Saturday, July 17, 1999
|
P U N J A B | |
Saturday, July 17, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
||
|
Tohra's
party may rope in Left Punjab told to pay 1.5 lakh to
torture victim |
 |
|
||||||
|
'Human
dignity not negotiable' Thousands throng recruitment rally Implement HC orders, officers told Dharnas, rallies by PCCTU teachers Pleas on FMA allowed Saplings as "prasad" Action against Registrar only
after arrest: VC LS Poll : JD to decide nominees
tomorrow Dharna by teachers of govt schools Pak youth held |
||||||||
 |
||||
Formation of third front LUDHIANA, July 16 — The Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra is trying hard to rope in the Left parties for forming a third front to confront the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. A top functionary of Mr Tohra's party stated on the condition of anonymity that his party was in touch with the top leadership of the CPI and the CPM for forming an electoral alliance in Punjab for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Hopeful of an understanding with the CPI and the CPM, he said the party had offered the Sangrur seat to the CPM and the Bathinda (reserve) seat to the CPI, which has represented the seat in the Lok Sabha in the past. The CPM has strong pockets of influence in the Sangrur and the Hoshiarpur belt, while the CPI has a good presence in the Bathinda region of the Malwa belt. The CPM has also its vote bank in certain parts of the Patiala Lok Sabha constituency from where Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra has already been nominated as candidate of Mr Tohra's party. A rally will be held at Patiala tomorrow which will be addressed by BSP chief Kanshi Ram and Mr Tohra in support of Mr Chandumajra's campaign. The functionary of Mr Tohra's party revealed that the party would contest four seats — Patiala, Ropar (reserve), Tarn Taran and Ludhiana. It has offered three seats — Ferozepore, Phillaur (reserve) and Hoshiarpur — to the BSP headed by Mr Kanshi Ram. Mr Tohra had already announced that his party entered into an electoral alliance with Mr Kanshi Ram though its formal announcement has not been made so far. Apart from the CPI, the CPM and the BSP, Mr Tohra's top functionaries are also in touch with the Lok Bhilai Party headed by Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, the Bharati Kisan Union (Rajewal group) and Mr Kuldeep Singh Wadala. The party is ready to give the Amritsar seat to the BKU and it is ready to leave the Jalandhar seat for Mr Wadala. Many workers of Mr Tohra's party are of view that Mr Ramoowalia may not be interested in contesting any seat as he is already a member of the Rajya Sabha. Otherwise, the Gurdaspur seat can be offered to the Lok Bhilai Party, a close confidant of Mr Tohra said. With the coming together these parties a formidable third front was expected to emerge in which the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal would play a key role, the functionary said. Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of the party, said the party was in touch with many outfits for tie-ups but refused to give details at this stage. However, he confirmed that the negotiations were going on with parties opposed to the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine. Mr Chandumajra said their strategy was to unite small and marginal farmers, small shopkeepers, employees, Dalits and other poor sections of society to isolate "feudal lords" represented by Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Harcharan Singh Brar, business houses and traders represented by the BJP and erstwhile princely families like that of Capt Amarinder Singh, a scion of the Patiala's erstwhile ruling family. He said Mr Badal and Mr Brar were symbols of "big peasantry" in the state. He said the party's main slogan would be "jagirdars versus janata". Another slogan coined by the party is "Votan da takra notan naal, Lokan the takra jokan naal" (which means that the people holding money bags should be defeated by votes and common people should fight blood suckers). The CPI and the CPM represent a large section of employees apart from small peasantry, farm labours and other poor sections of society. The BJP represents Dalits and Mr Ramoowalia's party has its roots in certain sections of youth. Joining hands of such forces can become a nightmare for the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress. The BSP suffered a little setback a few days ago when Punjab unit chief C.D. Singh deserted the party and joined the Congress at the behest of Congress leader Ambika Soni, who is interesting in contesting the Hoshiarpur seat. Mr C.D. Singh could help her in the Hoshiarpur belt. Sources said the CPI and the CPM would not like be associated with any Akali faction supporting Khalistan or secessionism and fundamentalism in any form. Mr Tohra has distanced himself from the demand of Khalistan and from hawkish elements in the Akali political stream. During his recent visit to Canada, he opposed Khalistan. In past the CPI and the CPM had criticised statements issued by Bhai Ranjit Singh, sacked Jathedar of Akal Takht. Bhai Ranjit Singh is the chief patron of the party headed by Mr Tohra. Before entering into any alliance with Mr Tohra's party, the CPI and the CPM will surely ask Mr Tohra to guarantee that Bhai Ranjit Singh refrain from making hawkish statements. Sources said Bhai Ranjit Singh wanted that Justice Kuldeep Singh (retired) should contest the Tarn Taran seat which is almost a rural seat from where Mr Simranjit Singh Mann had won a few years ago with a record margin. But Justice Kuldeep Singh is not interested in contesting the elections. According to informed sources, pressure is being put on Bhai Ranjit Singh to contest from Tarn Taran by a section of Akali leaders. Sources said the contesting of the elections by Bhai Ranjit Singh could provide a "necessary impetus" to Mr Tohra and his supporters' campaign against Mr Badal. Mr Tohra, who was away
to the USA and Canada, is expected to reach Delhi today.
He is scheduled to hold some meetings in Delhi to discuss
electoral alliances. Sources said Mr Tohra had three
weeks time at his disposal to talk to leaders of
like-minded parties for giving a final shape to the
proposed third front. |
||
Punjab told to pay 1.5 lakh to
torture victim CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab government to give a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh by way of interim compensation to Mr Kashmira Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur district, who was illegally detained by the Punjab police and subjected to third degree methods. Mr Justice R.L. Anand, who handed down this order, ruled: "The compensation must be paid within one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. A copy of this order be sent to the Chief Secretary and Director-General of Punjab Police." The Judge further ruled: "I would like to send a copy of this order to the Director of Health Service, to bring to his notice that all is not well in his department. If a gazetted officer like a doctor can succumb to the pressure of police, then nothing more can be said about other employees of the department. It will be within the domain of the Director or Secretary of Health Services to take necessary action against who gave false finding in the opinion to exonerate the police people." The Judge held that the state government had the right to recover the amount of interim compensation from defaulting officers who were responsible for inflicting injuries on Mr Kashmira Singh. A petition for seeking compensation was filed by Mr Shiv Dev Singh, father of Mr Kashmira Singh, seeking an independent inquiry into the illegal detention of his son and his torture by third degree methods resulting in a fracture to his hip joints. The Judge regretted that
50 years had elapsed when the country became free, still
the working of the police had not changed." They are
treating our citizens like animals and detaining them
illegally", the Judge observed and added: "Only
some supernatural power can protect the rights of
individuals so that they may be saved from the cruelties
of the police." |
||
'Human dignity not negotiable' CHANDIGARH, July 16.— The Punjab Human Rights Commission, which completed two years today, organised a seminar on "Human Rights and role of media". The occasion was also used for the inauguration of the commission's rented office, furnished at a huge coast, in Sector 34 here. While the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr M.N. Venkatachaliah, was the chief guest, Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, by inaugurated the seminar lighting a lamp. He assured the commission of all assistance and appealed to the people to make use of the services rendered by the commission. The Punjab Human Rights Commission Chairman, Justice V.K. Khanna,, welcomed the guests. Besides the members of the commission and its staff, the function was attended by a handful of officials, who made their exit with the Chief Minister. Mr Venkatachaliah said the media should shift its focus from politicians to the common people, highlighting their problems, and prepare the society to assert itself against political leaders, which believed in "denying" the people a decent living. "Human dignity is not negotiable," he added. The judiciary and media had complimentary and supplementary roles. The two institutions required in-house mechanism for self-corrective steps. Unless primary education, particularly of the girl child, was seriously pursued there was not much hope. One reason India was lagging behind was that the country failed to handle the forces of change after the industrial revolution. Those who participated in the seminar included Mr Shekhar Gupta Chief Editor of the Indian Express, the Advocate-General, Mr H.S. Mattewal, advocates Mr M.L. Sain and Mr R.S Cheema, Dr Daljit Singh of the Army Institute of Law and Mr J.S. Sekhon, a commission member. Justice Kuldip Singh, a former Supreme Court Judge, said in a "welfare state" basic needs must be met. He raised the issue of a peoples commission and said what had happened in Punjab could not be brushed under the carpet. From the data circulated
by the Punjab Human Rights Commission, it appeared that
the maximum complaints were against the police — a
total of 379 out of 1786 received from July, 1997, to
July 14, 1999 . Of these complaints, 906 had been
disposed of. As many as 198 had been filed by women. |
||
Thousands throng recruitment rally AMRITSAR, July 16 — The booming guns in Kargil proved to be no damper on the state level Army recruitment rally here today. Against 2000 vacancies, about one lakh candidates reached the Panthers Division of cantonment today. Balkar Singh, a resident of Amarkot village of the district, son of Havildar Joginder Singh, who lost his life while battling the enemy in the Kargil Sector, said he would be happy to join the Army. He said his father was among the first few soldiers who died in mid May and his body had not be found so far. Though all belongings of his father had reached home but the family was still waiting for the body. He said Sepoy Bittu, who lost his life in Kargil, also belonged to his village. These sacrifices had stirred hearts of young boys all over the state. Sarabjit Singh, who has done his plus two from Chandigarh, said he could not get the "token" for recruitment due to great rush of candidates and felt disappointed about it. He said he was ready to die for the sake of the country. Baldev Singh, a resident of Ratoul village (Tarn Taran), succeeded in getting the token. He said the Kargil episode had inculcated a spirit of nationalism and patriotism among Indians. Youths have been impressed by the heroic deeds of our soldiers and everyone wanted to teach Pakistan a lesson, he remarked. Most of the aspirants belonged to lower middle class. Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Muktsar said he wanted to join the Army due to unemployment. Inderpreet Singh, a resident of Goniana Mandi (Bathinda), said he was impressed by the solidarity expressed by the entire nation with the families of the soldiers killed in the Kargil sector. He said most of the youth’s, who wished to join the Army, were of the view that in case of any mishap or casualty, countrymen would take care of their families. Youths were also impressed with the decision of the state government to grant financial aid or Rs 2 lakh apart from Rs 5 lakh for purchasing plots etc. About 15,000 candidates
stayed at various serais, including Guru Nanak Nivas and
Guru Hargobind Nivas of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee. |
||
Implement HC orders, officers told LUDHIANA, July 16 — The district authorities here yesterday directed all officials concerned to launch a drive in the city to remove all encroachments, hoardings, rehris, khokhas and garbage with immediate effect. These directions have been issued in the light of the instructions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this connection. The officiating Deputy Commissioner, Mr K. Shiva Prasad, who presided over the meeting, directed the officials to issue necessary instructions in this regard. Mr Prasad told the District Transport Officers (DTO) not to allow plying of any vehicle without required documents as per the court directions. He said no school bus or van shall be permitted to carry students without the proper permit, road worthy certificate, driver without five years' experience, uniform and valid licence. The school buses were also required to have a conductor. The buses should also carry a board showing the name of the school, route and timing. He directed officers of the Municipal Corporation and the traffic police to provide proper stoppages for the buses along the roads and outside the schools and to mark traffic signs on the roads. He also directed the DTO and traffic police to challan the vehicles with unauthorised red/ blue lights and to also challan the drivers/ pillion riders of the two-wheelers without helmets. He informed that all private and government vehicles should have a first-aid box while plying on the road and no vehicle could use black films on glasses and pressure/musical horns. The authorities also directed officers of the Municipal Corporation and the PWD to remove encroachments, hoardings, rehris and khokhas from the roadsides. He warned that action would be initiated against officers, who showed laxity in implementing the directions of the court. Local government officers have been told to remove garbage and other junk from the sides of the roads and to provide dustbins at proper places in the urban areas. The traffic police and the transport authorities have been asked to stop the plying of autorickshaws and other vehicles without pollution control certificates. Mr Prasad directed the DFSC to take samples of petrol and diesel from the petrol stations to check adulteration. Mr Sukhmandir Singh Brar, DTO, informed that during the past month 9113 challans were issued in the district and fine amounting to Rs 12.64 lakh had been realised. Meanwhile, the municipal authorities here have decided to remove all hoardings from the roadsides. The corporation had received many complaints from citizens that advertising agencies had put up many hoardings in an haphazard and unaesthetic manner on the roads. Recently, a hoarding on
the roof of the building near the Jagraon bridge fell
down during the storm causing damage to electricity
lines. |
||
Dharnas, rallies by PCCTU
teachers JALANDHAR, July 16 — Dharnas were held in all 170 non-government colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh today to seek a solution to the problems of teachers. Leaders decried the anti-teacher policies of the state government. Dr V.K. Tiwari, General Secretary of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU), claimed here today the protest action in which more than 5,000 teachers joined was very successful. The union flayed the Punjab Government for having distorted the UGC scheme of pay revision even when it was not within its purview. The government had denied raising the retirement age to 62 years, benefit of past service, fixation at the basic pay of Rs 14,940 for DPEs and librarians, adjustment of total service for placement in the senior and selection scale and extension of time for refresher courses to December 2000 and above all coverage of all posts and colleges as on January 1, 1996, against which the central government was to give 80 per cent financial assistance. The union regretted that the Punjab Government had adversely changed the retirement age of non-government college teachers to 58 years in spite of the clear directive of the HRD Ministry in its letter of June 16. Shockingly, it was only the Punjab Government that had done this. The HRD Ministry desired that service conditions should not be changed to the disadvantage of the teachers. Although the process to restore the age of superannuation to 60 years had begun yet the union should continue to agitate till it was fully annulled, Dr Tiwari said. The union demanded a corpus fund for pension gratuity should be created as the scheme had been gazetted and the government must end the woes of retirees since April 1, 1992. BATALA: A protest rally was organised here on Friday by the local unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union at Baring Union Christian College against the Punjab Government's decision to lower the age of retirement of college teachers from 60 years. The rally was held under the presidentship of Mr Ram Lubhaya Rikhi. The union members also protested against the delay in the release of about Rs 24 crore to aided colleges in the state. PATIALA: On a call given by the PCCTU teachers of private aided colleges of Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur, Bathinda and Mansa districts sat on dharna and held rallies in their Colleges, Prof Balvir Singh, secretary of the Punjabi University area of the unions, said these teachers were protesting against the Punjab Government's decision to reduce the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 58 years. He said the government had no authority to take the decision as the service conditions of these teachers were governed by the university calendar which could be amended only by the Vidhan Sabha. The UGC had also recommended 62 years as retirement age, he said. Mr Harcharan Singh, press secretary, said other demands include release of ADA instalments from July 1, 1998, release of Rs 23.61 crore pending medical grant and HRA on revised rates and implementation of the pension and gratuity scheme. PHAGWARA: In response to the PCCTU call, private college teachers of Kapurthala district, including Phagwara, Domeli, Panchhta Nadala and Begowal on Friday held a dharna outside the offices of their respective Principals in protest against the order to lower retirement age of teachers from 60 years to 58 years. Rallies were also held
by protesters who flayed the government's penchant for
giving pinpricks to the teaching community. |
||
Pleas on FMA allowed CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The local Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal in a significant verdict held that fixed medical allowance was payable to eligible employees of the Punjab Government or U.T administration and this was in the nature of individual medical allowance and not a fixed family allowance (FMA). It specifically referred to the employees and pensioners and not their family members. The Bench comprising Mr J.S. Dhaliwal and Mr V.K. Majotra gave this ruling in two OAs filed by Mr Dharam Pal and Mr Ashwani Kumar both working in UT Directorate of Census, operations. The first applicant had sought the quashing of CCA (M.A.) Rules, 1944, in so far as these rules deprived the applicant of reimbursement of medical expenses incurred on himself and his dependents on the ground that his wife was an employee of the state of Punjab and got an FMA of Rs 250 per month. (His wife was an ASI in the office of Punjab ADGP). It was the case of the respondents that when the spouses happen to be employees of the state or central government, one was entitled to choose facilities under the CCA (MA) Rules or the facilities available under the state rules, corporations or local bodies, etc. They were required to file declarations that such spouses were not getting any FMA or medical reimbursement in respect of himself or his family. The point for determination before the tribunal was whether FMA enforced by the state of Punjab or UT covered the claim of an entire family. The Bench observed that FMA did not cover the entire claim for medical facilities or reimbursement to the said employees. It was only in lieu of outdoor treatment and its expenses and did not cover the entire medical claim of the family. When the wife claimed, it was open to the husband to claim open reimbursement for himself and for his entitled dependents. The Bench thus allowed
both OAs. |
||
Saplings as "prasad" ANANDPUR SAHIB, July 16 — Following "ardas" at the Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Professor Manjit Singh, Jathedar of the Takht, distributed "prasad of saplings" among the pilgrims who visited the takht to pay obeisance on the occasion of "Sankrant" here today. More than 10,000 saplings, provided by the Punjab Forest Department, were distributed as "prasad". The saplings of fruits and trees which were distributed, include lemon, papaya, mango, jamun, guava, amla, silver oak, sukhchain, boharr, peepal, neem, bherra and gold mohar. Campaign to distribute saplings of trees as "prasad" was launched by Prof Manjit Singh from the takht in December 1997 on the Gurpurb of Sri Guru Gobind Singh. Since then 1.65 lakh saplings of various trees have so far been distributed from the takht. Prof Manjit Singh, while distributing saplings among the pilgrims in front of the takht today, said that in his prayer to the Guru at the takht, he had prayed for a pollution free environment on the earth. He had also sought that the people should devote their time and energy to this cause. The Jathedar disclosed that he had been considering on a proposal to introduce the distribution of saplings as "prasad" in all the gurdwaras in the state. He said he would talk to Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, to prepare a plan for the purpose. Prof Manjit Singh said the Chief Secretary of Punjab had desired to extended full cooperation to this movement by way of supplying saplings to distribute the same as "prasad". He said, the authorities of "vasundhara" an anti-pollution organisation from Delhi had also offered support to continue this project. In Delhi, an organisation in collaboration with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has been set up for free distribution of saplings among the pilgrims. The organisation is dedicated to Bhagat Puran Singh who worked to propagate the importance of trees in daily life. The organisation has set up a nursery in Bala Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi. Two nurseries after the names of Bhagat Namdev and Bhagat Ravidas have also been set up in Delhi for the purpose. Prof Manjit Singh said the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) had appreciated this project "prasad of saplings". He said the 'Guru Gobind Singh Nature Reserve' being set up near here in collaboration with the WWF would also have a project regarding plantation of medicinal plants. He said this project would also economically help the local population because this town and its surrounding areas were fit for the plantation of medicinal plants. The Jathedar also said
that conservation of forests and wild life and the fodder
were inter-connected issues which were now under threat.
He said more plantation on the earth would solve problem
of inhabitation for the animals and help in preventing
pollution for the welfare of people. |
||
Action against Registrar only
after arrest: VC PATIALA, July 16 — While a section of Punjabi University teachers here today repeated their demand of suspending Registrar Ranbir Singh Sarao, whose name figures in a corruption case, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, categorically stated that no action would be taken until the Registrar was arrested. Talking to The Tribune, Dr Ahluwalia said under the rules a university employee could be suspended only if he was arrested and detained for 24 hours. The Vice-Chancellor said he had received no official information about registration of corruption case against former Vice-Chancellor Joginder Singh Puar, Registrar Ranbir Singh Sarao and six other university teachers. Meanwhile, the Liberal
Teachers Council of the university in a press release
hailed the criminal proceedings launched against former
Vice-Chancellor and others. |
||
R-Day defence awardees yet
to get dues CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The financial crunch in Punjab has affected the morale of the defence personnel as well. The case in point is non-payment of dues to those soldiers who became awardees on Republic Day in 1998, when the President announced the awards the dues pertain to cash awards, annuity, monetary grant in lieu of land etc to the awardees. Several defence personnel of Punjab have told TNS that despite relevant approval of the same having been given in October, 1998, the state was unable to implement the same because of inadequacy of funds. Such an attitude, to say the least, was highly "demotivating." The defence personnel maintain that while on the one hand the state had gone overboard in creating a media hype on its intentions to look after the families of the jawans, particularly those of the Kargil conflict, the actual performance on the ground was dismal. Punjab is demanding more share in the defence forces and is considered a nursery. Yet denying payments for the approved rewards is uncomprehensible. These personnel referred
to the decision of New Delhi to constitute an
eight-member committee of chief ministers chaired by the
Defence Minister to evolve a national policy on the
welfare of jawans and ex-servicemen on a permanent and
institutionalised basis. Yet no time-frame has been fixed
for the same. Punjab is a member of that committee. A
decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the
chief ministers convened in New Delhi on July 7 by the
Prime Minister. |
||
LS Poll : JD to decide
nominees tomorrow ROPAR, July 16 — The Punjab unit of the Janata Dal will decide about its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on July 18. Mr Jagir Singh Ganesh, president of the Punjab unit, said here yesterday, that a meeting of the state executive, district presidents and candidates, whose names have already been sent to the central body, would be held at Patiala on July 18 to decide about the party candidates and draw up a plan to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Ganesh said the Punjab unit had sent the names of 39 candidates for all 13 seats in the state to the central body. He said, in case of alliance with other parties, the Janata Dal would leave some seats for its alliance partners. He hopped the Janata Dal and the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, led by Mr G.S. Tohra, would be main alliance partners. Meanwhile, the
newly-appointed president of the Punjab unit of the Yuva
Janata Dal, Mr Manjot Singh Grewal, yesterday launched a
campaign here to enrol new members in all districts of
the state. |
||
Dharna by teachers of govt
schools AMRITSAR, July 16 — More than 1,000 government school teachers staged a dharna and held a massive rally in front of the office of the District Education Officer here today. The teachers had come from various parts of the district in response to a call given by the district unit of Government Teachers Union Punjab. Among those who addressed the rally included Mr Sucha Singh, general secretary of the union, Mr Gurdial Singh Patti, Mr Madan Gopal, Mr Joginder Singh Gill, Dr Charnjit Singh Gumtala, and Mr Bachan Singh Gill. Speakers demanded
release of the anomaly committee report after four, 9 and
14 years' service, time-bound promotional scale, equating
house rent allowance of all teachers, filling up of
vacant posts and release of dearness allowance instalment
from January 1999. |
||
Traders allege harassment JALANDHAR, July 16 — The wrong policies of octroi contractors are allegedly having an adverse effect on the trade in Jalandhar district as most of the small traders of the adjoining towns have started going to Amritsar and Ludhiana to avoid this situation. Mr Naresh Chhibber, General Secretary of the Jalandhar Traders Action Committee, said here yesterday that the traders and consumers faced inconvenience whenever they made any purchase from the city. He said the traders were stopped by the contractors in most of the city markets and were asked to show the receipt of octroi. When the traders or customers told the contractor that the goods had been purchased from Jalandhar, they were asked to give the proof, and when the proof was also given they were detained on some other pretext and were taken to the contractor's office where the traders' harassment began. At times the traders were manhandled and abusive language was used against them. This kind of behaviour by the contractors was affecting business in the district, he alleged. He said this needed
early attention of the government otherwise the traders
would be compelled to launch an agitation. |
||
Pak youth held FAZILKA, July 16 — BSF jawans of 200 battalion at Mauzam checkpost in the Fazilka sector arrested Abdul Vahid (14) on Thursday evening, on charge of entering Indian territory. Accused belongs to Rukanpura village of Pakistan. A case under Section 3/34/20 of the Indian passport act has been registered against him. He has been sent to the Juvenile Home Faridkot. According to the police
sources, Vahid is believed to have crossed into Indian
territory by mistake, while following his cattle. |
||
2 more HIV cases reported GURDASPUR, July 16 — With two more HIV positive cases reported in the district during the current year, the District Health Department has registered 46 AIDS patients so far. The recent cases were reported by the Sawant Singh Charitable Hospital, Beas, after the blood tests of the patients under treatment were reported to be HIV Positive. Out of a total of 46 AIDS patients, as many as 24 have died and one has shifted. Remaining 21 patients are under observation by the District Health Department. Most of the patients
belong to villages under Sri Hargobindpur and Kalanapur
blocks and are truck drivers. |
||
Clash of dates worries parents ROPAR, July 16 — Clashing of counselling dates fixed for admission to engineering degree courses by Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, and Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal (Sangrur), on July 28, is causing worry to parents of many eligible candidates as their wards will have to miss the counselling chance either at Jalandhar or at Longowal due to the clash. These candidates have cleared the entrance test of both these institutions. The parents have
demanded that in view of the clashing of dates the
authorities of both the engineering institutions and the
technical university should sit together to refix the
dates. |
||
Violation of model code alleged AMRITSAR, July 16 — In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, the Shiromani Youth Akali Dal (Kahlon) has alleged that the model code of conduct for the elections was violated while giving a year's extension to the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University. Mr Kuldip Singh Kahlon,
President of the youth dal, said the present three-year
term of the Vice-Chancellor would end on July 22. He
alleged the Vice-Chancellor had managed to get the
extension in ‘back date’. He further said,
while the model code of conduct was already in force,
after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the
Vice-Chancellor would be joining on July 23 (as his first
three-year ends on July 22), which was violation of the
code. |
||
Punjabi writers' directory soon PATIALA, July 16 — The State Language Department is bringing out a Punjabi writer's directory. Stating this in a press note here yesterday, Dr Madan Lal Hasija, Director, Language Department, said the directory would include biodata of eminent Punjabi writers and research scholars. The directory would be useful for readers as well as students of Punjabi literature. Dr Hasija said though
the directory was near publication but those writers who
could not send their biodata earlier could send to be
included in the directory. |
||
PSIEC presents cheque to CM CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi and Dr G. Vajralingam, Chairman and Managing Director of the PSIEC today presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, as contribution to the Punjab War Heroes Family Welfare Fund. The employees of the corporation also contributed their one day's salary to this fund. Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan,
Public Relations Minister, Punjab, also presented a
cheque for Rs 51,000 to the Chief Minister on behalf of
Karamchari Dal of Punjab Roadways for the Kargil War
Heroes Family Welfare Fund. |
||
 |
||
 |
| Nation
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
