Pathankot, September 18
Senior BJP leaders, including Mr Vijay Goel, general secretary, Mr Vinod Khanna, local MP, Mr Harjeet Singh Grewal, secretary, and Mr Dharminder Pradhan, national president of the Yuva Morcha, in joint press conference held here today blamed the UPA Government for "deteriorating" internal security in the country

The leaders had come here to participate in the two-day national executive meeting of the Bhartiya Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, which began at Pathankot today.

Due to the "ineffective" policies of the UPA Government, Naxal activities had spread across 160 districts of the country.

The Union Government was responsible for the present situation, they said.

Mr Vijay Goel flayed the Prime Minister for being "soft" towards Pakistan. The bilateral talks with Pakistan should be conditional. No talks should be initiated with Pakistan till it agreed to remove terrorist training camps from its territory.

Mr Harjeet Singh Grewal flayed the UPA Government for failing to check the rising prices of essential commodities.

Mr Vinod Khanna while responding to a query said flights would start from the Pathankot airport in November. Deccan Airways had agreed to start flights from Pathankot.

During the meeting the national president of the Yuva Morcha urged the youth to take policies of the party to the people.

Mr Mohan Lal, former minister and senior leader of the party, also participated.

The BJP will be holding a political rally at Pathankot tomorrow. 

Patiala, September 18
After getting reports of development taking backstage in his home town due to the ongoing tussle between the Mayor and the Commissioner of the local Municipal Corporation, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today stepped in to put the functioning of the MC back on track.

The Chief Minister summoned the Mayor, the Commissioner and Municipal Councillors to the local Circuit House and asked them to work together. Before meeting with municipal councillors, the Chief Minister met with District Congress Committee (urban) unit president Prem Krishan Puri to update him on the issue that had triggered a tussle between the two.

He later called both Mayor Vishnu Sharma and Commissioner S.K. Alhuwalia and asked them to work together or face action.

CM’s media adviser B.I.S. Chahal and Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Verma also attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister managed to iron out their differences and offered more funds for development of the town.

The ongoing tussle between the Mayor and the Commissioner had ebbed development activity in the town and alarmed the local Congress leadership, including MP Preneet Kaur with Assembly elections approaching.

The tussle had taken an ugly turn on September 11 when a vertical split appeared between the municipal councillors after Mr Alhuwalia was asked to leave the General House meeting allegedly by Mr Sharma.

When Mr Alhuwalia left the meeting, 23 municipal councillors also walked out and raised slogans against Mr Sharma.

Both groups of municipal councillors then levelled allegations against each other.

A section of senior functionaries of the MC preferred to take leave instead of getting embroiled in the “battle of supremacy”. This had put development work worth Rs 20 crore on a halt.

Today, a section of municipal councillors levelled allegations against each other but the Chief Minister reprimanded them.

Both Mr Alhuwalia and Mr Sharma, when contacted, said their differences had had been sorted out and their focus would now be on development.

The Chief Minister said he would order officials of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to install tubewells in the city to overcome the shortage of drinking water.

He also allowed the local MC authorities to hire technical staff and other employees on contract.

Gurdaspur, September 18
Ajeet Bajaj, who made the country proud by becoming the first Indian to ski to the North Pole in April this year, is now planning to conquer the South Pole.

According to Mr Jai Dev Bajaj, his father, Kirloskar company has agreed to sponsor his trip to the South Pole. The trip will cost around Rs 20 lakh. While Kirloskar has agreed to provide Rs 15 lakh, the remaining amount will have to be spent by them.

The parents of Ajeet said they became the only persons in India to receive a telephone call from the North Pole at 4.45 am on April 26 this year. Their son made a call to them from there.

Ajeet did what no Indian had ever done before on skis. Mr Jai Dev Bajaj and his wife, Ms Satya Bajaj, said, “Ajeet is our youngest son.” He did his schooling from Lawrence School, Sanawar. In the school, he came under the influence of Mr Gray, who introduced him to adventure sports. At the age of 12, he climbed 17600-foot-high friendship peak.

At 16, he climbed Hanuman Tibba at a height of 20,000 feet. After schooling, he joined St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, for higher studies. He came in contact with Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mount Everest. He went with him on a rafting expedition. Sir Edmund Hillary said, “I enjoyed a float in the Ganga. You have a strong spirit of adventure.”

After college, in 1986, Ajeet went rafting in upper reaches of the Sutlej with a British team. As a reward of completing the difficult expedition on December 15, 1986, at the age of 21 he became the second youngest person in the world to become a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of England.

In 1988, Ajeet became the first Asian and the third person in the world to solo raft in the Zambezi river of Africa which is infested with crocodiles.

He also rafted in Siberia as a member of a British team and captained the world team that rafted in Turkey.

He started a company Snow Leopard Adventure Private Limited in January 1990. By now, the company has grown into a successful venture with a staff of 80 persons. Initially, the company trained armed forces personnel in trekking and rafting.

Ajeet Bajaj himself acted as chief instructor for 50 such courses. Now, since he himself is interested in undertaking more adventure journeys, his wife, Sherley, manages the business.

Ajeet also wants to introduce his two young daughters, Deeya and Meghna, to adventure sports.

Barnala, September 18
Respecting the last desire of Brij Lal (90), who breathed his last today morning, his family donated his body to Dayanand Medical College (DMC), Ludhiana, for research purposes.

Family members of the deceased went to the medical college and handed over the body to the authorities.

Mr Megh Raj Mitter, state president of the Rationalist Society, Punjab, and son of Brij Lal Aggarwal, said none of the five sons and two daughters objected to the donation. No Hindu rituals were performed before departure of the body.

Mr Mitter said his father was an atheist. He made a will in 1999 whereby he said that instead of cremating, his body be donated to a medical college after his death. They feel proud on fulfilling the last desire of their father, he added.

Brij Lal had served with CPI MP Teja Singh Sawatantar, MLA Harnam Singh Chamak and Santokh Singh Sahor in ’50s and ’60s.

Mr Bant Singh, tehsil secretary of the CPM, spoke about the contribution of Brij Lal in the Communist movement.

Sangrur, September 18
Amandeep Singh Mansahia, alias Dicky Mansahia (37), Chairman of the Sangrur Improvement Trust, died at the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, past night. He had been suffering from jaundice for the past about three months. He was the son of late Surjit Singh Mansahia, a renowned sports personality and vice-president of the All-India Amateur Boxing Federation. He is survived by his wife Shavinder Kaur (35) and a son, Paslovjot Singh Mansahia (15).

Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, MP from Sangrur and close friend of Dicky’s father, expressed grief and shock over the death of Dicky.

Besides Mr Dhindsa, Mr Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sunam MLA; Mr Parkash Chand Garg, national vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD); Mr Madanjit Singh, Liaison Officer to CM, Punjab; Mr Jasbir Singh and Mr Ranjit Singh Ballian, both former Punjab ministers; Mr Jeet Singh Alloarkh, district president of the SAD (Amritsar), and Mr Subhash Grover, former president of the Sangrur District Congress Committee, visited the residence of Dicky and expressed sympathies with the family members. Dicky will be cremated at the local cremation ground tomorrow.

Amritsar, September 18
The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) yesterday took exception to the decision of the Punjab Government to set up a knowledge city in Mohali. The manch said it should be established in Amritsar.

In letters to the Prime Minister Congress President, Punjab Chief Minister, and PPCC President, it said on the one hand the state and the Central governments were claiming that they were determined to develop the border area, but on the other hand the government had set up all five Central institutes near Chandigarh and Patiala.

While the Indian Institute of Science, National Institute of Biotechnology, National Institute of Nanotechnology and a biotechnology park would be part of the knowledge city, the National Institute of Law and Defence were being set up in Patiala, it added.

Mr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, former president and patron of the AVM, said Mohali had no religious or historical past but had been chosen for the knowledge city.

He said the plea of the Central Government that these institutes should be set up near the capital to make them accessible to neighbouring states was unconvincing.

Chandigarh and Mohali were considered to be the centre of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal but half of Haryana was distant from Chandigarh and preferred Delhi over Chandigarh. 

Patiala, September 18
Hundreds of activists of the Physically Handicapped Association, Punjab, today staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner to lodge their protest against the non-acceptance of their demands by the authorities concerned.

The leaders of the association said their demands included free education for handicapped students, hike in amount of pension and scholarship for handicapped persons, facility of free travel in all categories of buses, reservation for handicapped persons in non-government organisations, facility of advancing loan for self-employment with 50 per cent subsidy and hike in amount of travelling allowance for handicapped employees.

The other demands included the allotment of residential and commercial plots on concessional rates, implementation of the PWD Act 1995. They said the state government should start interaction with representatives of the association to solve problems of handicapped persons.

Gurdaspur September 18
Overuse of nitrogenous fertilisers has polluted the ground water in Fatehgarh Churian and Dera Baba Nanak areas of Gurdaspur exposing people to carcinogenic pollutants.

A recent study conducted by the Department of Public Health in the said areas has revealed high level of nitrate in the under ground water up to 150 feet. The high level of nitrate has made the under ground water unfit for health of the people.

Giving this information, Mr Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, parliamentary secretary for agriculture, who represents the area, disclosed that he had got the study conducted to evaluate the quality of underground water in his area.

He said high use of nitrogenous fertilisers for paddy plantation had been found to be the basic reason for high-level nitrates in underground water. The Punjab Government was planning to launch recharging system in the area to improving the underground water quality.

It has been proposed that recharging ponds should be dug at the tail end of the irrigation canals. A proposal would soon be sent to the government.

Water samples collected by the department from various schools in the district were also found high on total solids, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium.

The water samples of many other schools have been found to be very high on dissolve solids and heavy metals. The government would take steps to ensure potable drinking water in schools, Mr Randhawa said

He also said farmers had suffered losses during this cropping season by going against the advice of the experts. The experts had cautioned the farmers against early sowing. However, about 20 per cent farmers in the area still went for early sowing and had now suffered up to 60 per cent damage to crops.

Chandigarh, September 18
Punjab will take the consent of its IPS officers before sending anyone on deputation to the Central Government. Informed sources said the Home Department had initiated the process and it had been decided to seek consent from the IPS officers and not just send a list of officers to be shifted to New Delhi.

A similar exercise in the past had failed when only one officer opted for deputation while others cited various reasons to stay on in Punjab.

On the basis of state’s quota, there should be 31 IPS officers from Punjab in the Union Government on deputation. However, at present, there are only six officers, out of a 144-strong cadre, with the Central Government.

However, there are contrary examples also. An upright officer from Punjab was offered a posting in a leading Central police organisation. However, some human right activists make the Ministry of Home change the place of posting of the officer without going into the background of the issue. The angered officer preferred to stay back in Punjab.

Amritsar, September 18
Cracking a blind murder case of Gurmeet Kaur (42), a resident of Jandiala Guru, which took place on the night of August 24, the Majitha police has arrested two persons, Surjit Kaur, who is sister-in-law of the deceased, and her son Navjot Singh. Sukhwant Singh, husband of Gurmeet Kaur, was seriously injured in the incident.

Mr Gautam Cheema, district police chief, Majitha, in a press statement issued today said that during preliminary investigations it was revealed that Surjit Kaur earlier had links with terrorists. On suspicion, Surjit Kaur and her son were involved in investigations after which it was found that it was Surjit and her son who had injured Sukhwant Singh and killed Gurmeet Kaur for grabbing their property. She committed the crime with the help of Shital Singh, Balbir Singh, alias Beera, and several other persons, all residents of the same area.

The SSP said that accused hatched a conspiracy in the house of Shital Singh. Under the plan they mixed sleeping pills in the meal due to which they (Gurmeet and her husband) fell unconscious. The accused then killed Gurmeet and injured Sukhwant Singh.

Chandigarh, September 18
The newly-established law college at Sidhwan Khurd, near Ludhiana, Guru Hargobind Institute of Law for Women, has finally been approved by the Bar Council of India. This follows a visit by a BCI team which inspected the newly constructed building and facilities being offered on the campus. Following the BCI approval, teaching work has started at the law institute. Earlier, the women's law institute was granted provisional affiliation by Panjab University, Chandigarh, for running law courses following recommendation by the university's inspection team which visited the campus.

In a communique to the Sri Guru Hargobind Ujagar Hari Trust, Sidhwan Khurd, on July 5 the Deputy Registrar (Colleges) of Panjab University had informed that the law institute was being allowed to run two courses. These included LLB (three-year course) and BA LLB (Hons) which is a five-year integrated course. Both the courses have 80 seats each.

The SGHUH Trust at Sidhwan Khurd is already managing several educational institutes, including a degree college and an education college affiliated to Panjab University. — TNS

Patiala, September 18
A large number of employees of the State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) observed All-India Demands Day on the call given by the All-India State Bank of Patiala Employees Federation here today.

Demonstrations were held at bank branches all over the country.

A demonstration was held in front of the SBOP head office here in the evening.

The rally was addressed by federation general secretary N.K. Gaur, State Bank of Patiala Employees Union (Punjab) general secretary S. K. Gautam and treasurer Yadwinder Gupta.

Addressing the rally, Mr Gaur said employees had been struggling for the past one and half year against the obstinate attitude of the bank management. He said bank-level and industry-level agreements were being violated.

He said if the management did not respond positively, they would embark on dharnas and hunger strikes to press for their demands.

The demands of the federation include end to unilateral redeployment of staff, review of transfers effected in redeployment policy, end to outsourcing of all jobs, adequate recruitment of staff in all cadres, end to victimisation, suspension and administrative transfers, dropping of move to close down branches in the town, review of the decision to handle the second key of award staff to officers and refund of unauthorised recovery from head cashier.

They are also seeking fresh promotion test from sub-staff to clerical staff, review of posting orders of part-time workers, payment of compensation to dependents of deceased employee from April 1, 2005 to March 28, 2006 and resolution of all pending disputes by holding head-office level bipartite discussion.