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SAD launches stir against Cong govt Chamkaur Sahib (Ropar), December 20 The SAD leaders who attended the rally chose the occasion to make scathing attacks against the Congress government. Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President of the SAD, who was first to reach Chamkaur Sahib, while talking to mediapersons alleged that the coterie around the Punjab Chief Minister, including his media adviser BIS Chahal and Principal Secretary SK Sinha, had cooked up all charges against him. The SAD had been maintaining that these officers had been misusing their office and now the leaders of Congress were echoing the same charges. The removal of the said officers had proved that their handiwork, including the cases fabricated against the SAD leaders, were personal vendetta, he said. The SAD would urge the NDA government to confiscate the passports of Mr Chahal and Mr Sinha and get the charges of corruption levelled against them by the Congress leaders investigated by the CBI, Mr Badal said. Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) who arrived in the afternoon, maintained that he would concentrate on matters of the SGPC. He added that the SGPC and the SAD were one and the same. He said in the rallies to be organised under the ‘jabar virodhi
lehar’ the people of the state would be made aware of the wrongdoings of the Congress government. He said the Congress government had taxed all sections of society, but there had been no development in the past two years, Mr Tohra alleged. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, former Finance Minister, alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh had proved to be the worst administrator. He had lost the moral right to rule the state after the ministers and MLAs of his party openly levelled charges of corruption against him, he said, demanding the sacking of the Chief Minister. Mr Baldev Singh
Bhunder, General Secretary of the SAD, Bibi Jagir Kaur, former President of the SGPC and Mr Prem Singh
Chandumajra, Mr Tara Singh Ladal and Bibi Satwant Kaur Sandhu, former ministers, also addressed the rally. The new Akali Dal led by former Speaker Ravi Inder Singh and the BSP also organised rallies at the Jor Mela. On the second day of the Jor Mela, thousands paid obeisance at Katalgarh Sahib. The persons coming to the fair enjoyed eatables and skill games. |
Infighting in Cong casts shadow on Jor Mela Fatehgarh Sahib, December 20 As both MLAs belonging to the district, Dr Harbans Lal, MLA,
Sirhind, and Mr Sadhu Singh, MLA, Amloh, are in the Bhattal camp, the party has entrusted Mr Bir Devinder Singh, Deputy Speaker, with the responsibility of supervising the arrangements for the proposed visit of the Chief Minister to the district on Monday. The Chief Minister would lay the foundation stones of four gates to be constructed in the memory of
Sahibjadas. He has also been given the responsibility to supervise and arrange the political conference of the party. Mr Bir Devinder Singh today presided over a meeting of district officials. It was attended by the DC, the SSP and other officials. He finalised all programmes for the visits of the Chief Minister to the district and also gave necessary instructions. He also presided over a meeting of local Congress leaders and workers. Later, addressing a press conference at the Bachat Bhavan, he said to pay homage to the younger Sahibjadas of Guru Gobind Singh, the government had constituted a committee for the commemoration of tri-centenary of the bricking alive of the
Sahibjadas. Answering a query about the conflict in the CLP, he said differences of opinion were common in democracy, but presently the crisis was over because both teams had left it to the Congress high command and come back and resumed their work. He welcomed the amendment in anti-defection law and said it would help in providing stability and clean administration. He said eight ministers were likely to be dropped and it was the prerogative of the CM and high command to decide on the
issue. Vaid Hari Krishan, president of the DCC, Mr Pakhar Singh
Salana, Chairman of the Zila Parishad, Mr Gurnam Singh, General Secretary of the
DCC, also addressed the meeting. |
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Shift Sinha from Home as well, says Bajwa Chandigarh, December 20 Mr Bajwa, who along with six other party MLAs, has maintained a neutral stance in the ongoing crisis in the Punjab Congress Legislature Party( CLP), said that the removal of Mr Sinha from the important Department of Home would send a good message to dissident party colleagues. He said that he had talked to some dissident party MLAs and they had the fear that Mr Sinha would harm them as the entire police force was under him. “I have told this to the Chief Minister and he had assured that nothing untoward would happen to any party leader,” Mr Bajwa said. When asked about the earlier incidents of raids on the premises of certain MLAs, Mr Bajwa said that there were still apprehensions among certain colleagues and the Chief Minister should remove their fears. He said that his group never asked for a change in the leadership in the CLP. “Our group, which is known as G-7, has conveyed our view point to the party high command as well as the Chief Minister,” he said. “We are for reforming the system and not changing the leadership,” he added. Appealing to all party MLAs and ministers to return to the state capital, Mr Bajwa said that conceding to the demand of party colleagues, the Chief Minister had removed two major impediments by removing Mr Bharat Inder Singh Chahal and Mr Sanjit Sinha from his office. The Chief Minister should be given chance as he had promised to bring about more changes in the functioning of his government to
satisfy all concerned. “Party MLAs should believe what the CM says,” he said, adding that he was not pleading the case of the Chief Minister or trying to bail him out from the present situation but expressing his own opinion. Mr
Bajwa, who was accompanied by Mr Mohinder Singh Gill, former president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, admitted that some major mistakes had been committed in the past because of which a good number of Ministers and MLAs had to camp in Delhi to meet the party high command . He said that as the decision had been left to the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, all MLAs and ministers should start functioning together to normalise the situation in the party. The party had suffered a lot in the past days. |
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Arshi for criminal case against Sinha Bathinda, December 20 Mr Arshi said here that Capt Amarinder Singh should also suspend Mr Sinha first and a committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should be constituted to probe the alleged acts of omission and commission committed by Mr Sinha ever since the Congress came into power in Punjab and his alleged involvement in the Naib Tehsildar recruitment scam. Making a scathing attack on Capt Amarinder Singh for adopting double standard on his drive launched against corruption, Mr Arshi alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh had failed to learn a lesson from his 'misdeeds' and with the same mindset, he had made Mr Sinha Home Secretary shifting him from the post of Principal Secretary. "The anti-corruption drive of Capt Amarinder Singh came under suspicion the day he appointed Mr Sinha his Principal Secretary despite the fact that there were charges against Mr Sinha", he said. If Capt Amarinder Singh was serious to bring about changes in his style of functioning, he should suspend Mr Sinha and register a criminal case against him. He pointed out that about one and a half year ago, he had written a letter to the Chief Minister, Punjab, in connection with the Naib Tehsildar recruitment scam. All facts in connection with the scam were mentioned in the letter with supporting documents. But, all in vain. He could not even get the receipt of his letter written to Chief Minister. Mr Arshi said there were a number of IAS officers like Mr Sinha, against whom probe should be launched by a committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha as they were also involved in various acts of omission and commission and had links with anti-social elements. Some of these IAS officers had been facing charges of fraud, he added. |
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Punjab poultry faces crisis Chandigarh, December 20 In an endeavour to promote poultry farming in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir Government now proposes to raise the toll tax on poultry from Rs 2 per chick or bird to Rs 5. The proposal, however, may spell
death knell for the Punjab poultry industry which has been feeding the valley for several decades now. At present, two-thirds of the total demand of chickens in the valley is met by poultry farmers from Punjab. According to estimates, the Kashmir valley consumes about 15 lakh birds per month, of which the local production is only about five lakh birds. In July this year, the Jammu and Kashmir Government, as a test case, levied Rs 2 per bird as toll tax at the Lakhanpur barrier. The tax, irrespective of the weight or size of the bird, was uniform. The Punjab farmers were able to absorb this shock as they had no choice, says Mr Surjit Singh Sagri, general secretary of the North Zone Broiler Breeders Association. “Members of the association, upset over the proposed increase, held a meeting at Pathankot yesterday and wanted the Punjab Government to intervene and persuade the Jammu and Kashmir Government not to hike the toll tax on poultry items any further,” he said. Everyday 30 to 40 truckloads of broilers and culled hens from Pathankot, Nawanshahr, Dinanagar, Banga and Dasuya go to the Kashmir valley. In the valley, the wholesale rate of chicken (broiler) is about Rs 11 more than the lifting rate in Punjab. This increase is on account of transportation, usual shrinkage of the bird, toll tax and transit mortality. Even a day-old chick, weighing about 40 gm is also charged Rs 2 as toll tax. “If we calculate toll tax on a quintal of day-old chickens, it works out a whopping Rs 5,000 per quintal which compared to other items of daily use is exorbitantly high. At best, the J&K government has been charging other eatables and consumables at the rate of Rs 40 a quintal. The Punjab poultry farmers feel the J&K Government was succumbing to the pressure tactics of a handful of poultry farmers of the state to shut the doors on Punjab poultry farmers and broiler producers. “Only time will tell whether this move will give a boost to poultry farming in Jammu and Kashmir or not, but it will certainly kill poultry farming in Punjab as the future of more than 600 farmers of these five poultry states is now at stake. They have been surviving because of their uninterrupted supplies to Jammu and Kashmir. “These supplies are basically meant for defence personnel, including paramilitary forces, deployed in the valley. In case the J&K government is adamant on hiking the toll tax on poultry from Punjab, then Punjab Government must also retaliate and levy toll tax on fruit, especially apples, coming from Jammu and Kashmir,” demanded the association. The association also decided to submit a memorandum to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and Minister for Poultry and Animal Husbandry, Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, so that they take up this issue with the J&K Government at the appropriate level to save the poultry farmers of the state, Mr Surjit Singh Sagri added. |
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Lot of work to do on Indo-Pak ties, says Menon Wagah, December 20 Talking to mediapersons after crossing from Pakistan en route to New Delhi, Mr Menon said the thaw and confidence-building measures announced by both countries had resulted in creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and faith. He attributed the present environment to the successful diplomatic moves by both countries, which would help to ease tension on the borders. He said the ceasefire announced by India and Pakistan on the eve of Id last month had helped both countries to move forward to build better relations and shed the mutual animosity of the past many decades. The relations were moving in a positive direction and would lay the foundation of lasting peace with Pakistan, he added. Mr Menon would apprise the Indian Government of the impact on the people of the resumption of train and air services from next month, as announced by both governments. He said such moves preceding the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to attend the SAARC Summit on January 4 had generated tremendous goodwill and would help ease the hostile atmosphere. Mr Menon would accompany the Prime Minister to Islamabad. |
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Pak singer Reshma hails PM’s move Wagah, December 20 Talking to this correspondent today, Reshma said she was delighted that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was visiting Pakistan next month in an effort to improve the relations between the two countries. She said Mr Vajpayee was an elderly statesman who must act like an elder brother and offer a hand of friendship to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to build bridges of goodwill and harmony. Reshma favoured the restoration of train, bus and air links between India and Pakistan stating that it would revive the old relationship between the people of the two nations. She said the people on both sides wished to rebuild their faith in each other, which was a healthy sign and would usher in an era of peace and prosperity. She welcomed the move of both nations to restart the dialogue. Reshma asserted that both countries should resume trade and cultural ties as the people wanted more interaction without any restriction. She said such a move would ease the pressure on politicians. The singer had arrived by the Lahore-Delhi bus for her three-week visit to India. |
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72 Pak students, teachers reach India Amritsar, December 20 The students from Lahore Grammar School said they would visit Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and see historical sites. Advanced-level second-year student Sameen said they had been waiting for the last two years and only after the normalisations of relations they were granted visa to visit India. It was like a dream coming true when they crossed into India, he said. |
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23 AIDS cases detected in Ropar Ropar, December 20 Interestingly, two years ago, the state Health Department had declared Ropar an "AIDS-free
district". The claims of the Health Department were, however, rejected by various private medical practitioners and NGOs functioning in the district. A local NGO, Arpan, even claimed to have detected 17 deaths dues to AIDS in the Nangal area. The NGO also claimed to have identified 20 children who were orphaned due to AIDS. The Director of the NGO, Mr Kuldeep Chand, said truck drivers were the major carriers of the AIDS in the district. Many quacks in the district fleece ignorant patients by giving them "medicines for AIDS" at hefty prices. Most of the private medical practitioners here use the TRI-DOT method for detecting AIDS virus. If tested positive, the patient is advised to go to the local Civil Hospital or the PGI, Chandigarh, for confirmatory tests. Meanwhile, with the number of AIDS patients increasing, the district health authorities have stepped up the awareness campaign. A drama troupe from Chandigarh has been engaged to hold "nukkar" plays in different parts of the district to make the people aware of the disease. |
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Woman starved kids to death, says husband Patiala, December 20 Mamta (5) and Deepak (3) had been buried in shallow graves at the cremation ground on the maie road on the outskirts of the city during the past two days. While Mamta was buried yesterday evening, Deepak was buried in the cremation ground on Thursday. The bodies were exhumed today by a team of senior civil and police officials following a complaint from the father of the children that some foul play might have been behind their sudden deaths. The children’s father, Dharma, complained that he was estranged from his wife Usha for quite some time, and that she was living with another person in Daru Kutiya Basti on the outskirts of the city. Dharma complained that when he got to know of the sudden death of his children and their burial, he consulted the panchayat member of Theri village on the outskirts of the city where he lives. He said a panchayat member Rajwinder Kaur had gone to Daru Kutiya and asked about the reason for the death of the two children. He said his wife had claimed that they had died after being stricken with measles. However, Rajwinder Kaur, in her statement to the police, said she tried to check the statement of Usha by visiting the two doctors to whom the woman said she had taken the children. The panchayat member claimed that the doctors did not corroborate the story, following which it was decided to approach the police in the case. Senior civil and police officials supervised the exhumation of both bodies from the cremation ground today morning. They had been buried in separate graves some distance apart from each other. The bodies were sent to Government Rajindra hospital for post-mortem examination which was conducted by Dr D S Bhullar and Dr Akash Garg. The findings revealed that both children had died due to severe starvation. Sources said the children did not seem to be suffering from measles. However, the viscera of both children has been sent to the State Chemical Laboratory to verify as to whether they were suffering from any disease which could have caused their death. Sources said the children could have died due to sheer neglect and severe starvation. They said this was further proved from the fact that Usha’s third child — eight-year-old Ravi — is also admitted in the Government Rajindra hospital. The sources said the boy seemed to be suffering from some skin infection and was in a poor physical shape. |
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NRI children return to roots JALANDHAR: NRIs, particularly those hailing from the Doaba region, have started sending their children to Punjab for education. Mr Lakhwinder Singh, an NRI hailing from Talwandi Sallo village, near Tanda in Hoshiarpur district, has sent all his three children — two daughters, Erica Singh and Jassica Singh, and son Jaskaran — to the local CT Public School, where many NRI students have got admission. “My parents have sent us here especially to learn Hindi and Punjabi as they are very keen to see us talk in Punjabi or Hindi. Besides learning these languages, I want to be a child specialist,” said Erica, a class VI student and the eldest of Mr Lakhwinder Singh’s children. Alen Pannu, a class IX student hailing from Hong Kong, where his father has been working as a security officer for the past about 30 years, said “I have seen my parents feeling disturbed over my inability to speak either Hindi and Punjabi fluently as in Hong Kong there is no arrangement for teaching these languages despite there being a sizeable population of Indians. I am more interested in learning Hindi,” said Alen Pannu. Differentiating between students in Western countries and Punjab, Raj Singh, a class VII student who has come all the way from New Zersey, revealed an interesting aspect. “Here curriculum and discipline are not lax,” said Raj Singh. Mr Manbir Singh, CEO of the school, maintained that the parents of almost all students have instructed the school authorities to lay a special focus on the cultural aspect. “All of them want their children to learn Punjabi and Hindi. They wish that their wards should know a lot about their cultural background and history before rejoining them,” said Mr Manbir Singh. Manpreet Singh, one of the 10 odd NRI students at Saint Soldier Divine Public School on the Kapurthala road here, maintained that the purpose of getting education in Punjab was to make up the backlog as far as their cultural background was concerned. Gagandeep, another student of the school hailing from Italy, said he found more satisfaction studying in a school where he could see a large number of students with a similar background. Mr Anil Chopra, chairman of the Saint Soldier group of public schools, said the trend was catching fast and more and more NRIs were coming forward with queries through relatives or e-mail. |
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Top artistes for Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan Jalandhar December 20 It will be for the first time in the history of the world famous festival the participation of a Karnataka instrument like “chitraveena mradangam” For the convenience of a large number of music lovers, who descend from different parts of the country to have a dip in the “sangeet mahakumbh’ every year, the Shree Baba Harballabh Sangeet Mahasabha, is making elaborate arrangements, including seating arrangements for 20000 and erecting of a waterproof ‘pandal’, where heaters will also be installed in view of the cold weather conditions. The musical festivities will, in fact, start on December 25 after a “Yazna” in front of the ‘samadhi’ of Baba Harballabh, followed by a music competition among junior and senior artistes from different parts of the country, maintained Ms. Poornima Beri, General Secretary of the Shree Baba Harballabh Sangeet Mahasabha. She said Chitraveena N. Ravi Kiran, who had stunned the music world by his record non-stop recital of Chitraveena for 24 hours when he was just 18, and 30, other eminent artistes have already confirmed participation in the festival. The artistes, who will perform on the opening day will be drupad singer Ritwik Sanyal, who will be accompanied by Shrikant Mishra on Pakahwaj, sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee, accompanied on tabla by Yogesh Samsi. and vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan. Who would be accompanied by ace harmonium player Mehmood Dhaulpuri and tabla player Pt. Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay. Music lovers will witness recital of vocalist Arshad Ali, with Idris Khan on
tabla, sarod player Narendra Nath Dhar, with Ram Kumar Mishra on
tabla, vocalist Vidushi Sumitra Guha with harmonium player Shuchimita
Chakraborty, sarangi player Bharat Bhushan Goswami and tabla player Anoop
Gosh, and noted Mohan venal maestro Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Salil Bhat with Sandeep Das on tabla on December 27. On the concluding day on December 28 harmonium player Ustad Mohan Malsiani will accompany Ms. Manjiri Asanare
Kelkar. Others who will perform on the final day include Sangeet Samrat Chitra
Venal N. Ravi Kiran, vocalist Pandit Pardeep Chatterjee, with Mahmood Dhaulpuri on the harmonium and Ustad Kale Ram on
tabla, vocalist Pandit Rajan Sajan Mishra with Mehmood Dhaulpuri on harmonium and Sanju Sahai on
tabla, and harmonium player Ustad Bhure Khan with tabla player Sajid Ali. |
Women can
become Jathedars, says Jagir Kaur Ropar, December 20 If any woman follows the traditions as per maryada there was no bar on installing her as the Jathedar of the Akal Takht. There was no maryada in the SGPC or the Sikh religion that bars women from any right vis-a-vis men, she said at Chamkaur Sahib. She stated that if the women could occupy the office as high as the SGPC president, how could any other right be denied to them in the Sikh religion. The recent controversy over the right of women to perform kirtan or chowki sewa had erupted because of the fact there over a period of time Sikh women had not stressed for their said right. During her stint as the president of the SGPC she had offered the women right to perform kirtan in Darbar Sahib. However, at time none had come forward. The SGPC was trying to consensus on the issue before giving the disputed right to women. The gender equality was the basic tenet of the Sikhism and nobody could deny it to the women, she added. |
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Cold wave, fog claim four lives Nawanshahr, December 20 Amandip Singh (25) of Bhadaur in Sangrur and Jaswinder Kaur Jyoti (23) of Bassi
Pathana, MCA students at Sahibzada Ajit Singh Academy in Mohali, were killed when the motor cycle they were riding was hit by an unknown vehicle near Jadla village around 9.30 p.m. yesterday. They were reportedly returning from the PTU in Jalandhar. Their bodies were handed over to their parents after postmortem examination. The police registered a
case. Girish (12) of Shaili Tali village in Pauri Garhwal of Uttaranchal, was injured in his left leg when he was hit by a car while trying to cross the road near DC office here around 7 p.m. yesterday. He was on a visit to his relatives here. Gurpreet Singh (25), Surinder Kaur (45), Harleen Kaur (23), Parminder Kaur (40) and Navpreet Kaur (10) of Phase 5 in Mohali were injured when their Santro car rammed into a road-divider near the CSD canteen here around 6.45 a.m. today. They were going to Harmandir Sahib in
Amritsar. Brij (80), a beggar, who had been living in the local Sabzi Mandi here for the past more than 10 years, died due to cold yesterday. The police handed over his body to the local municipal council for cremation. FAZILKA:
One person was killed in a road accident in thick fog on Friday evening. Sham Singh (49), lineman with the Punjab State Electricity Board, working at Jhorad village, was returning to his house at Arniwala village in the subdivision around 6.30 p.m. on a scooter. He lost track of the road and his scooter skidded, resulting in a serious head injury. He was rushed to a private hospital at
Arniwala, from where he was shifted to the primary health centre at Dabwala Kalan, where he succumbed to his injury. CHANDIGARH:
Fog continued to play spoilsport at many places in the region for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, throwing normal life out of gear. Many flights had to be cancelled, several trains ran behind schedule and vehicular traffic was also affected. Indian Airlines had to cancel its Delhi-Chandigarh flight from Mumbai due to bad weather conditions while the Jet Airways flight from Delhi to Chandigarh was also cancelled. Return flights did not take off. Vehicular traffic was also affected due to fog that engulfed Udhampur, Jammu, Amritsar, Bathinda, Pathankot,
Adampur, Halwara, Ambala, Sirsawa and Suratgarh, reducing visibility to nil. |
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Bill sought for
victims of NRI grooms Jalandhar, December 20 The party also demanded pardon for about 20,000 Punjabi youths, who had been staying in different countries on basis of political asylum and interest free loans for farmers of Punjab. |
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Breast
cancer common among spinsters, says doctor Patiala, December 20 Mammography is a safe, low dose (less radiation) and high resolution X- Ray system to obtain a picture of the inside of a breast. It is the best way to detect breast cancer when it is most treatable. It is suggested to get an X-Ray mammography done for both breasts as the normal breast provides an excellent comparison to pick up subtle differences which are the hallmark of early breast cancer detection. This also helps detect unsuspected lesions in the normal breast. Dr D.N. Bhardwaj, a surgeon, said breast cancer was more common among spinsters and married women who do not have children. Women, who have children but have not breast-fed them, are also prone to breast cancer. The disease is more common among women with close relatives having cancer. He further recommended that women having a family history of breast cancer must have regular examinations. Dr Bhardwaj added that due to lack of awareness among people, only 5 to 10 per cent patients present themselves early, with a tumor less than 5 cm in size. About 50 per cent patients seek treatment when the disease has advanced. Generally women either hide their condition or come for treatment when it is too late. The size of a tumor at the time of treatment is directly related to the end result. As many 90 per cent patients, with a tumor 1 cm in size, can survive for 20 years. The figure comes down to 50 per cent if the tumor is 3 cm or more. Woman over 35 years of age must go in for routine screening. In addition to this, post menopausal woman, before the commencement of the hormone replacement therapy and every year subsequently, should go in for regular check-ups. Regular X-Ray mammography of both breasts every year, coupled with clinical examination by a competent surgeon, can decrease the number of women dying due to breast cancer by almost 30 per cent. Mammography can detect a tumor, as small as 0.5 cm in diameter, in deeper parts of the breast which may not be palpable from the surface. |
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Pharmacists
burn effigy of Health Director Fazilka, December 20 Mr Kant said here today that the agitating pharmacists and scores of another employees of the Health Department marched through town bazars carrying an effigy of Dr D.P.S. Sandhu, Director, Health Services, Punjab. Later, they burned it in front of the office of the Civil Surgeon. Addressing the rally, office-bearers of the district unit, and Mr Mohinder Singh Pistol and Mr Dev Kumar Sharma, presidents of the Multipurpose Health Worker Union and the Ministerial Staff Union, respectively, criticised the Director, Health Services, for allegedly victimising the state unit representatives of the Pharmacists association on vague pretexts. They alleged that the corruption was rampant in the purchase of medicines, equipment and transfers of the pharmacists and employees of the department. They submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Secretary, Punjab, to Dr R.L. Taneja, District Health Officer. |
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PSHRC DGP to probe custodial death case Tarn Taran, December 20 Pardeep, a resident of Gandiwind Dhattal village died in police custody on the night of December 21, 2001. A case had been registered against Harbhajan Singh, in charge of the police post and his subordinates. After registering the case, the police authorities had deputed Mr Lakhwinder Singh, DSP (D), Majitha, to inquire into the matter. |
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“Thaggi” staged Phagwara, December 20 He is with his troupe at Bhabiana village 12 km from here to stage plays on occasion of the ‘barsi’ of freedom fighter Jathedar Swaran Singh. He had also acted in TV & films. So far I have given 7000 performances, said the 75-year-old dramatist. Mr Gursharan Singh asserted he was satisfied with the Kalidas Award. Gursharan Singh yesterday staged a play on “kabootarbazi” (illegal human immigration, that had rocked religio-political scenario in Punjab as it involved SAD-SGPC leaders. It related to human trafficking in the name of sending ‘five beloved ones’ and a hand-written “bir” of holy Granth Sahib to Canada on Baisakhi a few years ago. The play even mentioned the names of Akali and SGPC leaders involved in it. Another play, based on a story by Saadat Hasan Manto, “Pagal”, was also staged besides “Thaggi” natak on kabootarbazi. Punjab CPI secretary Dr Joginder Dayal presided over the function. |
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Funds for
Do Moria Pul released Chandigarh, December 20 Disclosing this here today, a spokesman of the government said that it was one of the most prestigious projects for the local residents of the city as it would help decongest the vehicular traffic. The project was likely to be completed within 18 months, the spokesman added. |
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EGS centres Nawanshahr, December 20 |
Robbery accused surrenders Jalandhar, December 20 Meanwhile, the co-accused in the robbery case — Maqbool and his beloved Preeti — who had been arrested from Sadhav village in Kutch area of Gujarat about 15 days ago, were also remanded into judicial custody for 14 days after the expiry of their police remand. Earlier, Darshan, who had been declared proclaimed offender surrendered in the court of the
CJM. While the police had already arrested nine members of the gang for the robbery, Darshan's surrender would unveil the mystery about the distribution of the “looted” money. During interrogation, Maqbool had reportedly revealed that Rs 35 lakh were given to Darshan as his share of the “looted” money. A senior police official said they were in process of getting court's order to auction the sealed property of the accused to recover the money for the complainant. |
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Grewal is Sangrur Dist Bar chief Sangrur, December 20 Mr Sukhwinder Singh was elected Vice-President. He defeated Mr Jagdeep Singh Jawandha by a margin of just three votes. Mr Sukhwinder Singh and Mr Jawandha secured 173 and 170 votes, respectively. Mr Gurbinder Singh Cheema was elected Secretary. He defeated Mr Ashi Goyal by a margin of 117 votes, securing 229 votes. Mr Bhupinder Singh Sekhon, one of the five-member committee that conducted elections said out of total 357 votes, 344 votes had been polled for each post. |
Woman, paramour held for murder
Gurdaspur, December 20 Mr R.P.S. Brar SSP said today Reena, wife of an Army jawan, her boyfriend Vijay Kumar from her pre-marriage home at Preet Nagar in Pathankot town, and the latter’s friend Surinder Pal from Sujanpur have been arrested on the charge of killing Parkashwati (70) in her in-laws house at Garota village near Pathankot on December 13 night. Reena, married for three years and in early twenties, had allegedly misled the police earlier, claiming she was raped and her mother-in-law murdered by three robbers, who took away jewellery, a motor cycle and cash from her in-laws house. Reena, whose husband is posted at Jabalpur, had come to her in-laws’ house on Divali and was staying there since. Vijay had been visiting her at night and she had been continuing relationship with him after making her mother-in-law sleep by giving sleeping pills on the appointed day. However, when Vijay along with his friend Surinder Pal arrived on December 13, Reena had no stock of sleeping pills but nevertheless went with her act with her pre-marriage friend and they were caught when Mrs Parkashwati woke up. It was this which led to the murder of the elderly woman, the SSP said. The earlier case registered by Pathankot Sadar police under Sections 460, 376 and 380 of the IPC would now be revised, Mr Brar added.
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Fake certificate racket unearthed Jalandhar, December 20 A police spokesman stated here today that they received a tip-off that Bedi was selling fake certificates of 10+2 standard of the Punjab School Education Board for Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. Subsequently, a trap was laid and Parveen Kumar was sent as decoy customer to Vivek College of Science and Information, Model Town, which was run by Bedi. Parveen struck a deal with Bedi to get a Punjab board certificate for 10+2 standard for Rs 10,000. As soon as Bedi handed over the fake certificate to Parveen, a police party raided the college and caught Bedi red-handed. Later, the police party conducted search at his residence in the Sodal area and confiscated some fake certificates from the place. |
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320 kg of poppy husk seized Abohar, December 20 Sources said when the Tata Sumo, coming from Rajasthan, was signalled to stop, occupants of the vehicle tried to escape from the police. Gurbux Singh of Basti Kesar Singh Wali, near Khair-ke-Utar village of Guruharsahai tehsil, was arrested while Boota Singh and Lal Singh of Maghar ke Utar village escaped. A case has been registered. Meanwhile, in a daylight theft at the residence of a bank officer in the Suraj Nagar locality, thieves decamped with ornaments and cash. |
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Man trying to cross into Pak shot Ferozepore, December 20 The man, in his mid-30s and wearing black clothes, was spotted walking towards Pakistan at in a cloudy night, the BSF sources said. The sources said a sum of Rs 120 in Indian currency were recovered from his body which was later handed over to Sadar police.
— UNI |
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Petrol station owner looted Abohar, December 20 They snatched the briefcases and when Niranjan Misra, a petrol station employee, rushed in to foil the loot attempt he was shot at. The robbers scaled the boundary wall and escaped. The police arrived at the spot on getting the information. Policemen were deployed to seal entry and exit points to the town. The police suspected that the incident might have been masterminded by the gang that had looted a petrol station Kameenpura and another at Nimmawali. A dog squad was also called from the district headquarters. The brief cases, were found at a deserted place behind a cotton mill on the Abohar-Fazilka road this evening. One of those was empty, while the other contained cheques and some documents. The culprits had taken away Rs 35,000 after breaking open one of the briefcase. |
Posts of teacher lying vacant Hoshiarpur, December 20 According to official sources, there are 1,263 primary schools in the district. As many as 4,150 posts of teacher have been sanctioned to provide primary education to at least 1 lakh students in the district. More than 1,000 posts have been lying vacant in the district since long. The sources say at least two teachers are required for a primary school. There are more than 40 schools in the district where there is no teacher. The Education Department has made temporary arrangements for these schools. A majority of the teaching staff had been deputed for the pulse polio programme, revision of voter lists, election and census. |
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Language lab begins in Mata Gujri College Fatehgarh Sahib, December 20 Dr Walia said the college was aiming to get the status of an autonomous college and would start courses that enabled the students to meet challenges of the new millennium. He said it would be the second college of Punjabi University to introduce functional English as an elective subject under the UGC scheme of vocationalisation of education. He said the subject would prepare the students for securing jobs such as broadcasters, managers, receptionists, news readers and
counsellors. Prof Gauri Handa gave a practical demonstration of the laboratory to students. She said the students should acquaint themselves with latest gadgets in information technology and electronic media if they wanted to face the challenges of the modern world. |
Bank organises customers’ meet Patiala, December 20 About 200 customers attended the meet. Mr Pardeep Shankar said the SBOP being a premier bank of the area had been touching new heights with patronage of customers. Earlier, the AGM of the bank, Mr A.S. Bhatia, assured the customers of excellence in customer service. |
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