Monday, November 1, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, November 1, 1999 |
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SAD MLAs
repose faith in Badal Schemes to recharge ground water |
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Poser to
SAD, BJP MLAs Extortion racket detected; 1 held Release jailed youth without
trial: seminar Three held for scuffle with
officials Probe into college affairs begins Driver held for woman’s
murder NFL bag case: minister assures CVC
probe PUTA condemns pro-Puar group No Shiromani awards this year NTAS performance appreciated Thein Dam runs into trouble GND University youth festival
results |
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SAD MLAs repose faith in
Badal CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 —Shiromani Akali Dal MLAs have expressed faith and confidence in the leadership of the party president, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who had called them for a meeting here on Saturday night. A resolution to this effect was also moved and released to the press by the SAD Secretary, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, today. Informed sources told TNS that the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, was targeted by at least two of his colleagues, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Mr Tota Singh, who expressed their annoyance over the manner in which finances had been handled, and even alleged that misguiding figures and claims had been put out from time to time. Though Mr Badal is reported to have suggested not to raise the matter, Mr Tota Singh held ground and said he must have his say. He openly accused the bureaucracy of not responding and heeding to the ministers even. The political executive stood eclipsed by the bureaucracy which always had the last word, he added and wanted political appointees in certain places. He referred to at least one organisation, the PSEB, where both the chairman and the administrative member should not be bureaucrats. Mr Badal patiently listened to the views expressed by only a handful of MLAs, namely, Mr Kartar Singh Pahra, Mr Gulzar Singh Ranike, Mr Ajay Pal Singh. Even Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra was made a target by some of the speakers. It is believed that nearly 60 MLAs attended the meeting called at short notice. Some MLAs said that conspicuous by their absence were some key leaders like Mr Ravi Inder Singh, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, including two of his close associates, Mr Malkiat Singh Kitu and Baba Balbir Singh. In his brief speech Mr Badal did not refer to issues like bureaucracy’s role but only thanked the party MLAs and the people for siding with the party and the government. It was agreed that after the November 10 SGPC president election, Mr Badal will meet MLAs, individually, who have also been advised to activate people in their respective constituencies. While a meeting of the SGPC members has been called in Amritsar for November 9, the Political Affairs Committee shall meet here on November 6. The working committee is yet to meet. It is also learnt that the part may renominate Bibi Jagir Kaur for the presidentship of the SGPC. Meanwhile, a statement issued by Mr Badungar today referred to the meeting, expressing full faith and confidence in Mr Badal’s leadership. The statement, in fact, besides recalling the contribution and sacrifices of Mr Badal in his chequered political career also blamed the Congress for conniving with anti-Panthic forces to "destabilise" the government. It also mentioned the "unprincipled campaign" and deliberate "misinformation" started by certain unscrupulous elements against the government. The resolution cautioned Punjabis against such designs. The meeting reviewed the political situation and accepted with humility the verdict of the people in the just held Lok Sabha elections. The press statement said the resolution was moved by the Minister for Cooperation, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, and seconded by Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, both ministers. The resolution concludes
by saying that Mr Badal was "indispensable" in
view of the challenges that the party and the people of
the state faced. |
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Schemes to recharge ground water CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — The project started in Amritsar to arrest the declining ground water table, which had turned a big headache for experts, especially around the Golden Temple area, will become operational by the end of November. The project is in the advance stage of completion and it is being executed by the Punjab Agriculture department under the technical guidance and funds provided by the Central Ground Water Board. It is a novel project. The water flowing out from the holy tank in the Golden Temple at Amritsar would be injected back into the ground to arrest the declining water table. Every year the water table goes down and in the past one decade or so the decline in the water table has been recorded above five metres. Dr M Mehta, Director of the Regional office of the board here told TNS today that about 0.45 MCM water would be available from the holy tank for injecting into the ground. The expenditure would be only 11 paise for injecting 1000 litres of water into the ground. The SGPC authorities were taken into confidence before the execution of the project. Several thousand litres of water, that is drained out regularly from the holy tank to replace it with fresh water, was going down the drain. Engineers of the board prepared a plain for injecting such water to re-charge ground water. As many as four injection wells have been set up near the Golden Temple for sending the water into the ground through these wells. The meeting was recently held with officials of the Punjab Agriculture department for completing the project by the end of November, Dr Mehta said. Besides this, the board had approved a number of other schemes for recharging the ground water in other parts of the state near Dhuri. The water table has gone down around five metres in the past eight years. A project with an estimated cost of Rs 32 lakh had been prepared to recharge the ground water by using the water of the Dhuri link, a drain,by creating vertical shafts in the ground in the bed of the link. The cost would be only eight paise for pumping 1000 litres of water into the ground there. This project, according to Dr Mehta, is also in an advance stage of completion and is expected to become operational in December. It is being implemented through the Department of Water Resources and Environment. Another project for recharging the ground water by using the water of Dhuri main drain has also been cleared. The cost will be only six paise per 1000 litres of water. Nearly 1 km wide strip on the either side of the drain would be recharged. One more project of ground water recharging has been approved for Nur Mahal in the Nawanshahr area. Canal water would be stored in tanks and it would be sent into the ground through six vertical shafts set up in the ground. This project will be handled by the Agriculture department. One more similar project has been approved for Kale-Singh village in Kapurthala district. The water of the village pond would be used for recharging through vertical shafts. Dr Mehta said already
funds had been released for implementing these projects.
The total cost would be more than Rs 1 crore, he added. |
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Tracing the birth of Khalsa AMRITSAR: The "Creation of Khalsa and word culture" (Khalsa sirjana te shabad sabhyachar), a 300-page book published by Khalsa College, Amritsar, is the first-ever book planned by a college to mark the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. The book assumes significance as various scholars and thinkers have used various English and Persian sources of Sikh history. Since there are few Persian scholars today to make use of these rare sources, the historicity and authenticity of these sources might encounter an academic crisis of sorts in the coming years. Edited by Dr Harchand Singh Bedi, a Sikh scholar, the present book, apart from presenting an analytical study of the birth of the Khalsa from historical, philosophical, religio-political perspectives, it tends to delineate a doctrinal and practical paradigm of the same. In foreword to the book, Dr Mohinder Singh Dhillon, Principal of Khalsa College, opines that the present book attempts to simplify research-related problems that are likely to come up Sikh scholars who have written research-based articles in this book have used Persian English sources like Mohsinfani’s "Dabistan-e-Mazahib", Mohammad Saki Mustaid Khan’s ‘Muasiri Alamgiri; Mirza Inaitullah Khan’s ‘Ahikam-e-Alamgiri’, Jamshad Bilimoria’s ‘Rukate Alamgiri’ and Gurbani, apart from contemporary historical sources such as ‘Tozk-e-Jahangiri and Tozke-e-Babari’. Following a decline in the number of Urdu-Persian users, these rare sources of Sikh history assume increasing significance and urgency to be protected and preserved for posterity. Dr S.P. Singh, Dean (Colleges) and Professor and Head, School of Punjabi Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University, has said the book is rare as it tends to unfold new vistas of knowledge for any classical discourse. The students of literature and history would definitely appreciate the editorial skills and potentialities of Dr Harchand Singh Bedi, he says. He further says the book is a valuable achievement in the context of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. In the context of the Birth of the Khalsa and the modern Sikh, Dr Harchand Singh Bedi avers that Gurbani tends to create a culture to oppose outmoded thought systems, behaviouristic patterns aimed at demeaning women and the socially downtrodden. Dr Darshan Singh, a Sikh scholar from Panjab University, Chandigarh, while tracing the genesis of the words such as ‘Khalsa’ ‘non-Khalsa’, ‘Sikh’ and ‘Gurbani’, points out their semantic limitations in Sikh tradition and Gurmat. Dr Kirpal Singh, a known historian, deriving his thought process from Mohsinfani’s Dabistan-e-Mazahib, points out that anti-Sikh machinations of the Mughals were couched in their anti-Gurmat wicked designs and policies. Dr Gurdarshan Singh from Panjab University, Chandigarh, analyses the creation of the Khalsa on the basis of its historical and ideological origins. Prof Satinder Singh Noor of Delhi University laments that the ‘Dasham Granth’ has not been presented in a proper perspective in as world literature. "Western scholars talk about Homer or Shakespeare but we have never studied this powerful and unique creation, having a universal appeal in the context of social transformation and revolution. Prof Harinder Singh Mehboob, an ascetic, thinker and researcher, considers he creation of ‘Zafarnama’ as an extended spiritual dialogue between Guru Nanak’s down-to-earth truth and Babar’s barbarian imperialism. Dr Sabinderjit Sagar, Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, refers to the Bangla literature available on Guru Gobind Singh and he believes that Sikh history, Guru Gobind Singh’s battles against the Mughals, the kings of adjoining hills and creation of the Khalsa remained a tremendous source of inspiration for the Bengalis with regard to their social, religious and political movements. Rabindra Nath Tagore, in particular, was inspired by Sikh history during the early periods of militant politics. Famous scholar Bedi Lal
Singh ‘Sahitkar’ has tried to transcend the
limits of philosophical and spiritual concerns and also
the lexical constraints experienced during the
comprehension of ‘Nishan Sahib’ in
Nishan-e-Khalsa’. |
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Poser to SAD, BJP MLAs BATHINDA, Oct 31 — Mr Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, general secretary, District Congress Committee (DCC), today said time had come for SAD and BJP MLAs to think whether they wanted to remain with the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, or with people. Talking to Tribune News Service here, he pointed out that the recent hike in sales tax of various items including diesel, petrol, partial withdrawal of free bus travel facility being provided to police personnel and women above 60 and the deteriorating law and order situation had alienated people from the state government. He added that political survival of the SAD and BJP MLAs depended on how they put their best to save the common man from the burden being imposed on them by the alliance government. He alleged that Mr Badal had failed to fulfil any promises made to people on the eve of the last assembly elections in 1997. He pointed out that even the SAD MLAs had admitted that corruption was rampant in government departments. Regarding police excesses against Congress workers, Mr Aggarwal said he had written a letter to the PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh, urging him to constitute a committee to identify such party workers as had faced "police wrath" after the recent Lok Sabha poll. Mr Aggarwal threatened
that the Congress workers would launch an agitation if
the police continued to victimise them. He added that in
a democratic society everybody had the right to join any
party and support any candidate in any election. |
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Extortion racket detected; 1 held GURDASPUR, Oct 31 — The police has busted an inter-state gang of cheats allegedly involved in extorting money from innocent persons desirous of going abroad in search of jobs, according to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP. One of the accused, Anil Bagga, was arrested today while other members of the gang — Ranjan Chadda, Subhash Chadda and Monika Chadda, wife of Rajan Chadda, all residents of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, who are still at large. The district police chief said that the modus operandi of the gang members was that they use to send persons abroad on short business visa through a Calcutta-based agent. Most of these persons returned to India after the visa expired without getting a job. When these persons demanded the return of the money given to the accused for sending them abroad, the accused intimidated them and threatened to implicate them in false cases abroad. The police received a written complaint from Anil Kumar of Gurdaspur, Kulwinder Singh and Jatinder Pal, both of Sujanpur, that they came into contact with Anil Bagga, who told them that he and his associates were running an import-export company, Pine View at Hamirpur. They also claimed that they had opened an office in Bangkok (Thailand), where they had established a chemical factory for which they wanted to recruit employees for Rs 35000 to 40000 per month. The accused promised to give these jobs to the complainants if they gave them Rs 2 lakh each. In January 1999, the complainants handed over Rs 3.6 lakh at the shop of Jatinder Pal at Sujanpur in the presence of Manu Kapoor and Janak Raj, Sarpanch of Madhopur in this district, and promised to pay the balance later on. The accused took their passport-size photographs and passports with a promise to send them abroad. The accused deported the complainants to Bangkok but could not secure any job for them. The accused allegedly kept them under illegal detention abroad and threatened them to get them arrested if they tried to escape. Dollars were also snatched from the complainants. Bagga, during his preliminary interrogation, reportedly admitted having extorted Rs 60000 from Vijay Kumar of Kago village in Himachal Pradesh, Rs 45000 from Vinod Kumar of Hamirpur, Rs 20,000 from Santosh Kumar of Run Gam in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 45000 from Rana of Ludhiana in Punjab. A case under Sections
420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against
the accused. |
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Release jailed youth without
trial: seminar CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — A two-day seminar on "Panthic leadership and decision-making", which concluded here today, unanimously demanded the release of youth in detention for decades without trial and that the pending issue of river waters sharing should be resolved through available constitutional means as applicable elsewhere in the country. The overall refrain at the seminar, held under the aegis of the Institute of Sikh Studies at Gurdwara Sahib, Kanthala, opposite The Tribune roundabout, was one of anguish over the manner in which the present Akali (read Panthic) leadership had conducted itself. It was noted with regret that the present leaders lacked "commitment" to the Panthic welfare, objectives and ideals; their main thrust was either on "self" or "family" promotion. All this had proved to be a bane for the panthic interests right from 1925 whereafter the decline started. Several speakers with whom TNS interacted also maintained that the present leadership lacked "vision and awareness" about the real issues, problems and requirements, of the Sikh diaspora all over the globe. It had failed miserably to articulate the aspirations of the Sikhs. The leadership, in fact, had forgotten that Sikhism believed in "equality and democracy. The resolution on detainees spoke of oppressive laws and sought from the Akali leadership intervention by taking up the detainees cases with the powers that be to end their torture in jails. The seminar felt that while solving Punjab's problem of sharing river waters the Akali leadership should annual all previous accords, awards and agreements. "In fact the Akali leadership itself needed to be discarded outright, said an agitated seminarist. The participants,
speakers and the audience, represented different streams
of thought and ideologies. They were a heterogeneous
group of mostly retired people or serving professors in
the universities. Among those present were some who came
from abroad. |
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Three held for scuffle with
officials LUDHIANA, Oct 31 — The police has arrested three persons — Shamlal, Harsharanjit Singh Grewal and Mohinder Singh — for allegedly indulging in a scuffle with government officials while on duty and injuring one of them. A case under Sections 353, 186, 332, 506, 323 and 34 of the IPC and under Section 14 (B) of the Punjab Sales Tax Act has been registered against the accused. According to information available from the police, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tiwana, ETO and Assistant Director, Enforcement, along with another sales tax official was organising a naka near the Dhuri phatak link road when they saw a truck coming from the other side around 2:30 a.m. The officials signalled the truck to stop, but the driver turned his truck in the other direction. The taxation officials grew suspicious and followed the truck. They stopped the truck and asked the driver for the bills of the loaded goods in the truck. In the meantime, two
persons in a Maruti car came from behind and a scuffle
between the two occupants of the car, Harsharanjit Singh
Grewal and Mohinder Singh, ensued. The taxation
officials, however, overpowered the three accused. The
police has also seized the truck with registration number
(PB 10 C-9968), one scooter and one Maruti car. |
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Probe into college affairs
begins TALWANDI SABO, Oct 31 — A four-member high-level committee of Punjabi University, Patiala, has started a probe into the bunglings allegedly committed by the Principal of the local Guru Kashi College. Official sources said the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr J.S. Alhuwalia, had constituted the fact-finding committee comprising senior faculty and administrative members on a complaint made by members of the college unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) against misdeeds of the Principal, Mr Maggar Singh. Dr B.S. Bhatia, Dean, Colleges, Punjabi University, Patiala, who headed the four member committee comprising, Mr Remal Dass, Finance Officer, Dr Ranbir Singh Sarao, Registrar and Prof S.S. Joshi, when contacted said the committee went to the college on October 27 to inquire into the affairs of the college. He said that the faculty members had alleged that the Principal had no approval of the DPI (Colleges) of his appointment, that he had taken TA bills without the sanction of the competent authority, cut ‘ber’ orchard and whereabouts of the wood were not known, misused college labourers and had not deposited the crop income in the college funds. The faculty members had also made certain other allegations. Mr Maggar Singh, Principal, when contacted, while denying the allegations levelled against him by the faculty members claimed that the university team came here to workout the strategy of taking over the college management by the Punjabi University authorities. He alleged that the faculty members were making false allegations against him as they were agitated over the fact that he had been running the college affairs in a disciplined manner. The faculty members, who were finding that "academic independence" had been curbed due to discipline, were making false charges against him. Mr Bhatia, however, said the fact-finding committee was looking into all allegations made against the Principal by the faculty members and the committee would submit its report to the Vice-Chancellor within three weeks. He said the university would also set up a committee to draft bylaws for conducting the affairs of the college in future. He made it clear that if
the Principal was found guilty of any charges, he would
be dealt according to the university rules and
regulations. |
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Driver held for woman’s
murder JALANDHAR, Oct 31 — The police has claimed to have solved the murder case of a housewife in Model Town here on October 28. It has arrested a former driver of the family and recovered cash and jewellery stolen by him. The SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, said here today that Mrs Chander Kanta Gupta, wife of Mr Lajpat Rai Gupta, of Model Town in the city, was found murdered with a sharp-edged weapon in her bedroom on October 28. At the time of the incident she was alone in the house. The murderer was seen leaving the house by the maidservant of the family. A case was registered under Section 302, IPC, in police division No 6. The accused Ranjit Singh, alias Mithu, resident of Nangal Fateh Khan of the district was arrested by the police yesterday. Ranjit Singh is a brother of Jaswinder Singh, who was employed as a driver with the family. Ranjit Singh also worked with the family of the deceased as a driver, but later on he left the job about a year ago. He was arrested following a tip-off at the BSF chowk yesterday. Mr Yadav said Ranjit
Singh confessed his crime. He stated that he was in dire
financial straits as he had started constructing a house
after taking loans. On October 28 when Mrs Chander Kanta
Gupta was alone in the house he stabbed her in the chest
with a knife. He was spotted by the maid servant while he
was leaving the house. |
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NFL bag case: minister
assures CVC probe NANGAL, Oct 31 — The National Fertiliser Ltd here is using underweight bags for its products, a NFL Union, the Fertilisers Karamchari Sangh (FKS) has alleged. Mr K.S. Chandel, Mr Gurbax, president and general secretary of the union, respectively, have pointed out the discrepancy to the NFL Chairman-cum-Managing director. In their complaint, copies of which were provided to newsmen, they have alleged that the loss due to underweight bags to the NFL was Rs 1.38 crore per year. The NFL General Manager, Mr B.M. Ritolia, termed underweight bags as a stray incident. He said there was no provision for weighing bag bales as had been done by the union. Only the randomly selected bags were tested, he said. Moreover, in case of urea bags the bales checked by the union were already rejected by the committee appointed for the purpose. He also added that the system was being tightened further to avoid such incidents in future. FKS representatives met
Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Civil Supplies Minister,
Punjab, who represents the Nangal constituency. Mr Mittal
assured a probe into the incident through the Chief
Vigilance Commissioner. |
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PUTA condemns pro-Puar group PATIALA, Oct 31 — The Punjabi University Teachers Association (PUTA) today condemned alleged efforts of elements close to the former Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.S. Puar, to strain relations between it and the university Vice-Chancellor. In a statement here, association President Gurdeep Singh said such elements were trying to strain the cordial relationship between PUTA and the Vice-Chancellor for their own vested interests. Dr Gurdeep Singh said there was no pressure on the Vice-Chancellor to withdraw any item from the Syndicate agenda. He said rather PUTA had requested the Vice-Chancellor to withdraw the items regarding merit promotion and victimisation cases for reconsideration as they had not been framed properly. He said as the cases regarding merit promotion scheme and victimisation were localised, the Syndics needed to be properly briefed on the subject so that they could arrive at an appropriate decision. Dr Gurdeep Singh said the formation of a committee to look into the merit versus open category conflict would be able to resolve the issue amicably. He said as for the
victimisation cases pertaining to the tenure of the
previous Vice-Chancellor, PUTA was happy that Dr
Ahluwalia had withdrawn the cases from the Syndicate for
reconsideration. |
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No Shiromani awards this
year AMRITSAR, Oct 31 — The Punjab Languages Department has decided not to present Shiromani awards to eminent Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu writers, (dhadis), Punjabi journalists and ragis on November 1 to mark (Punjab Day) due to the "financial crunch" being faced by the state government. In 1997, the then Higher Education Minister, Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, had constituted an advisory board which held a meeting in January last year to select eminent Punjabis for the awards. However, the awards were given at a state-level function held at Amritsar in April, 1998. After its reconstitution in 1998, the advisory board did not hold a single meeting with the result that the names of the probables could not be finalised. While Himachal and Haryana will celebrate November 1 on a large-scale, the Punjab Government is likely to keep the week-long celebrations at a low key. When contacted Dr Madan
Lal Hasija, Director, Punjab Languages Department, said
he had recommended the holding of a meeting of the
advisory board immediately so that the awards could be
presented at the earliest. |
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GND University youth
festival results AMRITSAR, Oct 31 — The results of the youth festival which concluded at Dashmesh Auditorium of Guru Nanak Dev University last evening are as follows: Fine Arts: Painting (landscape): APJ College of Fine Arts, Jal.-1; BBK DAV College for Women, Asr-II; SSM College, Dinanagar-III. Painting (still life): APJ College of Fine Arts, Jal.-I; HMV Jalandhar-II; SSM College, Dinanagar-III. Sketching: Khalsa College, Asr.-I; BD Arya Girls College, Jal Cantt-II; KN College for Women, Phagwara-III. Cartooning: DAV College, Jal.-I; BBK DAV College for Women, Asr.-II; APJ College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, and SSM College, Dinanagar-III. Collage-making: DAV College, Asr (girls team)-I; DAV College, Asr-II; APJ College of Fine Arts, Jal.-III. Poster-making: BBK DAV College for Women, Asr.-I; HMV, Jalandhar-II; DAV College, Jal.-III. Clay Modelling: BBK DAV College for Women, Asr.-I; DAV College, Jalandhar-II; APJ College of Fine Arts, Jal.-III. Flower Arrangement (fresh): KMV Jalandhar-I; KN College for Women, Phagwara and DAV College, Asr.-II; BBK DAV College for Women, Asr.-III. Flower Arrangement (Dry): HMV, Jalandhar-I; DAV College, Jalandhar and DAV College, Asr. (girls team)-II; DRV DAV College Phillaur, and Khalsa College for Women, Asr.-II. Rangoli: DAV College, Asr.-I; KN College for women, Phagwara, and Hindu College, Amritsar-II; DAV College Asr. (girls team)-III. Poetical Symposium: BD Arya Girls College Jal Cantt-I; Doaba College, Jalandhar-II; DAV College, Asr. and Khalsa College, Asr.-III. Elocution: DAV College, Jalandhar-I; KMV Jalandhar-II; BBK DAV College For Women, Asr.-III. Debate: Shifali-Hindu Kanya College Kapurthala-I; Roopika (BBK DAV College, for Women Asr.) and Saurav (DAV College, Jalandhar — II;) Praneet (APJ College of Fine Arts, Jal.-III. Quiz: BBK DAV College
for Women, Asr.-I; Khalsa College of Education,
Amritsar-II; NJSA Govt College Kapurthala-III. |
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NTAS performance appreciated PATIALA, Oct 31— Mr Karnail Singh, president, Bhai Sahib S. Gurbakhsh Singh Memorial Auditorium Trust, Majri Akalian, at a special meeting here expressed gratitude to the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS), Patiala, for organising a Punjabi musical "Odak Sach Rahi" on the Tenth Guru's life and teachings at Majri Akalian to mark the completion of the first phase of their project. He said the trust, which was established in the memory of his father the late Gurbakhsh Singh, envisages the construction of a big art complex comprising an auditorium, two green rooms, a library, a drama school, a rest house and an office-cum-residence. Mr Karnail Singh said the following were founder office-bearers of the trust: president-Mr Karnail Singh; senior. vice-presidents—Mr Pran Sabharwal and Mr Satvinder Singh, vice president— Mr Bhagwant Singh Sidhu, general secretary—Mr Jagtar Singh, secretary—Mr Shagan Dev Singh; joint secretary—Mr Mohinder Singh, treasurer— Mrs, Amarjit Kaur and members—Mrs Gurnam Kaur and Mrs Gurmail Kaur. Mr Karnail Singh said a
new Punjabi musical, "Hanera Chann", directed
by Mr Sabharwal and Mrs Sunita Sabharwal, will be
presented at the new auditorium next month. |
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Thein Dam runs into trouble JALANDHAR, Oct 31 — Owing to corruption, contract work, substandard material and personal ambitions, the multi-purpose Thein Dam, known as Ranjit Sagar Dam, has run into trouble. The project, costing more than Rs 3300 crore, has become a non-starter. This was claimed here today by the General Secretary of the Technical Services Union (TSU), Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), and a senior member of the Fact-Finding Committee (FFC), Mr H.S. Minhas, in a report sent by the TSU for on-the-spot inquiry into what led to serious defects in the construction of this dam. The report has revealed that serious defects in the construction of the project, which resulted in the concurrent loss of Rs 3300 crore to the PSEB. The committee expressed dissatisfaction at the repair works being carried out at the dam site. It detected serious irregularities in the construction cost. The fact-finding
committee demanded that a white paper should be released
on the defects in the project. |
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Floral tributes to Indira CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — The martyrdom day of Indira Gandhi was observed today at Punjab Congress Bhavan by the Punjab Youth Congress, where Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Leader of the Opposition, presided. Floral tributes were paid to Mrs Gandhi. Meanwhile, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee also observed the 15th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, as Martyrdom Day. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the state Congress chief, and other party leaders paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at Congress Bhavan here. A prayer meeting was
also held. |
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Yuva Shakti office-bearers LUDHIANA, Oct 31 —
The following have been elected office-bearers of the
Yuva Shakti, Punjab: President — Mr N.S. Sitta;
Senior Vice-Presidents — Mr S.L. Amrohi, Mr Shashi
Bhushan Gupta, Mr Charanjit Mittal; Vice presidents
— Master Mohan Singh, Mr Chhatarpal Singh and Dr
S.S. Bajwa, General Secretaries — Dr Shiv Kumar
Gupta, Mr Satnam Singh Sekhon and Mr Shivdev Singh;
Finance Secretary — Mr Sunil Kumar and chief
organiser Mr Sukhdev Singh Rupra. |
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Create new world order: Yash
Pal LUDHIANA, Oct 31 — An eminent scientist, Prof Yash Pal, yesterday called for the creation of a new world based on the concept of globalisation where each ethnic group, though working in close collaboration, would be socially immune to outside influences. This would also put an end to many ethnic conflicts raging throughout the world. Prof Yash Pal, a national research professor and a recognised authority on cosmic rays, high energy physics and cosmic astrophysics, said this while delivering the second Joginder Pal Pandey annual oration on the subject of "Back and forth between the intimate and the cosmic". He said the challenge of the present day was in merging the new cosmic consciousness with the diversities of the various cultural groups in a manner that the obnoxious consequences of intimacy like conflicts were eliminated, without causing a threat to the diversity. This oration is
delivered in the memory of former Punjab minister
Joginder Pal Pandey, who represented the Ludhiana
constituency. Mr Pandey was killed by terrorists in 1997. |
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Four arrested for trademark
violation LUDHIANA, Oct 31 — The police has arrested four persons, Anwar, Soinedeen, Rasid and Ram Dhan, under Section 420, 486 of the IPC and Section 78, 79 of the Merchandise Trade Mark Act for allegedly selling clothes under the forged trademark of Raymond at lower rates. The police has also
recovered 465 metres of cloth from their possession. |
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Two arrested for murder AMRITSAR, Oct 31 — Two persons were arrested by the Doburji police today in connection with the killing of a tonga driver yesterday. The two were arrested
near Kartarpur. Meanwhile, Mr Ravinder Kumar, president,
all-India Youth Association has urged the police to
intensify patrolling on the Sultanwind road and village
in the wake of spurt in crime in the area. |
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Pensioners not to celebrate Divali LUDHIANA, Oct 31 — Pensioners have decided not to celebrate Divali this year in protest against the alleged anti-employee measures of the Badal government. At a meeting of the
Government Pensioners Association here today, members
decried the non-release of two DA instalments for
pensioners. They regretted that Punjab pensioners were
getting 15 per cent less DA than their counterparts in
central government services. |
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