Friday, October 29, 1999
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Friday, October 29, 1999 |
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‘prejudice public’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee today refuted the allegation of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, blaming the Congress for the financial crisis facing the state. Panchayat samiti poll not before year-end CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The term of office of panchayat samitis and zila parishads in Punjab expired on October 6. Elections were due to these grass-root democratic institutions in September, 1999. But the same could not be conducted as the Lok Sabha poll coincided. |
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Empty treasury hits work BATHINDA, Oct 28 — The sending and receiving of post between the head office based at Chandigarh and the local office of the Food and Civil Supplies Department has been hit as the authorities concerned do not enough money to pay travelling allowance to the peon who transfers post from one place to the other. Demonstration by LIC
employees Buses
stop plying due to lack of permits Devoted
to banishing blindness Cancel
Transport Secy’s transfer: Cong 30
pc quota for SCs, BCs urged Inclusion
of Rajiv’s name decried |
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Picture distorted to
‘prejudice public’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee today refuted the allegation of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, blaming the Congress for the financial crisis facing the state. "The whole picture has been grossly distorted to prejudice the public mind," Mrs R.R. Bhardwaj, who is in charge of the economic cell here, said. "The Congress was in power from 1980 to 1983. The 1983-84 Budget closed with a surplus of Rs 30.15 crore. The party had, therefore, left a very sound economy when President’s rule was imposed in the state. With the coming of the Akalis in power the deficit reached minus Rs 43.84 crore, in 1985-86, Rs 103.45 crore, in 1986-87, minus Rs 91, 76 crore, in 1988-89, and minus Rs 78.25 crore in 91-92. Thus the Congress even at that time managed the state finances in a proper way. And the Akali mismanaged it", he said. Again, when the Congress assumed power in 1992, the state finances were in bad shape. The budget had a revenue deficit of Rs 1061.20 crore, and the Budget deficit of Rs 106.38 crore as per the revised Budget estimates of 91-92. The total debt liability of the state as on March 31, 1992, was Rs 7,734 crore. However, for the year 1995-96 the Budget deficit was only Rs 48.27 crore and the revenue deficit was Rs 244.17 crore. This shows that considerable improvement was made in state finances during the last Congress regime, although Punjab had to incur a heavy expenditure in restoring normalcy in the state after wiping off terrorism. Even the Budget estimates of 1996-97 show a deficit of Rs 48.27 crore only. During the Congress regime interest on loans was regularly paid and the Plans were fully funded. There was no problem of paying salaries to the staff and payment to the contractors. In comparison, the performance of the present Akali Government, however, shows a dismal picture. The year 1999-2000 began with a negative balance of Rs 11.62 crore. Further, the Budget projections for 1999-2000 show a revenue deficit of Rs 1832.15 crore and a Budget deficit of Rs 989.68 crore. In this Budget the revenue receipt has been estimated at Rs 8450 crore although one year ago in 1998-99 this was Rs 8702.91 crore. This shows a decline in receipts which, in turn, means mismanagement and leakage of state revenue. The state government has promised to wipe off the deficit of Rs 990 crore by reducing subsides and increasing user charges for public services to the tune of Rs 450 crore and additional mobilisation of resources to the tune of Rs 450 crore. "Whereas we strongly condemn any indiscriminate withdrawal of subsidy and increase of public user charges, the government has not shown signs of any effort to clear this deficit." The Congress Party, therefore, apprehend that this gap in the Budget could affect adversely the funding of the state Plan which in turn would slow down development activities in the state. Mr Bhardwaj said:
"Thus it is amply clear that the government of the
Late Mr Beant Singh had inherited a very bad economy and
also a state in total turmoil. Not only did that
government improve the law and order situation totally
but also reduced the revenue deficit and the Budgetary
deficit. That government also ensured overall development
of the state. The state economy registered a growth rate
of 6.50 per cent in the year 1996-97. The GSDP for the
agriculture sector had registered an increase of 7.24 per
cent in 1996-97 and the manufacturing sector showed an
increase of 10.09 per cent. On the other hand, during the
Akali regime in the year 1997-98 agriculture registered a
decline of 10.01 per cent and the GSDP in that year
showed a growth rate of only 1.91 per cent. Figures for
the year 1998-99 are not available." |
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Panchayat samiti poll not before
year-end CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The term of office of panchayat samitis and zila parishads in Punjab expired on October 6. Elections were due to these grass-root democratic institutions in September, 1999. But the same could not be conducted as the Lok Sabha poll coincided. The last samiti and parishad elections were held in September, 1994. There are 138 samitis and 17 parishads. The state Election Commissioner, Mr C.D. Cheema, first wrote to the government, reminding it of the samiti and parishad elections in April and again on October 13, requesting that the relevant notification be issued to enable the commission conduct the elections. His letters to the government were acknowledged and, inter alia, the government said the matter was under consideration. Mr Cheema had explained the legal and constitutional provisions in respect of conduct of the elections. Information available with TNS is that the elections are not likely to be conducted till the end of December, Which means a notification could be expected only in November. The Minister of Rural Development and Panchayats, Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, when contacted said but for the Lok Sabha poll intervention samiti and parishad elections would have been held. Answering a question, he said the present SAD-BJP Government had amended the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, making a provision for only "direct" elections instead of "indirect" elections, the ratio between direct and indirect as provided in the Act being 60:40. Personally, Mr Kahlon favours "direct" election. But he disclosed that in some quarters the feeling was that the Act should be re-amended to revert to the 60:40 ratio. "The matter will come up for discussion in the Cabinet at an appropriate time", he added. Those who favoured both direct and indirect poll argue that such a provision insured direct "involvement" of sarpanches in samities. Independent sources in the Chief Minister office, however, admitted that one reason to further delay the samiti and parishad poll was the result of the Lok Sabha election, which had left the ruling Akali Dal (partly its partner BJP as well) shell-shocked. There was an apprehension that the people may not give a similar treatment in the samiti and parishad elections as well. Mr Kahlon, however, discounts such fears. He asserted that the "rural voter is with us. There can be some marginal impact but not a cascading effect in the wake of Lok Sabha debacle". Mr Cheema when contacted confirmed having written to the government. He also said the commission was ready to conduct the poll once the government issued a notification, which, of course, is the prerogative of the government. On his part, he has explained the legal and constitutional position on the subject matter. The election commissioner said poll rolls (with January 1, 1999, as the base) were revised, updated and finally published on March 26 last. The commission would require at least a month to organise the general election though it is geared up for the same. The state is yet to
issue a notification in respect of "zones",
etc. This information is needed both by the commission as
well as district electoral officers. |
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Woman sells daughter for
25,000 AMRITSAR, Oct 28 — A plus two student, resident of Indira Colony, was allegedly sold by her mother for Rs 25,000 and repeatedly raped by a farm labourer employed by a retired Sub-Inspector. The victim, an 18-year-old school girl, while addressing a press conference at the residence of Ms Ratna, General Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, said her mother was a divorcee and had been living with her paramour Piara Singh. “She sold me against my wishes,” the girl emphasised. The victim alleged that she was taken to the local Bhai Vir Singh Hall last month where she was forced to marry 40-year-old Tarlok Singh, a resident of Majitha. “The accused poured some liquid in my eyes before the so-called marriage”, she said and alleged that she was kept in an isolated room where she was severely beaten up. She alleged that the Amritsar police had not taken any action against the accused so far. In an affidavit, the victim named five persons who were directly involved in this case. They are Varsha Rani (mother of the victim), Tarlok Singh, Ajit Singh, Harpal Singh and Piara Singh. Ms Ratna said the alleged accused had been threatening the victim. She demanded police protection for the victim and urged senior police officials to take appropriate action against the accused. She also urged the Chief Minister to order a probe into the matter. Ms Ratna also demanded strict action against erring police officials who refused to register a case against the accused. She alleged that rape cases in the state were on the rise. Had the state government taken strict action against those involved in a rape case at Ludhiana, including son of Agricultural Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, nobody could have dared to rape another innocent school girl, she added. The victim alleged that when she approached the police station, she was asked to return Rs 25,000 as she was sold by her mother. When she said that she was sold against her wishes, the police allowed her to live with her sister Rekha, wife of Manoj Kumar, who is a peon in a bank. The sister and brother-in-law of the victim were also present at the press conference. The girl had filed a complaint before the Chief Judicial Magistrate here on October 7 against her mother and four others. The court has fixed
December 6 for hearing the complaint and issued summons
to the accused. |
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Empty treasury hits work BATHINDA, Oct 28 — The sending and receiving of post between the head office based at Chandigarh and the local office of the Food and Civil Supplies Department has been hit as the authorities concerned do not enough money to pay travelling allowance to the peon who transfers post from one place to the other. Mr Sardara Singh a peon in the Food and Civil Supplies Department, said he used to take post to Chandigarh on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. But for the past five months, he carried the post to Chandigarh on a few occasions as the departmental authorities had failed to pay him travelling and dearness allowance. As many as 42 cheques of the Panchayati Raj Department here had not been cashed for the past one year due to an undeclared ban on payment by the district treasury. Similarly, the panchayats of Bathinda Block have been running from pillar to post to get the cheques issued by the Punjab Government as special grant encashed from the treasury for the past many months, but without success. The number of vehicles in various government offices have been rendered unfit for plying on roads as their necessary repair had not been carried out by the authorities due to non-availability of funds. The financial crisis which has gripped the state for the past many months has affected the functioning of almost every department of the government. Mr Surinder Kumar of the accounts departments of the local Civil Hospital said due to the acute shortage of funds, the electricity bill of the hospital could not be paid. Many other things, including the purchase of medicines, could not be done as per the budgetary provisions. Employees of the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation (PSTC), who had observed a “black” Dasehra as the Punjab Government has failed to pay them salaries for the past two months, now fear that they may face a financial crises during Divali. Official sources said contractors who had executed government works were taking payments through the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Mr Vijay Bansal, a contractor, alleged that for the past more than a year he had been making efforts to get payment for the furniture supplied to the local Circuit House. Sources said more than 1900 applications for the “shagun scheme” were lying panding in this district as the authorities concerned had not given a single penny for the task this year. The local district and
treasury authorities, when contacted, declined to
comment. |
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Demonstration by LIC employees JALANDHAR, Oct 28 — LIC employees working in all offices here held a demonstration today during lunch time in front of the local divisional office of the corporation to protest against the introduction of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill in the Lok Sabha today despite opposition by the Left parties and other MPs for over one and a half hour today. Slogans were raised against the move to privatise and open up the insurance sector and demanding the withdrawal of the IRA Bill. All categories of employees and officers participated in the demonstration,which was addressed by Mr Charan Dass Bhagat, secretary, LIC Class I Officers Association Mr Charan Singh, divisional secretary of the National Federation of Insurance Field Workers, Jalandhar and Mr S.S. Kooner, president, the Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association. Mr Kooner said that a
petition signed by more than 1.5 crore citizens opposing
the opening up of the insurance sector would be submitted
to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha today itself and the
insurance employees and officers will observe nation-wide
strike tomorrow i.e. October, 29. |
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Buses stop plying due to lack
of permits NANGAL, Oct 28 — The local Punjab Roadways depot has stopped plying buses on various routes to the rural areas due to non-issuance of permits. The Nangal roadways has been plying buses on these routes, without permits for the past two decades. However, now due to the directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Punjab Government has ordered the local depot to stop plying buses on routes for which it doesn't have permits. The routes on which the buses have been stopped are Nangal Bhalan, Nangal Garhshankar, Nangal. Mahalpur and Nangal-Noorpur. In addition, the buses of the local depot plying on the Dharamsala-Chandigarh, Nangal-Nabha, Nangal--Shah Talai routes have also been withdrawn due to the lack of spares. About 30 buses of the local depot have become non-functional due to the lack of spares. This move of the local depot is causing harassment to thousands of passengers in these rural areas. They now have to travel on the limited number of private buses which ply on these routes. The private bus operators are meanwhile, making hay by overcrowding their vehicles. Recently an overloaded private bus on the Bhalan route met with an accident. Twentytwo passengers were injured. However, even after this incident, the authorities concerned haven't taken any step to check over loading on these private buses. The General Secretary of the local unit of the Transport Workers Union, Mr Saini, claimed that this move of the Punjab Government was meant to benefit the private bus operators. He said the local depot had applied for the permits of these routes in 1986. However, they had not received the permits as yet. The private operators bribe officials concerned so that they don't release permits to government buses, he alleged. In addition, while the Punjab roadways buses are allowed one trip per permit, the private operators have permission of four trips per permit, he further claimed. The Upper Doon
Committee, a body comprising the panchayats of about 60
villages of the area, has also written to the Punjab
Chief Minister to get the buses services restored. |
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officials held for graft FEROZEPORE, Oct 28 — In two different cases, the Ferozepore Range Vigilance Bureau has booked three officials, including a Naib-Tehsildar under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Superintendent of Police (Vigilance), Mr Hardial Singh Mann said today that in the first case Varinder Kumar and Om Parkash, Naib-Tehsildar and peon respectively, posted at the Mamdot sub-tehsil were arrested. He added that both accused were caught red-handed while accepting bribe of Rs 12,000 from Mr Gurdeep Singh, a resident of Kaka Tibba village. The complainant had paid the bribe money to the accused for not doing registration of a sale deed of his opposite party. Mr Mann said that two cases under the PC Act were also registered against one of the accused, Varinder Kumar in 1988. The SP added that in another case Manjit Singh, a Divisional Accountant in office of the Executive Engineer (Planning and Maintenance), Punjab State Electricity Board, Ferozepore was caught while accepting bribe of Rs 500 from Mr Prem Singh, a resident of Abohar. The Divisional
Accountant had accepted the money for preparing his
(complainant’s) arrear bills.
2 top Education Deptt posts
vacant FAZILKA, Oct 28 — The Education Department of Punjab has been without Director Education (Secondary) and Director, State Council Education Research and Training for the six and eight months, respectively. As a result the function of the Education Department has been affected. At present all education affairs are being run by officiating heads. Mr Raj Kishore Kalra, a
spokesman for the Government Secondary Teachers Union,
Punjab, has urged the Punjab Education Minister to
appoint officers to these posts immediately. |
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Devoted to banishing blindness FATEHGARH SAHIB: The District Blindness Control Society is making an all-out effort to make Fatehgarh Sahib free from cataract blindness and has achieved the goal to a large extent. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare set up the society under the national programme for control of blindness and it has the authority and accountability for programme implementation. A grant of Rs 6 lakh has also been sanctioned by the Union Government to give a fillip to its activities. According to Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner who is chairman of the society, blindness due to cataract is treatable and to reduce the rate, free eye camps in the rural and interior areas are being organised, where cataract surgery is done. The NGOs, youth and welfare clubs, village panchayats, etc of the district have been engaged in free operation camps in collaboration with society. The society provides financial assistance for medicine, spectacles, advertising and publicity and also for intra-ocular lens.The number of cataract surgeries done during 1997-98 was 1,372 but rose to 1,543 last year. As many as 340 lens were also implanted during the 19 camps held that year. Free eye check-up and operation camps had been started from September. Till now more than 30 camps have been organised at Sirhind, Mandi Gobindgarh, Bassi Pathanan, Amloh and Khamano towns where thousands of patients were treated. He said Ms Simrajit Kaur, member secretary of the society, has been deputed to look after the camps personally and to ensure that poor people get better eye-care services. He regretted that the
eye surgeon, in charge of district mobile unit, was on
deputation, which was a drawback for the blindness
control programme. The society was trying hard to
increase the number of camps and cataract operations in
rural as well as urban areas of the district. He urged
voluntary organisations to come forward to organise eye
camps and the society would provide them financial
assistance. |
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Cancel Transport Secy’s
transfer: Cong JALANDHAR, Oct 28 — Taking serious note of the withdrawal of the order to stop the illegal plying of buses by Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, the Congress today alleged that the sudden transfer of Dr B.C. Gupta, Transport Secretary, under ambiguous circumstances was a result of the weak-kneed policy of the Chief Minister, as he had succumbed to the politician-transporter nexus to which “Mr Badal seemed to be a party.” Mr Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), said empowering the SDMs to stop illegal plying of buses in the state would have resulted in a benefit of Rs 65 crore annually to the government. Recent incidents showed that as many as 1229 illegal buses were impounded in just 24 days in the state. If this strictness was maintained, the plight of the government owned transport would have improved. But unfortunately, either Mr Badal lacked the willpower to govern effectively or this was connivance on the Chief Minister’s part. It was an open secret that Mr Badal’s own family ran scores of buses illegally in Punjab. Mr Khaira said reasoning given by the government regarding the withdrawal of powers of the SDMs was irrational and the transfer of Dr Gupta a case of throttling the bureaucracy. He demanded that the government should effectively continue to stop plying of illegal buses and the transfer of Dr Gupta should be cancelled. Arguing that this
rollback by Mr Badal was aimed at keeping flock of MLAs
and SGPC members (many of whom were transporters) on his
side in view of the threat to his government after the
defeat suffered by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the
elections. Mr Khaira said unnecessary expenditure being
incurred by ministers should be curtailed. |
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30
pc quota
for SCs, BCs urged BATHINDA, Oct 28 — The Gazetted and Non-Gazetted SCBC Employees Welfare Federation, Punjab, today threatened to gherao the ministers, MLAs and MPs belonging to SCs/BCs on November 6 in Chandigarh for their failure to safeguard the interests of the Dalits and the downtrodden. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Jasbir Singh Pal, state President of the federation, urged the Punjab Government to ensure 30 per cent reservation for SCs and BCs in recruitment and promotions in government jobs as recommended by the Department of Welfare, Punjab. While demanding implementation of the Mandal Commission report, he said the government should bring in legislation for reservation in government jobs and it should be placed in Scheduled 9 of the Constitution. Later, the federation
organised a rally to protest against the failure of the
government to fulfil its demands. It has also sent a
memorandum regarding its demands to the Chief Minister. |
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Civic body chief contests
removal CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Mr Harinder Pal Singh Billa, president of the Municipal Council, SAS Nagar (Mohali), challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court the notification dated October 26, 1999 whereby the petitioner had been removed from the office of the president of the civic body. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice M.S. Gill today issued notice of motion to the state of Punjab and Director of Local Self-Government, for November, 4. The Bench further directed that no policy decision should be taken and no order passed conferring any benefit on municipal councillors or employees during meetings scheduled to be held on October 29 and 30 or any other meeting. The Bench has also issued notice regarding stay of the application for the same date. The petitioner was removed by Punjab Principal Secretary for his alleged failure to perform his statutory obligation of calling Municipal Council meetings regularly. It was observed in the order passed by him, that despite receipt of notice, he had not held meetings during July, August and September 1998. The contention of the petitioner was that proceedings against him were dropped by the government vide order dated October 9, but surprisingly another show cause notice on the same cause of action was issued against him and without considering his reply, he had been removed vide the impugned order. Earlier the petitioner had challenged his removal in a writ petition which was allowed on July 3, 1996, and the notification removing him was quashed by the High Court. The petitioner had alleged that as he did not belong to the ruling party, he was an eye-sore for members of the ruling party and he had been made a scapegoat for not favouring them. On an Oral request made
by a counsel, the Bench allowed Mr Amrik Singh,
vice-president of the council, to be impleaded as a
respondent in the case. |
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Inclusion of Rajiv’s name
decried CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Senior Punjab Congress leaders have condemned the action of the CBI in including the name of Rajiv Gandhi in the charge sheet in the Bofors case and termed it as a conspiracy of the BJP-led government to malign the former Prime Minister. In a joint statement here today, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, ex-Chief Minister, Mr Santokh Singh Randhawa and Mr M.S. Gill, both former PPCC presidents, Mr R.L. Bhatia, MP, Mr Surinder Singla, ex-MP, Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, general secretary of the PPCC, and six MLAs warned that the party would not tolerate any mala fide action. The BJP, they said, should not forget that Rajiv Gandhi was a great national leader who sacrificed his life for the country and belonged to the Nehru family which had played a vital role in the freedom struggle and maintaining India's integrity. The Congress leaders appealed to the President to intervene and ensure that the name of the late leader was deleted from the charge sheet in the interest of justice and to maintain democratic values. They threatened to stage
a dharna in front of Parliament and launch a statewide
stir if appropriate action was not taken in the matter. |
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Booked
for fraud KAPURTHALA, Oct 28 — The city police yesterday registered a case against a senior Congress leader of the district on the charge of committing fraud with an aged lady of the local Germany Dass Mohalla. According to reports lodged with police Mrs Charan Kaur alleged that Sukhdev Singh, who claimed himself to be the general secretary of the District Congress Committee took Rs 35000 from her on the pretext of giving this amount to the SSP in order to get her house vacated from her tenant. She alleged that earlier he took 10,000 from her for the purchase of a mobile phone to be given to the SSP. The police has registered a case under Sections 420 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 8 and 12 Prevention of Corruption Act against Sukhdev Singh. This correspondent tried
to contact Mr Sukhdev Singh at his residence but he was
not available. |
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2
held
for snatching purses JALANDHAR, Oct 28 — The local police has arrested two youths in their early twenties who are allegedly involved in a number of incidents of snatching of purses from women coming out of banks after withdrawing cash. The weapons used by them for the snatching and a large amount of cash which they had looted has been seized. The SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, stated here today that yesterday, a police party headed by Inspector Nirmal Singh, SHO, PS division No 4, was conducting a special check at Nakodar chowk when two youths on a new Vespa scooter were intercepted. However, the youths failed to produce any papers showing ownership of the scooter and their replies to various questions aroused suspicion. When the scooter and their bodies were searched, the police recovered two knives. Both youths were taken into custody. They disclosed their identity as Ankur Sharma and Vipin Sharma, both local residents. Cases were registered against the two under Section 25 of the Arms Act. During preliminary interrogation, they confessed that they had snatched purses from a number of women coming out of banks after withdrawing cash on August 23, 1999, they snatched a purse containing Rs 46,000 from the Principal of MGN Public School here, Mrs Pushpa Bala, when she was going on a rickshaw. A case in this connection was registered. On October 23, they snatched a purse containing Rs 12,000 from a woman, Ms Sukhwinder Kaur, when she was going home after withdrawing cash from Bank of Punjab. The accused confessed that they had stolen the Vespa scooter along with two other scooters and a Sunny moped. They confessed that they had stolen the Sunny moped belonging to a woman advocate from the new courts complex over a year ago. Mr Yadav stated that Ankur Sharma, 23, was a graduate while Vipin Sharma, 25, left studies after matriculation. Both of them belong to poor families and did not have any regular source of income as they were unemployed. They came to know each other about a year ago. They both wanted to make a fast buck and decided to loot women coming out of banks. They used to hang around a bank and spotting a woman coming to on bank on a rickshaw, they would follow her inside. When the woman left the bank after withdrawing a large sum, they would trail her on a scooter without a number. When the rickshaw reached a secluded place, they would overtake it and after brandishing a knife they would force the rickshaw-puller to stop and snatch the woman’s purse. After committing the
crime, they used to spend the money in a lavish manner
and after a lull of a month or two would strike again. |
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Workshop today on environment CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Punjab Government will henceforth enforce pollution control norms as laid down in the laws to improve environment in towns and villages. It will encourage self-regulation and participation by the public industry. Wilful defiance of the norms will invite stern action. This was stated here today by the Principal Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment, Mr Rajan Kashyap. He talked of a three-pronged strategy. First the creation of public awareness and involvement of the common man in implementation; second, introduction of a system of self-regulation by the polluting groups, industry, urban local bodies and, in so far as pesticides are concerned, and third, the adoption of a totally open, transparent and effective system for enforcement of the laws governing pollution. All 17 deputy
commissioners have been called here for a one-day
workshop on the "Role of district administration in
environmental protection" on October 29. The venue
is Panjab University. The Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann,
will inaugurate. |
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Dr
D.D.
Jyoti's death anniversary CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 —The first death anniversary of Dr D.D. Jyoti, an eminent personality in the educational and academic world of northern India, was observed here today. Born on October 25,1914, at Jalandhar, Dr Jyoti started his teaching career in English at D.A.V. College, Jalandhar. he also worked as Vice-Principal of Doaba College, Jalandhar, before he went to Government College, Ropar. He got his Ph.D. degree in English from London University. On his return, he was appointed the first Director of the Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh. He was a member of the
visiting faculty in the Department of English at the
University. It was on his initiative that linguistics was
introduced as a subject at the post-graduate level in all
universities of the region. |
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1,229 private buses impounded CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Punjab Government claimed today that the special campaign under the directives of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, resulted in the impounding of 1,229 buses which were being plied without any authority. The campaign was started on October 17 and the District Transport Officers enjoyed the powers at that time and not the Subdivisional Magistrates. A fine of Rs 30 lakh was
collected as compounding fee, a press note here said. |
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