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| Wednesday,
December 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Congress rejects Lokpal’s
appointment Chandigarh, December 18 Announcing this at a press conference here today, he said Group I would interview candidates for the Jalandhar, Phillaur and Faridkot Assembly segments, Group II for Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda, Group III for Ferozepore, Ropar, Sangrur and Gurdaspur and Group IV for Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Patiala. Each of these groups would hold interviews for the first two Lok Sabha constituencies tomorrow and for the remaining a day after. Thereafter, there would be a joint meeting of the state Election Committee. This panel would oversee all groups’ lists and send its recommendations to the Central Committee which would refer the same to the AICC President. All candidates were likely to be announced before the end of the year. A cross-section of Congressmen told TNS that the group exercise to shortlist candidates was meaningless as the final selection was to be done in Delhi. Senior state Congress leaders know the outcome. In fact, all sitting MLAs, barring one or two, had already been renominated for the elections, as Capt Amarinder Singh revealed. He also said that the door was open for alliances and seat adjustment with the CPM and the CPI. The objective was to defeat the SAD-BJP combine. The number of seats a party contested was not important. In all, the PPCC received 1,067 applications. The criterion to be adopted for the selection of a candidate was his/her “winnability”. But the final “norms” were yet to be received from Delhi. “A clean image, the youth and women will get preference”, he added. Capt Amarinder Singh referred to the appointment of the Lok Pal, Justice D.V. Sehgal, shortly before the elections. He questioned the appointment of a “committed BJP man.” “We reject the appointment and refuse to accept him. He should quit on his own”, he remarked. The PPCC president also waved copies of three FIRs allegedly registered against Mr Amarjit Singh Chawla, who was appointed a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission. The Congress also expressed concern over the poor cotton crop and the loss suffered by the growers. He blamed the government for failing to tackle the pink bollworm in the past three years. The worm had caused a steep fall in production from 28 lakh bales to seven lakh to eight lakh bales. He reiterated the Congress stand on POTO and sought the views of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal on the issue. He presented to the Press Mr Roop Lal who, while working for the country, had spent 26 years in Pakistan jails. He joined the Congress today. “He is not an aspirant for the party ticket. He wants to serve the party”, said the PPCC chief. Earlier, Capt Amarinder Singh had a meeting with members of the state Election Committee where the formation of the four groups was decided upon. The AICC secretary and observer, Mr B.K. Hari Prashad, was present. |
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Sonia to decide on
kin’s nomination Patiala, December 18 Capt Amarinder, while talking to TNS after a party rally at Rajpura yesterday, said he still stood by his stand of not giving away party ticket to relatives of senior leaders. He said such a move would create resentment in the party and thwart the aspirations of many deserving candidates. The PPCC chief, however, said there should be a clear distinction that who could be classified as ‘relatives’. He said there were some leaders like Choudhary Jagjit Singh, who was the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, and his brother Choudhary Santokh Singh, who was also an active politician and a former minister and could not be denied party nomination simply because his brother was the CLP leader. He, however, said those who were novices and did not have any political experience should not be given the party ticket simply because their relatives were in high political positions in the party. When asked about the position with regard to his brother Malvinder Singh who has also sought the party ticket from Samana, he said “it is up to Sonia Gandhi to see whether he fits the bill or not”.
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Badal holds SAD-BJP review meeting Chandigarh, December 18 Impressed by their high spirits, Mr Badal said that the Congress had already “lost ground” and people had made up their mind to give a verdict “in favour” of the SAD-BJP combine. Referring to Capt Amarinder Singh’s comments on the new Lok Pal, the SAD President said that Justice D.V. Sehgal was appointed after consulting and on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “The irresponsible remarks do not behove the president of a political party”. |
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SGPC to propagate religion, fight social
evils Chandigarh, December 18 The other steps include the setting up of a Staff Training Institute, re-establishing the Sikh Reference Library, reviving the Sikh History Board, setting up a Sikh education board, establishing an international advisory council and launching a campaign against social evils. These are some of the decisions the SGPC Dharam Parchar Committee took at a meeting at Kalgidhar Nivas here today. The SGPC President, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, presided. After his election on November 27 last, Mr Badungar now carries a long kirpan. Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Mr Badungar said the SGPC already had a website and shabad kirtan from the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple was already being telecast every day. But being an organisation primarily and solely meant for the management of gurdwaras, preserving and protecting religious tenets and propagating religion, it had been decided to set up an institute offering religious courses for the staff. Even the knowledge of the “parcharaks” (preachers) would be brushed up. Mr Badungar said: “The Sikh religion is a movement encompassing the social, economic and political life. Of late, several distortions and evils have crept into these. Therefore, as part of religious preaching and propagation, the SGPC has decided to campaign against female foeticide, dowry, drug addition and apostasy”. The SGPC President was accompanied by Sikh scholars like Dr Kharak Singh, Giani Gurdit Singh, Giani Joginder Singh, Dr Darshan Singh and the SGPC secretary, Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan. The Sikh Reference Library was destroyed during Operation
Bluster in 1984. The SGPC would make every effort to collect related and relevant material and manuscripts, including what the Army had trucked away at that time. Likewise, the History Board would be revived and work for spreading the gospel of the Gurus in accordance with Gurmat Sidant. And the proposed Sikh education board would ensure high academic standards in the institutions run by the SGPC. Keeping in view the worldwide Sikh diaspora and the problems faced by the community in the international arena, the SGPC proposed to set up an advisory council that would take up issues pertaining to the Sikhs settled abroad. For this even diplomatic channels would be used. The necessity had arisen due to assaults on Sikhs in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack in the USA. “There is a crisis of Sikh identity abroad”, he added. Mr Badungar distributed copies of the letter he had written to the Prime Minister drawing his attention to such incidents. He had even sought an appointment to take up urgent issues concerning the Sikhs and the gurdwaras in Pakistan, where the Pakistan-sponsored organisation was spitting venom against India at congregations attended by pilgrims visiting those shrines from India. To a question, Mr Badungar emphatically said: “Religion and politics are inseparable. These are like the body and the soul. Both are interdependent as also independent.” On the exercise of rewriting history books by the NCERT following the deletion of several objectionable passages, Mr Badungar said the SGPC was in the process of presenting the correct and true history of the Sikhs. It would examine the revised Indian history books before these were introduced in educational institutions. |
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Sikh clergy toeing govt line: ex-Jathedar Amritsar, December 18 Talking to TNS here yesterday, the former Jathedar said that the need of the hour was to protect the age-old Sikh institutions which had witnessed a lot of erosion in the recent past. It was a matter of concern that the president of the SGPC and Sikh clergy were “playing into the hands of politicians.” This was unfortunate and the Sikhs must introspect in this matter. He said it was for the first time that Jathedars of Kesgarh Sahib and Damdama Sahib were facing inquiries following serious allegations and it was their moral duty to resign. He said the frequent appointments and unceremonious removal of the Jathedars and SGPC chiefs in the recent past had exposed the real designs of the ruling party which wanted to have direct control over all Sikh institutions for vested interests. Regarding the controversy over the edicts issued by some Jathedars, Prof Darshan Singh said a hukamnama’ could not be issued for vested interests. If the edict issued by Giani Puran Singh in his capacity as Jathedar from Guna (Madhya Pradesh) wherein he had ex-communicated the then SGPC chief from the Sikh Panth was wrong, the rescinding of all his (Giani Puran Singh’s) directives by Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti hours after his installation as Jathedar should also be described as violative of Sikh institutions. He lamented that the ruling party had replaced three Jathedars of Akal Takht when they refused to toe the ‘official line’. He said there was need to make Sikh institutions autonomous and the appointments of the Sikh clergy should be made transparent. Coming heavily on Giani Puran Singh, Prof Darshan Singh said that the person who described Sikhs as direct descendants of ‘Luv and Kush’ was appointed as Head Granthi, Golden Temple. He said it was ironical that the Head Granthi, which was the highest post (even above that of Jathedar, Akal Takht) had refused to sit with his colleagues at the meetings of Akal Takht. If the Sikh high priests could not sit together, how could they take any decision pertaining to the Sikhs. Criticising the appointment of Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar as President, SGPC, Prof Darshan Singh said that it was surprising that the person who is on the ‘pay rolls’ of the ruling party (in the capacity of secretary, SAD) had been appointed as President of the great Sikh institution. The former Jathedar also criticised the appointment of Mr Kewal Singh Badal as junior vice-president, SGPC, though he was declared ‘tankhaiya’ for having links with an ex-communicated Sikh, Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara. He said that if persons were convicted in a normal court he could not get even petty job in a government department, but in case of Mr Badal, he was re-elected as junior vice-president in gross violation of the Sikh traditions. |
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Punjab landholdings mired in
litigation Amritsar, December 18 Many pending court cases also involve service matters and decisions where the government is found wanting in several aspects. This is clear from the number of court cases pending in all the municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Amritsar. The hundreds of piled up cases have forced the government to call for exigency measures involving enlistment of court cases, and calling for early and timely disposal of cases under litigation. Replies too have not been filed some cases relating to the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation. The small area of the Amritsar galiara project has at least eight pending cases relating to rehabilitation and enhanced compensation to victims of Operation Bluestar. As many as 81 cases of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation have been pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for years. They relate to octroi, town planning and house tax, with a majority of them relating to service matters involving transfers, postings, revised pay scales, pensions etc. While local courts here record the number at a whopping 435 with at least 10 new cases, nine cases are under litigation where the state is party and only three out of the total were disposed of. An advocate dealing with civil cases points out that lofty claims of lok adalats belie ground reality, as is evident from the large number of pending cases in the state. The allegedly lackadaisical attitude of the legal wings in the corporations have thus come under scrutiny as a number of cases of contempt were filed. In the Jalandhar vicinity of the corporation, 153 cases relate to the building branch alone while 20 such cases enjoy the “status quo” in the cases. Even the licence branch under the Jalandhar corporation shows 10 pending cases. As many as 25 cases in the house tax wing out of the total of 58 relate to a single person even as cases in the high court number nearly 66 in which the state is party in 28 cases. Ludhiana records just four cases pending in the high court while scores of cases are reportedly pending with the Patiala Municipal Corporation. |
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RSS holds protest march Sangrur, December 18 The protesters are demanding that the Union Government should initiate talks with the Bangladesh government for the safety of the Hindus and their properties. They alleged that raping of Hindu women was common in Bangladesh and under the name of “jehad” some idols of Mata Durga had also been damaged there. Later, the protesters held a rally in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Among those who addressed the rally were Thakur Jagdish Rai, president of the district unit of the BJP, Mr Ram Pal Singla, secretary of the local unit of the RSS, Mr Vimal Kumar Jain, district co-ordinator of the Bajrang Dal, and Mr Bal Krishan, zonal vice-president of the Sarv Hitkari Educational Society. The speakers condemned the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and urged the Union Government to take immediate steps to stop these atrocities and migration of Hindus from Bangladesh to India. The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sarvjit Singh, and asked him to forward the same to the President of India for necessary action. |
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Army aspirants fall prey to touts Bathinda, December 18 Sources said the strictness of the Army authorities during recruitment rallies had forced the touts to change their tactics. They charge huge sums of money from aspirants when they ask to wear a particular dress or any other sign of identification so that when the touts “recommend” their names to the officials, they are able to recognise them immediately. The sources said although some such touts were caught in the recent past, generally they went scot-free due to lack of proof against them. They told the youths not to reveal to anyone the details of their “agreement”. The modus operandi of the touts is simple and the number of youths who have fallen prey to them is large. Warnings given by the Army authorities about such touts, in the form of banners and hoardings at the location of the recruitment rally, do not seem to have borne much fruit. Though the authorities also ask candidates to give information about any such person who tries to contact them with the promise of getting them recruited, generally it does not yield any result. Army sources said the touts look for gullible youths who seemed fit to be recruited. During recruitment, the touts go to Army officials on some pretext and show to their “clients” that they had recommended their names to the officials and asked them to select them. A cross-section of youths who had come for the recruitment rally at the local Government Rajindra College today, talking to this correspondent, said many persons had approached them with the promise of getting them selected. They said the rates for selection ranged from Rs 20,000 to Rs 45,000 depending upon the category of service to which the candidate had applied. The youths were of the opinion that although they were aware that recruitment in the Army was purely on merit basis, unemployment had forced them to pay huge sums to the touts. They said out of more than 6,000 candidates which had come with the hope of getting a job, not more than 600 were likely to be selected. Col K.K. Marwah, director, branch recruitment office, Ferozepore said every effort was made to keep away the touts. He said officials were appointed to spot the touts. However, he said without the cooperation of the candidates it was not possible to get rid of them. Colonel Marwah said to ensure that the process of recruitment was transparent, officials from different branch recruiting offices of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir had been appointed for the rally.  |
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POTO will ‘dilute’
Fundamental Rights Bathinda, December 18 Mr Vasudev Aggarwal, president of the PLF, in a press note issued here yesterday said the provisions of POTO, directly or indirectly, violated the provisions of natural justice and universal declaration on human rights made by the UNO in December, 1948. He said India was a signatory to the same. These provisions were for every human being. These were also included in the Constitution of India vide Article 14, 19, 20 (3), 21, 22 and 25 as the Fundamental Rights which could not be abridged by any law, he added. He said the PLF demanded that the scope of the Fundamental Rights should be protected. |
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Sloganeering marks rally against
officials Mansa, December 18 It may be recalled that on December 13, an altercation took place between document writers and Sub-Registrars at the court complex here as the Sub-Registrars (Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar) threatened to cancel the licences of documents writers who were on strike against corrupt practices in the office of the Tehsildar. Two advocates — Mr V.K. Singla (Bareta) and Mr Jaspal Goyal had been implicated in a false case by the district administration, it was alleged. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bhangu said the strike had been successful as all Bar Associations had extended their cooperation. If the case registered against the advocates was not withdrawn, they would continue the strike, he said. The public raised slogans against the Naib Tehsildar. Mr Rajinder Kumar Sharma, advocate, said the Administration was protecting the “corrupt” officers and false cases were being registered. |
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PUDA to beautify Kamara
Bagh Chandigarh, December 18 The formal ceremony in this regard was performed at Kapurthala this evening by Mr Raghbir Singh, Transport Minister, Punjab, in the presence of Dr Upinderjit Kaur, Housing & Urban Development Minister, Punjab, who is also Chairperson, PUDA. Spread over nearly 10 acres, the historic Kamara Bagh consists of three pockets divided by vehicular roads. Although well developed trees of various species already exist, proper landscaping had never been effected. In pursuance to PUDA’s general policy of creating and rejuvenating green spacing in urban centres, this project has been taken in hand at an overall cost of Rs 80 lakh. Giving details, the PUDA Chief Administrator Mr K.B.S.Sidhu said that the main original entrance adjacent to the main entry of the Sainik School, that was currently lying sealed, would be renovated and reopened for the public. The dressed rubble planters would provide direction to the entrance. |
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Army holds
medical camp Abohar, December 18 People from far off villages, including
Patrewala, started lining up at the Government High School for registration since early morning. The Army had made arrangements for free transportation. A team of specialists in surgery, eye,
orthopaediatrics, gynaecology, dental diseases from Civil Hospital here helped doctors of the AMC in examining the patients. Free medicines were given and lab tests conducted. The Army also gave refreshment to the patients. The villagers were advised on inoculation, vaccination and precautions on winter ailments were also given. They were also advised to encourage tree plantation and create hygienic conditions in the village. The unit had in the past taken up various projects like de-silting of water storage tanks, which had been completely ignored by the Public Health Department. The Army had also organised sports competitions at the village. |
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Bail for 125
undertrials Sangrur, December 18 As per the information gathered by The Tribune tonight, more than 125 undertrials, lodged in Sangrur, Malerkotla and Barnala jails, will get relief from the orders. It may be mentioned here that before the amendment in the NDPS Act, bail to an undertrial was not allowed. But now bail can be granted to those, from whom up to 50 kg of poppy husk or 5 kg of opium was recovered. |
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Pop not real music, says
Surinder Kaur
Amritsar, December 18 Mr R.L. Bhatia, Member of Parliament, was the chief guest while Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, presided over the function. Surinder Kaur and her daughter Dolly Guleria gave a splendid performance and sang songs based on the literary works of Bulle Shah, Nand Lal Noorpuri and Shiv Kumar Batalvi, besides popular “bolian”.
They were honoured with mementoes. |
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MC workers’ rally Bathinda, December 18 In a press note issued here today they said the state government abolished the octroi without considering its ill effects on municipal employees. They said now municipal councils were facing problems in giving the employees their pay in time. |
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Trader’s body found Phillaur, December 18 |
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26.25 cr for overbridge Jalandhar, December 18 The pre-Independence “Domoria” bridge is one of the few spots in the city which have been a perennial source of inconvenience to the people, particularly during rains. Ironically, if all major educational institutes are situated in localities across the bridge, all fire stations are on this side of the bridge. |
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6 promoted to rank of IG Chandigarh, December 18 The officers promoted are Mr S.M. Sharma (DIG, CM Security), 1980 batch, Mr G.D. Pandey (1981 batch), Mr Sanjiv Gupta, Mr Sumedh Singh Saini and Mr Suresh Arora (all 1982 batch). The promotion of Mr Rajinder Singh (1982 batch) will be effective from February 28 next year when a vacancy becomes available, an order issued by the Home Department said this evening. |
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Voter cards
from Dec 21 Bathinda, December 18 She said this was the last chance to get voter ID card made. For any kind of help or further information residents could contact phone numbers 30295 and 31931 of Gidderbaha and 62857 of Muktsar. The photography for residents of Khirkiawala, Aasa Butar, Gurri Sanghar, Bhutiwala, Syrewala and Vara Kishanpura villages would be done on December 21, for Malan, Kotli Abulbhalaiana, Butar Sarih, Lohara and Dhulkot villages on December 22, for Kauni, Doda, Sekhan Chak Duhev, Pigana and Phulewala villages on December 23 for Mahirajwala, Bhunder, Karniwal, Chateanan, Chotian and Kot Bhai villages on December 24 for Rakahal, Shekh, Samadh, Manianwala, Lundewala and Vadian villages on December 26. The photography for residents of Karaiwala, Ghagga, Gurusar, Mapir, Babania, Butar Bakhua villages would be done on December 27, for Bharu, Dola, Piori, Hussar, and Gidderbaha villages on December 28, for Thori and Fakarsar on December 29. |
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Ministerial staff to hold dharnas Chandigarh, December 18 Mr K.K. Jindal, general secretary of the union said here today that the state government had been “befooling” the union for the past several months. He said the government had agreed to implement certain accepted demands but nothing had been done yet. |
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4 FCI officers booked for forgery Sangrur, December 18 The police has registered case against them under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the IPC. These persons were allegedly involved in preparing fake documents to benefit themselves at the cost of labourers who were working for the local FCI storage depot to load and unload the foodgrains between 1991 and 1995. The police lodged the FIR on the complaint of Mr Amrik Singh, president of the local branch of the Punjab Pradesh Paledar Mazdoor Union, who claimed that his union had been working for the FCI since 1985 while the FCI Cooperative Labour and Construction Society here headed by Teja Singh, was registered on March 31, 1994, while this cooperative society got licence to work for the FCI on September 11, 1995. The police registered the case after holding an inquiry on the complaint as it found that Teja Singh and members of the cooperative society in connivance with the four assistant managers of the FCI prepared fake record of the employees provident fund (EPF) accounts of the members of the cooperative society to get themselves appointed as permanent workers in the FCI besides getting the EPF amount of 112 workers of the Sangrur branch of the Punjab Paledar Mazdoor Union entered in their names in the EPF records. By doing this, Teja Singh and members of the society allegedly “snatched” the rights of members of the Punjab paledar Mazdoor Union here who lost an opportunity to become a permanent employee of the FCI and also deprived of their
EPF. |
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Man booked for killing 18-day-old daughter Amritsar, December 18 The girl was poisoned by her father, Dilbagh Singh, and her paternal grandfather, Dhian Singh, according to a complaint lodged at Chabal police station by the baby’s mother, Bajbeer Kaur, and her maternal grandmother, both residents of
Basarke. The complainants alleged that Bajbeer was harassed for giving birth to a second girl. The baby’s father has been booked by the police under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC. |
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Relatives murder orphaned child Hoshiarpur, December 18 On the complaint of Mr Subash Sondhi, a paternal uncle of the victim, the city police has registered a case against D.K. Vohra and his wife, the maternal grand-parents of the child. The three maternal uncles of the murdered child are also named in the FIR. According to a statement given by Mr Sondhi, a former president of the municipal committee of Tanda here today, the parents of the victim had died in a road accident, about a year back, Mr Sondhi took the possession of the child which was resented by the alleged accused and the matter of the child’s custody was then taken to the judicial court. Mr Sondhi in his statement claimed that with the matter lying pending in the court, the child was taken away by the alleged accused. It was only yesterday when Mr Sondhi came to inquire about the victim’s well-being he found the child lying motionless, the statement said. The police after a post-mortem examination has registered a case of murder against the five alleged accused who are absconding. The child was strangulated to death, the police said. UNI |
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Car taken away at gunpoint Fatehgarh Sahib, December 18 |
New system to recruit
teachers Bathinda, December 18 Speaking to the mediapersons here today, he said the Punjab Government had asked the authorities of the NCERT to remove the chapters from its textbooks in which some derogatory words were used against the Sikh Gurus and the NCERT had removed them subsequently. He added that the SAD was in favour of telling history to students as it happened. Regarding recruitment of teachers, he said the new system being adopted by the state government was based upon the Canadian system and it would benefit all. Under the system, a merit list of all eligible candidates would be prepared every year. Whenever a post fell vacant, the candidate having the highest position in the merit list would be asked to join. Regarding the addition of new candidates every year, he said that special marks would be given to those candidates who had passed their qualifying examinations in the past years as compared to the fresh candidates. He said the new teachers would be sent to school one month prior to the retirement of the teacher so that the students of the classes being taught by that teacher should not suffer any loss of study. When asked about those candidates who had not got job so far although they had applied more than seven years earlier and who had become overage without getting the job, he said that the government was helpless in that matter. He said there were specific criteria of age, qualification etc and only those candidates who fulfilled such conditions would be eligible for that post. |
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Anti-terrorism rally by
schoolchildren Bathinda, December 18 Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, who organised and presided over the rally, said that attack on Parliament was equivalent to attack on the honour of the nation but terrorists did not know that every Indian was full of patriotism. The security personnel deployed at Parliament proved the fact by sacrificing their lives. They failed the designs of terrorists. He said the aim of the rally was to make people aware of the supreme sacrifice made by the security personnel on December 13 and to motivate them to have the same spirit and fight against terrorism. He said schoolchildren needed to be told facts to prepare them for nation’s development. Schoolchildren were holding banners and placards carrying messages of patriotism. They raised slogans for martyrs and sang patriotic songs. The students were accompanied by the residents and police personnel. Skits prepared by students depicting attack on Parliament touched people. |
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