Three new bus stands in 3 districts

Sangrur, September 19

Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) will begin the construction of three modern bus stands at Sangrur, Kapurthala and Faridkot next month. PRTC Chairman Ranjit Singh Ballian said Punjab Infrastructure Development Board would demolish the existing bus stands and construct the new ones for Rs 300 crore.

He said the new bus stands will have a loading-unloading platform, ticket counters, parking lots, restaurant blocks, snacks bars, air conditioned waiting halls and a public announcement system. After Maharashtra, Punjab is the second state in India to come up with such bus stands. 

Former Cong minister Henry loses citizenship

 

Jalandhar, September 19
The Ministry of Home Affairs (Foreigners Division) has ceased the Indian citizenship of senior Congress leader and transporter Avtar Henry.

In a communication to Principal Secretary (Homes) DS Bains, Undersecretary, Union Government, SN Garg has said the Centre, while exercising powers under Sections 9(2) of the Citizenship Act-1955, had ceased Henry’s Indian citizenship from the date he acquired British citizenship and passport in 1969.

Henry, however, is at liberty to acquire Indian citizenship by following the procedures laid down under the law.

In the letter, Garg stated that an inquiry report forwarded by the Additional Director General of Punjab Police specified that the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, was not in possession of any record that could be used to ascertain whether Henry had submitted an application to acquire Indian citizenship or not. Henry had acquired an Indian passport in 1981 and subsequently in 2004. The passport can be issued only to an Indian citizen.

But the records of the Foreigners Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that the division had not granted Indian citizenship to Avtar Henry from 1981 onwards.

The letter sent by Garg to Bains stated that the fact that he had acquired a British passport conclusively proved that he had acquired British citizenship and thereby automatically ceased to be an India citizen under Sections 9(1) of the Citizenship Act-1955 from the date of the acquisition of British citizenship.

Case history

Henry had landed in a trouble following allegations of dual citizenship levelled by his son Gurjit Singh Sanghera. The Union Home Ministry had summoned him to Delhi to clear his stand.

Henry was asked to appear before the ministry on July 10, 2012. Henry had appeared before SM Garg and recorded his statement.

In November 2009, Sanghera had accused his father of possessing two passports. In his complaint, Sanghera had alleged that Avtar Singh ‘Sanghera’ had been to England on an Indian passport, which he had procured from the passport office in Delhi by posing as Lakhbir Singh Sanghera’s son. Lakhbir Singh Sanghera is, in fact, Henry’s elder brother and his father’s name is Joginder Singh.

The complainant had further alleged that Henry had made a false averment in the British passport that his “father”, Lakhbir Singh Sanghera, had died in 1905. Lakhbir Singh had actually died in November 2006.

The complaint further read that Avtar Henry (‘son’ of Lakhbir Singh) took British citizenship on the old passport issued by the Indian Government. He later managed to get a passport from the British government and returned to India in September 1969. He yet again got a passport prepared from the Jalandhar passport officer, showing himself as the son of Joginder Singh (the real father) and born in Pakistan.

The complainant had sought charges under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 494 of the IPC against Henry. The Jalandhar police acted on the complaint, but the files were gathering dust at the SSP’s office.

The case was later reopened by the city police after Sanghera, through his friend Ajay Sehgal, an RTI activist, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The court had directed the Union Home Ministry, Punjab Chief Secretary and the DGP to complete an ongoing probe into a complaint against Henry in four months.

Son relieved

Gurjit Singh Sanghera has expressed satisfaction at the union government’s decision to cease Henry’s Indian citizenship. Talking to The Tribune, Sanghera claimed that he would move an application before the city police Commissioner seeking his arrest.

BJP veteran Bakshi Ram Arora is Amritsar Mayor

Amritsar, September 19
The BJP high command today appointed veteran leader Bakshi Ram Arora as the city Mayor, putting to rest the tussle between two factions of the local unit lobbying hard for respective candidates.
The three-time BJP councillor’s name was proposed by SAD Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Bolaria and seconded by BJP Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi during the first meeting of the fifth Amritsar Municipal Corporation House at Town Hall.
SAD councillors Avtar Singh Truckanwala and Avinash Jolly were unanimously elected Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively. Their names were proposed by Joshi and seconded by Bolaria.

The presiding officer, Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar, administered the oath to the newly elected councillors.

ਮਨਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਇਯਾਲੀ ਨੇ ਵਿਕਾਸ ਕਾਰਜਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਹਲਕੇ ਦੀ ਨੁਹਾਰ ਬਦਲੀ

ਐਡਮਿੰਟਨ, 19 ਸਤੰਬਰ (ਵਤਨਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ ਗਰੇਵਾਲ)-ਨਵੇਂ ਨਰੋਏ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਸਿਰਜਣਾ ਲਈ ਅਕਾਲੀ-ਭਾਜਪਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਵਲੋਂ ਪਿੰਡ-ਪਿੰਡ ਵਿਚ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕੀਤੇ ਗਏ ਵਿਕਾਸ ਕਾਰਜਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਪੂਰੀ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਸੰਤੁਸ਼ਟ ਤੇ ਖੁਸ਼ ਹਨ। ਸ: ਸੁਖਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਦਲ ਦੀ ਅਗਵਾਈ ਹੇਠ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਅੱਜ ਤਰੱਕੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਮੰਜ਼ਿਲਾਂ ਵੱਲ ਵਧ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। ਸ: ਬਾਦਲ ਤੋਂ ਸੇਧ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਹਲਕਾ ਦਾਖਾ ਤੋਂ ਨੌਜਵਾਨ ਵਿਧਾਇਕ ਮਨਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਇਯਾਲੀ ਨੇ ਵਿਕਾਸ ਕਾਰਜਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਹਲਕੇ ਦੀ ਨੁਹਾਰ ਬਦਲ ਦਿੱਤੀ, ਜਿਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਹਲਕੇ ਦੇ ਵੱਡੇ-ਵੱਡੇ ਕਾਂਗਰਸੀ ਲੀਡਰ ਸ: ਇਯਾਲੀ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰੇਰਣਾ ਸਦਕਾ ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ ਦੀਆਂ ਨੀਤੀਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਜੁੜ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ।

Chandigarh gets rid of its ‘disturbed area’ tag after 29 years

Chandigarh, September 19
Around three decades after it was labelled a “disturbed area”, Chandigarh today finally managed to shrug off the tag, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing a notification to that effect.

The tag was given to Chandigarh in 1983 during the dark days of militancy in Punjab. The intention was to bestow special powers on the Administration, the police and the security forces for effectively dealing with militancy between 1981 and 1992.

Since Punjab was mostly under President’s Rule, Chandigarh was also brought under the Punjab Governor’s purview. He was, in fact, made the UT Administrator.

Punjab gave up the title in 1997. But nearly two decades after militancy was wiped out from the state, Chandigarh refused to let go the “disturbed” status. This was despite the fact that no major terror incident took place in the city after 1995.

As a petition filed in public interest on the issue came up for resumed hearing before the high court this morning, the Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain held that Chandigarh was no longer a disturbed area, as the notification had ceased to have any relevance in present times.

The Bench minced no words in holding that the Chandigarh Administration had failed to justify the relevance of such notifications in present times, particularly when no terror incident had been reported in the city for the past many years.

The court also observed chances were that the tag was acting as a deterrent for tourists. So many of them would obviously be reluctant to visit the city after finding it labelled on the Internet as a disturbed area, the Bench added.

The development is significant also because the Chandigarh Administration had, just about two days ago, made clear its intention of not withdrawing the notification declaring Chandigarh a disturbed area.

Appearing before the high court during a hearing on the petition filed by Janata Dal (United) president Surinder Bhardwaj, the UT senior standing counsel Sanjay Kaushal had claimed that besides accommodating government functionaries of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh was also catering to the security needs of protected persons actively involved in the fight against terrorism.

ADMINISTRATOR STAYS

• Though the “disturbed area” tag has gone, the Punjab Governor remains the Chandigarh Administrator
• The petitioner said after the issuance of the notification, the Punjab Governor was appointed the Chandigarh Administrator. But after 1986, no such notification was issued, he argued while seeking revival of the Chief Commissioner’s post
• The high court refused to accept the plea stating the relief was not even sought in the petition

CM orders probe into missing wheat stock

Ludhiana, September 18
A week after the Mullanpur police booked a former Area Inspector of the Punjab Agro Food Grain Corporation, Mela Singh, for misappropriation, the Chief Minister today ordered a Vigilance probe into the alleged embezzlement of 2,538 tonnes of wheat worth Rs 4.5 crore at Mullanpur.

This has been done on the recommendation of the Financial Commissioner, Development. Mela Singh was booked on the complaint of NK Sharma, Senior Divisional Manager, Punjab Agro Food Grain Corporation. Sharma said that Mela Singh, who was in charge of Dakha area from 2006 till March this year, “ took pre-mature retirement in March. However, he did not hand over the charge of the wheat stock at the time of relinquishing duty.”

Power corp rectifies inflated bill

Ludhiana September 18
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) today rectified the electricity bill of Alice Guram, a resident of Pink Flats, Rajguru Nagar, here. After rectification, the bill has now come down to Rs 14,651 as against Rs 11,11,440 earlier.

PSPCL had served the bill of Rs 11.11 lakh to the Guram family on Sunday. Shocked at the whopping bill, Guram had highlighted the issue in the media, besides urging PSPCL to rectify the same.

KL Sharma, Chief Engineer, PSPCL (Central), said: "There was a technical fault in the electricity meter, which had resulted in an inflated bill. Now, we have rectified the same on the basis of average of their previous year's bill. We will examine the meter to find the fault". "Officials who came to deliver the rectified bill, appreciated that we had highlighted the issue and hoped that other consumers will also come forward to report such discrepancies,” Guram said.

Not many farmers opting for certified wheat seed

Bathinda, September 18
Certified wheat seed is yet catch the fancy of a majority of farmers in Punjab, as per the data put forth by the Joint Director Agriculture-cum-Director, Punjab State Seed Certification Authority, Dr Gursewak Singh Sandhu.

Speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a Kisan Mela organised by the Agriculture Department, Dr Sandhu said the department had certified seed available for 7 lakh hectares. Wheat is expected to be sown on 35 lakh hectares of land after the paddy harvest.

Asked the reason behind the shortfall of certified seed, he said, "A majority of farmers are unaware about the benefits of certified seed. Most of them use stored granules of their last season's crop as seed. Though we have not imposed any ban on the sowing of any kind of wheat seed, farmers must be aware that certified seed is more beneficial."

Dr Sandhu said there was not much difference between the prices of both kinds of seed. "The certified seed is less prone to diseases. The yield may almost be the same, but the certified category saves expenses that have to be incurred on chemicals. They must understand its value and opt for it," he suggested. He said the department was holding awareness camps to promote the seed.

Also, he said at 236 kg per hectare, the average consumption of fertilisers in Punjab was the highest in the country. He advised the farmers to use fertilisers judiciously.

NEW IS GOLD!

• Certified seed is less prone to diseases as compared to the conventional stored seed granules.
• Though the yield may be the same, it will save the farmers the cost of using chemicals.
• Of the estimated 35 lakh hectares, certified seed likely to be sown on 7 lakh hectares.

Late monsoon surge could hit crop yield

Chandigarh, September 18
In what is expected to be good news for farmers, the level of the Bhakra Dam in Himachal Pradesh has increased substantially in the last fortnight due to a late monsoon surge.

Although the dam is not expected to fill to capacity (1680 ft), the fact that the level has risen to 1,653 ft indicates that the fear of a drought year has all but passed.

Experts say the dam was earlier expected to reach a level of 1,635 ft by the end of the filling season (Sept 26), lower than the drought year level of 1,640 feet recorded in 2009.

However, heavy rains in the catchment areas of the Bhakra and Pong dams has raised the expectations of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) authorities. It is felt that the late monsoon surge could prolong the rains beyond September 26. If this happens, the water level in the Bhakra dam could rise further.

Sources said the last two days of rain in Himachal had increased the inflow into the Bhakra dam substantially. The dam had received one lakh cusecs of water yesterday and was likely to receive 50,000 cusecs of water today. This late surge had resulted in the dam level rising to 1,653 feet today. This was a dramatic increase if seen against the level of 1,555 ft on July 21 this year that had prompted the BBMB to enforce water supply cuts to partner states.

The water level in the Pong Dam has risen dramatically too in the last one month. Sources said the level was 1,329 ft as on August 15 this year. Today it was recorded at 1,382 ft (the dam has a maximum filling level of 1,390 ft). Sources said if the rains continued, the dam could reach its near filling point till the end of this month.

However, farmers in Punjab are suffering from a surfeit of rain. Large portions of the state, including Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, have been lashed with moderate to heavy rainfall in the past three days.This is worrisome for areas which go in for early sowing, including parts of Patiala, Amritsar and Ferozepur.

Heavy rain has damaged crops in Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar districts.This is likely to affect the crop yield though, it it may be marginal.

“The rain will surely affect the ripened paddy seedlings which will develop blackened seeds”, said Bhadson farmer Jhujhar Singh. “Even the four acre vegetable crop in my fields is totally submerged in water and destroyed”, he added.

Patiala Chief Agriculture Officer BS Sohal, said the yield would be less in the early sown and early maturing varieties.

State Agriculture Adviser Dr BS Sidhu said there the heavy rainfall could result in a spurt in blight and fungus-borne diseases.

Capt Amarinder, Manpreet a spent force: Deputy Chief Minister

Faridkot, September 18
Ridiculing the Congress-led UPA Government on foreign direct investment in retail, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said before a green signal, the Centre should have taken steps to safeguard the interests of small traders.

Also, to a query about "bonhomie" between state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh and People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal, he said, "Both the leaders were spent forces and desperate to find a foothold in the state politics."

Talking to mediapersons after addressing a gathering at Jor Mela at Guru ki Dhab near Jaito, Sukhbir said, "The UPA Government should clear its stand on the controversial issue. There are a number of stake holders in the country and it is imperative for the government to dispel their fears on the issue," he stressed.

He claimed the Shiromani Akali Dal believed in value-based politics and resignation of three ministers in the past six months was a proof of this.

On the other hand, the Centre was landing itself in embarrassment as its ministers were allegedly involved in scandals but were sticking to their ministries, he said.

He said the SAD-BJP government had chalked out an ambitious plan of more than Rs 10,000 crore to upgrade the basic infrastructure to provide quality amenities in rural areas.

He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was reviewing the progress of Adarsh schools and action would be taken if any discrepancy was found in their functioning.

5 die in Khanna factory fire; 16 hurt

Khanna, September 12

Five factory workers were charred to death and 16 critically injured in an explosion caused by a gas leak at a factory in Khanna town of Ludhiana district. Around 300 men and 70 fire tenders battled the blaze for over 12 hours and finally extinguished it at noon on Wednesday.

Tragedy struck at Sanjiv Agro Solvent Plant in Khanna’s Focal Point area around 11.45 pm on Tuesday when nearly 22 workers were on the night shift. Eyewitnesses said a blast occurred in the boiler unit and caused a fire.

The fire spread to the area around the godowns where rice bran and coal were stored, both highly inflammable. Three trucks parked there were reduced to ash.

Workers called up the fire department which reached the spot around 12.30 am. Khanna Fire Officer Yashpal, who was among the first to reach the factory with his team of 40, said the flames were over 30 feet high.

“I have never seen such flames. The smell of hexane was thick in the air causing nausea. The burning of rice bran and coal added to the heat,” he said. Some firefighters also suffered burn injuries.

A total of 70 firefighting vehicles were pressed into service, including some from nearby Gobindgarh, Samrala, Amloh and Rajpura. The Fire Officer said they were able to contain the fire or it could have led to massive damage in the industrial area. “Even scorched trees and plants growing across the road near the factory premises,” said Yashpal.

As per preliminary investigation, the explosion in the boiler and subsequent fire was caused due a hexane gas leak, Khanna SDM PS Sodhi said. However, Satbir Singh, Director, Boilers, ruled out that the incident took place due to the boiler blast. He said a flash fire took place after the leak of hexane gas.

Sanjiv Agro Solvent Plant manufactures edible vegetable oil that is extracted with the use of hexane. “Hexane gas, rice bran and coal proved to be a fatal combination. All three elements are highly inflammable and led to the massive fire,” said Khanna SDM PS Sodhi.

Sources said a huge quantity of hexane gas was in the containers when the accident took place, further fuelling the blaze. The absence of firefighting equipment also compounded damage.

Anil Kumar, the lone worker to have sustained minor injuries, said there was first a gas leak followed by an explosion. He was in the area around the godowns when he heard the explosion and scaled the wall. “There was inadequate fire safety equipment in the factory. The tragedy could have been averted...” Sanjiv Agro Solvent Plant owner Naval Aggarwal refused to comment on the lack of fire safety measures. “I have been running the factory for 20 years. No such incident has ever taken place in the factory. I am in deep shock. My dream project has gone up in smoke,” he said.

Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident and promised action against those found guilty. SDM PS Sodhi would submit his report in a week. The Director, Boilers, from Jalandhar and a forensic team from Chandigarh would also probe the incident.

The CM has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the deceased and offered free treatment for the injured. The injured were first rushed to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, and from there they were further referred to PGI, Chandigarh.

The deceased

• The deceased have been identified as Chottu (17), Bhagi Rath and Davinder. Two of the bodies have been burnt beyond recognitions
• The 16 injured are: Pawan, Kundan, Gurbachan, Janardhan, Umesh, Manohar, Gobind, Ravi, Rajinder Mondal, Mohd Adarsh, Kake Singh, Anil and Manu Singh (Uttar Pradesh); Manjit Singh and Gurnaib Singh (Nangal); and Chaman Lal (Himachal Pradesh)