Friday, September 25, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Friday, September 25, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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 Braving torrential rain, ANMs from Punjab stage a dharna at Chandigarh on Thursday. — A Tribune photograph by Gautam Singh SAD,
BJP ties Welcome
gates at KCF
activist held |
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 Officials
keeping CM
seeks relief for farmers
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Dal Khalsa
plea to Tohra AMO's
sack stayed
Sekhwan
gheraoed for 2 hours Police
barrack caves in No
clue to NRI's murder found Villages
provided public phones JD
plea to CM on contractor system |
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SAD, BJP ties may worsen:
Tohra PATIALA, Sept 24 — Terming the Union Cabinet's decision on the dismissal of the Rabri government in Bihar as a "murder of democracy", SGPC president and member of the Rajya Sabha, G.S. Tohra today in a communication to the President K.R. Narayanan urged him to reject the recommendation of the Cabinet. Speaking to The Tribune at his native village Tohra today, he said the Central government had no locus standi to dismiss the Bihar government as Chief Minister Rabri Devi had proved her majority in the state Legislative Assembly. Mr Tohra said that instead of recommending the dismissal at the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister should have placed the recommendation before Parliament and acted according to the wish of the majority of members in Parliament. Launching a scathing attack of the BJP government at the Centre, Mr Tohra said that the BJP government was exploiting the Akalis and not respecting sentiments of the Akali party and the Punjab state. He reiterated the Shiromani Akali Dal's stand to withdraw support to the BJP-led Central government, if Udham Singh Nagar was included in the proposed state of Uttaranchal. We won't accept it, he said adding "the BJP government was long back aware of the stand of the Akalis as the Political Affairs Committees of the party had decided to withdraw support if Udham Singh Nagar goes to Uttaranchal." Still, Mr Tohra said that the BJP government in Centre and in Uttar Pradesh went ahead with the Bill. He termed this act as a slap on the face of the alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party. "We supported the BJP government when it was untouchable in the whole country and this is what we are getting in return", Mr Tohra remarked. He said that the party was upset at the way the Shiromani Akali Dal was being treated by the BJP government at the Centre. This resentment originated from many anti-Punjab statements issued by senior BJP leaders. He said that the first slap on the SAD's face was felt when Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani said that Chandigarh would not be given to Punjab and remain a union territory. Then, he said Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha created doubts in the Punjabis' minds about the "SAD" leaders when he stated that the Centre had not waived the Rs 8500 crore loan given to the state. Now he said while the Uttar Pradesh Government had excluded Hardwar from the proposed state of Uttaranchal they had still included Udham Singh Nagar in the hill state giving indication how much they cared about the demands of Shiromani Akali Dal. Mr Tohra said that if such treatment to the SAD continued relations between the two might worsen. So many people visited Mr Tohra's residence in his village today morning. People from all over the state had come to congratulate him on his 75th birthday. |
Officials keeping watch on situation CHANDIGARH, Sept 24 — While incessant rain continues to play havoc with kharif crops in this region, the Punjab Government has put the official machinery on maximum alert in flood-prone areas to deal with any eventuality. An official spokesman of the Punjab Government said here today that the officials concerned were keeping close watch on the situation emerging in the state due to rain for the past several days. The spokesman said that certain areas in Sultanpur Lodhi, Muktsar and near Khanuri in Sangrur district had been affected due to low flooding. In Sangrur district, official sources said, the Ghaggar was flowing above the danger level and its water overtopped at some places submerging paddy crops. However, human settlements had not been affected much. The official spokesman said that at this stage it was difficult to assess the quantum of the loss as rain was continuing. Only after the rain stopped proper assessment could be made. Moreover, the spokesman said, officials in the field had been asked to concentrate in flood protection measures. Both Deputy Commissioners, Mr Viswajeet Khanna of Patiala district and Mr Anirudh Tewari of Sangrur, remained present at the Ghaggar bridge near Khanuri village to keep watch on the situation developing there. When contacted, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner of Ropar district, said that he was in constant touch with the BBMB authorities with regard to the level of water in the Gobind Sagar Lake at Bhakra Dam. At present the level of the water was 1682 feet, he added. Although it was at a critical level there was no need to panic as the water could be stored up to height of 1685 feet, he added. Mr Sidhu said that he had
asked the SDM Anandpur Sahib and his counterpart at Ropar
to remain in touch with people settled in low-lying areas
along the embankments of the Sutlej. He said that these
people would have to be shifted to safer places in case
the water level went up beyond 1685 feet in the Gobind
Sagar, resulting in the opening of the flood gates. He
said the BBMB would intimate the district administration
well in advance in case the flood gates were opened. |
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CM seeks relief for farmers JALANDHAR, Sept 24 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Union Government to find a way to compensate farmers whose paddy and cotton crops have been damaged due to heavy rains in Punjab. Mr Badal, who was at Bhogpur, 25 km from here, said he had taken up the issue with the Union Food Minister and sought help for the farmers at this critical juncture. He said the Punjab Government was making efforts to ensure the purchase of paddy through the FCI and the state agencies. Contradicting allegations levelled by opposition parties for not addressing the problems faced by the farming sector, he said their problems are being tackled on a priority basis as they formed the backbone of the country's economy. He said the capacity of the Bhogpur sugar mill was being doubled on public demand. The Chief Minister met 100 panchayats of Jalandhar district and listened to their problems. He directed the officers concerned to visit the areas of their jurisdiction and solve the people's problems. The problems put forth before the Chief Minister mainly related to improvement of roads and the drainage system more power connections and improvement in water supply. Mr Badal said his government was striving hard for providing basic amenities to the people in rural and urban areas. He said an infrastructure development board was being set up for insuring regular development at the grassroots level. Several contenders for the Akali ticket from Adampur, including Mr Sarbjit Singh Wariana, Mr Pritpal Singh Pali and Mr Sarbjit Singh Makkar, who met the Chief Minister on Tuesday, also met him today during his six-hour stay at Bhogpur. Mr Badal's colleagues Ajit
Singh Kuhar and Jagir Kaur, who have been asked to give
their assessment of the party's position in the
constituency to the Chief Minister, were also present. |
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Welcome gates at Anandpur Sahib ANANDPUR SAHIB (Ropar): Five gates will be constructed at the entry points of all routes leading to this holy city. These will act as a symbol of the traditional Punjabi welcome to the pilgrims. These welcome gates will be named after the Punj Pyare (five beloved ones): Bhai Daya Singh from Lahore (Pakistan), Bhai Dharam Singh from Hastinapur (Delhi), Bhai Mohkam Singh from Dwarka (Uttar Pradesh), Bhai Sahib Singh from Bidar (Karnataka) and Bhai Himmat Singh from Jagan Nath Puri (Orissa). The gates will be constructed as a part of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. The 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, created the Khalsa by baptising these five Sikhs and then baptised himself from the Punj Pyare on Baisakhi in 1699. The construction work on two of the five gates has already begun. The gates are situated at the entry points to the holy city on the Kiratpur Sahib-Anandpur Sahib and Nangal-Anandpur Sahib roads. Work on the remaining three gates on the Agampur, Naina Devi and Dashmesh Academy roads will be started at a later stage. According to Ms Vini Mahajan, Chief Administrator, Anandpur Sahib Urban Development Authority (ASUDA), the under-construction welcome gates on the Kiratpur Sahib-Anandpur Sahib and Nangal-Anandpur Sahib roads will be completed by March next year. Ms Mahajan further said the erection of all five gates before the start of the tercentenary celebrations in April, 1999, was a difficult job as a lot of work was still pending on the remaining three gates. For the construction of these gates on the Agampur, Naina Devi and Dashmesh Academy roads, land had to be acquired and roads widened. The first gate is being constructed on the Kiratpur Sahib-Anandpur Sahib road, about 4.5 km away from the local bus stand, by MARKFED. It will be 27 feet in length, 88 feet in width and 60 feet in height, including the domes. The gate will have six pillars, on which a slab at a height of 37 feet will be placed. On the slab, there will be the main dome and on the pillars four domes. Besides, some small domes will be made around the main dome. On the left and right sides, the gate will be left open. All gates will have the same design which has been prepared by Mr P.R. Luthra, Chief Architect, Punjab. According to sources, the
cost of each gate will be about Rs 1 crore though at the
initial stage tenders for three gates were invited for Rs
89 lakh. This cost will include the marble work and
development near the welcome gates. |
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KCF activist held MOGA, Sept 24 (UNI) — The police here has nabbed a Germany-returned hardcore Khalistani militant and seized one 12-bore pistol and three live cartridges from him. Jalandhar resident Narinder Singh alias Nindi of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) was arrested by a naka police party yesterday morning, Moga Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Satish Asthana said last evening. Nindi was riding a scooter when the police intercepted him, the SSP told reporters here. Interrogation proved that the person was a KCF activist who managed to escape to Germany in 1991 on a fake passport and wrong address. He returned to India two years back and was since residing in a rented house here. ‘‘It is also learnt that Nindi was trying to reorganise his group in a bid to strike with some terrorist activities,’’ Mr Asthana claimed. The questioning also
revealed that the scooter which Nindi was riding was
stolen from Nakodar. Further investigation was on, he
added. |
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Shortage of space for rice storage GURDASPUR, Sept 24 — The district continues to face an acute shortage of covered space for the storage of rice being shelled. The FCI needs storage capacity of 2.2 lakh metric tonnes to meet the requirement of the central pool. Gurdaspur has a covered storage capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes, Dhariwal 18340, Batala 65,000, Dinanagar 15,000 and Pathankot 75,000 metric tonnes under the jurisdiction of the FCI. The available covered storage capacity at Gurdaspur is 3,000 metric tonnes, Batala 15,000, Dinanagar7,000 and Pathankot 14,000 metric tonnes. According to official sources, the availability of trucks for the movement of rice to J&K for clearing the old rice stocks from FCI godowns is considered remote in view of current conditions. The J&K Government has restricted plying of trucks in the state to carry only 9 metric tonnes of load, but the tenders accepted by the FCI are for carrying 10 metric tonnes per truck. Sources said that the allotment of special trains for the movement of rice to other states is nil for a month at present. Insiders say that rice shelled last year was not of quality of paddy and other states refused to accept it from the central pool. However, the Panjab Government has directed the District Food and Supplies Controller to arrange storage facility for the FCI from private sources. The sources said that this situation would directly hit the farmers and delay their payments. The FCI would pay to millers if they cleared their rice stocks for storage in FCI godowns. Rice millers would pay to commission agents if they received the payment from the millers. The situation was panicky because of non-availability of storage capacity and would lead to inordinate delay in payments to farmers. The authorities have appealed to farmers not to thrash paddy during rains and also avoid bringing their produce to the market on rainy days. If the paddy contains more than 18 per cent moisture this is likely to get a lower price. Meanwhile, the district has received 42,345 metric tonnes of paddy so far during the current season. Out of the total arrival the millers have purchased 41,314 metric tonnes, the FCI 968 metric tonnes and the Punjab Civil Supplies Department 63 metric tonnes only. The other agencies like Punsup, Markfed, and the Punjab Warehousing Corporation are still to enter the market. The rate offered per
quintal of paddy in Gurdaspur varies from Rs 405 to Rs
480 and at Batala from Rs 415 to 560. |
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AMO's sack stayed CHANDIGARH, Sept 24 — In a writ petition filed by Dr Jiwan Jyoti, whose contract employment was prematurely terminated by the Director of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the institute, the Director and Mr Balraj Singh Khehra, a teaching associate, and also stayed her termination of service. The petitioner contended that she was offered the post of Assistant Medical Officer in the institute on contract basis for six months on May, 4. On August 10, she was required to medically examine Mr Balraj Singh Khehra, selected for the post of teaching associate in computer science. Since she found Mr Khehra to be an Alcoholic and Drug Addict suffering from acute anxiety neurosis, she declared him unfit for employment. The father of Mr Khehra who is also allegedly holding the post of Sports Officer in the institute at the whim of the Director, asked the petitioner through the Director to declare Mr Khehra medically fit, which she refused. She also pleaded in her petition that even in 1992, Mr Khehra was appointed as a regular lecturer in the institute, but he was asked to resign, since he was occasionally found lying at odd places in the institute after consuming liquor or drugs. Thus the services of the petitioner were terminated by the Director on August 31. It was contended that the termination of the petitioner before the expiry of her tenure was malafide and arbitrary. The petitioner also sought the quashing of Mr Khehra's appointment. The Division Bench
comprises Mr Justice V.K. Bali and Mr Justice B. Rai,
issued notices to the respondents for October, 26. It
also directed Mr Balraj Singh Khehra to be present in
person in court on the date of hearing. |
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Sekhwan gheraoed for 2 hours PATIALA, Sept 24 — Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Public Relations Minister, was gheraoed for more than two hours at the Language Department building here by the ministerial services staff who are on a pen-down strike since September 15. The minister was allowed to leave only when he arranged a meeting of the ministerial staff with the Chief Secretary, Punjab. The Minister, who was here in connection with a function, was first denied entry into the venue hall by the sloganeering employees. However, he managed to reach the hall through another entry and attended the function. The start of the function was delayed by an hour due to the gherao of the minister. The ministerial staff remained on dharna outside the venue and blocked all exit points. Mr Sekhwan then called the leaders of the ministerial staff for a dialogue in one of the offices of the Language Department and arranged their meeting with the Chief Secretary for tomorrow at Chandigarh. Later, the ministerial staff held a rally up to the Deputy Commissioner's office and sat on a dharna there. Mr Raj Kumar Arora,
president of the Sangrur unit, and Mr Rattan Gautam of
the local unit said in a statement that they would
continue their agitation until all demands were accepted.
The ongoing strike got a boost today when other employees
federation like the Food and Supplies Inspectors Union
and the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation (INTUC)
expressed support with the striking ministerial staff.
They also threatened to join the strike from September 27
if the demands of the ministerial staff were not accepted
by then. |
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Villages provided public phones BATHINDA, Sept 24 — The Telecom Department will set up 23 exchanges in Bathinda and Mansa district to ensure that all applicants got phone connections. In a press note here today, the General Manager, Telecom Department, said 31,764 telephone lines would be added to the existing 57,688 in both districts. The department had framed a proposal for 20,000 telephone connections during 1998-99 and 280 PCO connections. He said all 518 villages of the district had been provided with village public telephones which could be converted to PCOs on request. He said all service centres were being upgraded with a view to providing a single-window commercial service to the people. The department also
planned to set up infrastructure for Internet service in
this circle on public request. |
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Health
Minister gheraoed FATEHGARH SAHIB, Sept 24 — The local ministerial staff on a pen-down strike gheraoed the Health Minister, Punjab, today while he was leaving after addressing a meeting of the district Planning Board. They submitted a
memorandum to the minister and demanded immediate
implementation of their demands. They also raised slogans
against the government. |
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Dal Khalsa plea to Tohra AMRITSAR, Sept 24 — The Dal Khalsa has asked the SGPC president, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, to convene a special session of the general body of the SGPC to evolve a consensus on finding a way to stop the ongoing war between jathedars. In a statement to the
press here today the secretary-general of the Dal, Mr
Kanwar Pal Singh, said the issue had been
"politicised" by vested interests who wished to
sabotage the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of
the Khalsa. |
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JD plea to CM on contractor
system BATHINDA, Sept 24 — The Janata Dal has urged the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to make efforts to continue the prevailing system of contractorship in the Punjab Mandi Board. In a press note issued here today, Mr Bhupinder Sharma, senior vice-president of the district unit of the Janata Dal, said that from October 1 the board authorities would exclude the small contractors from executing its various works under its new policy. He said that this action of the board would leave hundreds of persons unemployed and it would also harm the economic interests of the State Government as the big contractors would monopolise the whole construction work. He said, on the one hand,
the Chief Minister was launching various schemes to
provide employment to the youth, on the other, people
were being rendered jobless with the adoption of the new
policy of the Punjab Mandi Board. |
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Relief
sought for crop loss JALANDHAR, Sept 24 — The Punjab Kisan Sabha had urged Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal to come to the rescue of farmers who have lost most of there paddy crop due to unseasonal rains. The general secretary of the sabha, Mr Lehbhar Singh Taggar, in a statement here today demanded that a survey be conducted to assess the damage at least Rs 75,00 per acre be paid as compensation . He said already the farmers in the state were in the clutches of a debttrap and there was reason to believe that the "suicides" might increase due to the crop loss. He said the sabha had postponed the "karza mukti week" till September 30. He also said the Kisan
Sabha had called an emergency meeting of its working
committee here on September 27 to discuss ways for
getting compensation for the farmers. |
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Police barrack caves in PATIALA, Sept 24 — At least 10 policemen of Kotwali police station and Division Number 4 police post housed in a building near bus stand here had a providential escape today afternoon when one of the barracks of the old building caved in. While some policemen received minor injuries a car which was a case property was damaged as it was crushed under the portion of a fallen wall of the building. A senior police official
said that at around 11.30 a.m. a small portion of a
barrack used for sleeping by the policemen caved in. All
staff was ordered to move out with their belongings but
they had hardly began moving out when the building
collapsed in 10 minutes.
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Breach in Sutlej plugged LUDHIANA, Sept 24 — A 60-feet-wide breach, which occurred on the bank of the Sutlej near Mattewara in this district last night, has been plugged. As many as 100 policemen, along with a large number of villagers, worked throughout the night to plug the breach. The Deputy Commissioner,
Mr Arun Goel, was among those who supervised the
operation.
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Check 'exploitation' of girls by NRIs AMRITSAR, Sept 24 (UNI) — The Punjab Istri Sabha today expressed concern over the exploitation of Punjabi girls by non-resident Indians (NRI) and has called upon the Punjab Government to check this practice. In a statement issued here, Istri Sabha patron Vimla Dang said that a number of cases wherein NRIs had ditched their legally wedded Indian wives in favour of a girl of their adopted country had been brought to the notice of the organisation. She said it was sad that while the Punjab Government had opened an NRI cell for taking care of their property disputes, no such cell for helping girls who faced exploitation had been formed. Listing the nature of these cases, Mrs Dang said at times parents in Punjab were misled by relatives or friends and married their daughters to NRIs visiting the country. "After sometime the boy goes back to his country with the promise that he will be sending his wife’s travel papers but this promise is never fulfilled. Mrs Dang suggested that
the state government take up the matter of amending the
Passport Act so that persons who indulged in such acts
could be booked.
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Murder
case solved, one arrested AMRITSAR, Sept 24 — In a major breakthrough, the Amritsar police has solved a seven-month-Old case relating to the murder of a driver, Kartar Singh, with the arrest of the main accused, Iqbal Singh. Interestingly, the Amritsar police had earlier registered a case of "disposing of a truck" on the complaint of truck owners against the deceased. According to Mr Gurdev Singh Sahota, SSP, the three accused took away a truck on the night of February 19 after murdering the driver. The accused started plying the truck in Assam, Haryana and Rajasthan with a fake number plate. Mr Sahota said on a tip-off, the police had arrested the main accused and recovered the truck. The two other accused were still at large. The police has registered a case under Sections 411 and 412 of the IPC.
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Civic body rejects octroi bid HOSHIARPUR, Sept 24 — After a heated discussion for about two hours, Municipal Councillors at a meeting here last evening unanimously rejected the Rs 4.14 crore bid offer for octroi collection by a private contractor. The Municipal Council had advertised an auction notice in a section of the press for the annual collection of octroi on a contract basis from October 1, 1998 to September 10, 1999. The proposed octroi collection was shown as Rs 4.71 crore out of which Rs 21 lakh was proposed to be collected as octroi from the PSEB. The state government has
decided that all octroi collections should be privatised.
Any municipal council not going in for privatisation has
to ensure at least a 15 per cent increase in revenue. |
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No clue to NRI's murder found BATHINDA, Sept 24 — The police is still clueless about the murder of Sukhdarshan Singh Dhillon, a resident of Canada, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his residence in Model Town here on September 22. The police came to know about the death of Dhillon on September 22 when a woman residing in a house in front of the house of the deceased saw the dead body lying in the courtyard covered with bedsheets. Only an arm of the deceased was visible. Police sources said that the deceased, whose body was naked, had come to India a few months ago. The other members of his family were residing in Canada. The deceased belonged to Pitho village of this district. Mr Harnek Singh, SSP, when contacted, said the police could not find any clue about this death as the body wore no injury mark. Moreover, the death had taken place about two or three days ago when it came to notice. He said the police was
awaiting the post-mortem report. |
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Grievances
redressal cell set up ROPAR, Sept 24 — An ex-servicemen grievances redress cell has been set up in the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) here for the speedy settlement of minor disputes and other problems faced by them. This was stated by Mr Ranbir Singh Khatra, SSP, today after receiving a 20-member team of 16 Jat, which is a battalion of Jat Regiment at the local Sainik Rest House. The team is on an "India run" sponsored by Hero Honda Motors. Mr Khatra said there would be three members in the cell — the vice-president of the Zila Sainik Welfare Board, the SP, Headquarters, and the Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare. Talking about the "India run", Major Vivek Sharma, Coordinator of the tour, said the members of the team ran between 47 and 58 km daily. He said the run was aimed at inculcating the spirit of nationalism and attracting the youth towards the Army. Major Sharma said the
1426-km long distance would be covered within 40 days.
The yatra began from Jaurrian (J&K) on September 16
and would culminate at India Gate in Delhi on October 27. |
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