Saturday, October 2, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Saturday, October 2, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Snags in
dam project cause 500 crore loss |
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Doctors stage dharna against
suspension
Todar Mal’s
‘haveli’ cries for upkeep 46
dengue cases found in Ludhiana Drive to crack down on petty crime More facilities at Sanghol |
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Snags
in dam project cause 500 crore loss PATIALA, Oct 1 — While surplus waters of the Ravi will continue to flow into Pakistan due to recent snags in the Ranjit Sagar Dam project, the country itself has been "robbed" of 2100 million units costing Rs 500 crore due to delay in commissioning of the project. Senior-level engineers in the PSEB while revealing this said the board was at present incurring operation and maintenance expenditures of mw at the Ranjit Sagar Dam power plant and not getting any energy in return. They said had the powerhouse started generation in July 1999 it would have increased the energy supply of the PSEB without any additional expenditure. The engineers said delay in commissioning meant the energy which was to be generated by the RSD power plant would have to be replaced by thermal generation or central power purchase. While terming the government decision to send an inquiry team to probe into the snags which have hit the project as "too little, too late", they feel only an expert-oriented disaster management team could suggest quick corrective measures to ensure speedy completion of the project. The Director, Coal Management, Mr Padamjit Singh, feels the government is compounding its mistake by sending a team which has all along been responsible for the project to inquire into its own shortcomings. He said the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, had overlooked the Irrigation and Power Departments. Mr R.S. Gill was the Chairman of the Board of Consultants and Mr N.S. Vasant is Adviser, Energy, to the Punjab Government. Mr Padamjit Singh said the government had earlier tried to underplay the snags in the two tunnels during the election period, thus wasting precious time. He said even after the faults were discovered the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Engineers Association of which he was the president felt the General Manager of the project should have been sacked. He said instead the government had given him another extension in early August. PSEB Association general secretary H.S. Bedi said the fate of the dam was always in the hands of the state bureaucracy. The present Chief Secretary, who was earlier in the Irrigation and Power Department, owed an explanation about why an inexperienced person was appointed General Manager and that too after retirement, he held. He said for the construction of Bhakra Dam Jawahar Lal Nehru called a US expert while in the case of the Beas-Sutlej link project the services and contribution of Maj-Gen, Jagannathan are remembered to this day. Mr Bedi alleged the government and bureaucracy had betrayed public interest by allowing corruption and mismanagement to ruin the project. Even after sinking Rs 3,300 crore of public money, the commissioning of the project was nowhere in sight. He said corruption and indiscipline directly led to decline in technical standards. While the Punjab Government was seeking to pinpoint technical defects, the fundamental issues of corruption and indiscipline remained untouched, he claimed. He said Pong Dam on the Beas was successfully constructed in the mid-70s by the Beas Construction Board and was giving trouble-free service. The RSD which had design and construction features similar to Pong Dam did not require any advanced technology or construction techniques. Mr Bedi said while the
Lehra Mohabat extension project was held up due to funds,
the PSEB Engineers Association apprehended that the RSD
project would siphon off scarce funds for another year
and cause direct setback to power development in Punjab. |
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Punjab
dithers on promotions CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — While the Punjab Government continues to dither on the issue of resuming the process of promotions, which was suspended about two years ago due to legal wrangles in the state, various employees' organisations have started building up pressure on the authorities to start the process. In the absence of promotions hundreds of important posts, including department heads, were lying vacant in the state. The state government had found an alternative a few months ago. Without ordering any promotion, current duty charge was given to several chief engineers and others as head of departments. In fact, in the Punjab Civil Secretariat several important posts of deputy secretary, under secretary, superintendent and other ranks are lying vacant for several months, several employees have retired in the past two years awaiting their promotions. According to informed sources there were nine posts of deputy secretary in the Punjab staff cadre and all are vacant. There are 23 posts of under secretaries and 15 out of these are vacant. Likewise 30 posts of superintendent (Grade-I) and several posts of other ranks remain unfilled in the absence of promotions in the Secretariat, a place from where the process of governance of the state begins. Besides, several posts of Deputy Director in the Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department were vacant, Dr Balkaran Singh has been given current duty charge of the post of Director, Agriculture, Punjab, and the same was true in the case of Dr Mewa Singh Sonar, a predecessor of Dr Balkaran Singh. Informed sources say only one chief engineer in the Irrigation was confirmed while most of the others were holding current duty charge. Mr Shayam Lal Sharma, President of the Punjab State General Categories Welfare Federation, and Mr Oma Kant Tiwari, President of the Punjab Civil Secretariat Staff Association, told TNS that they had offered to give a copy of the Supreme Court judgement delivered on September 16 to the Punjab Government. They claimed that the Supreme Court had upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court's judgement delivered in the Ajit Singh Janjua case and also made all legal points very clear in the judgement. They said the Punjab Government had sought a clarification from the Supreme Court about certain legal points with regard to reservation in promotions. Mr Tiwari said that a delegation of the association had met the Chief Secretary a few days ago. The Chief Secretary said he was waiting for the certified copy of the Supreme Court judgement. The employees'
organisations threatened to launch an agitation if the
government further delayed promotions. |
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BBMB
employees’ gratuity stopped NANGAL, Oct 1 — The Punjab Government has stopped the gratuities and the other pension benefits of its employees, who are serving on deputation with the BBMB. The Punjab Government has stopped these benefits on the plea that its employees serving in the BBMB, have been drawing more salaries than they were entitled to in the parent states. The employees of the Finance Department, who are serving in the BBMB, have become the first victims of this policy. The Finance Department has already initiated a process to recover, at the time of their retirement, the amount paid extra to the employees during their stint in the BBMB. In 1974 a BBMB formula was worked out to bring parity in the pay scales of employees. As per the formula employees working in the BBMB, the irrigation wing were given an option to opt for scales drawn by other state employees, working on a designation similar to him. Similarly the employees of the power wing also had the right to opt for the scales equal to any other employee working on a similar designation. However on July 19, 1991, at another board meeting, the disparity between the irrigation and the power wing employees was removed. It was decided that any employee working with the BBMB, irrespective of his parent state, had a right to opt for scale equal to the scale drawn by any other working on a designation similar to him. After this decision most of the employees working at the BBMB opted for the scale of the PSEB, since they were better than most of the scales of other states and departments. The members of the all partner states were party to the decision. Mr Onkar Singh, Joint Secretary, Irrigation, represented Punjab at the meeting. However, now nine years after the implementation of the decision, the Finance Department, Punjab, suddenly took a decision that its employees at the BBMB had no right to draw salaries according to the pattern of the BBMB. Mr S.P. Sharma, a retired senior accounts officer of the BBMB, whose pensionery benefits worth one lakh have been stopped by the state Finance Department. When asked, he termed the decision as unjustified. He said in a litigation pertaining to a similar case, the state government had given a written undertaking that all it's employees working with the BBMB had the right to draw pay scales as per the rules of the board during their tenure here. Moreover, the government
contributes 51 per cent expenditure share in the BBMB. Of
its share all employees of the BBMB cadre and the other
states are drawing the highest scale. So, why is the
Punjab Government victimising its own employees, Mr S.P.
Sharma added. |
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Staff
want enhanced DA in cash CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — The Punjab Civil Secretariat Staff Association has urged the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister to give enhanced DA at 10 per cent to all employees in cash as the festival season is round the corner. Mr Oma Kant Tiwari and Mr Karnail Singh Saini, president and secretary of the association, said the government had given an assurance to the employees to give the enhanced DA with the October salary. But now it had decided to deposit the enhanced DA in the GPF till March, 2000.They said this decision of the government was “anti-employee”. Refuting the state government’s claim that the employees in Punjab were getting the highest scales in the country, the association leaders said the fact was that the state government employees were getting 15 per cent less than the employees of other states. Neither the Punjab Government was paying 10 per cent enhanced DA in cash to employees nor has it announced another increase of 5 per cent in the DA.The association leaders asserted that the Punjab Government was not telling the truth about salaries. For its fiscal crisis it
was holding increase in the salaries responsible while
the truth was that all state governments in the country
followed the Central pattern of ensuring a minimum 40 per
cent increase in salary. The same was being followed by
the Punjab Government. What extra had been given to the
Punjab employees, they asked. |
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Declare
financial emergency: SHSAD CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — While seeking a high-level probe into the financial crisis facing the state, the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) has urged the authorities concerned to declare a financial emergency in Punjab. The general secretary of the party, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra said the Punjab Government led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal was responsible for the financial difficulty of the state. The Badal Government failed to manage its financial affairs, he added. Alleging that the state government was selling government landed property at throw away prices to its near and dear ones, Mr Chandumajra said his party was collecting all facts in this connection. The Irrigation department was under strong pressure to sell a research centre premises near Pathankot at a throw away price while the price of land there was very high. He claimed that a high-level committee had urged the Punjab Government to transfer certain top officers posted at the Ranjit Sagar Dam project if it wanted to get it completed, but the government did not pay heed to the advice of the committee. The Punjab members of Parliament in the past two years built pressure on the Central Government and brought Rs 550 crore for the Ranjit Sagar Dam from it but all that money had gone waste as the sang had hit the dam project, delaying it further by an year or so. Mr Chandumajra said as shareholders were owners of property of the cooperative institutions in Punjab, the state government had no right to mortgage or sell the property of such institutions without seeking the approval of the shareholders, while commenting on mortgaging of a Markfed building. He said the government
should make public how much money had been spent on the
foreign tours of ministers, officers and others since the
SAD-BJP Government came to power. He asked the government
as to where Rs 60 crore had gone that was given to the
Scheduled Caste Corporation for giving loans to the
Scheduled Castes on nominal interest. |
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MC
employees go on strike ROPAR, Oct 1 — On a call given by the joint action committee (JAC) of employees of the local municipal council, employees of different wings, including the sanitation wing, of the council today observed a strike in support of their demands. Mr Harish Chander, general secretary of the JAC, said their strike would continue till the acceptance of the demands by the council authorities. He said the main demands of the employees were that arrears of DA instalments and revised pay scales should be deposited in the provident fund accounts of the employees and the amount of employees’ provident fund, which was now lying in an account of the committee even after the opening of individual provident fund account of each employee in the post office, should be deposited in the individual accounts of all employees. Mr Harish Chander said
there were several other demands which included
recruitment of more sanitation workers, payment of
uniform allowance in cash to the class III and IV
employees and jobs for wards of deceased employees on
priority basis. |
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JALANDHAR, Oct 1 (PTI) — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal has ordered an inquiry into allegations of irregularities and illegalities against Mayor Suresh Sehgal made by his deputy, Mr G.S. Narula, thus adding a new twist to the continuing turf-war between the first citizen and his junior. The Chief Minister, acting on a written complaint submitted by Senior Deputy Mayor Narula, asked Principal Secretary of Local Bodies Department N.K. Arora to probe allegations made against Mr Sehgal. Both Mr Sehgal and Mr Narula met Mr Badal separately at the local circuit house late last night. Mr Narula had earlier levelled serious and specific allegations against the Mayor accusing him of facilitating encroachment on municipal corporation land in the city, conniving in clearance for multi-storeyed buildings in complete violation of various municipal by-laws, disregarding the high court’s directive to hold a general house meeting every month and other instances of gross misconduct. The Senior Deputy Mayor had even claimed in a written statement that he was facing a threat to himself and his family members from the Mayor. Interestingly, both Mr Narula and the Mayor belong to the ruling SAD-BJP combine. Mr Narula in his complaint alleged the Mayor was instrumental in clearing several budgetary allocations without any proper meeting of the general house or the finance and contract committee, the vital body empowered to take such decisions. "The Chief Minister was also handed over a plethora of complaints against the Mayor, including details of several wrongdoings," Mr Narula told PTI here. Mr Sehgal on his part
has termed the allegations as baseless and claimed that
his focus was on development work which was going
smoothly.
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Doctors
stage dharna against suspension BATHINDA, Oct 1 — Doctors and paramedical staff of the civil hospital at Rampura Phul today staged a dharna on the hospital premises in protest against the suspension of Dr Ramesh Kumar, a surgeon, by the Punjab government. They alleged that Dr Ramesh Kumar, who had been placed under suspension for his alleged negligence, was not given any opportunity to explain his position by the authorities concerned. They demanded that the suspension orders should be revoked immediately. On the other hand, Dr Jugraj Singh Sandhu, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Bathinda Civil Hospital today urged the Punjab Government to review his suspension done on the basis of making a wrong medico-legal report (MLR) by a doctor of the civil hospital at Rampura Phul. Talking to TNS, he pointed out that he was not associated with the MLR directly or indirectly. He added that the report was prepared by the medical officer of the civil hospital at Rampura Phul after the medical examination of the patient, Kewal Singh. The patient was then examined by a board of three doctors at Bathinda Civil Hospital. He was not a member of the board and so his suspension was not justified, he said. He added that the state government should take a decision regarding the suspension after conducting a regular inquiry. Official sources said the Punjab Government had already issued charge sheets to Dr Sushil and Dr Ramesh Rani Thukral of Bathinda Civil Hospital for allegedly showing negligence in conducting the medical examination of teenaged Dalit rape victim. Sources said no charge sheet had been issued to Dr Nagpal as published in a section of the Press. Dr Baba Ram Civil
Surgeon, Bathinda, Civil Hospital when contacted said
charge sheets to Dr Sushil and Dr Ramesh Rani Thukral
were issued directly by the Punjab Government and not
through his office. |
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Probe
begins into case against JE BATHINDA, Oct 1 — Mr Jagjit Singh, Under Secretary, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), has started a probe into the allegation of corruption levelled against Mohan Lal, a Junior Engineer in the Bhagta Bhai Ka subdivision, by Mr Ranjit Kumar, a resident of Jalal village. Mr Jagjit Singh, who visited Bhagta Bhai Ka on Wednesday, recorded the statements of shopkeepers in the bus stand area of Jalal village and Mohan Lal. In a complaint to the PSEB, Chairman, Mr Ranjit Kumar alleged that Mohan Lal demanded Rs 25,000 from the shopkeepers for supplying the electricity from the urban feeder. He added that Rs 9000 were given to Mohan Lal, but he did not honour his promise. Instead, Mohan Lal started abusing the shopkeepers when they asked him to give them electricity supply through the urban feeder, Mr Kumar alleged. Mohan Lal, while admitting that a probe had started into the matter, denied that he had taken bribe from anyone. He alleged that some residents of Jalal village were trying to defame him. He claimed that he had been performing his duties to the satisfaction of the village panchayat. Mr P.K. Singla,
Subdivisional Engineer, claimed that certain residents
had made a false complaint against Mohaln Lal. He pointed
out that about 90 per cent of the work of putting
electricity supply for the village on urban feeder had
been completed and the panchayat had expressed its
satisfaction at the progress of the work.
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46
dengue cases found in Ludhiana LUDHIANA, Oct 1 — More than 40 cases of dengue have been reported from various hospitals here, while 15 suspected cases also admitted to these hospitals. Twentyone cases for dengue have been reported in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC), 12 from Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC) and 13 from Bhagwan Ram Charitable Hospital. The Civil Surgeon Office has said only 27 cases of dengue have been found till date. According to the figures available from the Civil Surgeon Office. There are 10 more suspected dengue patients in the city. At present, seven patients with two suspected cases are admitted to DMC and one in CMC with one more patient showing symptoms of the disease. Meanwhile, the Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajinder Kaur, claims that both the Health Department and the Municipal Corporation are engaged in constant spraying in the affected areas like Subhash Nagar. Quila Mohalla, Shivpuri, Islamganj and Balmiki Nagar. The Principal Secretary
of the Local Government Department, Mr N.K. Arora, also
visited the city to review the measures being taken by
the Municipal Corporation. |
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Removal
of SHO demanded FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 1 — Hundreds of men and women staged a demonstration and raised slogans against the Amloh police in front of the SSP's office here yesterday. They were demanding the removal of the SHO of Amloh, who allegedly beat up men and women and took away two minor children of a family along with cash and jewellery last night. Later, a deputation led by Mr Dalip Singh Pandhi, former minister, and Mr Karamjit Singh Bhagrana, an Akali leader, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, in which they have stated that a divorce suit between Manjit Chand and his wife Manjit Kaur, resident of Amloh town, is pending in the court of the Additional District Judge, Fatehgarh Sahib, and is fixed for November 10. They alleged that last night a police party led by the SHO and Parkash Chand, ASI of Sirhind, along with plainclothes men raided their houses and beat the women mercilessly and took away the cash, jewellery and minor children from their houses. When they went to the police stations along with some senior citizens of Amloh they were abused, humiliated and the women were beaten up their. They demanded action against the police personnel. Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner has ordered an inquiry to be conducted by the ADC and sought the report within 24 hours. He also directed the Civil Surgeon to get the women medically examined. He said that action would be taken against the guilty. When contacted Mr
Paramraj Singh Umranangal, SSP, said nobody came to him
to complain against the SHO. He termed all the
allegations as baseless and said the wife of Manjit Chand
had complained about atrocities on her and the SHO had
called both the parties to sort out the matter. One of
the worker of a political party humiliated the SHO
publicly and a case has been registered against him. He
said nobody had raided their houses and the question of
taking away of cash, jewellery minor children did not
arise. The police did not beat up anyone. |
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Drive
to crack down on petty crime PATIALA, Oct 1 — Zero tolerance is the new buzzword for the Patiala police which is cracking down on petty crime as well as ensuring free registration of cases. Addressing a press conference here, district police chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu said a drive had been started to crack down on petty crime by coupling Section 323 (which was a non-cognisable offence) with Section 341 (wilfully hindering someone). Mr Sidhu said there had been an increase in registration of cases by nearly a thousand as compared to the same period last year as the process had been made easy. He said though cases were being registered immediately the complaints were verified and restricted arrests made. Among the other drives launched by the district police, Mr Sidhu said special training course was being started for havildars so that they could serve as investigating officers for petty crimes. He said this would lessen the burden on the station house officer as well as ensure proper utility for havildars who were being used for mundane tasks like naka duty. He said it had also been decided to streamline functioning in police stations by ensuring all investigations into various cases were completed in three months. He said a 15-day deadline had been kept for disposing of complaints. The district police chief said a special squad of women cops had been formed to counter-eve-teasing in the city. He said the squad would patrol various colleges and schools in the city in civil dress under the scheme. Giving details about the police performance in the last month, Mr Sidhu 119 persons had been arrested under several Sections. He said 21 kg of opium and 349 kg of poppy husk had been seized during this period. He said beside this 13
persons had been arrested on charges of theft and the
murder of a salesman had been solved within 24 hours with
seven persons being arrested. He also disclosed that,
1158 vehicles had been challaned under the traffic laws
enforcement drive.
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Gang
of robbers busted LUDHIANA, Oct 1 — The police has arrested five persons — Balwinder Singh, Heera Lal, Sohan Singh, Harish Chander and Sanjay Kumar — on receiving information that these people were planning to commit a dacoity and were hiding in the Shamshaan Ghat, Subhash Nagar. Two knives were also recovered from them. The police raided the robbers' hideout and arrested all of them. A case under Section 399 and 402 of the IPC has been registered against them. In another case the police has arrested one person, Prem Kumar, for allegedly selling plywood bearing fake trade mark and has seized two tempoful of plywood. According to the
information available, a police team led by SHO, police
station division No. 5, Mr Preetam Singh, raided the
premises of M/s Jiyalal and Sons and seized plywood
bearing the fake trademark of Woodcraft Products. A case
under Section 420 of the IPC and under Sections 51 and 63
of the Copyright Act has been registered. |
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Todar
Mal’s ‘haveli’ cries for upkeep FATEHGARH SAHIB: The benevolence shown by Dewan Todar Mal by spreading gold over the land needed for the cremation of the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh who were bricked alive here earned him the respect of the Sikh community and the SGPC, which has named a hall after him at the historic gurdwara here. However, a 17th century “haveli” commonly believed to be that of the Dewan, which is a little more than a stone’s throw from the gurdwara, has escaped attention and now only a part of it remains. The building, known as Jahazia haveli, is believed to be of Dewan Todar Mal as the Dewan was a big trader who used ships (jahaz) to trade goods. Moreover, the haveli has a Hindu influence. A visit to the haveli revealed that only a part of it is still left standing. As it is not a protected monument farmers have carted away bricks and rubble from it with many nearby farmhouses using rubble from the haveli for their construction. Moreover, a peepal tree which has grown adjacent to the building is damaging it further. Mr Amrik Singh, a resident of Sirhind, disclosed that the haveli had been ignored as its history could not be traced definitely. This he says, could be due to the fact that Sirhind lost its relevance soon after the time of Todar Mal and later formed a part of the Patiala principality. Patiala’s Additional Deputy Commissioner, Capt RS Randhawa, said the area in which the haveli fell was given by Maharaja Rajindra Singh as a jagir to his English wife, Florence who was rechristened Harnam Kaur and the area came to be known as Harnam Nagar. “There was a definite break with the past after this and the haveli lost its relevance,” he said. Capt Randhawa said the fact that the haveli survived despite the entire city of 12 koh (36 km) being razed to rubble by Banda Bahadur in 1708 and later by the Sikh confederacy of Baba Ala Singh in 1761 clearly indicated that it could be only that of Dewan Todar Mal. A courtyard in one corner of the haveli clearly indicates that its owner was a Hindu. Besides this, there is a painted chamber on the first floor which also indicates its Hindu characteristics. Remnants of the basement can also be seen. Even though right now villagers use the small space of the haveli to dry cow-dung cakes or tether their animals in the shade of the peepal tree, small rudimentary cleaning and strengthening of the structure could make it a part of the Fatehgarh Sahib religious circuit. In the long run, however, there is a need to preserve it by declaring it a protected monument, residents said. They also feel it would
be a befitting tribute to Dewan Todar Mal if the haveli
associated with him is taken over by the government. Mr
Amrik Singh feels the SGPC also could be involved in the
project as it would fit into the 300th anniversary
celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. |
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DGP
in Phillaur PHILLAUR, Oct 1 — Mr Sarabjit Singh, Director-General of Police, while delivering the valedictory address at the three-day specialised course on traffic control and management at Punjab Police Academy here yesterday. He emphasised the importance of enforcement in traffic control and management. It was the attitude of the road user and the licensing procedure which mattered most in the effective control of traffic, he said and added that safety aids also play a significant role in this regard. Welcoming the chief
guest Dr D.J. Singh, course co-ordinator, gave details
about the course in which 25 police officers and district
transport officers from Punjab and Chandigarh
participated. |
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More
facilities at Sanghol CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — For promoting tourism at historical Sanghol village, the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation has provided facilities, including a tourist complex, there. Sanghol, which is 40 km from here, has already a museum containing relics like pottery, red polished ware, ivory, stone and terracotta heads dating back to 1700 BC to 1300 BC Harrapan civilisation. The rare relics attract
Japanese and they visit Sanghol every year.
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Man
dies at 130 PHILLAUR, Oct 1 — Bugha Singh, a farmer, breathed his last at the age of 130 years at Sianiwal village today. Mr Jaswinder Singh
Bhola, grandson of the deceased, told this correspondent
that his grandfather was not suffering from any illness
at the time of death. He survived by a large family of
153 members, including six daughters, four sons and 44
grand children. All relatives participated in his
funeral. |
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A
mischievous act, says SAD CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has stated that the interference in the affairs of the SGPC by the National Minorities Commission was a “mischievous act”. Mr Kirpal Singh
Badungar, secretary of the SAD, in a statement here
yesterday said it was clearly written in the Nehru-Tara
Singh pact that amendments in the Sikh Gurdwara Act could
only be made by the union government with the approval of
two-third members of the SGPC general house. |
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