Friday, October 22, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Friday, October 22, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Clash
over extortion by cops Youth held for murdering aunt |
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Minor
girl kept in captivity, raped Gurdev Badal for CBI probe Concern at low conviction rate Ministry accepts teachers’
proposals 617 dengue cases in Ludhiana
Two Pakistanis arrested Fortyfour medical practitioners
held
INTUC activists stage dharna Novel originated ‘from
Upanishads’
Setting up of oil refinery delayed Engineers sore over service terms |
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Clash over extortion by cops JALANDHAR, Oct 21 (UNI) — Dasehra celebrations in nearby Nurmahal town were marred by people-police clash over alleged extortion of money by cops from an operator of a flywheel at the Dasehra mela in the town. Police sources, while confirming the incident, said here today a case of corruption under Section 7(2) (13) of the Anti-Corruption Act had been registered against Head Constables Rachpal Singh and Nirmal Singh who among other policemen were allegedly bashed up by an agitated crowd led by Nurmahal Municipal Council president Tirath Ram Sandhu. After a brief clash in the mela ground where Dasehra celebrations were going on, more than a 100-person strong crowd mobbed the Nurmahal police station demanding arrest of the cops who allegedly extorted Rs 700 from flywheel operator Kuldip Singh, who had come from Khalchain in Amritsar district to earn a living. Kuldip Singh, on whose statement the case was registered against the cops following intervention of police officers led by SP (Detective) Dilbagh Singh, alleged that Rachpal Singh struck a deal with him for Rs 700 in the forenoon of October 19 for allowing him to operate the flywheel. But Nirmal Singh, after having allegedly collected the money, demanded Rs 300 more from Kuldip Singh, saying that Rachpal Singh had told him that the deal was struck for Rs 1000. When the municipal council president learnt about the extortion he urged the policemen to refrain from harassing all those who had come to earn a living at the Dasehra mela. But when both the head constables did not stop harassing Kuldip Singh, the council president came to the spot accompanied by supporters. Following a wordy duel between Mr Sandhu and the cops, the council president and Rachpal Singh allegedly slapped each other, leading to a free for all. While Nirmal Singh disappeared in the melee, Rachpal Singh was given a bashing by the people. Later, agitated over the extortion racket being run by the police, the crowd led by Mr Sandhu laid siege to the police station demanding action against the head constables. A few policemen present in the police station made a vain attempt to control the mob which allegedly pelted stones at the cops. Policemen resorted to cane charge but people grew more agitated. Finding themselves outnumbered the cops sent an SOS for help. Mr Dilbagh Singh besides DSPs of Phillaur and Nakodar rushed to Nurmahal with additional force. But angry people refused
to lift siege of the the police station and demanded
registration of a case of extortion against the head
constables. The officers managed to assuage the crowd
only after they registered a case under the
Anti-Corruption Act. |
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Youth held for murdering aunt LUDHIANA, Oct 21 — The police has arrested Satinder Pal Singh, alias Jugnu, the main suspect behind the sensational murder of Manjit Kaur and looting at her house in the Field Ganj area. The suspect was arrested yesterday under Sections 302 and 380 of the IPC. He is alleged to have murdered his aunt on October 13 when she refused to pay him the money demanded by him. After stabbing her several times, he fled away with gold ornaments. The police also arrested Mandir Singh under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and recovered 25 kg of poppy husk from his possession. In another case, the police registered a case under Sections 409, 420 and 120-B of the IPC against four employees of the Oriental Housing Development Finance Corporation — Jaswant Singh, Sarabjit Singh, Nanak Singh and Nirmal Singh. The company had lured innocent people by promising them heavy returns on their investment and also gave assurance to the depositors that they were eligible for a housing loan of Rs 1 lakh. Later the company shut down after collecting lakhs of rupees from investors. In another case, the Secretary, Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Chandigarh, has filed an FIR against Manjit Singh for impersonating as Kuljit Singh during the joint entrance exam (JET) in 1998 by pasting his own photographs on the attendance slip and admission card of Kuljit Singh. This helped him secure
admission to Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic, Ludhiana. A case
under Sections 205, 420 of the IPC has been registered
against Manjit Singh. |
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Poll analysis CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Defeat has unnerved the Punjab leadership of the BJP and now allegations against leaders are floating around. The Punjab unit of the BJP which had claimed three seats of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur this time, barely managed to win at Gurdaspur with a small margin. It was as good as lost. The feeling among senior ministers is that of rootlessness. Mr Balramji Das Tandon felt that there was need for serious introspection since as yet the party has not lost its base. "We must go deep into the causes and take corrective measures at the earliest", he told TNS here. But others who did not wish to come on record at this stage said that the party had stopped functioning as a coherent unit and that the campaign committee which Mr Tandon headed, did not function. State Party President, Mr Daya Singh Sodhi, who lost from Amritsar, has failed to rejuvenate the party and take advantage of the party's share in the government. On the other hand Mr Sodhi had been critical of Akali leaders. In this context, the BJP would also consider its relationship with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). BJP sources here said, that it was not from the angle of making any break, but for streamlining it and helping the government to have more meaningful existence. Both Akalis and BJP candidates lost 10 seats out of 13. This means we have not functioned the right way despite our best efforts", one minister said. It is in this context that the BJP's national General Secretary, Mr Narinder Modi, in charge of Punjab Affairs, would be here on October 29 and discuss threadbare the election results. It is clear that senior leaders would draw flak. It is interesting to note that some Akali ministers have alleged that the loss was due to the fact that the turnout in the urban areas where BJP claims it has a strong base was low and hence most voters went for the Congress. The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have done a detailed study to rebut this charge. Differences in leads during the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha polls in Punjab showed that in all Lok Sabha seats, even in rural areas, the coalition candidates lost. Take Bathinda seat, in eight assembly segments out of nine, the Akali candidate lost heavily. In Pucca Kalan, for example, there was gain of 6,400 votes last time and it is the loss of 7,500 votes this time. This means loss of 13,900 votes. The same holds good for Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda, Nathana, Rampura Phul, Joga, Mansa and Budhlada. These are urban and rural areas. This story repeats itself in Phillaur, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Ropar, Patiala and Ferozepore constituencies, BJP leaders said. The business of allegations and counter allegations which the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal has deplored publicly is now becoming loud. Akalis contend that the voter turnout was poor in the cities and mandi towns but the voter turnout was better in the rural areas — from 61.95 per cent in 1998 to 66.47 per cent in 1999. The Akali share did not drop much, they contend. But the BJP leaders join the issue by saying that the loss is there in all the areas. And whatever help came, came because of the pull of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. This heat last week reached the Cabinet Sub-Committee on fiscal measures and for full one hour, a Tribune report was under discussion. The BJP Ministers, both Mr Tandon and Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal raised serious objections to the charge that urban voters, the Hindus did not come forward. Akalis ministers, who though had not been quoted, struck to the charge. Mr Badal ultimately closed the issue by saying that this would be of little help and the two sides should concentrate on corrective measures. Akali Ministers who present were Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Education Minister, Tota Singh. Now this issue would be
under detailed scrutiny when Mr Modi meets the BJP
leaders here on October 29. |
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Minor girl kept in captivity,
raped KAPURTHALA, Oct 21 — The police has registered a case against Jit Singh of Bhanolanga village on a charge of raping a minor girl of Talwandi Dadian village and keeping her in illegal confinement for more than a year. The girl, who is around 17 years old, escaped from the captivity of Jit Singh today and reported the matter to the DSP, Mr Baldev Singh, who got a case registered against the accused. According to a report lodged with the police, the girl alleged that Jit Singh had secured a job in a private school in Bhanolanga village and on September 28, 1998, he took her to his house where he kept her in illegal confinement and continuously raped her for more than nine months resulting in her pregnancy. She was shifted to a private hospital here where she gave birth to a male child. During her captivity, he used to write letters to her parents that the girl was residing with him happily. She told that Jit Singh left the child with his sister in Nawan Pind village near the town. After leaving the village, Jit Singh took her to a rented house in local Malkana Mohalla. After keeping her there for a month he shifted to another house and started beating her also. She escaped with the help of her landlord and reported the matter to the police. The police has
registered a case under Sections 363, 366, 376, 342 and
506, IPC and has sent police parties to arrest Jit Singh. |
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Gurdev Badal for CBI probe LUDHIANA, Oct 21 — Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal stated today that he favoured a CBI probe into the Gurpreet Sharma rape case in which his son, Suba Singh, had been named as one of the prime accused so that the truth could be revealed. Addressing a press conference for the first time here after the name of his son figured in this rape case as one of the main accused, he denied that Suba Singh had any role of play in the case. He also declined to leave his ministerial berth to facilitate an impartial inquiry into the entire episode as is being demanded by various opposition parties. Lashing out at the Janata Dal (Secular) senior vice-president, Mr Harish Khanna, who had spear-headed the entire agitation against the minister for his son’s alleged involvement in the case, the Punjab Agriculture Minister levelled a series of charges against him. Mr Badal also threatened to take legal action against Mr Khanna for trying to involve him and his son in the case. About his son, Suba
Singh, drawing salary from two places by working in a
government office under two names, the Agriculture
Minister brushed aside this charge as baseless. He
claimed, Suba Singh’s real name was Manjit Singh and
he held the job of a Tehsil Welfare Officer at Faridkot
and was currently on deputation as his Officer on Special
Duty. |
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Concern at low conviction rate CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Reviewing various measures to take action against the corrupt and unscrupulous elements, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has taken a serious view of the fact that decision in cases sent by the State Vigilance Bureau to various departments for grant of prosecution sanction were being inordinately delayed. Mr Badal directed the departments concerned to pass the requisite quasi-judicial orders in each pending case on merits within a fortnight. The competent authorities should not brook interference from any quarter while deciding these cases. The Chief Minister said more than 50 important cases were pending in 20 departments, including boards and corporations. Mr Badal took exception to the general tendency of the Vigilance Bureau to linger on the inquiries endlessly. Timely conduct of vigilance enquiries and effective follow-up action will provide much needed deterrence against corruption, he said. The Chief Minister
expressed concern over the low conviction rate of cases
pursued by the Vigilance Bureau the causes of which were
being looked into. |
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Ministry accepts teachers’
proposals JALANDHAR, Oct 21 — Persistent efforts by the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) resulted into the acceptance of the joint consultative mechanism which would involve officials of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the UGC and the secretariat of the AIFUCTO to resolve the issues. The Education Secretary and the UGC Chairman would meet the teachers representatives every quarter. The Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education would meet representatives of teachers every one and half month. Mr M.K. Kaul, Union Education Secretary, has finalised the schedule which has been welcomed by the AIFUCTO. Commenting on the minutes of the meeting held on October 6, Dr V.K. Tewari, national secretary, AIFUCTO, said the government had agreed in principle to grant career advancement scheme (CAS) from January 1996 for which the nod of the Financial Ministry was awaited. The UGC would issue fresh letter granting the promotion from reader to professor in colleges and universities. The UGC has also agreed to review issues like creation of free direct posts of professors in colleges, advance increments for Ph.D. holders, relaxation of qualification for the post of principal, conducting NET/SLET in languages other than Hindi and English and uniform exemption from NET/SLET to all Ph.D. holders. Another significant outcome of the meeting was the direction of the Education Secretary that a note be prepared for the Cabinet approval to grant parity fixation at Rs 14940 and CAS to DPEs and librarians on par with lecturers. The Education Secretary agreed to write to the Governments of Punjab and Haryana to introduce the designation of reader as per January 1, 1986 scheme to the eligible college lecturers. The AIFUCTO called upon all state organisations to expedite the process of submission of complete notification and the data to the ministry by the state government for the urgent release of 80 per cent central assistance. He lamented that the Punjab Government was yet to issue complete notification in this regard. The AIFUCTO resented the
distortion in the agreement reached on September 5, 1998
with respect to the grant of super selection grade to the
teachers in the university system. |
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617 dengue cases in Ludhiana LUDHIANA, Oct 21 — The number of dengue cases, confirmed as well as suspected. In the city is now 617, with 42 fresh dengue cases being reported in various city hospitals today. While 22 cases were admitted to the Christian Medical College and Hospital, 14 were admitted to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, four to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, three to Bhagwan Ram Charitable Hospital and one each to the Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital and the ESI Hospital, during the past 24 hours. However, all 42 cases are suspected to be dengue cases, along with another 305 cases already admitted to these hospitals. The serology kits, which are used to confirm the dengue cases, have all been exhausted and since the past six days no cases have been confirmed. It is learnt that the serology kits are not available anywhere in India at present and have now been ordered from Australia and the USA. The Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajinder Kaur, when contacted, confirmed this but she said that the Civil Hospital still had a few serology kits left. Meanwhile, a team of the National Aanti-Malaria Programme led by the Deputy Director, Dr Sharma, visited two of the worst-affected localities of Shivpuri and Basti Jodhewal and expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the Health Department and the Municipal Corporation in trying to stem the dengue outbreak. The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation in association with students and junior doctors of the DMC surveyed around 1400 houses of Haibowal yesterday, as part of a four-day-long drive to create awareness among residents about the preventive and curative measures. During the survey, the team found that 321 residents of the area were suffering from fever. Out of these 84 residents showed signs of dengue. The team also found stagnant water inside 360 houses and outside 540 houses. The MC staff was notified about this and who later began dewatering from these places. HOSHIARPUR: To check the spread of dengue eliminating mosquitoes, the municipal council here has purchased a fogging machine at a cost of Rs 5 lakh. Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu,
Deputy Commissioner said here on Thursday that fogging
operation in and around the city had already started. He
said that besides this, spraying of kerosene and diesel
was also being done at places with stagnated water to
eliminate larvae. |
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Caring for orphans of militants PATIALA: The more than a decade long terrorism era in the state swallowed innumerable lives and left many others physically or emotionally disable. Entire families were wiped away in the storm. Young girls, irrespective of their religion, caste, community or race were widowed and scores of children rendered orphan. While the government and social agencies took care of the civilian victims of the bloodshed and the affected relatives of police personnel, yet the families of militants were largely ignored. The orphaned children and the young helpless widows had all the injuries and bitterness to turn hostile, had not an organisation called Mata Gujri Sahara Trust founded by a few such widows came to their aid. About 15 km from Patiala, a sleepy village called Kalar Bhaini located near Dakala, houses the trust building. The membership includes 16 widows and 96 children most of whom are minor. The trust management is in the hands of Baba Nachattar Singh and two widows, Bibi Sandeep Kaur and Bibi Sohanjit Kaur. The trust building is situated opposite the village gurdwara where the widows and children perform religious rites. The building which includes a residential complex and a school for children is coming up on land donated by certain villagers. But construction has been stalled for the past several months because of paucity of funds. But how come the children and the widows came under one umbrella? It did not happen overnight but was the result of the endeavours of Bibi Sohanjit Kaur and Bibi Sandeep Kaur and Baba Nachattar Singh who helped in getting land and funds. Bibi Sandeep Kaur says "it has taken years for us to bring together the orphaned children and the widows, who were living hell of a life either at the mercy of relatives or were literally on the roads". She along with Bibi Sohanjit Kaur and other widows travelled throughout the state to rescue the children and bring them here. The process, started a few years ago is still under way in spite of several problems being faced in running the institution. According to Bibi Sandeep Kaur, the trust has decided to keep children below the age of 15 at the trust building. Others are sent to boarding schools at the expense of the trust. The children who remain here are taught by qualified teachers. There are two main problems. One is the inflow of funds and the second the future of the children in spite of their background which understandbly is none of their fault. Bibi Sandeep Kaur said food is not a big problem. The children are fed from the gurdwara community kitchen. Certain social organisations donate clothes and other essential commodities. However, the trust is crying for funds to complete the school building. "We are indebted to the villagers for donating a big chunk of land to us. But we have spent all the funds on the building which is only half complete. In the absence of a boundary wall, windows and grills the children and the widows feel insecure. She said there was no help from the state government. The SGPC under the presidentship of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra had promised allocation of huge funds but only Rs 1 lakh had been received. "After the resignation of Mr Tohra, there is no word from the SGPC office", she added. The second paramount problem was the protection of the children from the past. Bibi Sandeep Kaur said, most of the grown-ups know and understand. The growing ones too have a faint idea. We are not hiding anything, whatever happened was the will of the akalpurukh (Almight)". Bibi Sandeep Kaur lamented that though the Punjabi NRIs had been donating money to the trust, the Local Government had been ignoring the need of the children. "Every politician
cries for bringing us into the mainstream but all is mere
rhetoric. We have to fend for ourselves, manage funds and
patiently reply to repeated investigations of the CID,
Raw and the police regarding our past and the present
possible links", laments Sandeep Kaur. |
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Two Pakistanis arrested BATALA, Oct 21 (PTI) — The Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended two Pakistani nationals while they were crossing the international border of Indo-Pak from Pakistan near border outpost (BOP) at Gania Ke Bet village yesterday, the police said today. Mohammad Ramjan Ismiel (24) and his brother-in-law Maksood Ahmad (22) were crossing over to India without any vaild documents when they were challenged by the BSF following which they surrendered, the police said. The police said that during preliminary investigations, the two Pak nationals disclosed that they had crossed the international border "by mistake" as they had came to see the border. Some Pakistani currency was recovered from them. They have been handed
over to the Joint Interrogations Centre, (JIC), Amritsar,
for further interrogation till October 26, the police
said. |
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Fortyfour medical practitioners held GURDASPUR, Oct 21 (UNI) — In a pre-dawn swoop, the police nabbed fortyfour medical practitioners in the district last night as part of a statewide crackdown against such medical practitioners practising medicine in Punjab without any bona fide training or certificate. SSP Virender Kumar today said those arrested were among more than 400 medical practitioners against whom the police had registered cases under the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Court which had barred practice by all such practitioners. The Hoshiarpur police had arrested 39 such practitioners yesterday but all of them were later released on bail. However, Mr Kumar said the police would produce all 44 arrested last night in judicial courts today. The Hoshiarpur police had registered 497 cases against such practitioners in a bid to weed out "malpractice" by them. Last week, the Batala
police had arrested 46 practitioners but all were
subsequently bailed out. |
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Annual Jain fair begins today FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 21 — This year's fair at the "Mata Chakreshwari Devi Jain temple 2 km, from here on the Sirhind-Chunni road, where thousands of Jain pilgrims from all over the country and abroad assemble to pay obeisance on the full moon of Kartika, will be held from October 22 to 24. This is the only temple in the country having the idol of Mata Chakreshwari Devi. According to legend once Rajasthan faced a drought and people were starving. A large number of devotees of Mata Chakreshwari Devi moved towards Punjab on their bullock carts. An idol of Mata was placed in one of the carts. The group stopped near Sirhind for rest. Most of these devotees were Khandelwal Jains. As they set out after a brief rest, the cart containing the idol of Mata Chakreshwari Devi did not go further despite their best efforts. After some time they heard a voice from above, urging them to let the idol lie there as it was the fittest place for the Mata. The devotees subsequently built a temple at that spot. Since then not only Jains but people of other faiths, also visit this temple to pay homage. The Sikhs also hold this place in great reverence because Diwan Todar Mal Jain, who was also a devotee of Mata Chakreshwari Devi, offered gold coins to cover the land selected for the cremation of the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, who were bricked alive at Fatehgarh Sahib. The district
administration has made elaborate security arrangements.
According to Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, special
medical teams, sanitation staff and facilities of
drinking water and buses have been made available. The
SDM Fatehgarh Sahib has even deputed as Duty Magistrate. |
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INTUC activists stage dharna HOSHIARPUR, Oct 21 — Members of the Hoshiarpur District unit of INTUC headed by Mr Gurbachan Singh Dogra president and Mr Vishnu Digamber Sud general secretary of the unit staged protest dharna from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the office of Assistant Labour Commissioner here yesterday against the non-acceptance of their long pending demands. Their main demands are - revision of minimum wages of industrial workers fixing the wage of an unskilled worker equivalent to that of the class IV employee of the State government, restoration of the frozen allowances like bonus, CDA and border allowance etc., raising of exemption limit of Income Tax to Rs one lakh per annum and payment of bonus to all employees and workers without any ceiling limits, appointment of local committees under the ESI/the EPF schemes, regularisation of the services of employees appointed on 89-day basis who had completed 240 days of service, strong curb on the wasteful expenditure of the state and ensuring of regular payment of salaries and other benefits, saving the public sector in industries and undertakings to make it an efficient sector with the active cooperation and participation of workers stopping of deduction of 5 per cent of pay for government accommodation and preparation of ration cards and votes of the migrant labourers in the state by launching a special drive. They also submitted a memorandum to the Assistant Labour Commissioner in this regard. Later they went in a
procession to the office of the District Treasury Officer
and demonstrated against him for not entertaining of
their all types of bills including arrears, revised pay,
medical re-imbursement and travelling allowance etc. They
also presented a memorandum in this regard to the
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur. |
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Novel originated ‘from
Upanishads’ AMRITSAR, Oct 21 — Renowned novelist, Dr Mulk Raj Anand said the novel form was a feeling and in India it had originated from the Rigveda and the Upanishads. He was delivering his inaugural address at Guru Nanak Dev University in a 20-day UGC-sponsored refresher course started here today under the aegis of the Department of English in collaboration with the Academic Staff College of the university. Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor, presided. Continuing his address, Dr Anand said because of our rich heritage and literary background, Indian writers had been dominating on the international scene. He also regretted that the readership of Punjabi literature was very low. He pleaded that more writings of other writers should be translated into Punjabi to encourage Punjabi readers. Dr Anand talked about Indian, British, European and Russian novelists, particularly Tolstoy. Dr Soch while giving his presidential remarks admired the remarkable scholarship and craft of Dr Anand’s fiction. He strongly felt that Dr Anand’s fiction would be translated into Punjabi language, he said. Dr Anand’s writings should be exposed to the Punjabi people. Earlier, Dr Inder Pal Singh, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university, welcomed Dr Anand and Dr B.L. Chakoo, co-ordinator of the refresher course, gave details about the course. Dr Satinder Singh, Dean,
Academic Affairs, Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar, and Dr
Gurupdesh Singh, Director, Academic Staff College were
also present. More than 50 candidates from all over the
country are taking part in the course. |
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SGPC chief’s election on
November 10 AMRITSAR, Oct 21 — The crucial meeting of the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would be held on November 10 in which the election of the President would be held. The SGPC has reportedly sent a communication to its members in this regard. Though Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, a former SGPC chief and President of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) has already announced that he won’t be a candidate, yet the SHSAD has already launched a campaign to make the contest keen. Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was made the President of the SGPC by replacing Mr Tohra in March this year, has said that she would obey the directives of the party high command. "If Mr Badal asks me to contest, I shall obey it. However, if he wants to field someone else, I shall support him wholeheartedly", she said. To a question, Bibi
Jagir Kaur, said she won’t mind if she was
accommodated in the ministry at the time of expansion. |
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Setting up of oil refinery
delayed BATHINDA, Oct 21 — The setting up of the Rs 10,000-crore oil refinery at Phulokhari village, 45 km from here by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in a joint venture with the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) has been delayed by at least one year due to the non-contribution of its share money by the PSIDC. Official sources said the HPCL authorities had started looking for another partner and discussions in this regard were already on in Mumbai. Though the refinery was to be set up within 48 months from the day of laying of the foundation stone for the project on November 13, 1998, by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, only a boundary wall, surrounding about 2,000 acres of land, had been constructed so far. The HPCL authorities had floated tenders for the crude oil pipeline. They had also submitted a detailed project report to the Union Government regarding the project. Mr R.K. Gupta, joint project head of the refinery, said as per the initial joint venture, the PSIDC and the HPCL were to contribute 26 per cent equity each and the remaining money was to be raised from the market and public. He said the PSIDC so far had not contributed its share money. He pointed out that with the delay in the implementation of the project, its cost which was initially estimated at Rs 10,000 crore, might increase. He claimed the refinery would be set up within 48 months from the day the HPCL would enter into a joint venture with another organisation. The sources said the participation by the PSIDC in the project had become doubtful and the HPCL was working on a proposal to set up the project on its own. For doing so, it would have to seek a fresh approval from the Union Government. In the refinery which
would have a capacity of 9 million tonnes, the crude oil
would be carried from Mundra to Bathinda through a
1,006-km pipeline. The HPCL authorities had also held a
meeting with Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal
on October 5. |
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Engineers sore over service terms ROPAR, Oct 21 — Service conditions of engineers on account of stagnation, promotion policy, transfer and placement policy as well as pay scales and allowances in the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) have reportedly been deteriorating day-by-day. Sources in the PSEB said as on today four posts of Chief Engineers (CEs), three posts of Superintending Engineers (SEs) and seven posts of Senior Executive Engineers (XENs) were lying vacant despite the assurance by the PSEB management on July 22 to the PSEB Engineers Association that sufficient progress to end stagnation would be evident before September-end. A post of SE had been lying vacant since December 1998 at the Ropar Thermal Plant (RTP) and the same was not filled even after the promotion of five senior XENs to the post of SE recently. The board management had also assured the association that the Assistant Engineers (AEs) recruited in 1976 would be promoted to the post of senior XEN latest by March 2000 to end the stagnation, but to achieve this target the board had to upgrade or create about 20 posts of senior XENs and above. However, in the past eight months only eight posts of Senior XENs and SEs had been upgraded or created. It was also reported that at the existing rate of promotions about 50 per cent engineers of the 1969 batch would retire without getting their second effective promotion to the level of SE. Due to the stagnation, a section of the engineers feel frustrated. Regarding the promotion policy for the engineers, it was reported that though the board management agreed on December 31, 1997, to reduce one mark, out of the total marks of five annual confidential reports (ACRs) considered for promotion, at each level of engineering cadre, but the same commitment had not been honoured so far by the board management. Talking to TNS here today, Mr Charanjit Singh, secretary of the RTP unit of the PSEB Engineers Association, said service conditions of the engineers in the PSEB had not only been deteriorating but also the morale of engineers was being affected in the present set up. The secretary said besides stagnation and promotion policy, the transfer and placement policy was also making the life of engineers difficult as the board management was adopting "double standards," while implementing these policies. He further said the association had already demanded to scrap this policy as "influential persons" did not allow the implementation of the policy in letter and spirit. Mr Charanjit Singh said the association felt that due to the ineffectiveness of the wage formulation committee, of the board, it had yet not finalised the category wise promotional scales of engineers. Even the allowances such as shift duty allowance, which had been recommended by the committee, was not being implemented by the board. The secretary said the
engineers should be given higher pay scales as compared
to the accounts officers because they performed
multifarious duties. |
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SGPC to remove over-age
employees AMRITSAR, Oct 21 — Bibi Jagir Kaur, President of the SGPC, has sought a list of over-age employees who would be shown the door shortly. She said she had learnt that many employees had already crossed the age limit of 58 years. To a question, she said
she had issued a warning to the SGPC Secretary, Mr
Kulwant Singh, for collecting "election funds"
from shopkeepers outside the Golden Temple. She said the
amount collected from the tenants of the SGPC had already
been given back. "I have issued directions to the
employees not to indulge in activities that bring a bad
name to the SGPC. |
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PSEB union calls for strike JALANDHAR, Oct 21 — The PSEB Employees' Struggle Committee has given a call for a strike on November 11 in protest against the management's failure to implement the agreement between the union and the board. The convener of the committee, Mr H.S. Minhas, said here yesterday that the union had been forced to take the step as the management had failed to fulfil its promise. He said members of the
union would also stage a dharna in front of the board
chairman's office at Patiala from October 26 to 28. |
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Diesel price hike decried MOGA, Oct 21 — The
president of the Punjab unit of the BKU, Mr Ajmer Singh
Lakhowal, and its secretary-general and general
secretary, respectively, Mr Manjit Singh Kadian and Mr
Bhupinder Singh Maheshari, yesterday condemned the
government for the hike in petrol and diesel prices,
saying it was anti-farmer. |
||
Flesh trade: 5 held KAPURTHALA, Oct 21 — The police yesterday raided a hotel leased by the Punjab Tourism Department to a private contractor and arrested its manager and four customers on the charge of using the hotel as a flesh trade centre. Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP said
those arrested were Ravinderjit Singh Suri, manager of
the hotel, Vicky Walia of Kapurthala town, Babli of Model
Town, Jalandhar, and Parminder Singh and Gurmeet Singh of
Jalandhar. A case has been registered. |
||
Punjab Govt to advance loans CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Under the self-employment schemes, the Punjab Government will provide loans to nearly 35,000 youth in the current year. This was stated by the Minister of State, Youth Services, Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, while presiding over a meeting of the centre for training of youth which prepares them for forces and paramilitary forces. The centre imparts training to 7,000 youth annually in different professions and already 35,800 have received training, he added. The department proposes
to set up youth clubs in villages in which girls will get
equal representation. |
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