Monday, December 13, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, December 13, 1999 |
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Minister
draws bureaucrats’ flak |
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Fighting for a bucket of water SAD leaders flay Amarinder remarks Murder case being hushed up: Dang Everyone got a cut in ticket scam An ailing forensic lab 15 pc Indians
‘infertile’ Cong flays municipal, phone
authorities Symposium on infertility Badal hails BJP move on ’84
riots 3 girls rescued Move to 'discontinue' 6 police
districts 1 more held for Dal leader’s
murder |
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Minister draws bureaucrats’
flak CHANDIGARH, Dec 12 — In an unprecedented development, as many as 11 IAS, IPS and PCS officers have unanimously passed a resolution, condemning the "misbehaviour" of Punjabs’ Minister of State for Irrigation, Mr Sikandar Singh Maluka, at a meeting of the district planning board held at Bathinda on December 9. The resolution, signed by all 11 officers and running into three pages, received in Chandigarh has created ripples in the politico-administrative circles. Inter alia, there is an allegation against the minister that he has tried his level best to get an enquiry into irrigation works embezzlement case, ordered by Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal hushed up. The Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, to whom the resolution was faxed has been requested to take up the issue with the Chief Minister, requesting him to take further action, it is learnt. It is, perhaps, for the first time that both the Deputy Commissioner (Mr S.R. Ladhar) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (Mr Harnek Singh Sran) of any district have signed such a resolution to protest against the "insulting and humiliating" language used by Mr Muluka against the officials, particularly, the Deputy Commissioner. Those who have signed the resolution after a marathon meeting are: the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr Alok Shekhar; the Additional Chief Administrator (Punjab Urban Planning and Development Agency — PUDA), Mr C.S. Talwar; the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Mr A.S. Bhatti; the Subdivisional Magistrate, Talwandi Sabo, Mr Krishan Chand; the Subdivisional Magistrate, Bathinda, Mr Gurtej Singh; the Subdivisional Magistrate, Rampura Phul, Mr H.S. Sandhu; the District Transport Officer, Mr A.P.S. Virk, the Assistant Commissioner, Grievances, Mrs K.P. Brar; and the Assistant Commissioner, Grievances, Mr H.S. Kandhola; besides the D.C. and the SSP. The resolution itself gives a brief account of what happened at the venue of the District Development Planning Board meeting held at the new meeting hall on December 9. It was a combined meeting of the development and planning board, grievances committee and roads committee to be presided over by the Minister for Education, Mr Tota Singh. The incident reported in the resolution is as follows: While Mr Tota Singh was busy inaugurating offices of the District Education Officer, Secondary and Primary, in the company of the Deputy Commissioner, both Mr Maluka and Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Minister of State of Food and Supplies, representing Bathinda, some MLAs, district officers and non-official members assembled at the venue. Mr Makhan Singh, MLA,
protested against the seating arrangements, expressing
his dissatisfaction. He showed resentment, making the
point that MLAs should be seated on the dais. He staged a
walkout. The two ministers followed him to bring him
around. Subsequently, seating arrangements were altered
with additional chairs being placed on the dais for the
member of Parliament and MLAs. |
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Split in Punjab BJP over
nominee issue LUDHIANA, Dec 12 — A silent struggle is on in the Punjab BJP over the choice of its new nominees in the Badal ministry, due to be expanded by the Chief Minister shortly. Although the BJP leadership never tires of claiming unity and cohesion in the party, the fact remains that the party is awash with as many currents and cross-currents as any other political outfit in the state. There are two major groups in the Punjab BJP, one led by the Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, who is also leader of the 18-member BJP group in the state Assembly, and the other headed by the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, who led the state BJP unit during the difficult years of terrorism. Mr Mittal is said to command the loyalty of more MLA’s in the party than Mr Tandon but this advantage is almost offset by the fact that Mr Tandon has the backing of the state BJP chief, Mr Daya Singh Sodhi. Party insiders also feel that Mr Mittal enjoys a warmer relationship with the Akali Dal chief even though Mr Tandon also has cordial ties with him. Both groups are said to be trying hard to have their camp followers included in the ministry. The Tandon group has also sent up a trial balloon by publically staking a claim to the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. Although the party leadership has issued a feeble denial in this regard, Mr Tandon who is likely to be the direct beneficiary if Mr Badal concedes the demand, has been maintaining a studied silence on the issue. The Tandon group is said to have evolved a strategy under which the Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha, Mr Baldev Raj Chawla, is included in the Cabinet as a minister while his place is taken by the BJP MLA from Hoshiarpur, Mr Tikshan Sood. The Mittal group is, however, trying to counter the move by pointing out that there is no logic in first getting an MLA elected as the Deputy Speaker and then have him included as a minister. Earlier, Mr Swarna Ram was made Deputy Speaker of the Assembly before he was included in the Council of Ministers. "Why should we have this circus when enough talent is available in the party for carrying out the assigned task"? they ask. This group is supporting the inclusion of Mr Satpal Gosain from Ludhiana and Mr Jagdish Sahni from Batala in the ministry. The Chief Minister has so far refused to be caught in the cross-fire between the two groups and has taken the easier way out by saying that he will go by the recommendations of the BJP high command. The constant struggle
between the two groups led to the exclusion of Mr Gosain
from the Badal ministry last time because of a
"communication gap". Now both groups are keen
on ensuring that their nominee does not miss the bus this
time too. |
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Tohra ready to face CBI probe AMRITSAR, Dec 12 — The former SGPC President, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, today said that he was willing to face a CBI probe into his property adding he was ready for stringent punishment if there was addition to his property since his joining politics even by 1 per cent. Mr Tohra, chief of the SHSAD, was referring to the reported allegations of corruption levelled by the Punjab Chief Minister and SAD Chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his colleagues. Mr Tohra said such a probe would be on a condition that Mr Badal’s property should also be assessed from the time he joined politics. Mr Tohra was addressing a congregation after laying the foundation stone of a new gurdwara building in Sharifpura here. Mr Tohra accused Mr Badal of using the name of Master Tara Singh to get political mileage in the coming general elections of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. The SAD had observed the 32nd barsi of Master Tara Singh in Amritsar last month for the first time since his death. Mr Tohra was of the view that since Sikhs belonging to Delhi had rejected Mr Badal, he wanted to win over them by using the name of Master Tara Singh to get votes. Mr Tohra accused Mr Badal of spreading corruption in the SGPC. For this the Sikh history would not pardon Mr Badal, he remarked. Mr Tohra who devoted
most of his speech criticising Mr Badal and the new SGPC
President on their role in the SGPC establishment said
Bibi Jagir Kaur had spent SGPC money, which was being
collected out of the offerings of the devotees, lavishly
to meet her own use. |
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Fighting for a bucket of water MAJARI (Hoshiarpur), Dec 12 — Punjab may boast of being the most-advanced state in the country, but this tiny village in the kandi belt of Garhshankar subdivision, defies this claim with fights among women, armed with stones becoming a routine affair over getting drinking water from the two rarely operational water supply points in the village. One such ‘battle’ among as many as 75 women belonging to Majari village and Kokowal village took place near one of the water supply points on Friday, when the village, sans any hand pump or other source of drinking water, allegedly received water supply after a period of three days. As soon as the word spread that water supply had arrived women from the two villages swarmed the place to fill their pitchers. It soon turned into a battle-field with most of them resorting to stone-pelting. The village is situated at a hillock and at the tail end of the Haripur Water Supply Scheme. It does not get water for days together and in the absence of any initiative by the authorities concerned to augment the existing water supply life turns nightmarish for the residents of Majari and Kokowal villages during summer. Due to poor water supply the problem is so acute that we use drinking water sparingly and people have to take bath in the village pond," said Surinder Singh, an old man hailing from Kokowal, who had come to get water after covering a distance of nearly two furlongs. "To meet our daily requirements, I and my family members have to leave our work to fetch water seven-eight times a day and sometimes have to return without water as taps turn dry after half an hours’ supply" he lamented. Sometimes, the situation leads to tension between residents of the two villages. "Though, we don’t have any source of drinking water, Majari residents object to our fetching of water from the two taps in their village," said Kanta Devi, a Kokowal village resident. "We are grateful to God that we get water-supply for an hour or so twice or thrice a day, but the problem gets compounded during summer, when our womenfolk have to go to Bathri village, 5 km from Majari to get drinking water," added Mohinder Singh, a Majari resident, adding that for the success of crops they had to depend on God as there was no source of irrigation water in the area. The villagers were sore that despite a number of pleas to the authorities, no arrangement had been made to ensure the proper supply of water to villages falling in the area, where a large number of people still depended on "halts", the traditional method of getting water from wells. "As our village is at the tail end of the 30-year-old Haripur Water Supply Scheme project, supplying water to 21 villages of the area, we have urged the authorities to make arrangement to augment the existing supply-system but nothing has been done so far," said Parkash Chand adding that the poll boycott by the villagers in the lost three elections and a protest during a "lok darbar", organised by the Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, at Benewal village by women of village who broke their pitchers in the midst of the gathering failed to yield any result. "This time too, nobody from among us went to cast votes during the Lok Sabha poll till 3 p.m. And it was only when Mr Charnjit Singh Channi, sitting Congress M.P., came and assured the regular supply of water, we went to the polling station. But after that nobody turned up to get the problem solved," lamented Mohan Lal. The Xen, Public Health
Garhshankar, was not available for comments. However,
officials of the department said the problem was due to
the village being on a height and due to the old and low
capacity network of supply pipes," "The problem
has aggravated as on the one hand there has been a
considerable increase in population and on consequently
the demand of water and on the other water service level
in the area has gone low", said an official. |
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SAD leaders flay Amarinder
remarks CHANDIGARH, Dec 12 — Senior leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Punjab ministers — Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Mr Ajit Singh Kohar and Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla — in a joint statement here today, lambasted Capt Amarinder Singh for levelling baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his family members. They dubbed his utterances ‘extremely’ irresponsible. They have taken serious note of the contents in the open letter by certain intellectuals addressed to the Punjab Chief Minister and published in a section of the press today. Reacting to the contents of the letter, the SAD leaders advised the so-called intellectuals to utilise their wisdom to guide and show the right path to their own party president, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. The so called intellectuals had demolished the status and respect of Mr Tohra which he had gained while remaining in the fold of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The ministers questioned the wisdom of the intellectuals for suggesting to Mr Tohra to commit that he would leave politics if his candidates got less votes than the candidates of Mr Badal. When the ‘sangat’ gave a clear-cut verdict against Mr Tohra and his candidates, who lost their securities, Mr Tohra should have kept his words and quit politics. Reacting to the statement holding Mr Badal responsible for upcoming of the Sarb Hind Akali Dal, the SAD leaders said "it showed lack of wisdom of these intellectuals as they had described the existence of their own party as a blunder", says a press note. The Akali leaders
claimed that Mr Parkash Singh Badal had fully protected
the interests of the state and got several developmental
projects from the Centre besides speeding up the pace of
development. |
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Murder case being hushed up:
Dang AMRITSAR, Dec 12 — The Punjab CPI leader, Mr Satyapal Dang has alleged that investigation in the murder case of senior branch manager of the Oriental Bank of Commerce, Naresh Mahajan, on October last year was being hushed up at a high level. In a complaint today to the Punjab Governor, Mr J.F.R. Jacob, Mr Dang alleged that the case of this daring daylight murder had been transferred from the Superintendent of Police who had gathered enough evidence to register a case against five persons, a VIP, a top businessman and three bank officials for destroying evidence and abetting the murder. Arrests and investigations of this case is likely to bring into the open many scandals like private parallel operations involving crores of rupees at the cost of the bank, he claimed. The bank branch manager is said to have received a phone call in the afternoon, following which he took some papers from a locker in the bank and went out. Later, his body was found in his car. Mr Dang has urged the Governor to ensure that either the accused are arrested without further delay and the case properly prosecuted or the public informed of the reasons for the delay. A copy of the complaint
was also sent to the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. |
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‘Writers Home’ sans power PATIALA: The ‘‘Writers Home’’ here has been without electricity for nearly two and a half months. Electricity to the two-storeyed structure was cut off in September when the department did not pay dues amounting to Rs 1.30 lakh. Though electricity to the office building was restored soon after the department paid dues totalling Rs 57,000 outstanding against it, that to the ‘‘Writers Home’’ remains disconnected. The problem has arisen with the department requesting the PSEB to bill the home on the basis of meter reading and not on average. The Languages Department contends that though there are numerous electrical points in the home, the actual consumption is less due to low occupancy. Languages Department Director M.L. Hasija told TNS that the electricity board had been requested to take the bill on meter reading only as the home was not a commercial institution. The board has also been asked to reduce the load for the ‘‘Writers Home’’ as an economy measure. Even as the deadlock with the electricity board is likely to be resolved soon, some of the other problems being faced by the ‘‘Writers Home’’ are more serious. The building is decaying even though it was built only in 1992, with well-appointed facilities. However, continuous negligence has resulted in rapid deterioration of the building. Carpets in most of the rooms have been ruined due to termite infestation. Furniture is also deteriorating in some cases, specially chairs and tables placed in open, covered areas. This is mainly due to poor cleanliness. There is no regular sweeper for the huge building. An employee of the office works as a caretaker. Sources disclosed things had deteriorated to such an extent that the curtains put up in the rooms had not been washed since their installation in 1992. The department had requested the state government to allocate Rs 5 lakh for the maintenance of the building. The department has also requested the government to allocate two sweepers, one caretaker, one storekeeper and one cook for the building. The request for a cook has been made as the home has a full-fledged kitchen and dining room both of which are not functional at present. The kitchen is equipped with a cooking range, deep freezer and crockery. Noted play director
Harpal Tiwana, who is also a member of the advisory board
constituted for selecting shiromani awardees, says he and
others have urged the government to look after the home
but nothing has been done. Tiwana says this could be due
to the resource crunch but pleads that some steps should
be taken immediately to prevent the situation from going
out of control. Other writers have advocated that the
"Writers Home" should be allowed to raise funds
by allowing the general public to stay there at
commercial rates. |
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Everyone got a cut in ticket scam GURDASPUR, Dec 12 — Detection of the multi-crore scam in bus tickets of Punjab Roadways , Pathankot depot and other depots has increased the income of the depot more than seven fold. According to official sources the income of the depot as per the standard norms should be around rupees 14 per km per bus. Instead the income of the depot fell steeply to a mere Rs 2 per km after its former GM Amarjit Singh Lohka assumed charge in 1997. But after the vigilance raids of November 19, the income of the depot is back to a healthy Rs 15.17 per km per bus averaging an income of Rs 1.1 lakh for the depot each day. Interestingly the income of other Punjab Roadways depots and even of its sister firm PEPSU Road Corporation, has suddenly shown an upward trend after the vigilance raids. Sources said that the diaries of Krishan Lal and Yash Pal both conductors of Jammu bound buses of the depot which were seized in the first raids exposing the racket have led to a string of damning revelations. The money earned by selling fraudulent tickets was reportedly distributed among various officials of the Transport Department in direct accordance with their rank with payments to each one ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 11,000 per month. The practice had been in vogue for more than two years now. Following the raids and the seizures a case under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against 28 officials of the Transport Department with the Punjab Vigilance Bureau at Jalandhar on November 26 and Mr Pinder Singh, DSP vigilance, Gurdaspur made incharge of investigation. Meanwhile the bail applications of 13 officials of the department were rejected on Friday by Mr M.S. Rattu, Special Judge, here. The officials include Amarjit Singh Lohka and Joginder Pal, General Managers of Punjab Roadways depots at Pathankot and Jagraon respectively. Jarnail Singh, GA to DC Ropar, Sukhwinder Singh, Kartar Singh, Surjit Singh, Sucha Singh, Paramjit Singh, Tarlok Singh, Jaspal Singh, Sudesh Kumar, Sukhjinder Singh, all flying squad inspectors posted at various places at Chandigarh and Punjab and Sanjhi Ram, a conductor of Punjab Roadways, Pathankot. The bail application of Kishan Lal and Yash Pal, both conductors of Punjab Roadways, Pathankot have been rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh. Katta Singh, General Manager, Punjab Roadways, Batala has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for bail and his hearing has been fixed for December 13. Hearing of the bail
applications of Amarjit Singh, Deputy Director, Transport
, Chandigarh, Surinder Kumar, Divisional Manager, Punjab
Roadways, Jalandhar and Anil Kumar and Surjit Singh both
flying squad inspectors has been fixed for December 14 in
the court of the Special Judge here. |
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An ailing forensic lab PATIALA, Dec 12 — While demands have been coming from various quarters for opening of chemical examiner’s laboratories at all district headquarters in the state to speed up preparation of reports in criminal cases of death and injuries, the pitiable condition of the lone state chemical laboratory at Quila Mubarak discourages any such move. The laboratory was recently in the news due to certain reports of public outcry over the long time consumed in receiving chemical reports about blood or semen stains in cases of murder and rape and viscera examination for poison death cases. It was being proposed to have more such laboratories in the state for the speedy disposal of cases. Incidentally, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PHRC) had also echoed the demand. Justice (retd) J.S. Sekhon while speaking at a symposium at Government Medical College here a couple of weeks ago had said the commission realised the importance of the chemical examiner report in the completion of a case. He said due to the existence of only one state level laboratory, too much time was lost in the preparation and receipt of the report. He revealed that the commission had strongly urged the state government to open more such chemical examination laboratories for quick disposal of cases. Mr Sekhon revealed that the report was of immense importance. Sometimes, it even provided the clinching evidence for prosecution, especially in cases of rape. Inquiries from the chemical laboratory here revealed that the staff were well aware of the public inconvenience but said they could not be held responsible for the delay. Due to severe paucity of funds the laboratory is just pulling along. Sources reveal that the staff had not received safety kits like gloves, masks and uniform whole dealing with the chemicals for the past couple of years. There had been no replacement of broken China utensils and jars used to store chemicals. The condition of furniture devoid of repair is only to be seen to be believed. The deplorable financial condition is further seen from the fact that the laboratory had not even funds for purchasing the low costing service stamps for sending the reports by post. Further the laboratory had to send all blood stain samples to Central Chemical Examination Laboratory, Calcutta, for examination. The fee for acquiring this report is Rs 100 but the laboratory here had not received funds under this head for the past two years. As a result the cases get delayed. The sources revealed that letters had been sent to the Director Health Services and the Director-General of Police for the required fee to be sent to Calcutta. While the police obliges in important cases, the ‘commoners’ continue to wait. The sources further revealed that only if the government succeeded in maintaining this laboratory the cases would not be delayed. Letters about shortage of funds have been sent to the government but to no avail. Dr O.P. Goyal, Chief Chemical Examiner, when contacted confirmed the dispatching of letters demanding funds but declined to comment further. Interestingly, apart from requirement of funds for the laboratory to keep going, it also requires its own building but from the current financial position of the state the demand seems to be too much. However, it must be noted that the current office of the laboratory in an unsafe portion of the Quila Mubarak is not only dangerous to the staff and the ancient fort but also illegal. In 1996, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the laboratory to move out but it continues to exist there. Due to unavailibility of
an alternative site and again shortage of funds, the
laboratory continues to function from within the court.
Things have come to such a pass that the toilets of the
old monument have been severely damaged and now there is
no place for the staff members to relieve themselves. |
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15 pc Indians
‘infertile’ LUDHIANA, Dec 12 — With 15 per cent of Indians, both men women, suffering from infertility, treatment by quacks for such ailments is a thriving Rs 900 crore a year business in the country. This was brought to light by some experts participating in the three-day national congress of andrology — "Andrology-99", at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital from December 10 to 12. Talking to this correspondent here last night, Dr Narpat Ujjwal, honorary secretary, Society of Andrology and a consultant andrologist from Jodhpur, said: Ignorance and fear in the minds of most people of being pronounced infertile by a doctor leads almost all such patients to quacks or ‘half cooked’ doctors. These so-called ‘sexologists’ mostly give hormonal injections to patients, which adversely affect their condition. It is only when their condition worsens do people come to a specialist for reference." Although statistics available on infertility are quite hazy, most experts said almost all affected persons first tried their luck with quacks who exploited the frustration of the patients. The ratio of infertility in men and women, explained experts, was almost same. Medical practitioners regretted that there were hardly any hospitals in the country which had infertility clinics and there was no government-run infertility clinic-which made treatment very expensive and out of reach of more than 75 per cent of such patients. This too contributed much towards the popularity of assisted reproductive technologies. Further dwelling on the issue, Prof P.R.K. Reddy, president, Society of Andrology, said: "even with techniques like artificial insemination, invitro-fertilisation and ICSI available in almost all major cities of the country, the expenses involved could be anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,50,000 which is way beyond the reach of most patients. While both invitro-fertilisation and artificial insemination are quite successful, ICSI (where a single sperm is injected in a ovum) is still being perfected". Incidentally a senior government functionary, participating in the congress who did not wish to go on record, pointed out towards the darker side of getting artificial insemination done. "Cases where various semen samples coming up for analysis in pathological laboratories are also being reported. As a result, samples of patients with any kind of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or genetically transmitted diseases could be used for artificial insemination. So, those seeking artificial insemination should be careful and go only to semen banks for cryo preserved semen samples" the official cautioned. The doctors stated that every man suffered from impotency at some point of time in his life. But the stage passed off early. They cautioned against seeking help of quacks at this stage as it could cause irreversible damage. They pointed out towards
the sociological problems arising because of patients
being unaware of the treatment for infertility. Marital
discords often resulted because of inability of either of
the spouse to reproduce normally and instead of taking
proper medical aid — mostly in cases where the
problem of infertility lay with the husband — they
went to quacks and relied on the herbs given by them.
Quite often, with the passage of time, the doctors too,
could not treat this problem as infertility was incurable
beyond a certain age. They said, medical practitioners
too, felt that while there had been major developments in
the field of gynaecology, andrology was still a grey
area, a fact being exploited by quacks. "Ignorance
is the single largest factor responsible for infertility.
No scientific education is being imparted to boys-either
at school or at home. And it is the quack who thrives on
this ignorance by giving all haphazard treatments for
normal physiological functions during adolescence, often
causing irreversible damage," said Dr Ujwal. |
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Cong flays municipal, phone
authorities HOSHIARPUR, Dec 12 — Negligence of the municipal and telecom authorities in covering manholes has not only caused inconvenience to residents but also led to several deaths. Balwant Singh and his 21-year-old son Joginder Singh, both on scooter, were recently hit by a truck coming from the opposite direction near Kamalpur Chowk. They tried to save themselves but there was no space due to the digging of road and uncovered manholes. Joginder Singh died on the spot while his father succumbed to his injuries at the civil hospital. Mr Romesh Chander Dogra, MLA and president of the District Congress Committee has condemned the municipal and telephone authorities for their negligence in filling up potholes and covering manholes. He also condemned the civil hospital authorities for not providing timely medical aid to Balwant Singh. Mr Dogra said a case under Section 302, IPC should be registered against these authorities. In a press note, Mr Sachda Nand, Vice-President, Punjab Youth Congress, and Mr Arun Dogra, President, District Youth Congress, also condemned the authorities. They said the municipal council had received maximum funds for the development of the city and it had used it for development works due to which potholes had appeared throughout the city, causing great inconvenience to the public and resulting in frequent accidents. They said there was no
communication between the municipal and telecom
authorities due to which newly constructed roads were
being dug haphazardly. They alleged that there was jungle
rule in the city. |
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Symposium on infertility JALANDHAR, Dec 12 — A symposium on "practical management of infertility in the millennium 2000" was organised by a local infertility research centre here today. Speakers took stock of various achievements in the field of infertility treatment, which had generated hope among countless childless couples in the country. Speaking on ovarian stimulation in the year 2000, Dr Jatin Shah from Bombay said to treat infertile couples. The use of gonadotrophins and recombinant gene fragments was fruitful, particularly for stimulating the ovaries for obtaining good quality of eggs. Dr Lakhbir Kaur Dhaliwal another expert from the PGI, Chandigarh, said male factors like no sperm count or less sperm count were responsible for causing infertility and proper treatment was a must to achieve better results in the treatment of childless couples. Dr Jairup Singh,
Professor and Head, Department of Human Genetics, Guru
Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said the science of
genetics had opened up new vistas for the treatment of
infertile couples. He also highlighted the role of DNA
studies in the pre-implantation diagnostic therapy. |
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Badal hails BJP move on
’84 riots CHANDIGARH, Dec 12 — The Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, for initiating a move to set up another commission to go into the 1984 riots. In a press note he said a new commission was, in fact, a fulfillment of the long pending demand of all right-thinking people, especially, the Sikhs, who were the victims of the most inhuman tragedy. It was only the BJP leadership which has taken yet another step to safeguard the Fundamental Rights of the minority community and give a healing touch to the victims of that unfortunate carnage, steered by anti-social elements and motivated by certain vested interests. Mr Badal said it was unfortunate that the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the successive Congress governments and the discriminatory attitude towards the patriotic Punjabi community was responsible for the decade-long turmoil and violence in Punjab. The leadership of the Congress had been portraying the nationalist class of Sikhs as anti-social elements with a view to pushing them away from national mainstream. "I compliment the Punjabis, the Hindus and the Sikhs that they did not allow the nefarious designs and politically motivated opportunistic moves of the Congress to succeed and they maintained their centuries-old ties of friendship firmly intact despite provocations from different quarters." It was a matter of great satisfaction that there was unanimity and consensus in Parliament on the constitution of another panel, which showed that India is one despite diversities and the values of humanism, secularism and unity of mankind are fully alive. In such a vast country, the misgivings and doubts if there must be sorted out at an appropriate forum across the table for which the Shiromani Akali Dal, the major organisation representing the sentiments of all Punjabis, had been striving hard. The contribution of Sikhs in national reconstruction and on the food front had been remarkable. The BJP and other like-minded parties deserved praise for understanding the psyche of the Sikhs and recognising their role. Mr Badal has urged the
Prime Minister to make the proposed commission’s
proceedings time bound to bring the culprits to book. |
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3 girls rescued LUDHIANA, Dec 12 — Coordination between the local police and the police of Purnia district, Bihar, has led to the recovery of three girls — Kiran, Raksha Rani and Dilpreet — all class IX students of a school in Motinagar, who had been reported missing a fortnight ago. According to a press note the girls had reportedly been lured by a neighbour on the pre-text that he would marry them off in good families in Bihar. The girls, who claim to be disgruntled with their parents, were taken in by the false promises. Both Raksha Rani and Dilpreet took Rs 5,000 each from their homes before running away. The suspect first took the girls to Hardwar and after stealing their money abandoned them. Since he hailed from Purnia, the girls went there looking for him. Meanwhile, the local police had already sent a police party to look for the missing girls. However, it returned back last week without a clue. It had apprised the police at Purnia about the case and when the girls reached Purnia, they were nabbed and sent back to Ludhiana. The police, however, has still not been able to arrest the suspect. In another case, a
police party recovered 106 tins of ghee which had been
stolen from a godown near Ahmedgarh village on the
intervening night of November 30 and December 1. Three of
the four accused —Chain Singh, Darshan Singh and
Harpal Singh — have been arrested. |
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Move to 'discontinue' 6
police districts PHILLAUR, Dec 12 — The proposal of discontinuation of six police districts in Punjab has been sent to the Punjab Chief Minister, and the Home Ministry. This was stated by the Punjab Director General of Police, Mr Sarbjit Singh, while talking to The Tribune at Punjab Police Academy here last evening. He said the police districts were created during militancy, but as the situation had improved need was felt to reorganise the police departments. The DGP said provision for the security to politicians and senior officials would also be reviewed. out of 7,000 security personnel, 3,000 had already been withdrawn from security duties. He said he had written to all district police chiefs to send a detailed report of arms and ammunition recovered during the days of terrorism. He admitted that some discrepancies had been detected during the checking of records, and detailed queries were being made. Replying a question, the
DGP said several weapons and arms seized during
anti-terrorism operations had been issued to others
illegally. Some of the seized weapons had been found to
be with the special forces, including paramilitary
forces. These forces would be asked to return them to the
Punjab police, he added. |
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1 more held for Dal
leader’s murder JALANDHAR, Dec 12 — The police today arrested the fourth accused in the Youth Akali Dal activist Harmit Singh Mahna murder case. According to sources, Jyoti, a resident of Gadaipur village one of the six accused, was arrested by a police patrol party while he was roaming in a locality. Three others had already surrendered in the court. Prime accused and
district Youth Congress leader Rajinder Singh Rana, his
security guard Gulzar Mohammed and Amandeep, who had
surrendered in the court had been remanded in police
custody till December 13. Mahna was allegedly shot dead
by Rana during a scuffle outside DAV College on December
7. |
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Youth shoots
‘stubborn’ bus aside LUDHIANA, Dec 12 — An unusual case of a youth firing at a Punjab Roadways bus, allegedly because the bus driver had not allowed him to overtake it has been reported. The accused, Amrik Singh has been arrested. According to the information available from police sources the youth, driving a Tata Sierra signalled to Punjab Roadways bus of Amritsar depot to allow him to overtake it. But the bus driver did not allow him passage. When Amrik Singh eventually managed to overtake the bus, he allegedly opened fire at it to vent his road rage. Interestingly he later
ran away, even abandoning his car. He was arrested by the
police today. |
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3 lakh recovered, driver
arrested SANGRUR, Dec 12 — The district police has recovered Rs 3 lakh reportedly stolen by Balbir Singh and his brother Bhinder, residents of Gheri village in Haryana. Giving details, Mr Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu, DSP told mediapersons here last evening that Balbir Singh was working as a driver with a milk food centre at Pehowa in Haryana. One Kailash Chand of Sangrur used to collect milk from Sangrur and Dhuri and used to supply it to the centre in milk tankers of the firm. A few days ago, a supervisor of Kailash Chand received a payment of Rs 3 lakh and was coming to Sangrur in the milk tanker which was being driven by Balbir Singh. Balbir Singh and his brother reportedly stole the bag containing the cash from the tanker. The money was later recovered by the police from their sister’s house. Balbir Singh has been
arrested while his brother is reportedly missing. |
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DYFI men hold protest march JALANDHAR, Dec 12 (UNI) — Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) today held a march in Phillaur demanding the cancellation of what they alleged to be a false case of theft registered against DYFI district president and Rurka Kalan village sarpanch Mela Singh. Shouting slogans against Nurmahal Akali MLA Gurdeep Singh Bhullar, the activists alleged that the theft case under Section 380 of the IPC was registered at the behest of the legislator due to political rivalry. The case related to the alleged theft of drainage pipes of the Public Health Department. The pipes meant for one "patti" of Rukka Kalan village were installed in another "patti" of the village and that was not allegedly to the liking of the MLA. Mr Mela Singh, who was
arrested on Friday last in connection with the case
registered on October 13, was released on bail yesterday. |
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Administration’s plea to NRI nominees JALANDHAR, Dec 12 — Hundreds of representatives of non-resident Indians (NRIs) participated in a "nominee conference" organised by the NRI Sabha, Punjab, at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall here today. Mr B.K. Srivastava, Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, who was the chief guest, urged the nominees of NRIs to come forward and work hand in hand with the administration and the sabha to solve the problems faced by NRIs. In his keynote address, Mr Prem Singh, president of the sabha, said the sabha was striving to help Punjabis living abroad. He said on the initiative of the sabha, the Punjab Government had ordered the Deputy Commissioners to redress the grievances faced by NRIs on priority. Among those who
addressed the gathering were Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga,
freedom fighter, and Mr Joginder Singh Puar, a former
Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala. |
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Domestic helps on strike TARN TARAN, Dec 12 — Domestic helpers in the town observed a strike today on their one-point demand for increasing their remuneration from Rs 100 per household to Rs 200 per household per month. Ms Swarn Kaur, president women cell of Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar) district Amritsar speaking on behalf of domestic servants said unskilled labour was being exploited. She said even Rs 200 was a very meagre amount. She said the workers
would launch a town-wide agitation if their genuine
demand was not met. |
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Draw of lots put off JALANDHAR, Dec 12 — A draw of lots for HIG and MIG flats under a self-financing scheme of the local Improvement Trust scheduled to be held on December 13 has been postponed due to the holiday announced by the state government on that date. The next date of the
draw will be intimated to the applicants shortly,
according to an Improvement Trust press note issued here
today. |
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