 |
|
|
|
|
|
Orders to sack jathedar, secy withdrawn
Amritsar, September 16 A meeting, convened at Takht Patna Sahib, attended by eight members of the Takht Patna Sahib management committee unanimously agreed in principal that the secretary had no power to sack the jathedar. Similarly, as per the service rules, the jathedar is not authorised to remove any office-bearer from his post on flimsy grounds. However, the jathedar can take action in case any member violate the religious code. Among those who attended the meeting at Takht Patna Sahib included S.S. Ahluwalia, a senior BJP leader, Mohinder Singh Chhabra, T.P.S. Dhillon and Mohinder Paul Singh Dhillon, senior vice president, junior vice president and general secretary, Joginder Singh Jogi, Gurinder Paul Singh and Manjit Singh Sarla, all members of the management committee. However, Mohinder Singh Romana and Kulmohan Singh, president and general secretary, respectively, of the management committee could not attend the meeting due to ill -health while another member Kalyan Singh, Ludhiana, was reportedly pre-occupied. Earlier, the three office-bearers, including Mohinder Singh Chhabra, Mohinder Singh and T.P.S.Dhillon, senior vice president, junior vice president and general secretary of the Takht Patna Sahib management committee had written to Raja Singh, secretary, that he had “sacked” the jathedar with mala fide intentions. Talking to Mohinder Singh Dhillon, both - jathedar Iqbal Singh and Raja Singh, secretary had agreed to withdraw allegations levelled against each other. Earlier, the meeting of the management committee, convened by the jathedar on September 15 could not be held due to lack of quorum. The jathedar is also facing charges of furnishing “wrong information” for getting his passport. However, Giani Iqbal Singh had pleaded that the name of his wife was changed from Kulwant Kaur to Inderjit Kaur after the marriage and hence he had mentioned the original name of his wife in the passport which was right from the legal point of view. Another serious allegation against the jathedar was that he had not deposited the donations, collected from his religious tours to foreign countries. Instead of spending money on creating the trust, the jathedar had deposited several lakhs of rupees in his personal account, which he had got by selling the property of a US- based Sikh Didar Singh Bains. However, jathedar Iqbal Singh said the amount was still intact and would be spent to float a welfare trust as per the wishes of Bains. Giani Iqbal Singh said Bains had given him power of attorney to sell his about 10 acres of land in Garhshankar tehsil which he had sold. “The amount was deposited in his (Giani Iqbal Singh’s) account as per the wish of Bains.
|
|
Mid-term election early next year: Advani
Jalandhar, September 16 Giving a clarion call to the BJP cadres at a function to facilitate the newly elected mayors and councillors of the four civic bodies in the state here today, former Deputy Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Lal Krishan Advani said it was a miracle that the ruling “bundle of contradictions” had come so far. Advani, who appeared to be in an upbeat mood and was projected as the future PM during the function, congratulated the municipal poll winners and exhorted them to be ready for the impending general election next year. “There is no way the government can last its full term and the writing is on the wall,” he pointed out. Citing three reasons for his conviction, he said the government had not done anything for the masses. “Although we have attracted foreign investment in certain core sectors, in what way has it benefited the masses. The prices of atta and dal are bringing tears to the eyes of the people, but has the government tried to stem price rise,” he questioned. The second reason was the double talk on the N-deal wherein an impression had been created that the NDA government had initiated the talks and that the present government was only carrying it forward. He clarified that they differed with the Left on the issue as they were against signing a deal with any riders which would jeopardise India’s national interests. Third, as if things were not bad enough, the government submitted an affidavit in the court questioning the very existence of Lord Ram. The ploy was to sidetrack the Ram Setu issue by raising a doubt on the authenticity of the holy texts. Ramayana was sought to be dismissed as an exemplary work of a great novelist, he quipped. The move has backfired and people would give a befitting reply to this insult in the coming elections,
he added.
|
|
Cong not behind Ram Setu row: Bhattal
Hoshiarpur, September 16 This was stated by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, while talking to mediapersons at Tanda, 32 km from here, today. AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to decide whether Ambika should resign or continue, she said.
— OC
|
|
|
Time to go after ‘rats’, not ‘cats’: KPS Gill
Jalandhar, September 16 In city to attend the shaheed parivar fund distribution function, he said when the going gets tough all sorts of strategies are followed in the larger interest of the country and that the Punjab police not only used “cats but also rats, bats, camels and the ilk.” Coming out in favour of his officers and the men who served under him during his tenure, he said they were given a free hand, as there was no other way of stamping out terrorism in Punjab. Since the other arms of the state were paralysed, it fell on the men in uniform to take upon them to do their duty, even at the cost of their lives, he pointed out. Reacting to the arrest of former DGP Sarabdeep Singh Virk, he said he was a fine officer who was in the forefront of the battle against terrorists, but had been “unfairly targeted.” Referring to turncoats in the force and politicians as “rats”, he said it was a shame that the politics of vendetta had become the norm and certain elements were trying to gain at the cost of others, he added. “Such actions will only demoralise the men already combating terrorism in the country. It will also act as the sword of Damocles for those who have retired,”
he observed. Getting information by using operatives, who were assured immunity and lifelong protection, was a universal phenomenon and nothing much should be read into this. Moreover, the men in uniform in Punjab were just following orders, he said. During nearly 50 years of policing, he had never seen anyone being charged under Sections 216- 218 of the IPC. “You will see that the case will not pass muster,” he added. On the charges of disproportionate assets of Virk, he said he had been to the latter’s house many times. He belonged to a well-to-do family and given the appreciation in real estate, he too had reaped the benefits, Gill quipped. Earlier, while addressing the gathering, he said political will was needed to wipe out terrorism.
|
|
Funds: ‘Granary’ Punjab may not net much
Chandigarh, September 16 The Punjab Government has now prepared a Rs 2900-crore agri-development plan to forward its claim to the commission to seek funds under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna. A sum of Rs 20,000 is to be given out in the next five years under this scheme while another sum of Rs 5,000 is earmarked for the national food security mission. Full details of the scheme and eligibility criteria were made known about two weeks ago and this resulted in some hard calculations by various departments of the government. Now as per estimates the entire allocation to Punjab will be no more than Rs 600 crore - that is just about close to 2.5 per cent -- of the Rs 25,000 crore meant for the country. Experts say that Punjab will not get more than Rs 450 crore under RKVY while another Rs 140 crore would be available under the food security mission for increasing productivity of wheat and pulses. The wheat programme will be run in seven districts with a sum of about Rs 85 crore while about Rs 45 crore will available for five districts to grow more and better quality of pulses. Thankfully, in Punjab there will be no programme to grow more rice which has led to depletion in the water table. The Centre believes that a 4 per cent growth rate in agriculture is feasible. The RKVY scheme is classified under three broad divisions. First, a sum of Rs 4,000 has been allocated to increase the net irrigated area in a state. In Punjab there is negligible area that is not irrigated by canals or tubewells. The second part is a sum of Rs 6,000 crore that will be distributed as per the projected growth rate of agriculture and agri-allied products in the gross state domestic product (gsdp). The GSDP for the base year will be 2005-06 and states will make their projections till 2011-12. Punjab's present gsdp of Rs 28,727 crore is projected to go up to Rs 32,378 crore in the next five years. The catch is that allocation out of the Rs 6,000 crore "will be set in terms of inter-state proportion of the GSDPs projected to be reached by a state." Hence the allocation to Punjab will hinge upon what other states project and also what is their growth rate. With Punjab having reached a saturation point in agriculture, it will be natural that the growth rates of other states will be more than Punjab that is lagging behind at about 2 per cent. The third part of the scheme is for allocating Rs 10,000 crore. This will be made on the basis of total increase in plan expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors. Punjab has budgeted a sum of Rs 157 crore under the "plan" head. Crucially, the plan allocations of bigger states will be more than that of Punjab. As per estimates Punjab may get between Rs 440 and Rs 450 crore under these three segments.
|
|
||
|
Embezzlement of temple funds
Amritsar, September 16 Meanwhile, Parag Madan, the aggrieved person, has decided to move the court if the police failed to take any action against the erring general secretary of the trust Sant Suraj Prakash . Madan, while talking to The Tribune here today, alleged that the properties of the trust worth crores were fraudulently transferred by Sant Prakash in the name of his wife. He alleged that about 60 or 70 kg of gold was missing from the temple. When he asked the trustees about the irregularities in handling the temple property, they refused to give him any information regarding the missing jewellery. Instead, they barred him from entering the shrine complex. However, Sant Parkash, terming the allegations as baseless, said he was ready for any probe. Madan was levelling false allegations against him as his entry into the shrine complex had been banned due to his alleged immoral activities. He used to tease the girls at the complex and wanted to become a member of the trust. Madan had lodged a complaint with the police in connection with the trust properties on May 29, but the police has failed to complete the enquiry till now. He has alleged that Sant Prakash had purchased properties by floating parallel trusts in Ram Tirath, Hardwar, and other places with the embezzled funds of the temple trust. He had retired as class III railway employee and was getting Rs 1,300 per month as pension. He was employed as a driver by Mata Ji and when she died he declared himself her successor.
|
|
Baba Farid award for Kiran Bedi
Faridkot, September 16 Kiran Bedi, first woman IPS officer of the country, has been selected for the Baba Farid Award for Honesty-2007, which carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a citation, for initiating reforms in Tihar Jail, apart from her services at various positions with honesty and dedication. Master Ajit Singh and his wife Satpal Kaur of Amritsar district have been selected for the Bhagat Puran Singh Award-2007 for their relentless fight against the drug addiction in the Maqboolpura locality of Amritsar city to give fresh lease of life to addicts by facing all kinds of odds. The couple has been educating about 425 orphan children in their house. The award carries Rs 50,000 cash prize and a citation. Ashok Gupta, a lecturer in chemistry and resident of this town, has been selected for the Baba Farid Service Award for his exemplary contribution in the field of education.He has been teaching at Baba Farid Public School, Faridkot, without any remuneration for the past two years, added Inderjit Singh. He said the awards would be given on September 23 at a special function to mark agman purb of Baba Farid.
|
|
Report indicts superintendent
Amritsar, September 16 Although the inquiry committee probing into the allegations levelled by Indu Bala, a clerk in the hospital, against Satnam Singh, superintendent, has indicted him recommending necessary disciplinary action, no action has been taken against the accused. In a complaint to Dr Nirmal Kajal, deputy medical superintendent, the victim had alleged that on July 4, Satnam Singh came the office in a drunken state and started teasing her besides pulling her “dupatta” in front of the staff. She said she saved herself by running out of the office. She said earlier too Satnam Singh had misbehaved with her and she had lodged a complaint against him with the higher authorities. When contacted Dr Kajal said he had forwarded the report with his recommendations to director, Research and Medical Education (DRME), the very next day for necessary action. He said only DRME was authorised to take action against the guilty official. However, Dr J.S. Dalal, DRME, said he had not received the report as yet.
|
|
|
‘Women need equal representation in church bodies’
Jalandhar, September 16 She said the CBCI was very serious about empowering women and it had taken the first step in this direction by finalising the theme related with women empowerment for discussion at its 28th biannual plenary assembly scheduled to be held between February 13 and 20 at Jamshedpur. The theme of the week-long assembly is “Empowerment of women in church and society” over past 20 years.Two hundred and twelve bishops, including assistant and retired bishops, of 160 dioceses from all over India will participate in the assembly. Ironically, none of the 212 bishops is a woman. Lilly was on two-day visit to the city for regional consultation on the topic, which was held at gyanodaya, pastoral centre here. She said there was 20 to 30 per cent representation for women in different church bodies. “We do not want 33 but 50 per cent representation in these bodies for women”.
|
|
|
Child found in Golden Temple
Amritsar, September 16 Unable to speak, the child, who was found crying by a sewadar around 4 pm yesterday, has been shifted to Guru Ram Das Serai and is being attended to. From the clothes he is wearing, he seems to be from a well-to-do family. Harbans Singh, manager, Golden Temple, said nobody had turned up to claim the child though many families had expressed interest in adopting him. “The boy is good-looking and we have received many adoption requests in the past 24 hours,” he said. “We want to wait for at least three/four days for his guardians to approach us before taking a decision on the fate of the child. As of now, we are only hoping he gets to be with his family again as attempts by our staff to get vital information from the child have proved futile as he is too young to tell us anything about his family or address,” he said. “Though he cannot speak, he mutters and nods his head when asked if he is feeling better now,” said an employee attending to the child.
|
|
|
‘Dumbness can be treated within 3 years of birth’
Amritsar, September 16 Talking to the media, he said as eyes, ears and throat work in unison during the three-year learning period of a newly born child, it was responsibility of the doctors and the mother of the child, in particular, to judge whether the child had the hearing capacity. He said if defective ears were not treated properly during that period, even a normal child would become dumb. The conference was being organised by the Department of ENT, Government Medical College, and the local ENT forum headed by Karan Sharma. The medical fraternity of 14 medical colleges of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana participated in the conference. S.K. Kacker, former director, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, said under the programme “Sound Hearing 2030” its their vision to improve health and well-being of people of South-East Asia.
|
|
Heart surgery performed at Bathinda
Bathinda, September 16 In a press note issued here, Naresh Goyal, head of the institute, said the open-heart surgery was performed in the operation theatre fitted with hi-tech machines with sound-proof and anti-pollution systems. He added that the team of surgeons was led by Rajnish Malhotra, who had worked with internationally famous heart surgeon Naresh Trehan.
— TNS
|
|
|
Govt prepares plan
Tarn Taran, September 16 This was stated by minister for rural development and panchayat Ranjit Singh Brahampura today while addressing a gathering at Naushehra Panuan village, 14 km from here. The minister said there were reports that thousands of acres in and around Mohali district and Chandigarh had been in the illegal possession of certain influential persons for the past many years. Meanwhile, the minister distributed checks worth Rs 32 lakh among representatives of panchayats of the area.
|
|
|
Gurdwara Act in ‘Sikhs’ interest’
Ludhiana, September 16 Talking to reporters here today, AISAD president Jaswant Singh Mann and general secretary P.P.S. Grewal pointed out that the current Act had some limitations and these needed to be corrected. He said every Act and legislation needed to be updated and upgraded with the passage of time. Mann also suggested the constitution of an administrative reforms commission in Punjab to purge the state administration. He said corruption was at its peak and the euphoria about the new government had fizzled out.
— TNS
|
|
Garud Puran at bhog of dera follower
Phuli (Bathinda), September 16 The district police authorities had made elaborate security arrangements in and around the village by laying check-points at various spots on the roads leading to the village to prevent the entry of unscrupulous elements to maintain law and order situation. Prabhjit Kaur had immolated herself in broad daylight in her house on September 7 after she failed to tolerate the alleged maltreatment meted out the followers of the dera by the Punjab government.
|
|
|
Press Club organises cultural mela
Rajpura, September 16 Students from eight schools participated in various cultural competitions during the mela following which students of Scholar Public School bagged the first prize while those from the Patel Public School stood second and the Government NTC School finished third. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Prem Singh Chandumajra, former Punjab minister Jasjit Singh Randhawa, MLA from Ghanour Madan Lal and chairman of the International Punjabi Vikas Manch Hardev Singh, attended the mela. Speaking on the occasion, the leaders said the Rajpura Press Club had set a new example for the press clubs across the state by holding such events. They said that it was for the first time that the press had come forward to promote culture. The leaders also announced grants for the club. President of the press club Bahadur Singh said the local press had resolved to take up social issues and work for the eradication of these issues. He said the club would continue holding such events in the future.
|
|
|
Life Care Society opens blood bank
Patiala, September 16 The society’s patron, R.K. Sharma, said the blood bank would be run on a no-profit, no-loss basis. — TNS
|
|
|
Suspended SAD leader to move court
Amritsar, September 16
|
|
|
Singla assails minister on fee hike
Chandigarh, September 16 He criticised medical education minister Tikshan Sud who had stated in a section of the press that the state government had not re-considered hike in fee structure in the management quota of private medical colleges.
|
|
Police stations for NRIs
Moga, September 16 This was announced by DIG police (Ferozepur range) Ishwar Chander while talking to reporters at Dharamkot in Moga district last night. He said the site for one such police station had been selected at Dharamkot. it would be functional from January.
— PTI
|
Organic fish farm set up
Rupnagar, September 16 To start with, an organic unit of 10 acres has been established at the Birla Farm, which is an initiative of senior resource person of council Dr Madhu Gill. Council officials claimed that the seed has been reared organically at the farm’s nursery and has shown remarkable growth and would be released in water soon. They claimed the fish seed was produced in a natural way without using any hormonal drugs, which are reported to cause damage to consumers’ health. Fish farming would be undertaken purely organically. If the results are successful, the council will register fish farmers who are willing to produce fish organically. This will not only cut short expenditure on development but will also provide hygienic fish products to fish eaters. Area under fish farming at the farm will be increased to 50 acres shortly. The council also intends to have sale outlets, said chief executive officer of the council
V.S. Chimni. The council also intends to breed ornamental fishes to supply to fish lovers who wish to keep aquariums. In addition to this, aquariums of different shapes would also be supplied to the interested persons at very competitive rates, added consultant (fisheries)
S.M. Dogra. The necessary training on organic fish farming will be provided by the council at Rupnagar in collaboration with Fisheries Department, Punjab. Chief executive officer of Fish Farmers' Development Agency,
Rupnagar, assured to provide all facilities of loans from banks for this purpose. He also assured supply of organic seed at subsidised rates. Deputy director (fisheries) Darshan Singh and Amarjit Singh were also present on the occasion.
|
Meritorious students honoured
Patiala, September 16 He honoured the schoolchildren at a function held here by the Patiala Social Welfare Society. On the occasion he also felicitated social workers O.P. Kapoor and Ramesh Aggarwal, who is also joint secretary of the District Red Cross. Dr J.R Mangla also presented a cheque of Rs 20,000 to the District Red Cross Society. Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Nabha, Kumari Nishi Jalota and principal of the Greenwell High School, Patiala, Manju were also honoured with the best teachers’ awards. Speaking on the occasion, the commissioner praised the efforts of the Patiala Social Welfare Society and asked it to organise more such functions. The deputy commissioner D.S. Grewal, who was also present on the occasion, said that the society had already made a name for itself in organising free eye check up and medical health camps and said that it was doing yeoman’s service in honouring meritorious students who felt encouraged by such ventures. Charanjit Kaur Grewal, Tejinder Pal Singh Sandhu, Ved Parkash Gupta, Ujagar Singh, Charanjit Kaur Cheema and J.P. Singh were also present on this occasion.
|
|
Trust gets nod to start new courses
Patiala, September 16 He said the trust intends to help the students from rural areas, women and people from the underprivileged sections by providing job-oriented technical education and give them admission on the priority basis in these new paramedical courses. Dr Sukhwinder Singh said there were about 33,000 registered doctors in the state and more than 33 per cent of these are providing one or other type of surgical service. For each operation theatre unit, a team of at least five operation theatre technologists is required. Therefore, there is huge scope of employment after doing a Diploma in Operation Theatre Technology, Radiology and Imaging Technology and Diploma in Medical and Laboratory Technology, as there are eight medical colleges, 11 dental colleges, 11 ayurvedic colleges and five homoeopathic colleges in the state. He also said that the trust is building in-house facilities to provide training for computer skills, communication skills and IELTS to make the students globally competitive.
|
|
|
Quiz at Rotary Club
Patiala, September 16 The contest was organised under the guidance of Saurabh Bansal, an honorary member of the club. Rupinder Brar, additional commissioner of income tax, Patiala, was the chief guest. Blossoms Senior Secondary School bagged the first position while Budha Dal Public School and Sri Aurobindo International School got the second and third positions, respectively. Our Lady of Fatima Convent School and St Peters School secured the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. The chief guest gave away prizes to the winners and encouraged the other teams to do better in future.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
