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Punjab News
New Delhi September 3:
Setting aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) need not allow candidates to have unrestricted access to examination records under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia passed the order yesterday on petitions filed by PPSC and its former member Jaspinder Singh Jakhar, challenging the March 29, 2006 HC order. The HC had directed the PPSC to provide information to a candidate who contended that he had stood first in the 1993 examination for the post of Punjab Civil Service (PCS) Executive after the written test and interview.
However, the results were subsequently fudged due to his father’s political affiliation and under pressure from then Chief Minister it was alleged. He had sought the court’s permission to inspect the original records of the written exam and the interview to check whether the marks had been corrected/overwritten before being fed into the computer.
The candidate contended that he had come to know of the bungling from none other than Jakhar, who was on the interview board, after he had ceased to be its member. The apex court Bench, which included Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, allowed the special leave petitions filed by the PPSC and Jhakar, represented by counsel Shyam Dewan and Bimal Roy Jad.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 3:
In a first, inter-religion live-in partners have got security from the Punjab and Haryana High Court after religious heads refused to solemnize their marriage unless they converted to one religion.
That left them with the only option of marrying under the Special Marriage Act, which requires their parents to be informed. This has posed danger to their lives as their families are opposed to their marriage. Jagroop Ali and Kulwant Kaur of Moga district in Punjab sought protection from the high court.
The couple, who decided to settle into a live-in relationship after refusing to convert, was granted legal protection from the girl's enraged parents. Kulwant, who belongs to Jat Sikh community, and Jagroop Ali left their village on June 22 because Kulwant's parents were unwilling to allow their marriage.
Both of them approached gurdwaras and mosques to solemnize their marriage, but both refused as they belonged to different religions. Kulwant and Ali then pledged to live together for life. Apprehending threat from Kulwant's family, the couple moved a petition before the high court on Wednesday. Hearing the couple's plight, Justice Daya Chaudhary asked the SSP, Moga and other respondents to ensure their life and liberty.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 3:
Hell hath no fury like Punjab Mahila Congress leaders scorned. And the women are not going to sit back and lick their wounds.
In fact they plan to take their grievance to the very top -- to party President Sonia Gandhi. Their gripe - Punjab Congress leaders have divided the women quota among themselves by nominating their wives or relatives as delegates of the Punjab Pradesh Congress.
The 234-member Pradesh Congress list has left the Mahila Congress members aghast. Expecting a fair representation with 25 per cent quota being given to women delegates for the first time in the state, they now face the prospect of having been upstaged by their male colleagues yet again.
State Mahila Congress chief Ratna while talking to reporters said “even my district Presidents have been ignored in favour of nominating wives of legislators and senior party members”. Ratna said she even facilitated meetings of active women workers with Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) Usha Thakkar but to no avail. She said the present list of women delegates besides giving representation to relatives of political leaders, also consisted of women who no one had heard of till now.
Mahila district Congress presidents are a dejected lot. Amritsar city President Preeti said she had been working for the party for 15 years. “If senior leaders of the party are to indulge in ‘parivarvaad’ only, what is the use of working in the field,” she said. Preeti said she and other district Congress presidents had decided to approach Sonia Gandhi.
Amritsar (rural) chief Shivinder Kaur Boparai said she and a few others were even asked for their photographs only to find unknown women nominated as delegates yesterday. Shivinde said the Congress high command should now get party work done from the wives of legislators who do not even step out of their homes during electioneering. Gurdaspur district President Tripta Thakur said she was running two NGOs and had even contributed to the part membership drive. “We were confident that we would be nominated due to our work,” she said.
Among those who have got in their wives include Raja Sansi legislator Sukh Sarkaria, Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Mohali legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu and Nihalsinghwala legislator Ajit Singh Shant. Quila Raipur legislator Jassi Khangura has been able to win a nomination for his mother, Gurdial Kaur Khangura. Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa’s wife Charanjt Kaur and former MP Shamsher Singh Dullo’s wife, Harbans Kaur, have also been nominated. The latter two are, however, active politically.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Firozpur September 3:
Punjab Police baton-charged scores of sugar mill workers, who had gathered here to stage a demonstration against non-payment of wages for two years during a function presided over by State Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.
Badal assured them that their demands would be looked into with some seriousness, and said the issue could have been resolved in a peaceful manner. "It should be their moral responsibility not to create ruckus during a function and it is not good. We had a word with them and assured them that we will do something about it. But they still disturbed the function," said Badal.
The Chief Minister later defended himself saying that he had not ordered the baton-charge against the sugar mill owners. "I did not order the baton-charge, but the police personnel did that to control the mob. There was no need of using such an extreme action. I requested them to come and talk to me. They should sit with me and talk. Three or four people should have come to me and talk, then only 90 percent things will be solved," he added. The workers were rendered jobless after the sugar mills closed down almost 30 months ago.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 3:
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s decision to evaluate the performance of all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) across the State has not gone down well with them.
They feel that such decision would be apt only if they are given ‘freedom to perform’ in a proper manner. Recently, Sukhbir Badal announced that Punjab Government would do a performance rating of all 20 Deputy Commissioners to monitor their performance and effectiveness.
Such performance rating is already a part of the State police administration since June 2007, under which the performance of all district police chiefs—Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs)—was evaluated every month by the State Director General of Police (DGP). And as per Government officials, it’s improving results.
Contrarily, Deputy Commissioners are not a happy lot. Ruing over the State’s ‘uncooperative’ attitude, one of the Deputy Commissioners, requesting anonymity, told The Pioneer, “Evaluating the performance is fine. But they should implement this decision only when they are ready to give us full freedom to perform.”
“We are putting to test by them. The Government doesn’t cooperate fully with us. Funds are not made available to us. Only few districts are given priority and development is taking place there. We do not have any problem to pass through such test, but only if given freedom and support,” argued another DC, who does not wish to be named.
Even few DCs feel sorry about not giving them proper authority to make policy decisions, while few expressed no resistance with the decision. “We welcome the decision. We do not have any problem with that. We are authorised to take decisions which we can take at our level. Also, funds are no issue with us,” said Amritsar Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu.
Not finding any fault with the Government’s decision regarding assessing DC’s performance, Punjab State IAS Officers Association (PSIOA) president Sarvesh Kaushal told reporters, “The Government has every right to evaluate the performance of its officers in a fair and objective manner. Annual performance appraisal is a fairly standardised exercise which already exists. In case, the appraisal has to be made on monthly or quarterly or on the basis of any periodicity, it is the Government’s prerogative.”
“The appraisal is always made in the context of the challenges that he faces in terms of financial constraints, manpower deficiency and for that matter any other such issue that may be specific to a particular department or office,” added Kaushal. Regarding the evaluation process, Sukhbir Badal has already asked the State Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal to develop a performa to monitor the performance and effectiveness of all Deputy Commissioners on the pattern of senior superintendents of police and rate their performance every quarter.
The rating of the district administration chiefs will be done on the basis of their overall performance in various fields, including implementation of Government schemes and policies, ensuring proper procurement of wheat and paddy crops and other development measures initiated by them in their districts.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Ludhiana September 3:
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president, Paramjit Singh Sarna, accused the SAD of having made bogus votes for the forthcoming SGPC elections.
Addressing a press conference in Ludhiana today, Sarna said, "Bogus votes cast in the absence of photo-identity cards will hurt the religious sentiments of the Gursikhs, as this is not an election of a municipal corporation, but it is for the religious body of Sikhs, recognised world over."
The DSGMC President, raising a question mark on the 40 lakh votes made in the last five days of the registration of voters, said, "The total number of votes made in three months did not exceed 18 lakh, while the number of votes made from August 9 to 14 were 40 lakh that clearly points towards deception."
Sarna also accused Justice Harful Singh Brar, chairperson of the Sikh Gurdwara Election Commission, for having sided with the SAD, adding, "He is not doing his duty with honesty as he has not issued any statement for the photo-identity cards, thus he should step down from his chair." "We have called upon the Union Home Minister to intervene and make photo-identity cards mandatory to ensure transparency in SGPC elections," Sarna went on to add.
The DSGMC president further said that he was ready to join hands with Sikh factions opposing Badal, to contest the SGPC elections, provided the factions are not pro- Khalistan. "I am ready to talk to SAD (Amritsar) President, Simranjit Singh Mann, also, but he would have to give up his demand for Khalistan," Sarna said.
When asked about a separate gurdwara parbandhak committee for Haryana, Sarna said Haryana would have a separate committee as soon as the Badal regime came to an end in Punjab. Speaking on Rajiv-Longowal Accord, Sarna stated that Badal impaired the Accord in order to retain his chair of the Punjab Chief Minister.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Srinagar September 2:
Punjab State Government today announced a relief of Rs one crore for the rehabilitation of cloudburst and flash flood victims of Leh district in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
"There has been a natural calamity in Leh which has resulted in loss of many precious lives and devastation to the infrastructure. The Punjab Government will provide Rs one crore relief for the rehabilitation of the victims," Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters.
Badal met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at latter's residence here. He visited Leh along with a delegation of Shiromani Akali Dal MPs and MLAs, said his Punjab Government will also adopt one affected village in Leh district. "Whatever the cost of restoring the infrastructure will be borne by Punjab Government," the SAD chief said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Patiala September 2:
A special court in Punjab today allowed Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, facing a graft case, to go abroad from September 5 to 21 to attend a conference for parliamentarians at Nairobi from September 7.
The permission to Kahlon, who has been facing corruption charges in the recruitment of 909 panchayat secretaries between 1997 and 2002 when he was Rural Development Minister in previous SAD government, was given by a CBI court. Kahlon had appeared before the CBI court on August 14 and the October 5 was fixed as next date for the hearing.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
The statements of all 17 Indian boys facing the death sentence in the Sharjah murder case were recorded today by a Sharjah Sharia Appeal Court after it accepted Mohammed Arif, a Balouchi, as translator-cum-interpreter.
Relatives of eight of the 17 boys were present in the court during the recording of the statements. Divided into three groups, the Indian boys, who could not be present in the court during the last hearing on July 14, preferred to make their statements in chaste Punjabi, denying all allegations made against them. The proceedings lasted a little over an hour after which the case was adjourned till September 29.
Besides being charged with the murder of Pakistani boy Mishri Khan, the Indian boys are also facing charges for attack with an intention to murder three accomplices of the deceased. The third charge against them is their alleged involvement in the illicit liquor trade. Early this year, the Sharia Court had held them guilty on all three charges and convicted them before sentencing them to death.
The case has been hitting newspaper headlines as the 17 Indian boys were convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a Pakistani boy, who according to the prosecution, was also in the illicit liquor trade.A dispute over jurisdiction allegedly led to a clash between the two groups in which Mishri Khan was murdered and three of his accomplices, including his brother, were seriously injured.
The Indian boys facing the death sentence are Sukhjinder Singh, Sukhjot Singh, Ram Singh, Baljeet Singh, Daljeet Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Namjyot Singh, Satnam Singh, Dharampal Singh, Satgur Singh, Kashmir Singh, Sukhinder Singh, Suban Singh, Kuldip Singh, Arvinder Singh, Harjinder Singh and Tarnjit Singh.
Amandeep Singh (brother of Satgur Singh), Ranjit Kaur (wife of Dharampal Singh), Jaswinder Singh (brother of Kulwinder Singh), Balraj Singh (father of Arvinder Singh), Manjit Singh (brother of Sukhjinder Singh), Jaspreet Singh Sekhon (brother of Kuldeep Singh), Daljit Singh (brother of Baljit Singh) and Manjit Kaur (mother of Sukhjot Singh) were present in the court.
Since the appeal could not be taken up during the last two hearings on technical grounds, the courtroom was packed with relatives and friends of not only the convicted Indian boys but also with friends and relatives of the deceased and other victims. The court also directed relatives of deceased Mishri Khan to produce a proper power of attorney before allowing them to become a party in the appeal against the death sentence.
Besides a battery of lawyers engaged by the Indian Consulate General in Dubai, some prominent members of the Indian community and the UAE Singh Sabha were also present in the court. Besides Ansul Sharma (Consul for Sharjah) and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi (Congress MLA from Gurharsahai) were also present in the court during recording of the statements.
“Making of statements in Punjabi was a huge morale booster for the visiting relatives of eight of the 17 convicts. After the proceedings today, they looked convinced that their wards could convincingly plead their innocence comfortably in their own mother language and they would get justice,” says SP Singh Oberoi, who has sponsored them.
The visiting relatives were also satisfied with the conduct of the translator-cum-interpreter suggested by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Though a Balouchi, says SP Singh Oberoi, he spoke to the Indian boys in chaste Punjabi and interpreted their statements in Arabic for the jury hearing the appeal. On July 14 the court had rejected the plea of the lawyers representing the Indian boys for allowing a UAE-based Punjabi as translator-cum-interpreter.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Mohali September 2:
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal got some relief in a disproportionate assets case after the chartered accountant whose analysis report was submitted in the court by Punjab Vigilance Bureau submitted before the court of special judge, Mohali, that the report was not prepared by him.
Chartered accountant SK Srivastav, whose analysis on wealth tax and income tax of Badal-owned Dabwali Transport firm was submitted along with a chargesheet to VB, was directed by the court to appear on September 1. Srivastav submitted in the court that no such report was prepared by him and that he was merely a consultant.
The CA submitted in the court that vigilance bureau officials had forced him to sign the papers without allowing him to read the documents saying that it was a procedural formality. "The then DIG (vigilance) BK Uppal had told me that I was not allowed to read the papers as they were of confidential nature and they did not want the contents to be leaked.
"The DIG had pressurized me to sign the papers and I was told that the report would be prepared by SP, vigilance bureau, and my comments would be taken on it," he stated before the court. He informed the court that though he never affixed his stamp on papers signed by him but later he found that the documents were stamped in his name.
During the cross examination, special judge Rajinder Aggarwal asked Srivastav that why, being a CA, he did not check the correctness of report before signing it, to which Srivastav replied that he was forced to put his signature. The VB had appointed the CA as consultant for a period of four months in July 2003. When judge asked him whether he was issued any appointment letter, Srivastav said that he was given a formal letter.
"Since it's been seven years since I stopped my practice, the letter is almost untraceable," he added. The CA stated before the court that he was being paid Rs 40,000 as renumeration in two instalments of Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000. Badals, along with supporters, arrived at court in the morning.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has successfully persuaded the Congress high command to make key changes in the final 234-member Punjab Congress delegates’ list released even as senior leaders were able to get their kin “elected” in the organisational elections.
According to sources Capt Amarinder Singh was able to make three key changes. He ensured former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna was nominated from Sangrur and not Dhuri as had been recommended by Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) Usha Thakkar. He also got the nomination of former Beas legislator Jasbir Singh Dimpa changed from Amritsar East to Beas. Amarinder Singh was also successful in getting the nomination of former Patiala Mayor Vishnu Sharma, who is not in his camp now, struck off from Patiala.
Amarinder Singh also had a free rein as far as the nomination of his supporters from Patiala was concerned. Loyalists who were nominated from Patiala included former Pepsu Road Transport Corporation Chairman Ved Prakash Gupta, former Improvement Trust Chairman K K Sharma and senior leader Brij Lal Goyal. He also got a close confidant, Lally Jawanda, nominated from Dhuri.
While adjusting Amarinder Singh on three key changes, the party high command has generally gone by the list submitted to it by Pradesh Congress President Mohinder Singh Kaypee through the PRO. Kaypee, when contacted, said the party high command had only made three changes in the list submitted by him. Kaypee’s confidants, including Manoj Arora and Parminder Singh, have been nominated from Jalandhar and Ferozepur city, respectively.
Meanwhile, the party high command seems to have adjusted all senior leaders in the list released today by election committee Chairman Oscar Fernandes. Both the son Rahul Sidhu and son-in-law Vikram Bajwa of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal have been adjusted from Lehra and Sahnewal, respectively. Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa’s family has also been given due representation. Partap’s wife, Charanjit Kaur, has been nominated from the family seat of Qadian while his brother, Fatehjang Bajwa, has been nominated from Hargobindpur.
Family members of the late Beant Singh who have been adjusted included Gurkirat Singh (from Khanna) and Gurkanwal Kaur (Jalandhar Cantt). Other VIP entrants include Puducherry Governor Iqbal Singh’s son Abhay Singh.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
In a bid to decentralise the process of urban development, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal gave in-principle approval to extend the jurisdiction of six developmental authorities of Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala and Bathinda to cover the entire State.
A decision to this effect was taken by Badal during a meeting with the Chief Administrators of various authorities held at Chief Minister’s residence on Wednesday’s evening. Taking part in the deliberations, Badal asked PUDA to soon launch a housing scheme for rural poor to provide them free residential houses in the State. He also gave approval to develop urban Estate over 139 acres of land in Gurdaspur.
The CM was apprised by the Secretary Housing and Urban Development, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu that Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) would now also look after Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Rajpura in the Patiala District besides Mohali. Likewise, the jurisdiction of Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority had been extended to Moga, Nawanshahr, Ferozepur and Phillaur in Jalandhar District.
It was also decided in the meeting that these authorities would now provide the services to the public at the local level for the change of land use, licensing of colonies, completion certificates, besides the disposal of grievances of plot holders and regulating process of urban development in the respective areas.
Decentralisation of development authorities would also enable the concerned officers to focus their attention on the integrated growth of the areas in a cohesive manner, earlier it was difficult for officers at Chandigarh to take care the entire State. Chief Minister also directed the Chief Administrators of various development authorities to ensure strict implementation of the master plans in the towns and cities under their jurisdiction to give further impetus to the planned urban development in the State.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Moga September 2:
In yet another case of honour killing, a man strangled his 14-year-old sister to death in Landke village of this Punjab district, police said.
According to the police, the accused, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, murdered his sister Preeti because she was going around with a village boy for the last few weeks. "Lakhwinder was not happy with his sister as she was in a relation with a village boy. He was trying to counsel his sister but suddenly lost his temper and killed her," a police officer said.
"Lakhwinder and Preeti were alone in their house at the time of the incident. He fled away after committing the crime. We are conducting raids at various places to nab him," he added. This is the fifth case of honour killing reported in Punjab in the last few months.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu emphasised the need to use hi-tech mechanisms to check floods.
This year, at least a dozen districts of Punjab and Haryana have been lashed by floods, claiming over 50 lives. "We are sending satellites and shuttles in the space to introduce new technologies in every field. But when it comes to floods, we are still relying on the age-old methods," Sidhu, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP representing Amritsar constituency in Punjab, told reporters here.
"Every year, floods are lashing the same locations at the same time of the year but we are doing nothing to address this problem. Water is our life-line and it is proving disastrous for people due to gross mismanagement," he added. Sidhu said that the government should take the help of satellites to ascertain the probability of floods, so that the administration can make advance rescue arrangements.
Talking about the issue of match-fixing, involving Pakistan players, Sidhu said: "It is really sad that such incidents rocked international cricket. There is need for very strict rules and provisions for harsh punishments to deter players from involving in such activities."
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
Condemning the transfers of 56 Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) Congress MLA from Bholath constituency Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the mass transfers are politically motivated and against the Supreme Court guidelines.
“In a bid to set the ball rolling to systematically rig the ensuing Assembly elections of 2012, the Home Minister Sukhbir Badal has indulged in mass police transfers of officers personally loyal to him violating the Supreme Court orders as well as the Punjab Police Act, 2008 adopted by the SAD-BJP Government,” said Khaira during a media briefing.
As per the Supreme Court judgement, all officers from the rank of SHO to DGP posted in the field, are to have a fixed tenure of minimum two years. Such officers according to the Supreme Court are not to be transferred unless “it is found necessary to remove them prematurely following disciplinary proceedings against them or their conviction in a criminal offence or in a case of corruption if the incumbent is otherwise incapacitated from discharging his responsibility”.
All 18 district police chief’s transferred had less than two years tenure in the district. Most of the SSPs transferred have spent less than six months in districts, this is not only violation of the Supreme Court order but also an insult to IPS officers as majority posted now are of PPS cadre.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Amritsar September 2:
Punjab police and Amritsar district administration remained clueless about the whereabouts of a Pakistani prisoner who has disappeared from a jail here.
According to police, Nayamat Ali disappeared under mysterious circumstances Tuesday. He was arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) an year ago for illegally entering India in the Lopoke area near Amritsar.
"So far we have not got any breakthrough in the case," Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu told reporters. Jail officials said that Ali had completed his term Friday and he was waiting for his release and repatriation home. However, the jail authorities were taken by surprise when they found Ali missing from the prison.
An inquiry was initiated and three jail wardens, who were on duty, were suspended for negligence. According to sources, Ali was last seen in his barrack Sunday afternoon. "Ali was also not mentally stable. It is impossible for him to cross the 24-foot-high boundary wall of the jail," said a jail official.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 2:
The SAD-BJP Government under dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal might have logged several successes, but their bureaucrats have failed to update the official websites, the key gateway to know how the Government is performing.
The outdated websites gives the impression that nothing has happened since SAD-BJP came to power, as the information available is quite old, dating as back as 2003-04 and 2004-05, when the Congress was in power in the State. The Government’s annual plan is still not updated. If you click at ‘Economy and Infrastructure,’ the data of Punjab economy is shown the years 2003-04 and 2004-05. That too is not quite comprehensive.
The updating the official websites is the responsibility of the Department of Information of Technology in consultation with the Department of Planning and Statistics, and other departments. This has, however, gone for a toss, though the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is known for adopting zero tolerance towards such red tapism. If you wish to know the latest information under the head of ‘Indus try and Investment,’ the information relates to the year of 2005.
The number of people employed in the industries is for the year 2005 and statistics of yearly export from Punjab is for 2004-05. Literacy rate has not been updated in the websites under the link of ‘education.’ However, statistics of present literacy rate given is around 70 per cent, which is as per Census 2001. Similarly, when one sees what is under the head of ‘School Education’, the number of school is also not updated. The data is for 2003-04, while students’ enrolment information is for the year 2002.
So is the case with ‘agriculture.’ The updation has been pending since long. It talks about the cropping pattern in 1950s. The agriculture gross domestic product (GDP) rate is for 1960 to ‘61. The figure of small scale units in Punjab is for 2002. The pictures in the websites have also been updated since the long time. Several pictures of roads, buildings in industry section of the websites are very old. While on seeing the whole websites, most of the statistics is for 2006. This shows that the websites has not been updated since onwards when the SAD-BJP took up the reins in 2007.
When you click on ‘Punjab at a glance,’ the data pertaining administrative structure, population, local bodies, climate, average area and production of crops, co-operatives, irrigation, energy, forest, industries, medical and health, husbandry and banking are for 2005-2006. When a senior functionary in the office of CM Badal was informed about the non-updation of the websites, he said that he would personally look into the matter. “This is how the Government system works. I just cannot believe that the official websites has not been updated for years. It is a matter of chance that I too did never check the site, as we are so busy with official engagements,” said the official, while talking to reporters.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 1:
Four prisoners were injured, two of them seriously, when a clash broke out between them in Punjab's Bathinda town Wednesday, police said.
The clash occurred when the prisoners were being taken by a police escort for a local court hearing from the Bathinda jail. "Two of the prisoners are seriously injured and have been admitted to the civil hospital for treatment. The other two were also given medical attention," a police official said. He said investigations into the clash were in progress.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Amritsar September 1:
Two men, allegedly based in Britain, have been booked on charges of duping a job applicant here of nearly Rs.1.5 lakh, police said Wednesday.
"A case of cheating has been registered against Mark Sandwill and Daniel Frog. We are trying to ascertain whether the two men were residents of Britain or some other country," a police official said. Jatinderpal Singh Sohal complained to the police he appeared for a job interview with a British company in 2007.
"They selected me and asked me to submit around 740 pounds as visa fees and 1,000 pounds for the work permit. I immediately transferred the amount into the account number given by them," he said. "After this, the two disappeared and stopped answering my calls. I then contacted the British High Commission to enquire the credentials of the company. They told me that no such company existed in the UK," Sohal said.
Meanwhile, Punjab police have begun their investigation and are planning to seek the help of Interpol to crack the case. "We are looking into all aspects of this matter. Police are trying to trace the details of account number given by the accused. We will coordinate with other district police to check if they had received any similar complaint in the past," said Sanjeev Kumar, the investigation officer of the case in Amritsar, about 250 km from here.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Gurdaspur September 1:
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said there were no differences between ruling coalition partners Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP in the state.
The SAD-BJP tie-up was of permanent nature and would remain so in future, he told mediapersons here. The alliance had stood the test of time and there were no differences between the two parties, he said. Badal rejected allegations levelled by the Congress that his government had neglected Majha and Doaba regions at the cost of Malwa in terms of development.
Local Congress leaders had alleged the state government had not set up any major project in Majha and Doaba belts. All the major projects had been established in Malwa region, they had alleged. "No region has been given preferential treatment at the cost of others," the Chief Minister said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh September 1:
The State Information Commissioner has directed a public information officer (PIO) to get an FIR lodged against his own department for the “destruction” of records.
Taking up an appeal filed by ex-superintending engineer KK Vashisht, State Information Commissioner Jaspal Kaur ordered that the PIO in the office of the Secretary PWD (B&R) not just initiate proceedings for lodging of an FIR for the destroyed records but also provide details to the commission as to who was responsible. Vashisht had filed an appeal on July 23 stating that an incomplete information had been provided to him by the PIO and the first appellant authority.
The PIO denied information to Vashisht on the grounds that the file related to his case was not with the secretary’s office and had been destroyed, as the record was 18-year-old. Vashisth, however, alleged that he was ignored when he was due for promotion and information related to his case had been withheld intentionally and some of it even destroyed.
Stating that a “major objective of the RTI Act, 2005, has been to promote good governance so as to ensure a reasonable degree of accountability and performance in the working of the public authorities,” Jaspal Kaur pointed out that in the course of hearing, it had clearly emerged that the PIO had withheld the record for malafide reasons or “there may be other form of mischief leading to the destruction of records.”
She ordered that the PIO would identify and furnish the details of officials responsible for this on the basis of which action would be initiated against them. She ordered that the PIO fix responsibility and register an FIR and also file an affidavit regarding the non-existence of the record, failing which penal proceedings will be initiated against all those who will be responsible for non-compliance.
Roping in the first appellate authority also for not passing any order within 30 days, she directed them to file an explanation to this effect before the next date of hearing.” The case has been adjourned to September 29.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Ferozepur September 1:
The troopers of the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 18 hand-grenades from the fields of Rampur village in Punjab's Ferozepur district, bordering Pakistan, officials said here.
"We received a complaint from Surinder Singh, a farmer, who found a grenade while working in his fields. We launched a search operation and found 17 more grenades Monday," a BSF official said. "We have handed over these grenades to the local police. Besides, we have also increased our patrolling near the border in this area," the official said.
The village is situated near Fazilka town in Ferozepur, around 250 km from here. "The explosives have been taken into possession and police are raiding various places in the nearby areas to nab the persons concerned. The help of forensic experts and sniffer dogs is being taken," Fazilka Deputy Superintendent of Police Karamjit Singh told reporters. During the last few months, Punjab police have arrested at least 20 terrorists and recovered explosives from various parts of the state.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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New Delhi/Chandigarh September 1:
SAD MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal raised the issue regarding rotting of 40 lakh tonnes of paddy of PAU-201 variety worth `4,000 crore in the Lok Sabha. Leader of House Pranab Mukherjee assured Badal an early solution to this problem.
In a call for attention motion, Badal blamed Union Health Ministry officials for deliberately applying stricter provisions of PFA Act on PAU-201 variety of paddy resultantly that 40 lakh tonnes paddy worth over `4,000 crore and enough to feed 50 lakh hungry people for one full year was being left to rot and decay in open cap storages for the past 11 months.
She brought to the notice of the House that 40 lakh tonnes of paddy that was procured by the State on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in October last year was rejected for lifting by FCI citing that the Health Ministry had rejected the variety as ‘damaged’ because the grains are one per cent more broken than the acceptable norm and some grains have a pin point black spot on them.
She also quoted the reports of ICAR and FSSAI supporting this variety of PAU — 201. She pointed out that out of the 75 samples that FSSAI authority took for testing PAU — 201, they declared that 66 out of 75 were absolutely fine and only 9 samples had slightly damage due to pin-point blackened grains.
Justifying the high moisture content in the samples, Badal pointed out that these three elements creep in when the paddy is stored for a longer period in the open. She said that if the paddy was stored in open storage for a long period moisture contents would be more and because of moisture it would be prone to breakage, and all scientists know that aflatoxin is a derivative result of inadequate storage only.
Giving the background of the problem Badal pointed out that in order to meet the demand of an increasing population and decreasing agricultural land, the progressive Punjab Agriculture University had developed PAU — 201 that had higher yield than other varieties and consumed less water and due to its short duration is environment friendly.
She said that this variety was duly field-tested and approved by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the apex scientific research body under the Agriculture Ministry. She informed that after due clearance and seeing the environmental benefits of this variety, the State of Punjab whose biggest concern today is to save its depleting water due to the paddy cultivation during the last three decades, promoted this variety as due to its short duration it not only produces higher 11 per cent yield but also consumes almost 20 per cent less water.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Amritsar September 1:
A Pakistani prisoner disappeared from a high-security jail in this Punjab city under mysterious circumstances, police said.
According to the police, the prisoner was identified as Nayamat Ali and he was arrested an year ago for illegally entering India in the Lopoke area near this holy Sikh city. A jail official said that Ali had completed his term Friday and he was waiting for his release and repatriation home. However, the jail authorities were taken by surprise when they found Ali missing from the prison.
The authorities have launched an extensive search operation to trace him. "We have suspended four wardens who were on duty for being negligent in their work. An inquiry has been initiated into the case and we have launched a massive search operation," jail superintendent G.S. Sandhu, said. According to the sources, Ali was last seen in his barrack Sunday afternoon. "Ali was also not mentally stable. It is impossible for him to cross the 24-feet high boundary walls of the jail," said a jail official.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Jalandhar September 1:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa that the Union Agriculture Ministry would examine the issues related to the PAU-201 variety of paddy soon. “I took up this issue with the Prime Minister early this morning,” said Bajwa on phone from Delhi.
There are many issues related to the PAU-201 variety. “I briefed the Prime Minister regarding the problems faced by all, including rice millers, procurement agencies, etc because of this variety,” said Bajwa. The Food Corporation of the India (FCI) had refused to accept the rice prepared from this variety because it had a high percentage of damaged rice and grains were affected by pin-point sized black spots.
On the Punjab government’s insistence, the government procurement agencies and millers had procured the PAU-201 variety last year. Of it about 15 lakh tonne paddy is lying with mills, mostly in the Mansa-Bathinda belt. Besides, five lakh tonne rice prepared from it is also lying with mills. Bajwa said the Prime Minister was keen to resolve the issue. Recently, a Central team had got samples of this variety from various places to get it re-tested from recognised labs.
Bharti Kisan Union leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had last year visited the Khanna mandi during the paddy procurement season to listen to all concerned with regard to the issues related to the PAU-201. “No one from the PAU turned up at Khanna to brief Pawar about the important features of the PAU-201 and about the pin-point black spots owing to which the FCI was not accepting the rice prepared from the central pool,” said Rajewal.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Attari Border September 1:
One hundred Indian fishermen, who were languishing in different Pakistani jails for the last two years returned to their homeland through the Attari-Wagah joint check post, an official said.
Acccording to the official, all the freed Indians were natives of Gujarat and they also included two teenaged boys. Indian fishermen were very enthusistic after touching their home soil. "We are very happy that we have finally succeeded in returning but there are still many innocent Indians lodged in Pakistan jails. It was like living in hell. There were no medical facilities and we were given very poor food to eat," said one of the fishermen.
The Pakistani authorities had promised to release 442 Indian fishermen after human rights activists had fought a legal battle in the country's Supreme Court against their illegal arrest. This was the first batch of 100 fishermen. According to official sources at Attari border, the second batch of 100 fishermen will leave Malir prison in Karachi Sep 2, the third batch of 101 prisoners will leave on Sept 4 whereas the last batch of 141 prisoners will reach India Sep 6.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh August 31:
The ongoing tussle within the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance seems to have been resolved much to the satisfaction of the BJP.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has assured the BJP high command of releasing adequate funds for development of urban constituencies with BJP political interests. BJP’s Punjab in charge Yashwant Sinha, who met Badal over dinner last night, announced, “The issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of the BJP.
” The CM has assured release of Rs 800 crore over two years, but said that the grant would be part of a development package for the state being prepared by the government. Sinha’s visit to the state became imperative after the BJP state leadership voiced its disillusionment with its alliance partner and accused it of “ignoring the BJP vote bank and diverting all developmental funds to rural areas”.
The BJP had termed the lopsided distribution of developmental funds as “betrayal of trust” and accused the SAD of not fulfilling its “coalition dharma”. Party insiders, however, say that Badal was initially reluctant to accede to the BJP’s demand but relented on Sinha’s persuasion. Sinha while commenting on what transpired between him and Badal said, “The SAD has fulfilled its coalition dharma and we are satisfied with it. The finer details about grants are being worked out and will be known over the next few days.”
Sinha, however, hinted that the BJP would accept the development package for the whole state as a solution since “the BJP was for development of the entire states and it had an obligation for all people of Punjab, irrespective of urban or rural habitation”. The bureaucrat-turned-politician wriggled out of the situation saying he was yet to go into details of issues since he was made BJP’s Punjab in-charge only recently.
Sensing the mood of the SAD leadership, Sinha said that the SAD had agreed to their demand but desisted from making an immediate announcement. “The SAD-BJP alliance is a durable alliance. We value this alliance that extends to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the national level. Both parties understand each other’s importance and are working to further strengthen it (the alliance). The situation should not be taken as a defeat or victory for any side as in an alliance both win or both lose.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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Chandigarh August 31:
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called for an immediate upward revision of compensation to the farmers-affected by the natural calamities from a meagre amount of Rs 1,600 to Rs 10,000 per acre, especially in the case of Punjab to compensate the farmers up to the average yield of the crop in the State.
Badal further said that the Centre should also permit the States to use up to 10 of the amount available under calamity relief fund for flood protection works. He, however, said that the State Government had been providing compensation to the flood-affected farmers at Rs 5,000 per acre from its own Budget.
The Chief Minister also emphasised the need to ensure easy availability of agricultural credit at 4 per cent rate of interest to the farmers in order to meet their cash requirements for the purchase of the most modern agricultural equipments, in view of agriculture being a highly capital intensive now-a-days. Underlining the need to accept the recommendations of the National Farmers’ Commission appointed by Government of India under MS Swaminathan, the Chief Minister said the MSP must be fixed by providing a margin of 50 per cent over the cost of production to encourage the farmers to invest in high cost production technology.
He also demanded assured procurement of crops at MSP and pointed out although the MSP was fixed for 23 crops, but the commitment to procure at MSP was seldom honored except in case of wheat and paddy that too in selected States. As a result, the farmers do not get even MSP, adding he said the remunerative price was the most important incentive to the farmers for adoption of latest technology and therefore the increase in prices of the agricultural produce must keep pace with the increase in the inputs prices, and land rent and labour.
Highlighting the aspect of mechanisation of agriculture in Punjab due to intensive cultivation, Badal said it had led to over capitalisation of agriculture, which ultimately resulted in the enhancement of cost of production and thus rural indebtedness.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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Chandigarh August 31:
Finally, Punjab will get its first Mega Food Park. Involving a capital infusion of Rs 150 crore, the park would be developed at Fazilka in Ferozepur district by a consortium led by agro unit —International Fresh Farm Products. Earlier, the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ had given its nod to set up the park at Jalandhar.
“The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries has awarded the project to International Fresh Farm Products Limited for its development, which will see an investment of Rs 130 crore to Rs 150 crore, and the park will be set up at Fazilka,” said a senior official of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC), which is the nodal agency for agro and food processing industries.
The project was in limbo since long following the Ministry is launching this scheme under its 11th five-year plan. `3,700 crore scheme to set up 10 such parks throughout the country, which was launched with the aim to provide common infrastructure required for processing, packaging, quality control labs and trade facilitation centres at one place.
The six States — Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have already laid the foundation stones for setting up of first of its kind ‘food parks’. To be spread across 50 acres of land, the park would boast hi-tech infrastructure meant for agro or food-processing sector along with value chain from farm to market that would help in attracting investments in food processing sector and fetch remunerative returns for farmers.
The proposed park would also have Central Processing Centre (CPC), where food processing units would be set up, supported by common infrastructure and farm level facilities in the form of collection centres and primary processing centres and other need based infrastructure. Punjab is among the four States, which have been termed as potential location for setting up a park by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
Following the invitation by PAIC seeking applications for setting up of parks, six companies including Bector’s Food (Cremica Group), Brattle Foods and International Farm Fresh had submitted their proposals. Considered to give great boost to the food processing industry in Punjab, the park would provide excellent infrastructure for food processing industry along the value chain from the farm to the market.
Despite, having high vast production base, the processing level has always been a cause of worry for the region, which calls for the grave need to have a separate policy for food processing industrial policy. According to reliable sources, it is estimated that the annual wastage of agricultural food items is about Rs 50,000 in the whole country, occurring at various stages of handling after harvesting. “A developed food processing industrial policy will not only reduce wastages but will fetch remunerative income to farmers,” said sources.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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Patiala August 31:
Thapar University, Patiala, has come up with a mission titled “Vision 2030” as per which the university will focus on research projects relating to the ‘Preservation of Environment and Energy’ and ‘Study of Small and Medium Scale Industries’’.
SM Trehan, the new chairman of the Board of Governors, Thapar University, and managing director of Gautam Thapar-led Avantha Group Company Crompton Greaves, said the aim was to making Thapar a world-class university to ensure that students stop going abroad for higher studies.
Trehan said: “We do not want to produce more degree holders, rather we want our students to contribute towards the betterment of the society. As an engineer, I look forward to interacting with my students and faculty. I am confident that Thapar University will continue to act as a major engine of science and technical development nationally.”
University director Dr Abhijit Mukherjee said: “Thapar University aspires to become a globally recognised technological university. Trehan, with his experience of developing an Indian multinational like Avantha Group Company Crompton Greaves, brings special expertise in that direction. We envisage that international students will find it attractive to pursue higher education at Thapar University.”
He further said Thapar University was actively collaborating with peers like Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, Tampere University of Technology, Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. Now, faculty from these universities had started joining Thapar.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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Chandigarh August 31:
More than two years after the Punjab and Haryana High Court reversed its own committees' recommendations and placed at least 31 PCS (Judicial) officers back in the judgement seat, the Supreme Court has refused to interfere in the matter.
A three-judge Bench of the High Court had ordered the reinstatement of the petitioner-officers belonging to the 1998, 1999 and 2000 batches. Soon after the passing of the orders on the judicial side, the high court on the administrative side decided to move the apex court against the directions.
Deciding on March 18 the special leave petition filed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, the three-judge Bench of Justice Deepak Verma, Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan refused to overturn the orders. In response, the high court again moved the apex court for review. Taking up the review petitions, the same Bench of the Supreme Court asserted: “Having gone through the review petitions and the connected papers, we do not find any ground to review the order. The review petitions are accordingly dismissed”.
Nearly six years after the "first committee" recommended the termination of officers belonging to 1998-2001 batches subsequent to the unearthing of the alleged Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) scam, the three-judge Bench of the High Court on May 27, 2008, ordered the reinstatement of the petitioners before it. All appointments were made during the tenure of the then PPSC Chairman, Ravinderinder Singh Sidhu.
he Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain, Justice H.S. Bhalla and Justice Rajesh Bindal, had ruled: "The petitioners in respect of 1998, 1999 and 2000 batches are ordered to be reinstated". Going into the background of the matter, the Bench had observed that the Full Court, at a meeting held on May 25, 2002, passed a resolution, constituting a committee of four judges "in light of the disturbing reports appearing in the Press and the electronic media, containing allegations against certain judges of this court and their wards". The committee observed that the awards given to them could not be justified.
On August 12, 2002, the Full Court accepted the committee's report and recommended the termination of the officers belonging to all four batches. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Bhalla had ruled: “There is nothing on record which could spell out that the entire selection process of the 1998 batch was vitiated on account of mala fides of biasness… It is ipso facto clear that even after boarding a sinking ship, the petitioners have been able to sail through the stormy winds raised by the committee of Judges of this court on the administrative side on the platform of suspicion. As such, the bread of the petitioners is required to be revived on the judicial side.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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New Delhi August 30:
The Government today moved in the Rajya Sabha the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, which seeks to ensure early compensation to victims of any accident in nuclear power plants.
The Bill with 18 amendments has already been passed by the Lok Sabha. It has raised liability to Rs 1,500 cr as against Rs 500 crore as proposed earlier. ''The Bill provides for civil liability for nuclear damage, prompt compensation to the victims through a no fault liability regime channelling liabilitry to the operator,'' Minister for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said moving the bill in the House.
It seeks to set up a Claims Commissioner and establishes Nuclear Damage Claims Commission. Mr Chavan made a strong plea to the House to pass the bill, saying the country wants to avoid a situation like Bhopal Gas tragedy in which victims had to wait for 25 years to get compensation. He said it was high time that the country considered nuclear energy as a viable option as it needed electricity for its rapid development.
In the country's energy mix, coal had the highest share but was contributing to carbon emissions, and entailed the problem of getting rid of the ash. The hydro power too had environmental consequences and the solar energy was at present too expensive to be tapped. The Minister said that though India developed its own nuclear energy facilities, especially after international sanctions in the wake of Pokhran nuclear tests, the quality of uranium found here was low and its mining was too costly as compared to international prices.
That was why the UPA Government had entered into the 123 agreement with the USA to end its international nuclear isolation. The next step was to start nuclear commerce and for that the country had to have a civil liability law for any nuclear accidents, hence the Bill, he said. Mr Chavan sought to underline that fixing the limit was necesary so that the operator could take insurance cover and not get away from paying compensation by saying that it was bankrupt.
The Minister said the liability limit of Rs 1,500 cr was exactly equal to what it was in the US. India is the first country to put a responsibility on supplier too, he said. He said the Bill had been brought after wide discussions with all stakeholders and political parties, and their views were accomodated through 18 amendments, and if needed more changes could be brought in future.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Chandigarh August 30:
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha Monday said the alliance between his party and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab was solid and unbreakable.
"I want to tell you that the alliance will continue. There is no misunderstanding between both sides," Sinha, newly-appointed as the BJP in-charge for Punjab, told reporters here. Sinha was addressing the media at the official residence of BJP minister in the Punjab government, Manoranjan Kalia, who had last week once again raised the issue of "differences" between the Akali Dal and BJP over state-level issues.
"Akali Dal is continuously ignoring us while taking decisions on pertinent matters, including many developmental projects that were started in the state. The constituencies and areas ruled by BJP are being ignored," Kalia, Punjab's local government and industries minister, had told reporters last week. He added: "There is difference in allocation of money meant for development purposes. We had also taken up this matter with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal."
But Sinha Monday clarified that there were no serious differences between the two alliance partners. "Our alliance is a natural one and has been there for a number of years. It will continue for years to come. We are in the government (with the Akali Dal) because we have a responsibility towards the people of Punjab," Sinha said. The Akali Dal and BJP have been running an alliance government in Punjab since March 2007.
Differences have cropped up between both sides from time to time but they have been sorted out by BJP's central leadership. The Akali Dal has no clear mandate in the assembly to stay in power in Punjab and has to bank on the BJP, which has 19 legislators in the 117-member assembly, to remain in power.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Chandigarh August 30:
A man in his mid-20s has been killed in Punjab's Sangrur district, police said Monday and suspected it to be a case of honour killing.
The body of Raja Ram was recovered early Monday by his relatives and the police from railway tracks in a village near Sangrur, about 130 km from Chandigarh.
A police official investigating the death said Raja Ram got married with Manjit Kaur last month against the wishes of her family. Ram's relatives allege that he was killed by the Manjit Kaur's family members.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Ferozepur August 30:
The Border Security Force (BSF) have deployed boats to patrol the flooded areas near the fenced Pakistan border in Punjab's Ferozepur district.
BSF officials said the level of water in the Satluj river rose after Pakistan released water from its side. "A lot of water is filled in the low-lying areas here. Water is also near the fencing areas, so, due to this we have increased the personnel in our water wing, and we are dominating the area like this," said Bachu Ram, a BSF Post Commander.
"Many instructions have come from our seniors related to the waterborne diseases, which we are taking care of. We are taking care of the medication here. There are snake-biting kits available at every point. Our medical officers are visiting here regularly. The anti-malaria fogging is also done on a regular basis," he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Ferozepur August 30:
Strong current the Sutlej today washed away pipe culvert bridge, located between Kamalwala and Kilchian villages in the district, and subsequently snapped links of five villages and one border observation post (BOP) with the city.
The bridge on the inlet of Buddha creek collapsed when some labourers were filling sand alongside its approaches to strength the same. Information revealed that the gushing water started entering fields and within a few minutes about 300 acres was inundated. The residents fear that by tomorrow, the water would cover a wider stretch of fields upto Mallanwala.
With the collapse of the bridge, people have been forced to cover longer distance to reach villages like Basti Rajput wali, Chugge Lal Singh, Nihale Wala and their neighbouring localities. The shortest link of Kasso Ke BOP has also been snapped and it could now be approached only by covering additional distance of about 20 km.
Information revealed that the water was leaking from the bundhs raised alongside the bridge for the past three days. All of a sudden a big crack developed in the bundh and within minutes the entire structure was washed away. “The pipe culvert bridge was constructed over inlet Buddha creek to stop the water of the Sutlej from reaching Basti Ram Lal Wala area to avoid flooding as it was already under water,” stated a senior functionary of the Drainage Department.
He added, “When the level of the water started receding today, it caused breach in the bundhs constructed alongside pipe culvert bridge. We have started plugging the breach and reconstructing the bridge. Hopefully within three days, it will be opened for public use.” The crops in only the area located inside the Buddha creek were damaged.
The people had cultivated there despite the fact that it was a low lying area and prone to floods, he claimed, adding there was no threat to populated areas. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said situation was under control and every possible measure was being taken to save the crops.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Chandigarh August 30:
To uplift the social status of girls and to reduce school dropout rate, the Punjab government has provided Rs four crore during the current financial year under the Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme in the state.
An official spokesman today said that the girls born on or after 26 January, 1996 in the families living below poverty line (BPL) with annual income below Rs 20,000 would be covered under this scheme. The family of the beneficiary was required to adopt two child norm and two girl children would be covered.
He said the state government would invest Rs 5000 for each beneficiary with life insurance corporation. At the age of six years, the child would get a scholarship of Rs 1200 per annum up to the age of twelve years which would be increased to Rs 2400 per annum up to the age of 18 years.
For the girl child attaining the age of 18 years, a lump sum amount would be paid through LIC at the time of maturity. The beneficiary must get the matric level qualification. The member would have the option to avail the lump sum benefit on attaining age of 21 years.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Patiala August 30:
A consortium of the Indian Farmers Association (IFA) will file a writ petition in the Supreme Court for the implementation of recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by renowned agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan.
President of the state unit of the IFA Satnam Singh Behru said they would file the petition in the apex court in the first week of September. He said the IFA had already consulted lawyers and a panel of three advocates would take up their case in the SC.
Behru said the Centre had failed to implement the recommendations made by eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. He said despite repeated requests to the government, a report drafted by the NCF had not been implemented following which they had decided to move the court.
“The successive governments have ignored problems being faced by farmers. During the past two decades, about two lakh farmers have committed suicide the state as they failed to cope up with the rising input costs and debt trap,” said Behru. He further said as per the report prepared by PAU, Ludhiana, 2,890 farmers committed suicides in Bathinda and Sangrur districts during the period 2000 to 2008.
He added that there was immediate need to implement the recommendations and the government should change its anti-farmer policies that were forcing poor farmers to commit suicide. Alleging that the Centre neglected the rising input costs in production while fixing MSP for crops, Behru demanded that the Centre should give constitutional status to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
“A separate Budget for the agriculture sector should be tabled in Parliament for the proper allocation of funds to the agriculture sector. Farming is no longer a safe occupation and a crop insurance policy should be introduced by the Centre,” he demanded.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Jalandhar August 30:
Scores of members of the Contract Multipurpose Health Workers Union, Punjab, who staged a state-level dharna in front of the residence of Punjab Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, were forcibly dispersed by the police. The police had to resort to a mild cane charge to disperse the agitators from the site.
The contractual workers of the Health Department today assembled to attend a convention in the local Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall in the morning and later marched up to the minister’s residence. The union had decided to hold the convention at Jalandhar after Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla turned down their demands and even refused to listen to their grievances, claimed Kiranjit Kaur, president of the union.
Up in arms against the Health Minister and the state government, the irate protesters reached outside Kalia’s residence and staged a dharna for over three hours. The protesters were demanding “same work same pay”, claiming that the multipurpose health workers (MHWs) employed on contractual basis were denied the salary and perks which the regular MHWs were availing. Moreover, the MHWs are also “discriminated against” while paying salaries.
Talking to reporters, Sarabjit Kaur, general secretary of the union, said over 29,000 MHWs, who are recruited on contractual basis, are getting salaries almost three time less that that of the regular MHWs for the same nature of work. The contractual MHWs are also debarred from other benefits and allowances.
A delegation of the protesting MHWS later submitted a memorandum of their demands to the minister and terminated the dharna. The union has decided to hold district-level rallies from September 7 onwards and threatened to gherao the office of the director in Chandigarh on September 24 if their demands were not met.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Patiala August 30:
Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) Parminder Dhindsa said that as many as 18 new Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) and flyovers would be constructed in the state. He also announced that a project for four-laning of Zirakhpur-Bahadurgarh National Highway and six-laning of Bahadurgarh-Patiala would be initiated.
Addressing the gathering here after laying the foundation stone of the project for widening of Patiala-Rajpura road to Gurudwara Nim Sahib Road (via Daunkala), Akar village , at a cost of Rs 4.59 crore, Dhindsa said that the road widening project would be completed in one years’ time. “The existing road covering stretch of 9 km would be widened,” he added. Dhindsa also said for the clearance of construction of new ROBs in Punjab, the case has been sent to the Railway Ministry.
“The work of ROB at Bahadurgarh-Ghanaur connecting to Shambhu Road at an estimated cost of Rs 39 crore would be initiated soon. The work of eight-laning of Rajpura-Ludhiana Highway is proceeding at war footing,” added Dhindsa. The minister said that so far 125 km of Link Roads in Patiala district had been widened at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Jalandhar August 30:
Following the recent attacks on Sikhs in Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits have openly come in their support. They have demanded full protection to Sikhs residing in Kashmir.
DN Bajaj, president of the Harmukh Kashmiri Welfare Samiti formed by the Kashmir Pandits, who had migrated from the militancy-hit state in 1989 and settled in Jalandhar - said the Sikhs should not face the same fate as they had met about two decades ago.
Talking to media at a function of the samiti here, Bajaj said separatist forces aided by Pakistan were behind the attacks on Sikhs in Kashmir. He said the Centre and the J&K Government should ensure safety and security of the Sikhs to thwart the nefarious plans of these forces.
Stating about their own plight, Bajaj said most of the families migrated from Kashmir to Jalandhar over two decades ago were still struggling for their proper settlement here. Some of the migrated Kashmiri Pandits had sold their immovable properties in Kashmir at throwaway prices, whereas those of the others have already ruined, he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 30,
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Chandigarh August 29:
Claiming that country's internal and external security was under "serious crisis," BJP today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make a statement in Parliament on the reported deployment of missiles by China along the international border with India.
"A Pentagon report says that China had deployed missiles along the international border with India and Pakistan is also handing over certain areas of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to China," BJP leader Rajnath Singh told reporters here.
"The PM must make a suo moto statement on the issue in Parliament tomorrow", Rajnath said, adding UPA government has no comprehensive action plan for internal and external security of the country which was under serious crisis. "What China is upto in concern with India on security front, the PM must tell the factual position in the parliament tomorrow... the entire country and people are worried due to report by Pentagon," the former BJP national president said.
Opposing special status to Jammu and Kashmir as per the Constitution, Rajnath demanded that Article 370 must be abrogated. "Jammu and Kashmir should not get autonomy...US is pressurising India for more autonomy to J and K, but this should not happen at any cost...Article 370 must be scrapped.. Jammu and Kashmir must get same status as is being granted to other states of the country," he said. Rajnath said BJP was of the firm opinion that till Jammu and Kashmir had special status there would be no permanent solution to problems in that state.
The former BJP chief the Centre was not following the unanimous decision of the Parliament to take control of POK at all cost. "Infact, Pakistan is handing over certain areas of POK to China," he claimed. Taking strong exception to the recent term "saffron terrorism" used by Home Minister P Chidambaram Rajnath said, "Saffron is a symbol of devotion, dedication, service and sacrifice, but the Home minister is linking the colour to terrorism... the tri-colour too has saffron colour what does the PM and Home Minister think about it."
He said the PM even the President should take cognisance of BJP's protest against the use of the term by Chidambaram and added that BJP had never said it was Islamic terrorism. Rajnath also lashed out at the Centre for "misusing" CBI and said, "misuse of constitutional organisations by the government at the Centre is not good for the healthy democracy."
He also ruled out reshuffle in portfolios of some BJP ministers in Parkash Singh Badal cabinet and added the alliance between Akali Dal and BJP was "natural" and there are no differences between the two partners in Punjab.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Amritsar August 29:
Senior BJP leader and former External Affairs minister Yashwant Sinha today said India should have no dialogue with Pakistan till it stopped encouraging terrorist activities from its soil.
''India must tell Pakistan in clear terms that it would have no dialogue with them unless it stops supporting terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir,'' Mr Sinha said while talking to reporters here.
The BJP leader said during the NDA rule when he had visited Islamabad, Pakistan had taken a commitment in a joint statement that it would not allow any terrorists training centres on its soil. India must make Pakistan stick to its assurance in this regard and stop the dialogue with the neighbouring country till it fulfilled its promise.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Patiala August 29:
The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has issued a white paper on spillage from Bhakra reservoir, demanding that BBMB must allow filling up to 1,685 feet in case the inflow picks up in coming days.
AIPEF members said BBMB had opened the spill way gates at Bhakra for five days from August 22 to 27, releasing 1,00,947 cusec of water with an energy loss of 814 lakh units at Bhakra and a consequential energy loss of 308 lakh units at Anandpur Sahib Hydro Project. The total energy loss due to spillage comes out to be 1,122 lakh units. Thus if the spillage had not taken place, the water could have been utilized in the subsequent months to generate power.
From August 22 to 27, the total quantum of inflow in the dam was 3.96 lakh cusec days (LCD), out of which 2.18 LCD was utilized for power generation, 0.77 LCD was stored and 1.01 LCD was spilled. Thus, 25.5% of the inflows were spilled while 55% were utilized for generation and 19.5% were stored. On August 24, when inflow in Sutlej Areas down stream of Bhakra dam was already high due to rains and consequently high inflow in seasonal rivulets, the additional spillage of 25,000 cusecs from Bhakra, when the reservoir level was at a comfortable 1,673 feet was totally unjustified.
This is one major contributory factor resulting in the breach near Anandpur Sahib, alleged AIPEF. In earlier years, the Bhakra filling limit was 1,680 on August 31 while the additional inflow between August 31 and September 20 could be stored up to 1,685 since the filling season of Bhakra is up to September 20.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Jalandhar August 29:
The issue of floods in Punjab and inadequate compensation being given by the government was raised by Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Amritsar, Navjot Sidhu, in Parliament.
As Centre came in for sharp criticism, Sidhu also took a dig at the state government's disaster management infrastructure. Sidhu said the norms for working out compensation were ridiculous. "I strongly advocate changing these," he added. He said there was a strong need to prevent floods rather than handing out paltry sums as compensation afterwards.
"Water can be India's greatest strength, but due to its mismanagement, it is becoming a curse for the people," he said. Holding that the amount of compensation was very low, Sidhu pointed out that the country in which tomatoes were costing Rs 75 per kg, pulses were Rs 100 per kg and turmeric Rs 250 per kg, the victims were getting Rs 20 daily as compensation from the calamity relief fund.
"Even fodder for cattle costs Rs 100 to 150 for a day," he said. Sidhu mentioned that just sowing of a field cost Rs 2,000 to 2,500 per acre. From calamity relief fund, farmers can get Rs 1,600 as compensation while they would have got Rs 15,000 to 20,000 for a mature crop, he added.
He said Union government representatives had not visited the flood-prone areas though crops were damaged in over seven lakh acres and loss was around Rs 2,000 crore. "I am talking about the plight of people of Punjab and Haryana, who contribute 60% to food grain supply of India," he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Bathinda August 29:
Official formalities and duties resulting from frequent visits of VVIPs have burdened the doctors in Bathinda civil hospital so much that they have sought interventi on of Punjab health minister and health secretary for stopping this.
They said that this was making the common patients suffer. The 12 doctors have also written to the director health services (DHS) along with the aforementioned officials, saying they were themselves facing harassment and discrimination due to this.
"While some politically well-connected doctors are not put on outdoor duties like those relating to VIPs, emergency, jails, postmortem or medico-legal x-ray reports, others are repeatedly given this work, which is discriminatory," they alleged.
They stated that in February 2010, the DHS had had written to all district health authorities that there should be no discrimination with doctors in giving them outdoor duties and those should be handed on a rotational basis. "But there was no implementation of these orders," added the doctors.
"Some influential doctors here have been only giving medical fitness certificates for a long time," they mentioned. Principal secretary of health department, Satish Chandra, said there should be no discrimination and all doctors should be given these duties on rotation. DHS Dr JP Singh said, "This is a serious matter and I will check why the orders issued in February are not being followed."
Since Harsimrat Kaur Badal won Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda, the district has been witnessing a heavy rush of VVIPs. It is not only the absence of doctors, which is pinching patients. Harsimrat is always accompanied by 32 district-level civil and police officers whenever she visits for sangat darshan, said sources. So, at such times, most of the government offices are without anyone to attend to public grievances in Bathinda.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Jalandhar/Phagwara August 29:
Wary of the hyperactive land mafia, NRIs from Punjab have found a simple way to ensure that their palatial buildings and other properties back home are not sold off or grabbed.
Properties across the Doaba region, also called the NRI heartland, these days can be seen either tagged or painted 'not for sale' to warn unsuspecting buyers of being misinformed. Inquiries from various quarters have revealed that after a few cases came to the fore in which land mafia managed to sell such properties through forged documents and impersonation, boards warning buyers have surfaced throughout the NRI belt.
A house on the Mall Road, in the heart of Jalandhar, has not only a board atop, but 'not for sale' is literally also painted on its wall. A big shopping store in Phagwara opposite Kamla Nehru College for Women, which was opened by an NRI much before retail chains jumped in but was later closed, now boldly advertises its 'not for sale' status. Just opposite to it is a shop-cum-office also gives out the same message.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Chandigarh August 29:
Taking cognizance of a Jalandhar resident’s petition alleging the shielding of an accused by an MLA, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the commissioner of police to explain in person “how political interference is making all the difference”.
The directions came on a petition filed by Surjit Singh for transferring the investigation of a theft case registered on July 28, 2009, in Jalandhar to an independent agency, like the Crime Branch. In the petition through counsel RS Bajaj, Surjit Singh claimed his representation for action against the accused was marked to DSP City-I Gaganjeet Singh on August 18, 2009.
“But very strangely, instead of taking any action against the accused, the DSP told the petitioner in clear terms he was under tremendous pressure from local MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar, belonging to the ruling Akali Dal, not to take any action against the accused,” the petitioner alleged. Going into the background, Bajaj said Jathedar Pritam Singh, his brother Bhagat Singh and their sister Pritam Kaur were convicted in an injury case after the petitioner’s wife filed a criminal complaint.
As the petitioner came back from hearing of the appeal on July 25, 2009, also, he found cash and documents stolen from his scooter, parked on the court premises. CCTV camera footage revealed the “thief” was accused Pritam Singh’s son Gagandeep. Justice Gurdev Singh asserted: “The main grievance of the petitioner made in the present petition is that the investigating agency is not arresting the accused on account of political pressure being exerted upon it by the local MLA.
“The state came out with the reply that every effort has been made to arrest the accused, but he could not be arrested as he is missing from his house. “The petitioner has filed his counter-affidavit that the accused is very much living in the same house and is roaming out freely. This affidavit reflects upon the working of the investigating agency and shows that the investigating agency is not intentionally arresting the accused.
“Let commissioner of police file his affidavit in reply to the affidavit of the petitioner. He is to come present in the court in order to explain what type of control he is exercising on his subordinates regarding the investigation being done by them and how the political interference is making all the difference.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Patiala August 29:
The CBI moved an application in the Court of Special Judge (CBI cases) Balbir Singh at the district court complex for making compulsory the appearance of Kamaljit Singh in the court during the proceedings of the murder case of former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur’s daughter Harpreet Kaur.
As the hearing in the case resumed today, CBI counsels, SK Saxena and RK Handa, said Kamaljit, the main witness in the case, should be asked to deposit his passport in the court. A few months ago, Kamaljit had turned hostile in the court. After his cross-examination completed, he was exempted from personal appearance in the court during the trial of the Harpreet murder case.
However, the CBI counsels today filed an application urging the court for making Kamaljit’s presence in the court mandatory. Pertaining to the application moved by the CBI on August 21 seeking the cancellation of bail granted to Bibi Jagir Kaur and six other accused in the case, the court today asked the lawyers of the accused to give a reply.
In its application, the CBI had claimed that Bibi Jagir Kaur was a senior SAD leader and was trying to influence witnesses in the case to backtrack from their statements, violating conditions furnished in the bail bond. The CBI had moved the application for the cancellation of bail on the basis that out of 83 witnesses examined till now, 25 had already turned hostile.
Meanwhile, on the request of Bibi Jagir Kaur’s lawyer for giving some time to reply regarding the CBI’s application for the cancellation of bail of his client, the court fixed September 10 as the next date of hearing in the case. Except Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, who is abroad, other accused were present in the court during today’s court proceedings.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Ludhiana August 29:
The Court of Sessions Judge SP Bangarh today adjourned the hearing in the alleged multi-crore City Centre Scam till September 18.
Former trustee of Ludhiana Improvement Trust Kala Navkar Jain's lawyer continued her arguments on framing charges against his client on the fifth hearing. She was yet to conclude her arguments. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's personal appearance was exempted by the court for today, in view of the averments made by him in his application.
Talking to reporters, Amarinder’s son Raninder Singh, general secretary, PPCC, claimed that a one-day mini session of the AICC in Mohali, scheduled in the second week of September, would be “historic”. It would give boost to the Congress cadre. Preparations were in full swing. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would attend the session. The Akali-BJP regime had lost credibility in Punjab, contrary to their tall claims.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 29,
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Guruharsahai August 28:
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that it has been decided to prepare master plans for all towns and cities by the end of this year in order to ensure integrated and planned development of urban sector.
Addressing a gathering here after laying the foundation stone of a Rs.12-crore water supply scheme, sewerage and sewage treatment here, Badal said the masterplans for ten towns of Ludhiana, Mohali, Mullanpur, Dera Bassi, Zirakpur, Kharar, Banur, Bathinda, Abohar, Sri Hargobindpur and Regional Plan Mohali had already been notified.
Master plans of 34 towns were in the process of completion in the first phase and under second phase, 40 towns have been added to the list of already declared Local Planning Areas out of 44 towns.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Chandigarh August 28:
The SAD-BJP government in Punjab has sought Centre's intervention to ensure safety of Sikhs in Kashmir in the wake of reported threats to them from militants to embrace Islam or leave the valley, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said today.
He along with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makker would soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this connection, the Deputy Chief Minister said in Ludhiana. Flagging off 11 trucks carrying relief material for cloudburst-ravaged Leh, the Junior Badal said he along with SAD?BJP MPs had already met President Pratibha Patil and told her about reported threats to the Sikh community in Kashmir.
He said Sikhs were an integral part of multi-ethnic society of Jammu and Kashmir, an official release said here. They had been contributing to the growth of state's economy and any attempt to drive them out of the state would be suicidal for the unity and integrity of the nation, Sukhbir said. The 60,000-strong Sikh community is the single largest minority group in Kashmir.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Ferozepur August 28:
Punjab government would seek the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of the heavy inflow of river water in Satluj from Pakistan towards Ferozepur district, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said.
He told mediapersons here that he would soon take up the matter with the Prime Minister to seek his personal intervention since it was an issue between the two countries. The state government could not directly get involved in it and only the Centre was authorized to take up this matter with the government of Pakistan, he said.
Referring to the problem of drinking water in Ferozepur area, Badal said all villages in Punjab would be covered under potable water scheme by March 31, 2012. He directed the State Power Corporation Limited to release power connections to village panchayats on a priority basis with in a week.
Presiding over Sangat Darshan comprising 193 village panchayats of Guruharshai assembly constituency at village Gajniwala, Mamujoian and Panje Ke Uttar, Badal also asked the Chairman Puncom to ensure 24-hour un-interrupted power supply to the water works and schools in the state. He also ordered the Corporation to release power connections to those agriculturalists who were cultivating their land across the border fence.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Chandigarh August 28:
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called up Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Pakistani Punjab, and offered help to flood victims in that country.
The offer was made during a telephone conversation Badal had with Sharif. An official spokesman said that the conversation between the two leaders lasted about 10 minutes. Badal inquired about the plight of those affected by the fury of the floods in Pakistan. Nearly one-fifth of Pakistan, including the Punjab province, has been affected by severe floods in the last one month.
The spokesman added that Badal also informed his Pakistani counterpart about the flood situation in the Indian Punjab and the steps being taken by the government to help the beleaguered people. "Mian Shabaz Sharif appreciated the gesture of Mr. Badal and said that he was deeply touched by the show of emotional solidarity by our brethren in Indian Punjab.
He promised to send details of the specific requirements in the form of aid," the spokesman added. The rivers in Indian Punjab are also in spate and several low-lying areas of the state have been submerged in flooding. The diversion of rivers by Pakistani authorities along the 553-km long international border between India and Pakistan in Punjab has led to flooding in several areas in the border belt in Indian territory.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Chandigarh August 28:
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal made every Deputy Commissioner (DC) of districts accountable for ensuring smooth procurement of paddy in the ensuing procurement season and for the successful implementation of Administrative Reforms, especially computerisation of land records, in their respective districts.
Badal reviewed the progress of arrangements for the procurement and implementation of Administrative Reforms in the districts in a meeting of commissioners of divisions and Deputy Commissioners of all the districts in which besides them, Chief Secretary SC Agrawal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DS Guru, Principal Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister Viswajeet Khanna and Administrative Secretaries of all the departments participated.
Badal said that success of every DC would be monitored on the basis of smooth procurement and implementation of land reforms in his district. He said that DC was the nodal officer for the purpose of procurement and he has to anticipate the problems and take preemptive steps rather than to wait for chaos.
He said that each DC would personally monitor each aspect of procurement ranging from arrangement of jute bags, transportation, labour, allotment and arrangement in the grain markets, traffic control during peak procurement season, payment to the farmers or traders, lifting of procured paddy and transportation to the designated warehouses, arrangements for stay of farmers in the market.
Reviewing the progress of Administrative Reforms in the districts especially computerisation of land records, Badal regretted the lax performance by certain districts in ensuring feeding of required data in the computers. Badal asked Chief Secretary Agrawal to evolve a performa to monitor the performance and effectiveness of DCs on the pattern of SSPs and rate their performance every quarter.
He said that this rating of DC should be entered into annual appraisal reports of each DC and best three DCs and SSPs would be honoured by Chief Minister after March 31 every year.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Bathinda August 28:
Though water level on the Ferozepur-Jalandhar rail section started receding today, the movement of Bathinda-bound trains remained affected for the third day as two trains were reportedly running behind the schedule.
Meanwhile, the normal route of trains on the Ferozepur-Jalandhar section was restored today, sources in the Railway said. However, trains touching the Bathinda station continued to run hours behind the schedule following diversion through Ludhiana.
Sources in the Railways said the Jammu Tawi-Bathinda 9226 was expected to arrive at Bathinda at 7.30 pm, nearly 10 hours behind the schedule. Further, Thursday’s journey of the Bathinda-Jammu Tawi 9225 was not only delayed but also terminated midway in Jalandhar.
The train was expected to reach Bathinda at 8 pm on Friday, nearing two hours behind the schedule. Sources in the Railways said passengers of the trains running three hours behind the schedule could get full refund.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Chandigarh August 28:
The Punjab Congress list of delegates following elections, which took place on paper only, has finally been accepted by its Election Committee but could not be announced till late in the evening due to last-minute efforts to effect more changes.
Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) Usha Thakkar ,when questioned, said she had finalised the list of 234 delegates and submitted it to Election Committee Chairman Oscar Fernandes. She said the Election Authority had accepted the list.
However, what has come to light is that Congressmen are not willing to call it a day till the very end. Sources said former state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had been camping in Delhi since Monday and that he had been successful in getting around 15 names changed with some of the changes taking place last night only.
The sources said there was lack of consensus on a few names still. The names included those of former Patiala Mayor Vishnu Sharma, former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna and youth leader and former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s grandson Gurkirat Singh.
In the case of Vishnu Sharma while the ruling dispensation is game on nominating him a delegate from Tripri in Patiala, Capt Amarinder Singh has opposed this, saying Vishnu had gone against the party candidate (his wife Preneet Kaur) in the last Lok Sabha elections. Vishnu Sharma has been demanding an election from Tripri and does not want to be adjusted from anywhere else in the district.
Arvind Khanna had also called for holding an election from Sangrur from where he wants to get nominated as a delegate. Khanna, who is an Amarinder confidant, when questioned on the issue, admitted that he wanted to get nominated from Sangrur, but said he would go by the party decision and was ready for nomination from elsewhere also. Youth leader Gurkirat Singh wants to be nominated from Khanna as does former MP Shamsher Singh Dullo.
Meanwhile, sources said the ruling dispensation in the Punjab Congress has not taken kindly to the success achieved by the Amarinder group in getting some changes effected at the last minute. Sources said Punjab Congress President Mohinder Singh Kaypee rushed to Delhi today and will be meeting the party high command. Kaypee is likely to emphasise that a consensus list had been submitted to the high command after he had sat down with Capt Amarinder Singh and taken down his suggestions.
Sources said though the list was supposed to be announced today, it could be released tomorrow also. Post announcement, the Pradesh Congress delegates are expected meet to pass a one-line resolution authorising party President Sonia Gandhi to nominate the state party chief.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Guru Har Sahai August 28:
Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Chief Whip of the Congress in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, demanded that the matter connected with the alleged tapping of phones of leaders of opposition parties, various unions and media persons by the intelligence agencies of Punjab must be probed by the CBI.
Sodhi said his party would take up the issue with the party high command. The SAD-BJP alliance led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has started indulging in phone tapping to harass leaders belonging to opposition parties and media persons, who have been exposing its misdeeds, pointed out Sodhi.
He questioned Badal as to why he had been holding Sangat Darshan in the district and keeping all officials busy when the people residing in border areas were facing a flood- like situation and needed help.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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Patiala August 28:
Newly appointed member of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Hardeep Singh Grewal took charge.
Grewal said his foremost priority would be to coordinate with the commission chairman and members. “My objective would be to assure that there is complete transparency and fairness in the examinations being conducted by the PPSC,” he asserted.
Replying to a query that whether presently there is lack of transparency in the examination system, he said transparency was there but there was the need to further enhance it. Playing down the issue of alleged irregularities in the selection of 312 doctors, Grewal said:
“We have to look forward with a positive approach and hopefully the commission would work as a cohesive unit to achieve this goal.” Earlier, Grewal was given a warm welcome at the PPSC office. Besides chairman Sanjit Kumar Sinha, other members of the commission were also present on the occasion.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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