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Seven Punjabis rescued from Iraq
Youths return on borrowed money
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Central Govt shouldn’t interfere, says Captain
Rs 11-crore wheat stock siphoned
MCI rejects Faridkot college’s demand for more MBBS seats
150 medical seats for PIMS
Will set up rehabilitation centres in all districts: Badal
Three rice millers booked in paddy
scam
Burundi national Yannick’s assailant jumps parole
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Seven Punjabis rescued from Iraq
New Delhi, July 5 These are Rishipal of Binjol (Patiala), Ravi Kumar of Januli (Hoshiarpur), Ashok Kumar of Jassu Majra (Nawanshahr) and Pardeep Singh, Daljeet Singh, Harjinder Singh and Devender Lal of Salkeana (Ludhiana). The evacuee from Haryana is Vikram Kumar of Ismailabad village in Kurukshetra. They were received at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by state’s Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal and president, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjit Singh GK. The authorities arranged for their visit to Punjab Bhawan where they were treated with dinner. Subsequently, arrangements were made for their transportation to their respective villages. The rescued persons narrated a tale of unending woes starting from how they were duped by travel agents in India and sent to Iraq where they were handed over to a contractor who treated them as bonded labour. Rishipal said they were all forced to landscape a 50-acre plot. Pardeep said they were duped by a Haryana-based firm Sai Education Group run by Avtar Singh Rajpal, Surender and Vicky. They charged Rs 1.4 lakh from each of them on the pretext of providing them jobs abroad at a salary of $500. They handed them to a Delhi-based firm having office on the Meharaulu-Badarpur Road (Khanpur), which made arrangements for their transportation to Iraq about three months ago. Vikram said: “We were not given our wages. We were kept at a dungeon-like place after working hours. Our passports were seized by the contractor.” “When we asked for our passports, they demanded $1000 from each of us,” said Harjinder. He said: “We then contacted the India Mission office in Iraq. The Indian authorities advised us to reach Erbil Airport, which was 250 km away from where we were detained. We managed to reach there and were rescued.”
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Youths return on borrowed money
Machhiwara July 5 They said they managed to get back home without any assistance from the Central as well as the state government. They said they were working in an oil company near Basra. They said the migrants there had been fearing for their lives following rumors that terrorists would take control of Baghdad and Basra in a month. The youths said they borrowed Rs 25,000 each from a fellow Indian belonging to Ambala to be able to return to their village. Their family members said they had send their kin to Iraq about 14 months ago after paying Rs 1.5 lakh each, hoping that their financial woes would be over. “But we are now under more debt,” they said.
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Central Govt shouldn’t interfere, says Captain
Amritsar, July 5 He was referring to reports that both Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Sukhbir Badal had appealed to the Union Minister against allowing Haryana to have a separate gurdwara panel. “This will not only amount to interfering in the constitutional and legislative rights of the state but also ignoring the sentiments of the Sikhs living in Haryana. The Union Government should stay off the matter,” he said in a statement. The former Punjab Chief Minister reminded Rajnath Singh that separate gurdwara managing committees were already functional in Delhi, Bihar and Maharashtra. “When these states can have their separate and independent gurdwara managing committees, why deny a similar right to the Sikhs in Haryana?” he asked.
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Rs 11-crore wheat stock siphoned
Tarn Taran, July 5 Corporation official Nirmal Singh Brar alleged the stock had been embezzled between April 11, 2011 and April 7, 2014 from plinths at Bhikhiwind and Maniala village, near Patti. He alleged the corporation had been instructing the plinth in charge to undertake physical verification of the stock, but the accused had been dilly-dallying the matter. He said 22,266 quintals of wheat was found missing from Bhikhiwind plinth and 39,715 quintals from Maniala plinths. The corporation has suspended the plinth in charge, who is reportedly evading arrest. Foodgrain missing As many as 22,266 quintals of wheat was found missing from Bhikhiwind plinth and 39,715 quintals from Maniala plinths.
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State best suited for food industry: Harsimrat
Ludhiana, July 5 Harsimrat was in the city to visit the Central Institute of Post Harvesting Engineering and Technology (CIPHT) and Punjab Agricultural University. The Union minister said as per a fresh survey conducted by CIPHET, there was a post-harvest loss of Rs 44,000 crore. She said she had passed directions to reduce these losses by 50 per cent in the next two years. Harsimrat said her ministry would facilitate the creation of mini-food parks in the state. She said she had been asked to prepare a food map of the country so that she could identify various food producing regions to explore possibilities of establishing processing plants throughout the country. “If the Centre gives approval to FDI in food processing industry, then farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs would get equal share,” she said. The minister said the ministry was contemplating creating a “food grid' to ensure the supply of food products even at the time of crisis, which would curb inflation effectively. Interacting with industrialists at Punjab Agricultural University, she said the Centre would consider the issues raised by representatives of various industries, including interest subvention, IT exemption for a definite period and subsidising technical upgradation. She was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal during her visit. Speaking on separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, Sukhbir said, “The Congress is an anti-Sikh party which is interfering in Sikh issues to divide the Sikhs.” He said it was the conspiracy of the “Central government”, but soon realised that the BJP-SAD alliance was in power at the Centre and corrected his mistake and blamed the Congress and the Gandhi clan over the issue.
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MCI rejects Faridkot college’s demand for more MBBS seats
Chandigarh, July 5 The MCI came to its decision on the basis of the assessment of facilities available at the colleges. The Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, under the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) had demanded renewal for the second batch. The seats for the batch had been increased from 50 to 100. The college has been denied permission on the grounds that the central library of the college lacked journals. There was a shortage of hostel facility for residents and interns. Vice Chancellor of BFUHS, SS Gill said, “The central government had asked for compliance and we have already sent a representation in this regard.” The MCI also denied permission to Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, which had demanded renewal for its fifth batch that was increased from 65 to 100 seats. The MCI said the college had failed to rectify the deficiencies pointed out. Few takers for NRI seats at varsity Faridkot: The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has received only two applications against the 72 MBBS seats reserved for NRI candidates. These seats are reserved in seven medical colleges of the state. The university began counselling on June 21 to fill 713 MBBS seats in the seven medical colleges. Out of the total 770 MBBS seats under the university, 57 seats in three government medical colleges are be filled by the Centre through centralised counselling. The CBSE holds the counselling sessions on the basis of marks obtained in AIPMET. The BFUHS fills the remaining 713 seats.— Balwant Garg
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Jalandhar, July 5 The institute was denied permission to run the course last year after several discrepancies were noticed by the MCI during its annual inspection. Dr Kanwaljit Singh, PIMS resident director, said the starting of the course would help improve the financial health of the institute. He said they would earn around Rs 5 crore a year. He said while 50 per cent of the allotted seats would be in government quota, 35 and 15 per cent would be in management and NRI quota. With the MCI approving the MBBS course, the institute would soon start super-specialty services in urology, gastroenterology, nephrology and oncology. — TNS
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SGPC to protest in Jind tomorrow
Amritsar, July 5 The 10-member committee constituted by Akal Takht for holding talks with the Haryana Sikh leaders at Kurukshetra today submitted its report to Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh. Though the committee members refused to divulge any details about the report, they admitted that their proposals, including forming a Sikh representatives’ body, may not convince the Haryana leaders. Avtar Singh Makkar, SGPC president, said a protest would be held in Jind on July 7 to scuttle “this politically motivated move, the supporters of which could face action for violating the Akal Takht verdict”. “We will appeal to the Akal Takht Jathedar to take action against those behind this move to divide the community. It is the handiwork of some Congress leaders in Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana. Their only aim is to secure a vote bank. Those at the forefront of a similar campaign had lost the SGPC elections in 2011,” he said. The committee had proposed formation of a fresh 11-member panel of Sikh representatives (SGPC elected members) in Haryana, which would have all rights to manage the gurdwara affairs in the state, but only after seeking approval from the SGPC executive body. Confirming the receipt of the report, the Akal Takht Jathedar said no reply had yet been received from the opposite side. “The issue is sure to create differences in the Sikh community,” he said. SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, who led the committee for holding talks with Haryana leaders, said, “We tried to persuade them against going in for a separate SGPC, but in vain.”
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Will set up rehabilitation centres in all districts: Badal
Hoshiarpur, July 5 Badal said the government had made “sincere efforts” to root out the drug menace from the state. "Rehabilitation is an important part of the de-addiction process. Rehabilitation centres will be opened in every district within three months at a cost of Rs 4 crore each," he said. On former DGP Shashi Kant's allegations, Badal said the matter was being politicised. He said: "Anyone found guilty for drug trading will not be spared irrespective of his position. Instructions have also been given that those trying to protect peddlers should be taken to task". Jails Minister Sohan Singh Thandal, MP Vijay Sampla, CPS Mohinder Kaur Josh and Tikshan Sud accompanied Badal. Gurdaspur: The Chief Minister visited a drug de-addiction centre at Babri, near here. Eight addicts are getting treatment at the 10-bed centre of which four were admitted hours before the CM's visit. The Chief Minister asked for the files of all the eight inmates. One of the inmates claimed that he had been addicted to poppy husk for three decades and had come to seek treatment since he was finding it difficult to get his daily dose following the government's anti-drug drive. Badal earlier inspected a de-addiction centre at the Batala Civil Hospital. Jalandhar: Talking to the media at the ESI Hospital de-addiction centre here, Badal said approval had been given for the recruitment of paramedical staff, including male nurses, pharmacists and ward attendants. Amritsar: Badal visited Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre here yesterday. He said efforts would be made for the rehabilitation of addicts. He also visited a drug de-addiction centre in Tarn Taran. He said a 50-bed rehab centre at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore would be build at Kajikot village in Tarn
Taran.
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Three rice millers booked in paddy
scam
Moga, July 5 As per a complaint lodged by district manager of Markfed, a state-owned procurement agency, 2,13,540 bags of paddy were stored at Kapoor Rice and General Mills, Kot-ise-Khan, in 2012-13. Till September 30 last year, the mill had delivered custom milled rice against 1,56,285 paddy bags to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the central food agency. A stock of 57,255 bags was remaining. During a physical verification on March 12, 26,860 bags of custom milled rice were in the stock, of which 7,447 bags were delivered to the central food agency. There was thus a shortage of 19,413 bags of rice. In another case, an FIR under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC was registered against Amit Kumar, owner of a rice mill, at the Dharamkot police station. He is yet to be arrested. Mool Chand, branch manager, Markfed, has stated that the agency had stored 1,28,206 bags of paddy weighing 44,872 quintals in Amit’s rice mill for 2012-13. He was supposed to deliver 30,064 quintals of custom milled rice to the FCI. But he failed to deliver 15,555 quintals of rice, amounting to Rs 4 crore. In the third case, Gurmeet Singh and Jagdeep Singh both owners of Sidhu Agro-Industries located at Lopo village in this district, allegedly siphoned off Rs 2 crore worth of paddy belonging to Punsup, a state-owned agency. Punsup had stored 1,40,708 bags of paddy for 2012-13 in the mill. At least 9,922 bags were found missing during a physical verification following which a case was registered under sections 406, 420 and 511 of the IPC against the mill owners at the Badhni Kalan police station. A senior police officer said three separate cases had been registered against these mill owners. “We will soon arrest the accused and try to recover the missing stock,” he said.
In the dock *
Owner of Kapoor Rice and General Mills, Kot-ise-Khan, has been booked for siphoning off 19,413 bags of rice *
Amit Kumar, owner of a rice mill, allegedly failed to deliver 15,555 quintals of rice worth Rs 4 crore to the FCI *
Gurmeet Singh and Jagdeep Singh both owners of Sidhu Agro-Industries, allegedly siphoned off Rs 2 crore worth of paddy belonging to Punsup
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Burundi national Yannick’s assailant jumps parole
Jalandhar, July 5 Sources also confirmed the process of extraditing another accused, Jaskaran Singh, was on. Jaskaran had escaped to Australia a day after attacking Yannick. Declared a Proclaimed Offender, Jaskaran was arrested in Jersey UNKN, Horsbey, New South Wales, Australia, on May 7, 2014 under the Extradition Act 1988. Jaskaran, who was a taxi driver in Australia, had also confessed to the Australian Police that he was involved in the murder of Yannick Nihangaza, sources said. Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said, “The process of extraditing Jaskaran is on.” Sources said the CBI handled the extradition process. He also confirmed that Rommy had obtained 28 days parole on March 6 this year and he was supposed to return to jail on April 4. “The Jail Department informed us that Rommy had jumped parole. We are yet to ascertain if he has gone abroad,” Singh said. Sources said along with Rommy, Sumit Ralhan and Harsh Gosian had obtained 28 days parole. During parole, Sumit got injured in a road mishap, so he was granted bail, while Harsh had returned to jail.
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Seven persons from Punjab and one from Haryana were among those evacuated from Iraq and brought here by an Air India flight today.
Two youths of Tanda Kushal Singh village, near Machiwara, today returned from Iraq.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today visited a de-addiction centre at the local Civil Hospital and enquired about the health of the inmates.
Badal said the government had made “sincere efforts” to root out the drug menace from the state. "Rehabilitation is an important part of the de-addiction process. Rehabilitation centres will be opened in every district within three months at a cost of Rs 4 crore each," he said.
Moga, July 5
