here and resorted to scuffle with them. The official said they had lodged a complaint in this regard with the police. The two warring sides held a meeting at the ICP today during which
their differences were resolved and the porters resumed their work in the afternoon.
Bone of contention
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Harsimrat begins thanksgiving tour from Lambi
Lambi, June 20 While thanking people for their support, Harsimrat said, “It’s all due to your blessings that I got a Cabinet berth in the Union Government. Other politicians sitting there tell me that their father, grandfather were ministers. Even a TDP leader told me that after getting elected MLA seven times, he got the position after winning in the General Election. I do not have such a vast experience in politics but I can assure you that I will try to work for the betterment of my area, apart from working for the entire country,” she said. She said, “Being a first-time MP during my last tenure, I learnt how to raise issues and this time, I will learn how to solve them and stand up to the expectations of public.” She quoted a lot from Gurbani during her speech. Addressing public, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the state government had already established a juice processing unit in Abohar and now after its successful operation, they had decided to double its capacity. CM meets Irani, seeks IIM, central varsity for state
New Delhi: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in his meeting with Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani yesterday evening, urged the Centre to establish an IIM (Indian Institute of Management) and a world-class central university at Amritsar. He also urged for concessions to invigorate school education in the state. A spokesperson for the Punjab Government said here today that Badal had urged the ministry to share 50 per cent of the “non-recurring” and “recurring” costs.
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Process begins for two byelections
Chandigarh, June 20 The Talwandi Sabo MLA had defected to the SAD ahead of the Lok Sabha poll and resigned from the Congress. Meanwhile, the State Election Commission has allotted election symbols to various parties for
elections to municipal corporations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats, gram panchayats,
panchayat samitis and zila parishads. A notification in this regard has been issued. A spokesperson for the State Election Commission said all previous notifications regarding publication of lists of symbols for municipal and panchayat elections would be deemed to have been superseded with effect from the date of the issue of the notification.
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Decision to set up AIIMS shocking, says Khaira
Jalandhar, June 20 The Congress ex-MLA said the state government would waste thousands of crores of taxpayers’ money by setting up AIIMS in Jalandhar on new land.
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RTI: Activities of land grabbers go unchecked
Muktsar, June 20 The most glaring example is of Fatuhiwala village, where six persons have taken illegal possession of 15 acres, two kanals and eight marlas of panchayat land. The RTI revealed that the police did not respond to the BDPO’s pleas for assistance in evicting the encroachers from the panchayat land. Even though, the district and sessions court gave a judgment in favour of the village panchayat, the
land is still in possession of the encroachers. “The police never assisted the BDPO even though possession warrants were issued on January 13, 2012 and assistance sought again on August 7, September 14 and December 10, 2012,” states the RTI documents provided by the Lambi BDPO. Avtar Singh, an Akali sarpanch of Fatuhiwala village, said the land was still in the possession of the encroachers even though the higher-ups were aware of the matter. Ranjit Singh, former sarpanch of Fatuhiwala village, said, “I had pursued the case in the sessions court that gave its verdict in our favour. But the land is still in the possession of the encroachers.” Apathetic police
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Samrala farmers destroy crop as payment held up
Mushkabad (Samrala), June 20 Fed up with false assurances of the state government, several farmers of Mushkabad village assembled and then ploughed their sugarcane crop. “We were trying to diversify and grow other crops apart from wheat and paddy, but we have not been paid by the sugar mills. So we have decided to destroy our crop,” they said. The state sugar mills are yet to clear around Rs 176 crore of farmers’ dues with Sugar Mill Budhewal in Samrala not having paid the farmers Rs 17.5 crore. Around two lakh farmers in the state had grown sugarcane on the assurance of the sugar mills, farmers alleged. Agriculture Minister Tota Singh blamed the wrong policies of the previous government for landing the farmers in this mess. He, however, assured that the state government would resolve the matter soon. Some of the farmers, who ploughed their crop were Palwinder Singh, Pawittar Singh, Gurdev Singh and Balwinder Singh. Sugar Mill Budhewal chairman Harinder Singh Lakhowal said their mill had taken a loan of about Rs 3 crore and would disperse the amount to the farmers next week.
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Tax refund scam unearthed
Patiala, June 20 Sources in the Taxation Department said over 100 companies, majority of them functional in Ludhiana, have shown export of cycle parts to Nepal. "In reality, however, these cycle parts were consumed in Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh. Refunds were sought by these traders causing loss worth crores to the three states, including Punjab," they added. A senior official said certain firms had shown exports by over 3,500 times in less than a year. Officials of these firms then connived with taxation officials in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to claim bogus tax refunds. "The probe is at a preliminary stage, but it seems unscrupulous traders have managed to dupe three state governments and caused them huge losses," he said. Sources said the scam took place in 2012-13 when these firms claimed to have sent cycle parts to Nepal. In fact, the goods were sold in Bihar. "This caused loss of over Rs 2 crore to Punjab and Rs 5 crore to Bihar, in a single deal. The requisite tax was not paid in both states," they claimed. Excise and Taxation Department officials have been asked to crosscheck all such claims and scrutinise the role of department officials in three states, who helped these firms evade tax and pocket bogus refunds. Modus operandi
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Suspended by Maluka on
graft charge, SDO cries foul
Sangrur, June 20 Ranjit Singh also held the additional charge of Executive Engineer, Department of Panchayati Raj, Sangrur. During suspension, his headquarters will remain in Chandigarh. Taking a serious note of the complaint against Ranjit Singh, the minister ordered an inquiry into the matter by a two-member committee, comprising two senior executive engineers. He also warned other employees against indulging in corruption. On being contacted, Ranjit Singh said “he had no knowledge about any complaint against him”. He alleged that prior to his suspension, he was not even given an opportunity to present his side. “No charge-sheet has been filed against me,” he said. Ranjit Singh also claimed that he had not embezzled any grant while executing developmental works. He demanded that the department should order an inquiry by an independent agency. “I am sure I will come clean,” he said. Despite repeated attempts, Superintending Engineer (Panchayati Raj) Parkash Singh could not be contacted for comment.
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Middle schools to be upgraded, says Cheema
Jalandhar, June 20 Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema, during his visit to the city today, said the state government was unable to bear the cost of free education. Hence, it had requested the Union Minister for Human Resource and Development for help. “The state has 19.5 lakh students eligible for free education up to Class VIII (in private schools). If the government spends Rs 1,000 on each of them, the total cost comes to more than 500 crore. Union Minister Smriti Irani has assured us of help,” said Dr Cheema. Addressing mediapersons, he said all middle schools in the state would be upgraded as high schools. “The move to upgrade middle schools is aimed at providing a fillip to girls’ education. For every village with a population of 3,000, there will be a school within a radius of 3 km.” The RTE Act regulations require one school per kilometre. — TNS
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High Court gets three new judges
New Delhi, June 20 "The transfer has been made by President Pranab Mukherjee in consultation with Chief Justice of India RM Lodha," an official release said today. Justice Mohunta has been directed to assume office on or before June 30, it said. The President has also appointed Rekha Mittal and Indierjit Singh as Additional Judges of the HC for two years with effect from June 15, says another release.
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Will restore gurdwara in Lahore: Sarna
Ludhiana, June 20 He said a part of the Gurdwara 'Shaheedi Asthaan' would not be changed at all during the restoration work. He said the gurdwara would be built with the approval of the Waqf Board in Pakistan. Talking about the issue of separate Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Haryana, he said there should be different Sikh Gurdwra Parbandhak Committees for all the states as these would empower Sikhs politically. He alleged that by managing all the gurdwaras in all the states, the SGPC wanted to empower itself but weaken Sikhs in other states.
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tribune impact
Muktsar, June 20 PSHRC Chairperson Justice Jagdish Bhalla, commission members Baljinder Singh and PS Grewal have sought a report from Deputy Commissioner Jaskiran Singh before June 28 in that regard. The commission has also ordered the district administration to ensure her safety. The commission has asked the DC to initiate steps for ensuring a dignified life for women like Jinder. — TNS
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Short-staffed BBMB re-employs retired officials
Ropar, June 20 Thirty per cent posts in the board have been lying vacant as partner states have failed to fill these posts for several years. — TNS
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Fake documents racket to get US visa unearthed
New Delhi, June 20 Sukhvinder Kaur, Gurpreet Singh, Gauravdeep Singh and Vickramjeet Singh have been handed over to the Delhi Police. According to a complaint by the US Embassy, the alleged mastermind behind the racket was Yashpal Arora. Sukhvinder, Gurpreet, Gauravdeep and Vickramjeet had submitted documents claiming to be working with Shear Style. Sukhvinder claimed she was employed as a marketing manager, Gurpreet as supervisor, Gauravdeep as assistant salon manager and Vickramjeet as assistant. “During the interview with embassy officials, Sukhvinder admitted she did not currently work at Shear Style Private Limited. She further confessed the documents she had provided, including the employment letter, the bank statement for her personal account and the bank statement under the name of Shear Style Private Limited were fraudulent,” read the complaint. “Sukhvinder stated that she met Gurpreet Singh, Gauravdeep Singh and Vickramjeet Singh when Yashpal brought them to her house in Patiala for coaching. Sukhvinder stated that Yashpal provided the employment letter on the Shear Style Private Limited letterhead, the bank statement for her personal account and the bank statement under the name of Shear Style Private Limited and filled out her visa application as if she were an employee of Shear Style Private Limited. Sukhvinder further stated that Yashpal has an office located at Patiala,” the complaint read.
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One killed, 2 hurt in accident
Patiala, June 20 The police have arrested the truck driver, a Chaura village resident, and registered a case of rash driving against him.
The deceased has been identified as Ramanjit Singh (62), a retired bank officer. He was driving a two-wheeler and was waiting at the traffic lights when the truck rammed into him from the rear, leaving him in a pool of blood. Three cars and several other two-wheelers were also damaged in the incident. Urban Estate police station SHO Rajesh Malhotra said the injured were identified as Ranbir Singh and Swaran Singh. "They have been admitted to local hospitals and their condition is out of danger," he said. Truck driver Raghbir Singh told the police that the accident occurred due to brake failure of the truck (PB 23 2845). The SHO, however, said the brakes of the truck were working properly.
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Wife, paramour held for killing man
Sangrur, June 20 Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Malerkotla, William Jeji said deceased Tarsem Kumar was a resident of Malerkotla. Tarsem's brother Harmesh Kumar told the police the previous day that his brother's body was found lying in a canal near Amamgarh village, near Malerkotla, and that it bore some injury marks on the head. It seems the injuries were inflicted with some sharp-edged weapon, he added. A police team headed by Sandaur SHO Harwinder Singh reached the spot. During the investigation, Kulwinder Kaur, alias Rani, confessed that she and her paramour Sajjan Singh, a resident of Dhuri, had murdered Tarsem. The accused said they had illicit relations for the 10-11 years. They had made some unsuccessful attempts to kill Tarsem in the past also. The previous day, they took him to the canal on the pretext of immersing "samagri" (rice, flour etc) and killed him.
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Residents of Kanakwal village in Bathinda and Hassu village in Sirsa were abruptly woken up from their sleep this morning following explosions in Guru Gobind Singh Refinery.
Three brothers were killed when they clashed with their cousins over the possession of four kanals of panchayat land in Karia Pehalwaan village this morning.
Bathinda MP and Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur
Badal, accompanied by her father-in-law Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, today started her thanksgiving tour of the parliamentary constituency from Lambi Assembly segment, from where she got the maximum margin of about 34,300 votes.
The hike in rail freight will hit Punjab State Power Corporation Limited and consequently the consumers too. The annual additional fiscal burden on the PSPCL because of the 6.5 per cent rail freight hike will be about Rs 225 crore. The power generation cost will go up as all thermal plants in the state use coal as fuel to operate the units. “We transport 13 million tonnes of coal from various mines to our thermal plants in the state every year,” said KD Chaudhary, corporation MD.
As of now, the PSPCL pays Rs 2,300 per tonne as freight on the transportation of coal. Meanwhile, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission is waiting for the state government’s response regarding the power tariff hike for the current fiscal. The PSPCL had filed a petition, seeking a tariff hike to mop up an additional Rs 2,600 crore per annum to meet revenue requirements. 
‘Are these achhe din?’
This is Modi government’s hidden agenda. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur, who represents the Akali Dal at the centre, should tell whether she opposed this hike or not.
The trade between India and Pakistan through the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari resumed after around 24 hours as the stalemate between
the porters and the authorities came to an end following a meeting between the two sides.
