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Dissatisfied with MEA, abducted youths’ relatives plan to meet
PM
Patiala, Talwandi Sabo bypoll on Aug 21
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Talwandi
Sabo
Patiala (urban)
Cong leaders playing friendly match with Akalis, says Khaira
Former MLA Sukhpal Khaira has hit out at the Congress leadership for failing to corner Bikram Majithia, whom Khaira accused of receiving
Rs 70 lakh hawala drug money
Sangrur villagers lock school gate over staff shortage
Land row: Bhagwant meets Verka
Moga Bar to boycott courts of 3 women judges
Afghan onions arrive via Attari border
Warring denies link to smuggler arrested in Sirsa
Two arrested for bid to grab Brigadier’s plot
Cop accused of beating up Dalit labourer
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Dissatisfied with MEA, abducted youths’ relatives plan to meet
PM
Amritsar, July 19 Talking to The Tribune, Gurpinder Kaur, sister of Manjinder Singh from Bhoewal village, said, “We haven’t heard anything about our near and dear ones for long. The government too is not responding now as our phone calls to the Ministry of External Affairs are going unattended.” She said they were now contemplating to meet the Prime Minister to take up the issue with him. She said all families of stranded youth were in touch with each other. “We had recently converged in Jalandhar and had conveyed our sentiments to the government through the media,” she added. According to her, the recent release of Indian nurses by the ISIS had rekindled hope among them about their family members’ release, but that too is fading away now. Ranjit Kaur, mother of Jatinder Singh from Sialka village, said they were now seeking an appointment with Modi and hoped to meet him within a week. She said families of the abducted youth might stage a protest in Delhi if their meeting with the Prime Minister did not yield any result. Apart from Manjinder of Bhoewal village and Jatinder of Sialka village, four other youths from Amritsar district — Harsimranjit Singh from Babbowal village, Gurcharan Singh from Jalal Usma village, Sonu from Chawinda Devi village and Kamaljit Singh from Rupowali village have been abducted by the ISIS militants in Iraq. The families of these youths had met Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on June 19. The government had assured them that it would make all possible efforts to bring their kin back from Iraq. However, not satisfied with the government endeavour, they wanted to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, but the Punjab Government stepped in and organised another meeting with Sushma on June 29. Most of these youths had gone to Iraq in search of greener pastures after paying over Rs 1 lakh each to travel agents, who had promised them a job with good salary. These youths had either mortgaged their property or taken loan on heavy interest from private moneylenders. Now, their families are having a tough time eking out their livelihood and also paying the interest on the loans.
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Patiala, Talwandi Sabo bypoll on Aug 21
New Delhi, July 19 As per the schedule, the last date for filing of nominations will be August 2 and last date for withdrawal of candidature will be August 6. The vacancies were caused in Punjab following the resignation of Capt Amarinder Singh in Patiala (Urban) and Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu in Talwandi Sabo. The Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder had resigned following his election from Amritsar parliamentary constituency. He had defeated BJP top leader Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister. The elections in Talwandi Sabo were necessitated after Jeet Mohinder, elected on the Congress ticket, resigned from the Assembly and switched over to the Shiromani Akali Dal. Besides Punjab, the state assemblies where the bypoll are to be held are 10 seats in Bihar and three each in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The polls in Punjab would be held on electoral rolls published as on January 6 this year. The model code of conduct will come into effect immediately in district (s) in which whole or part of the assembly constituency where the byelection is being held is included.
Poll time again in Punjab Filing of nominations: August 2 Withdrawal of candidature:
Aug 6 Counting of votes: August 25 Why the byelections Patiala (Urban): The Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder had resigned from his Patiala Assembly seat following his election from Amritsar parliamentary constituency. He had defeated BJP top leader Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister. Talwandi Sabo:
The elections were necessitated after Jeet Mohinder, elected on the Congress ticket, resigned from the Assembly and switched over to the Shiromani Akali
Dal.
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Talwandi
Sabo
Bathinda, July 19 Poll analysts say Sidhu, a three-time legislator, may hold an edge over his rival candidates as he had already done a lot of ground work under the patronage of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The Congress, however, is yet to zero down on any candidate. Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa said, “We will discuss the names of probable candidates at a meeting of senior party leaders before making the final announcement.” Sources in the Congress said the party was considering former Bathinda MLA Harminder Singh Jassi, Youth Congress leader Subhash Singh Jattana and former Talwandi Sabo president of People’s Party of Punjab Sukhdev Singh Chahal. The only other likely candidate worth a mention from the constituency is Baljinder Kaur of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Belonging to a family associated with the elections of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, she is an English lecturer in Fatehgarh Sahib. Jeet Mohinder had won the previous three Assembly elections from Talwandi Sabo in 2012, 2007 and 2002. In 2002, he had contested as an Independent candidate while the previous two elections he had won on the Congress ticket. Sidhu once used to be a confidant of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh.
Likely candidates Shiromani Akali Dal:
Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu
Congress: Bathinda ex-MLA Harminder Jassi, Youth Congress leader Subhash Jattana and former Talwandi Sabo chief of People’s Party of Punjab Sukhdev Singh Chahal AAP:
Baljinder Kaur. Belongs to a family associated with SGPC poll; is an English lecturer in Fatehgarh Sahib
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Patiala (urban)
Patiala, July 19 The SAD is already in a dilemma with several contenders, including Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra's younger brother Charanjit Singh Dhaliwal and prominent Hindu face and Congress turncoat Vishnu Sharma, reportedly lobbying for the post. A former Mayor, Sharma had announced his joining the SAD a few days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in May. He had accused the Congress of ignoring him. However, much would depend on SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who had surprised many by fielding Deepinder Dhillon from Patiala Lok Sabha constituency, though the SAD could only manage 16,342 votes from the Patiala (Urban) Assembly seat. From the Congress, former Union Minister Preneet Kaur and Amarinder's wife is being seen as a frontrunner. Sources said even the royal couple’s son Raninder Singh may be considered. Analysts say Preneet, though, may hold an edge as she had polled 43,238 votes against the AAP's 35,676 votes from the Assembly constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. However, many believe that with the AAP's good show in the Lok Sabha poll, a strong candidate by the party could cause some worries for the Congress.
Likely candidates Congress: Former Union Minister Preneet Kaur, her son Raninder Singh and Capt Amarinder Singh’s brother Malvinder Singh.
Capt Amarinder Singh has represented the seat thrice in 2002, 2007 and 2012 Shiromani Akali Dal:
Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra's younger brother Charanjit Singh Dhaliwal and former Mayor Vishnu Sharma AAP:
No recognised face yet
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Cong leaders playing friendly match with Akalis, says Khaira
Chandigarh, July 19 In a statement issued here, Khaira expressed his displeasure with the Congress leadership for failing to corner Bikram Majithia in the Vidhan Sabha after he had “exposed” and alleged that Majithia had received Rs 70 lakh of hawala drug money from an accomplice of alleged druglord Jagdish Singh Bhola. Majithia had denied the charges levelled by Khaira. Khaira today said that the Congress could have forced the Speaker to adjourn the House and sought a statement from the Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister over the issue while pressing for the resignation of Bikram Majithia. “But unfortunately, this did not happen. On earlier occasions too, I have brought into public domain matters of corruption, crime and drugs against senior Akali leaders. All such anti-government issues were given a silent burial,” he alleged. He alleged it was primarily due to lack of effective opposition that the Congress missed the chance to form the government in 2012 and suffered a decrease of poll percentage and seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
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Sangrur villagers lock school gate over staff shortage
Sangrur, July 19 Sarpanch Gurjant Singh said the matter had been brought to the notice of the higher education authorities several times but to no avail. He said three to four teachers had been transferred from here to other schools in the recent past. “Nearly half of the sanctioned posts of teacher are lying vacant in the school,” he added. The sarpanch said they were forced to protest as the authorities did not pay any heed to their demand. School principal Balwinder Singh said more than 500 students were studying in Classes VI to XII in the school. “Out of the 22 sanctioned posts of teacher, nearly 50 per cent are lying vacant,” he added. The villagers also threatened to launch an agitation if the vacant posts were not fulfilled at the earliest.
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Tension in Phagwara over Kashmir clashes
Phagwara, July 19 The protest march started from Hanuman Garhi and concluded at the same place after taking a round of the town. A heavy posse of police was deployed to control the situation. Tension prevailed when protesters pelted the shrine of a particular community with stones near Gaushala Bazaar and ransacked a shop near Nimmawali Chowk. The police reportedly used mild force to disperse the crowd. Superintendent of Police Gursewak Singh Brar, though, denied any stones were thrown at the shrine. Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police Dhanpreet Kaur has been camping in Phagwara to monitor the situation.
Shiv Sainiks burn effigy of J&K govt Mandi Gobindgarh: Hundreds of Shiv Sena workers in the state burned the effigy of the Jammu and Kashmir Government on the GT Road here on Saturday. They protested the attack on Amarnath pilgrims. Durga Gupta, president of the Shiv Sena state unit, demanded that President's rule be imposed in the state. He warned that if the J&K government did not take immediate action in the matter, then they would launch a nationwide
agitation. — TNS
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Land row: Bhagwant meets Verka
Sangrur, July 19 The issue pertains to the auction of panchayat land at Balad Kalan village, which was reserved for Scheduled Caste farmers. On June 27, 41 Dalits who were protesting the auction were arrested from Bhawanigarh. Mann said Verka had summoned the Director, Panchayat, Punjab; Additional Director General of Police (Crime) and the Director General of Police (Law and order) on July 22. The MP said he or his representative from Balad Kalan would remain present at Verka’s office on July 22.
Calls on VC over ‘high’ fee
The Sangrur MP also took up the issue of “exorbitant” fee in privately managed government-aided colleges with Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Punjabi University, Patiala. Mann asked the VC to reduce the “high” fee and other funds being charged from students. He told the VC that three-times more fees was being charged by private colleges from students in comparison to government colleges.
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Moga Bar to boycott courts of 3 women judges
Moga, July 19 The judges in question are Amandeep Kaur, Gurjit Kaur Dhillon and Pratima Mahajan, all women civil judges. The resolution passed in the Bar meeting, states that these judges wrote their judgements contrary to the words pronounced in the open courts. The lawyers said this reflected their inefficiency and lack of expertise. Further, they alleged that out of the 100 emergency cases that came to the courts of the duty magistrates during the summer vacations, 99 litigants did not get any relief. “We discussed these issues with the judges several times, but they did not listen,” said Ramesh Grover. This issue was also brought to the notice of the district and sessions judge, but to no avail, he said.
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Afghan onions arrive via Attari border
Amritsar, July 19 However, the traders are skeptical about the viability of importing onions from Afghanistan as the onion prices are hovering around Rs 40 to 45 per kg in the domestic market, which isn’t much as compared to last year when the prices had touched Rs 80 per kg. Besides, there are a couple of other issues. The traders find the quality of Afghan onions to be second grade. Also these onions could not be sent beyond Delhi as they already have a transit period of four to five days. Last year too, Indian traders had imported over 10,000 tonnes of Afghan onions via the Attari
border. Manav Taneja, a trader, said he was not sure as to whether the onion imports from Afghanistan would sustain as they didn’t seem economically viable at present.
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Warring denies link to smuggler arrested in Sirsa
Mansa, July 19 The number of Warring's alleged associates Rajiv Khosa Rupana and Manjeet Phoolewala were also saved, confirmed Mansa SSP Bhupinder Singh
Khattra. “Preliminary investigations revealed that Gurlal was associated to Warring and
Phoolewala,” said the SSP. But, Warring has denied the claim: “I do not know Gurlal or
Khosa, but Phoolewala is known to all Congress leaders as he is a former Block Samiti member... How can I be blamed if someone saves my number in his phone?”
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Two arrested for bid to grab Brigadier’s plot
Mohali, July 19 Mohali SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti said two of the accused had been arrested while another accused, Gurdip Singh, was at large. “We have also booked Harjinder Singh, a local SAD leader, and Canada-based NRI Karan Ghumman on the complaint of Brigadier Heer,” he said, adding that investigations were on check their role in the case. The accused had opened the fake bank account after submitting fake voter ID card, PAN card and a driving licence of Heer in June this year. The accused deposited Rs 25 lakh in the account showing the amount as an advance of the plot sale transaction. One Rajbir Singh had withdrawn the amount, said Heer. “It was by chance that my friend Jagdeep got to know about the incident and his timely action saved my property,” said Heer. The State Bank of India officials have also lodged a cheating case against Mohinder and Rajbir.
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With no word on the release of 39 Punjabi youths held hostage by terror outfit ISIS in Iraq, their family members are running out of patience and now planning to meet Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
The bypoll to two Assembly seats in Punjab, Patiala (Urban) and Talwandi Sabo, will be held on August 21 while the results would be declared on August 25.
The Election Commission announced the byelections today. Along with Punjab, bypoll will be held in three more states the same day to elect 18 legislators.
Bathinda, July 19
Patiala, July 19
Former Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira today accused senior leaders of his party of “playing a friendly match” with the Akali- BJP government, rather than taking them head-on on certain issues and acting as a formidable Opposition.
Majithia had denied the charges levelled by Khaira. Khaira today said that the Congress could have forced the Speaker to adjourn the House and sought a statement from the Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister over the issue while pressing for the resignation of Bikram
Majithia.
Sangrur, July 19
