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| Saturday,
December 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Who will be CM’s political heir? Ludhiana, December 14 It is a fact that the party doesn’t have a leader who could match Mr Badal in stature. But he has already turned 75. For how long will he remain active in politics? In the light of this the emergence of new Akali leadership from among the second-rung
Akali leaders has become a political necessity of the SAD. In fact, Mr Badal’s recent injury has generated a debate in political circles that who could emerge as his political heir? Mr Badal has not groomed any one in particular to take over the reins of the party though it is true, that he has promoted his son politically. Those who can be counted among the front runners in the race to be Mr Badal’s heir are his son, Sukhbir Singh Badal, party’s secretary general, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, general secretary, Capt Kanwaljit Singh and other general secretary, Balwinder Singh Bhunder. Each one of these leaders is trying his best to project himself as an important functionary of the SAD. The most common method is to get the display advertisements inserted in vernacular newspapers about “ sangat darshans” and other political functions through their supporters. In recent months, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal has become a common face in such advertisements. Same is true in case of Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. However, supporters of these leaders make it point to get Mr Parkash Singh Badal’s name and photo published in such advertisements. Mr Dhindsa held a “ sangat darshan” programme in Sunam area a few days ago. The programme was preceded by a score of advertisements announcing Mr Dhindsa’s programme. Last week, Capt Kanwaljit Singh held a “sangat darshan” programme in the Amloh area. It was also preceded by a number insertions of display advertisements in various vernacular newspapers by Capt Kanwaljit Singh’s supporters. The absence of Mr Badal, from the political arena, because of injury has provided an opportunity to these leaders to hold such “ sangat darshan” programmes. Mr Badal has kept his ministers and other senior party leaders in tight leash. The struggle in the party to be the political heir of Mr Parkash Singh Badal infact started immediately after his ( Mr Badal) political tussle with the formed SGPC, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. As soon as Mr Tohra talked about the appointment of the working president of the SAD, Mr Badal saw in it a clever move to break his monopoly over the party. He saw to it that Mr Tohra is removed from the party. Later Mr Ravi Inder Singh’s removal from the party could also be seen in this context. |
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CPM to go it alone, but open to seat adjustments Garhshankar, December 14 Talking to newsmen after addressing party delegates conference at Grain Market here this afternoon, the party General Secretary, Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, also ruled out any chances of rapprochement with the breakway group led by Mr Mangat Ram Pasla. While launching a scathing attack on the NDA Government at the Centre and the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, Mr Surjeet held that the Opposition parties were strongly opposed to POTO and would not allow this draconian Bill to become law. Referring to the attack on Parliament by a suicide squad yesterday, he said it was the total failure of the
government which knew of such an attack in advance. “The failure of the government to take sufficient preventive measures allowed such a serious attack to happen,” he said appreciating the good work done by the security forces, including police, in limiting the damage. “The type and quantity of ammunition they carried could have blown the entire Parliament building.” “Now the BJP would find it difficult to even press POTO because of its failure to act on intelligence reports. POTO has already been promulgated and as such it had failed to prevent the most serious terrorist attack on India’s seat of democracy,” he said, corroborating what another Politburo Member, Mr Parkash Karat, said, earlier. Both Mr Karat and Mr Surjeet maintained that with laws like POTO, the fight against terrorism would be weakened. Besides, this law was against the fundamental rights of the people because of various draconian provisions. The CP(M) had managed to mobilise the entire Opposition to oppose this Bill, they said. Focussing their attack on the NDA Government, Mr Surjeet and Mr Karat maintained that in the past three and a half years, 14 state assembly elections had been held in which BJP or its allies had been successful only in three States and in the remaining, they had lost. “The same is going to happen in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, the communal combine of Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janta Party would get a crushing defeat. We have only one point agenda- defeat this alliance,” Mr Surjeet said. Though the
CP (M) may not win many seats as it may contest 11 to 15 seats, it will not join any alliance or Morcha, he said hinting that the party may have some seat adjustments with Congress. referring to the CPI, he said that leadership of this Left party started hobnobbing with Congress even before talking to
CP (M). He said WTO was shattering the nation’s economy. The farm and small scale industry sector had been hit very hard. The latest to suffer was kerala whereas many as 30 farmers had committed suicide in recent months. Only yesterday, a rally was organised where a memorandum, signed by 1.5 crore people against WTO, was being finalised before being sent to the President. Referring to Mr Mangat Ram Pasla’s expulsion and the parallel show held at Jalandhar yesterday, he said that there
was no chance of any rapprochement as “he (Mr
Pasla) has already raised his flag”. He explained that the expulsion of Mr Pasla from the Central Committee was approved by the Politburo unanimously as the agenda was circulated among all members after invoking a special clause of the party constitution. The main difference, he said, was the 64th programme which was replaced by a special programme approved at the last conference of the Central Committee in Kerala in 1999. Mr Pasla and his group were party to this special programme. He accused Mr Pasla of playing into hands of communal forces like Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party and held that the party constitution and Politburo were supreme and anyone trying to divide the party or hit the communist movement would not be tolerated. Besides Mr Surjeet and Mr Karat, others who addressed the conference were Mr S.R. Pillay, another Politburo member, besides Prof Balwant Singh, Mr Chand Singh Chopra and Mr Vijay Mishra. The state leadership of the party assailed the SAD-BJP alliance for growing inflation, unemployment and rampant corruption in the state and held that the present government was on its way out. It called upon party workers to ensure exit of the “communal SAD-BJP alliance”. A two-day convention of party delegates would be held from tomorrow where the new executive for the state and its delegates for the National Executive meeting would be finalised. Besides, policies and programmes of the party and deficiencies, if any, would also be reviewed. |
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Simultaneous
poll in four states Ludhiana, December 14 Addressing a press conference here, Mr Lyngdoh said the Election Commission was all prepared for the elections. The CEC said he had already started inquiry into the allegation about the deletion of voters’ names in the Lambi constituency represented by the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. He said the officer deputed for the job had been asked to conduct a thorough inquiry. Continuing his overnight rhetoric about the politicians, Mr Lyngdoh said he had nothing against the politicians of Punjab. “I am sceptical about all politicians”, he remarked, adding that they resorted to “untruth”. He observed that they had no other option as they had “limited resources and unlimited wants”. He was also critical of one of his predecessors, Mr T.N. Seshan. When pointed out that even Mr Seshan has also joined politics, Mr Lyngdoh retorted, “Seshan was always a politician and that is where he belonged to”. The CEC evaded most of the question smilingly. Mr Lyngdoh said the commission would very soon introduce the system of issuing online photo identity cards to the voters. It will simplify the procedure and also bring down the time spent on preparation of the cards, he said, adding that the details of all 650 million voters would be made available on the Net.
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Security
up at Wagah Amritsar, December 14 Meanwhile, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and General Reserve Police (GRP) personnel have been requisitioned to deal with the panic situation following yesterday’s attack, said Mr J.R. Sharma, Station Superintendent, GRP, Attari. He said security had been beefed up at the Attari railway station with 60 armed personnel monitoring the passengers and goods arriving from Pakistan. Documents were being minutely scrutinised to prevent anti-social elements from entering the country. At Wagah, the Company Commander of the BSF, Mr
Y. P. Mehta, said the situation in the border areas was under control even as a high alert had been sounded. The DIG, BSF, Mr
R. A. Tiwari, said from Jalandhar that the forces had been alerted to deal with any kind of mischief Pakistan might undertake in view of the sensitive situation. He said right from Madhopur to the Abohar border areas. All BSF personnel had been apprised of the situation and ordered to search the entire area. |
BJP to launch poll drive with ‘rath yatra’ Chandigarh, December 14 This was announced by the BJP state president, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, here today. Union Home Minister, L. K. Advani will flag off the yatra at Chandigarh and address the party’s first election rally at Rajpura, the constituency of Mr Balramji Das Tandon. After passing through all 23 Assembly constituencies, the last election rally would be held at Nangal, the constituency represented by Mr Madan Mohan Mittal. On its way, the rath yatra will participate in the Janata Yuva Morcha rally to be held at Wagah border on January 6. Mrs Sushma Swaraj will address that rally, besides the Morcha head, Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan. The purpose of the yatra was to awaken in the people on the achievements of the Central and state governments and to blunt the Congress propaganda by nailing its lies. “Since the Congress was harping on the ‘’incumbency factor’’, the committee had evolved an effective strategy to deflate that. Mr Rinwa briefly recounted the major achievements of the coalition government in the past five years and stressed that there was no urban and rural divide as the Congress was trying to project. For the SAD-BJP Punjab was one constituency and development was equally initiated. Mr Tandon spoke about the relief given to the urban population, while Mr Rinwa mentioned how farmers’ interests had been watched by the Centre to ensure smooth foodgrain procurement. Mr Rinwa said the BJP expected smooth adjustment over the sharing of seats with the Akalis. The screening of party candidates would be done by an 11-member committee. The idea was to defeat the Congress and put up “winnable candidates. Mr Badal would eventually be able to join the campaign. |
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Mind your tongue, Amarinder told Chandigarh, December 14 Capt Kanwaljit Singh said leaders of such stature should not bend low to tarnish the image of their opponents. Rather they should focus their attention on healthy criticism of the state government’s policies and programmes. Such trends of personal attacks on opposition should be negated by one and all and work unitedly for strengthening the democratic forces. He was responding to a letter by Capt Amarinder Singh to the Chief Minister yesterday. Such statements reflected frustration on the part of Capt Amarinder Singh, who left the Akali Dal and joined the Congress. He reminded PPCC chief that he was the Agriculture Minister at the time of Operation Black Thunder on April 30, 1986. Capt Kanwaljit Singh pointed out that he was made minister and given the portfolio of Home on May 8. The PPCC chief had accused Mr Parkash Singh Badal of keeping Capt Kanwaljit Singh in the Cabinet despite being part of Operation Black Thunder. |
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Politicians
make beeline for functions Bathinda, December 14 Apart from approaching their “god fathers” and respective party presidents for securing ticket, social functions have acquired added significance. Be it a bhog ceremony, jagran, a cremation or even birthday parties marriages, organised by any social or voluntary organisation, prospective contestants can be seen there. This has been happening in this district for the past month and the trend is catching up. Mr Gurpreet Singh Kangar, a confidant of Former Union Minister Sukhbir Badal, is attending all social functions being organised in the Rampura Assembly segment. The huge gathering which he managed to attract at a “path” organised in connection with the recovery of the Chief Minister, has forced the party leadership to consider whether he or sitting MLA Sikander Singh should be allotted ticket. Mr Sewak Ram Bhola, a senior Congress worker, has also not been missing any opportunity to organise social and religious functions and invite party leaders who could influence the distribution of ticket. The local MLA and Science and Technology Minister, Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, who has rarely missed any social or religious function in his Assembly segment ever since he became a minister, talking to The Tribune, said he had been maintaining his relations with people and he had been attending
functions which he used to do even before he became a minister. Aspirants to the Vidhan Sabha have started visiting the functions of their staunch opponents. Some of them have started taking help from their kin to run their business so that they could spare time to attend the functions. Congress sources said ticket would be given to those who would be “best” candidates as per reports of four surveys conducted by the party through its own and private agencies. The SAD too would give weightage to the report of a survey conducted by a Delhi-based agency to find out which candidate was best suited for a particular constituency. |
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CM gives
1.25 cr for Bholath constituency Kapurthala, December 14 All the rally, Bibi Jagir Kaur expressed gratitude to Mr Parkash Singh Badal for standing by her in her difficult days. She highlighted the development work undertaken in the constituency during the past five years. The Chief Minister had sent a cheque for Rs 1.25 crore for development schemes in Bholath, he said. In the absence of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, member of the Rajya Sabha, presided over the rally. Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister and Mr K.S. Badungar, President, SGPC, were also present on the
occasion. |
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Akali leaders blame Cong for Punjab ills Nadala (Kapurthala) December 14 Akali leaders made it clear that the SAD would harp on “development and peace” and try to corner its rivals including the Panthic Morcha on these issues. Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said his party had been demanding a judicial probe to establish who was responsible for terrorism — the Congress or the SAD — but without explaining why the SAD-BJP did not do anything in this direction. He also thanked people of Bholath constituency for “standing” by Bibi Jagir Kaur even during “bad days”. Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal stressed “For us development is the main issue and we will go to people with it. They cannot match us, it is your party.” Bibi Jagir Kaur said Mr Badal granted Rs 1.25 crore for the repair and relaying of roads in the area, Bholath constituency and 12 schools had been upgraded. Rude police officers around stage caused some embarrassment to reporters. Mr Gurmukh Singh, an ASI even caught hold of a journalist apparently to prevent him from going near the stage even after he was seen shaking hands with a couple of Akali leaders. He even stopped the Media Advisor to the CM from going near the stage. |
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Pasla hits
out
at Surjeet Jalandhar, December 14 More than 1,200 party workers of Sangrur district have been expelled from the primary membership of the party for not following the dictates of the national general secretary in the past three years, Mr Pasla alleged. Mr Pasla alleged that Mr Surjeet was collecting money from police officials, mill owners and industrialists in the name of the party. “I want to ask the party high command to reveal the source of funding for the building of an auditorium under construction at Chandigarh for which no party worker or leader has been asked to contribute so far,” he said. |
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Ferozepore
DCC office-bearers Abohar, December 14 Vice-presidents: Mr Vimal Thathai, Mr Karan Singh Fazilka, Mr Mehtab Singh, Prof. M. L. Nain, Mr Ashok Kumar, Dr B. L. Somani, Mr Sukhraj Singh, Mr Rajinder Sharma, Mr Narender Singh, Mr Rajinder Kumar, Mr Jarnail Singh, Mr Manjit Singh Sodhi, Mr Manohar Singh Mr Mujaidia, Mr Ashok Gupta, Mr Kewal Krishan Mutneja. General Secretaries: Mr Swadeshi Lal Pujara, Mr Vijay Kalra, Mr Darshan Singh, Mr Gurmej Singh, Mr Gurbaj Singh, Mr Tara Singh, Mr Harbans Singh, Mr Karnail Singh Bhullar, Mr Jagdev Singh Rampura, Mr Surinder Singh Jaura, Mr Hakam Chand Josan, Mr Balkar Singh Mamdot, Mr Amrik Singh Thind, Mr Gurdeep Singh Dhillon, Mr Mukhtiar Singh, Mr Ajit Singh, Mr Harkishan Lal Ghubaya, Mr Kulwant Singh Kukkar. Cashier: Mr Satnarain. Secretaries: Mr Kartar Singh Mamdot, Mr Mehar Chand Fazilka, Mrs Sukhdev Kaur Brar Bhagu, Mr Ram Kishan Kamboj, Mr Karam Chand Kamboj, Mr Sham Lal Jakhar, Mr Bhajan Singh, Mr Surender Kumar, Mr Hari Pupneja, Mr Darshan Singh Pappi, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Ved Parkash, Mr Krishan Kumar Narang, Mr Gobind Aggarwal, Mr Lakhvir Singh, Mr Jarnail Singh, Mr Amar Singh Mr Gumaniwaala, Mr Bhupinder Narula, Mr Sanjiv Kumar. Twentytwo workers have been nominated members of the executive committee. |
Probe holds MC chief guilty Fatehgarh Sahib, December 14 The post of president is reserved for the BC candidate and only one candidate from the BC category, Mr Baldev Singh Aulakh, was elected councilor in the civic elections, but Mr Sedha got the BC certificate from the local Tehsildar and was elected president of the council. Later, Mr Avtar Singh, Mr Parmod Kumar and Mr Baldev Singh Aulakh had complained to authorities against the council president for obtaining bogus certificate and demanded his removal from the post, but their request fallen on the deaf ears. Subsequently they filed a Civil Writ Petition No. 9763 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which issued directions to the applicants to approach the appropriate authorities for getting the matter inquired. On the representation of the applicant, the Principal Secretary, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation Cell), Department of Welfare, Punjab, who ordered an inquiry to be conducted by the Director, of the Department of Welfare. The Director in his report established that Mr Baldev Sedha had submitted false certificate of being BC as per his school record, death certificate of his father and an entry by his wife in Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank, Amloh, for getting membership, where his caste was recorded as ‘Swarnkar/Saniar.’ In sequence of the inquiry, the Undersecretary, State Welfare Department (Reservation Cell), has written to the Principal Secretary, local government, and Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, to declare the election of Mr Baldev Sedha as president of the Municipal Council, Amloh, as void and illegal. The complainants in a representation made to the Deputy Commissioner today have demanded the implementation of the inquiry report. They also demanded the orders passed by the Department of Welfare be implemented at the earliest and to declare the election of the president as void and illegal and to register a case against him. |
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Murders: people insecure, police clueless Amritsar, December 14 Junior Engineer, Devinder Singh Walia, the Punjab State Electricity Board was allegedly murdered by his colleague due to professional rivalry. He was stabbed while he was asleep in his room. According to police reports accused Satpal Singh has not been arrested despite being named by the deceased’s wife in the FIR while the father of the deceased a retired police employee, making efforts for justice and alleged that the police was not taking any interest in the case. Murder of Shivraj Kaur (61) of Guru Nanak Wara too puts question mark on police efficiency. An unidentified person reportedly entered her home, and gave reference of a relative to gain access. The deceased’s daughter in law, Sarbjot Kaur, was leaving for medical check up at that time and recognised the real culprit. As she found her mother-in-law dead on her return to the house after the incident. According to police scrutiny of the spot, after strangulation, two electric wires were inserted in the body allegedly to administer electric shocks, which purportedly was the reason for her death according to the post-mortem report. Family members of the deceased said that they were living in insecurity. Not only the family members, residents of the Partap Nagar and Guru Nanak Wara too are having hard time to face situation. Murderers are free and attempts at reporting anything about the case and thwarted as the accused in the cases threaten them with dire consequences, the police has done little to improve things that has created a fear psychosis among people of the area. However, the police officials concerned when contacted, claimed that the raids were being continued to nab the culprits. |
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Pressure-horn users flout ban Bathinda The shopkeepers selling these horns and the owners of vehicles fitted with these banned horns, revealed that youths and drivers of heavy vehicles which ply on main roads buy such horns. Most of the youths use these for thrill. Bobby, a student of the local college has bought pressure horn for his motorcycle spending Rs 1500. He said that there was no charm or excitement driving a bike without a pressure horn. It gives thrill when thunderous sound of the horn on a crowded road gives many a shake. He said that for months he had to save out of his pocket money to buy this expensive horn. Notty Dhillon, a BA student is proud of his motorbike which cost him a tidy sum. He decorated his “pride” not only with pressure horns but also with a number of extra lights for show and back horn which produce shouting sound of “Get aside, get aside”. He says that what is the use of spending so much money if nobody notices you on roads. He said that it was a great fun to see people losing balance or falling suddenly on roads, after being shocked with the high volume of his horn. Many of the youngsters having these horns on their vehicles told this reporter that they used it to “impress” girls. Some of them were using these as their “identification mark”. Ranjit Kumar, (name changed) said that his girlfriend studied in a local college and was stayed as paying guest here. By hearing the sound of his horn she understand that “I was passing nearby”. Some of the car owners using hooters in their cars said that just to get VIP feeling on roads, they got hooters fitted in cars. Moreover people give the way easily to their cars on roads after hearing the sound of hooters. Most of the shopkeepers selling these horns were aware of the ban on the use of these. They said that there was huge demand for these accessories so they were selling. Moreover it was not their duty to tell people about the law. They said that at present various types of horn, back horn and extra lights were available ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 2000. Most in demand were the horns made in Germany and Italy. Although locally made were also available but these failed to compete with foreign products. Mr Amit, owner of Shiva motors, said that craze for these horns and hooters was so much that people spent extra money on batteries which was a must for these horns. When asked about checking by the police, the stock reply by users of these horns was that they never used it in near a roundabout or the spot where the police was deployed. They said that it was easy to hide the hooters from the eyes of authorities. On sound pollution by these horns they said that noise of vehicular traffic was so much that the sound of pressure horns did not count. Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, district police chief, when contacted said those found having hooters or horns in their vehicles were being challaned. He added that special arrangements were being made to catch those using it in streets or inner parts of the city only but so far have not been caught. |
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Two lawyers booked,
Bar observes strike Mansa, December 14 It was decided to extend the strike till December 18 at a meeting of the Bar Association held here today. They also gave a call for the statewide strike of lawyers on December 18. The members of the Bar raised slogans against the Deputy Commissioner and both the revenue officers. Meanwhile, Ms Raji P. Srivastva, Deputy Commissioner, exercising the powers of Registrar, has cancelled the licences of Mr Sat Pal Singla and Mr Ankush Singla, deed writers, and suspended the licence of Mr Piara Lal, another deed writer here. In the case registered at the City police station here, the three deed writers along with Vijay Kumar Singla and Jaspal Goyal, both advocates, Surinder Singla and Rajinder Kumar Singla, alias Raju, have been named the accused. Class III and IV revenue employees held a dharna at the district court complex to demand the arrest of those involved in yesterday’s incident. The deed writers abstained from work and observed a strike for the third day today in protest against the high-handness or both the sub-registrars. Mr Iqbal Singh Sandhu, president, Punjab Revenue Officers Association, said if the administration failed to arrest the accused till December 18, a call for statewide strike of revenue officers would be given. |
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Twin bridge over Ghaggar inaugurated Shambhu (Patiala), December 14 A stretch of nearly 40 km from Shambhu to Sirhind has been strengthened and
four-laned under a project funded by the World Bank. The work was allotted to two firms and was completed within a time span of three-and-a-half years. The bridge was to be inaugurated by Major-Gen B.C.
Khanduri, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, but his visit was cancelled following the attack on Parliament House yesterday. Mr
Mukhmailpur, while speaking on the occasion, said the 160-metre-long twin bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 11 crore, would help smoothen traffic on the accident-prone highway. He said the work on Rs 450 crore
four-laning project of 108 km stretch on the National Highway-1 from Jalandhar to Wagah border was expected to begin shortly. The Senior Engineer, Mr
C.J. Lal, was also present on the occasion. |
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Parties
condemn attack Faridkot, December 14 In a press note issued here today they demanded that such terrorist activities should be dealt with strictly. The leaders have appealed to all political parties to join hands at this moment of crisis to protect the national interests. MOGA: Almost all political parties here on Friday urged the Union Government to immediately break diplomatic ties with Pakistan following the attack on Parliament on Thursday. Stating this, heads of these parties, including the Congress, the BJP, the CPI and the Akali Dal, held Pakistan responsible for the attack as the attackers raised pro-Pakistan slogans. They said the attack on Parliament was a clear challenge to the nation. |
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Sukhbir
Badal’s appeal to NRIs Phagwara, December 14 He offered that the Punjab government would give matching grant for the amount so contributed by an NRI. He lauded NRI Jarnail Singh for contributing Rs 5 lakh for the bridge. Punjab Ministers Swarna Ram, Raghbir Singh, Dr Upinder Jit Kaur, Sucha Singh Langah were also present. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of the railway road bridge at local Satnampura level crossing. It would cost Rs 27 crore and the Punjab government had sanctioned Rs 16 crore for it. |
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Date for SGPC voters’ registration
extended Chandigarh, December 14 At a meeting of Gurdwara Elections Commissioners of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh, presided over by the Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections today, it was decided that keeping in view the low percentage of registration of voters, the last date for registration of voters be extended further to enable the prospective voters to get themselves registered. Accordingly, the date for registration of voters stood extended up to January 31. It will be the final extension. The voters included in electoral roll prepared in 1996, cannot vote in the coming SGPC elections without getting themselves enrolled afresh says a Gurdwara Election Commission press note. |
Panth
Rattan
for Bains Jalandhar, December 14 The encyclopaedia prepared by Mr Bains has been a display of Sikh religion, history, culture theology and heritage and covers more than 3,500 subjects and terminologies. The award was presented to Mr Bains by the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti. |
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2 students killed
in road mishap Gurdaspur, December 14 |
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PSEB pensioners' boycott threat Chandigarh, December 14 The demands of the association include concession in electricity to all PSEB pensioners, grant of pension on the basis of last salary drawn, stoppage of deduction from commuted pension and grant of 0.5 per cent more pension to those who put in more than 33 years' service, as per recommendations of the Fourth Punjab Pay Commission. The association also elected its office-bearers: President Mr V.N. Sharma, Vice-President Mr Parduman Singh, General Secretary Mr Mohan Singh and chief auditor Mr Sohan Lal Sharma. |
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Foundation
stone
of road laid Raman Mandi, December 14 This was stated by Mr Gurdas Singh Badal, senior Akali leader and former, MP, while addressing a gathering of party workers here yesterday. He said the establishment of the refinery would pave the way for the establishment of small-scale industries in the area. He further added that it would generate employment for thousands of youths once it is completed. Mr Gurdas Singh Badal also laid the foundation stone of a connecting road from the Bathinda-Dabwali national highway to the refinery. The 18-km road would be constructed at a cost of Rs 23 crore. He also inaugurated the new building of a 30-beded hospital constructed at a cost of Rs 1 crore. |
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Sangrur MC staff end strike Sangrur, December 14 Mr Arjan Singh, president, Municipal Employees Union, said the decision to end the strike was taken after a meeting between the representatives of the employees and the local SDM. He further said that the SDM assured the employees that the salary would be paid on December 19. Mr Mahesh Kumar Meshi, president, Municipal Council, said the council had issued a cheque of more than Rs 2 lakh for providing uniforms to the Class IV employees. He said the employees would not face any problem in getting salary for the month of December as the council had already made arrangements in this regard. |
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Surprise checks
on 4 gurdwaras Amritsar, December 14 Meanwhile, the SGPC will start “Radio Harmandar Sahib” on the Internet. The service will start by December 19. Meanwhile, the enlisting of voters for the SGPC elections, which was slated for December 12 has been further postponed to January 31. |
Sehgal sworn in as Lok Pal Chandigarh, December 14 Lt Gen JFR Jacob, Governor of Punjab, administered him oath of office and allegiance to the constitution, at a simple function in Punjab Raj Bhavan. Earlier, the Chief Secretary, Mr N.K. Arora, sought the permission of the Governor to start the ceremony. Soon after being sworn in, Justice Sehgal signed the oath, counter-signed by the Governor. Besides the family members, friends and well-wishers of Justice Sehgal, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Local Government Minister; Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Supply Minister; Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Health Minister; Mr H.S. Mattewal, Advocate-General, and the other civil and police officers were present. |
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432 constables promoted Jalandhar, December 14 The Parade was presided over by the Inspector-General of Police, Jalandhar Zone, Mr J.P. Birdi. According to the SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, the decision to promote the constables after the completion of 16 years of service was taken by the state government recently. He further said the objective of the state governments' order was to remove stagnation in the rank of constables. Mr Birdi pinned the badges on the promoted Head Constables. Later, addressing the gathering, Mr Birdi stressed upon them to perform their duty with utmost dedication. |
1 killed, 2 hurt in shootout Batala, December 14 A case has been registered under Sections 302, 307 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. The police said an altercation over a payment of Rs 480 was the reason behind the shootout. The alleged culprit Harjant Singh of Bijliwal village has absconded from the scene. |
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Non-bailable warrants against Inspector Patiala, December 14 The warrants were issued against Kashmira Singh in the case which was taken up by the CBI after its investigation was handed over to the agency by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Earlier also, non-bailable warrants were issued against Kashmira Singh and other police officers on August 19, September 18 and October 22. |
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Substandard
pesticides seized Gurdaspur, December 14 The officer accompanied by the staff of the Agriculture Department raided the premises of M/s J.K. Sharma Pesticides Store and S.K. Trading, Sarna, in this district yesterday and today. They seized seven samples of various pesticides. All samples were found to be of the sub-standard quality after laboratory analysis. The pesticides were manufactured at Ajay Ferti Com XX, Solan. which is owned by a Mumbai-based industrialist. Mr Sandhu told newspersons here today that the dealers could not produce any bill book, stock registers and certified maps of stores. An
unauthorised godown of the dealers was sealed and stocks therein were seized. |
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