The Tribune – Ponty Chadha Case Fallout; High Court seeks status report on policemen deployed outside state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 5. A fortnight after liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep Singh, who were given protection by the Punjab Police, were killed in a crossfire, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today called for a complete status report on Punjab police personnel deployed for providing security to individuals in other states.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain put on notice the Punjab and the Central Governments. As the petition filed in public interest by advocate H C Arora came up for hearing this morning, the Bench issued notices for January 13, 2013, to the State of Punjab, the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Home). The Bench also issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Appearing in person, Arora referred to newspaper reports to say several influential persons residing in other states had been granted the benefit of police security at Punjab Government’s expense. Among them, he claimed, was Haryana’s former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Himachal Pradesh Member of Parliament Anurag Thakur The reports, he added, had not been rebutted by the Deputy Chief Minister during his conversation with mediapersons.

Quoting Section 3 of the Police Act, 1888, Arora asserted that security personnel of the Punjab Police were required to act under the police authorities of other states, if deployed outside the home state. Further, Section 4 of the Police Act prohibited police personnel from any state to be deployed outside the home state, without the consent of the other state government.

The petitioner said that Punjab Police personnel deployed for security in other states were not reporting to the police authorities of those states. Also, they were discharging their duties in other states in an illegal manner without the consent of the government there.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121206/punjab.htm#4

The Tribune – Panjab Government’s no to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) bailout package

Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 5. The state government today declined to accept the Centre’s bailout package offer for the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited( PSPCL) that has a debt burden of about Rs 18, 000 crore, including a short-term loan of Rs 10,000 crore.

“After examining various aspects of the package, we have reached the conclusion that the package has been cleverly designed to bail out various banks from where the power utilities have taken loans and not to benefit power companies in the states,” said a senior official. “The bailout package comes with several riders that would be impossible for the state government to implement,” the official said.

The Centre had offered the package a few weeks ago and had asked the state governments concerned to accept or decline the same by December 31.The Centre had offered to reschedule the payment of 50 per cent of short-term loans secured from banks by the power utilities.This meant that the Rs 5,000 crore short-term loan secured by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited was to be rescheduled. Of the total rescheduled loan, 25 per cent was to be given to the state governments concerned as an incentive for implementing the package terms.

The remaining loan would have to be paid by the state government by issuing bonds to lenders and by paying interest on the bonds.

One of the conditions laid down by the Centre was passing the State Electricity Distribution Responsibility Bill. Another condition was part privatisation of power distribution.

Both the conditions were not acceptable to the state power corporation, it is learnt. Sources said with the issuance of bonds, the state’s borrowing limit would have been be curtailed, which was not acceptable to the state government.

At present, the net annual borrowing limit of the government is Rs 9,900 crore. With the issuance of bonds, the limit would have come down by Rs 1250 crore per annum. “Any decrease in the borrowing limit could create serious trouble for the state that is already starved of funds,”, said a government functionary.

With the PSPCL operating loss coming down to a few hundred crores from the more than Rs 1,000 crore last year, the state government is hopeful that the power utility will be able to manage its fiscal affairs in due course.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121206/punjab.htm#3

The Asian Age – Wholesale victory for government

Mukesh Ranjan, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 6 December 2012. With abstentions by the SP and BSP, the government on Wednesday won the vote in the Lok Sabha on FDI in multi-brand retail as even a united Opposition — the Left and the Right along with the TMC — failed to muster majority support.

The motion against FDI moved by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj was defeated by a margin of 36 votes, as of the total 472 members present and voting only 218 voted in favour of the motion and 254 against it.

The issue will now be discussed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday and Friday under a rule that entails voting.

Incidentally, in the Upper House, abstentions by the SP and BSP will not help the government and so attempts are being made to ensure a positive vote by the BSP, which has 15 members in the Rajya Sabha.

The Lok Sabha also rejected the motion seeking an amendment of the rules notified by the Reserve Bank of India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) to enable FDI in multi-brand retail. While 254 voted in favour of the government, 224 were against.

Members of the SP and BSP, with respective strengths of 22 and 21, did not participate in the voting as they walked out alleging that the interests of farmers and small retailers had been ignored.

Hailing the government’s victory after two days of heated debate in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member but was present during the voting in the Lower House, said, “The FDI policy that we have put in place has the approval of this House (Lok Sabha).” UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi also expressed her pleasure over the victory.

http://www.asianage.com/india/wholesale-victory-govt-499

17 till 27 August 2012 – Visit to London UK

23 August 2012 – Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Croydon
I met my friend Jasmeet Singh in this Gurdwara

South London, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara
Nanak Community Centre
176 St James’s Road
Croydon CR0 2BU

23 August 2012 – Jasmeet Singh in his studio

23 August 2012 – Harjinder Singh, not having a clue what all this is meant for, just posing

24 August 2012 – Southall, Mata Sahib Kaur Hall
Next door is the Ambedkar Hall, Buddhist Vihara, and the hall next to that is called the Satlakvala Hall after some left-wing leader

24 August 2012 – Southall, Mata Sahib Kaur Hall

Sikh Missionary Society UK
10, Featherstone Road
Southall UB2 5AA

To see more World and UK Gurdwara pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/4304661200/in/set-72157611278213681

To see more UK general pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157627296796095/

More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – ASI killed for saving daughter from eve-teasers; SAD leader booked

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 5. A Punjab Police assistant sub-inspector was allegedly shot dead by Akali leader Ranjit Singh Rana near Chheharta police station on the GT Road here today after he stopped him and his accomplices from molesting his daughter.

Rana, general secretary of the district SAD unit, has been expelled from the party and a case registered against him.

The ASI was identified as Ravinderpal Singh. He was posted at Gharinda police station under Amritsar rural police district.

Sources said prime accused Ranjit Singh Rana had been teasing ASI Ravinderpal Singh’s daughter for some time and she had told her family about it. Today, around 3 pm, she saw Rana, accompanied by Ranbir Singh Beera and another unidentified person, in a jeep in the Chheharta area, and called up her father.

Ravinderpal Singh, who was in uniform, reached the scene and a heated argument took place. In the course of the altercation, Rana allegedly pulled out his revolver and opened fire, injuring Ravinderpal and his daughter.

The three then escaped in their jeep. Minutes later, they returned with another weapon and shot ASI Ravinderpal Singh in the chest. Although the ASI was taken to a local hospital, he was declared dead. The firing took place just metres from the Chheharta police station, but the police took half an hour to arrive at the scene, an eyewitness said.

The delay gave the assailants another chance to strike and kill the injured ASI, he said. SSP (rural) Preet Paul Singh said: “The girl was pursuing IELTS from an institute in Chheharta and wanted to join her brother in Australia.”

Rana and his accomplices had been teasing her for the past few days and she had talked to her father about it.

Rana, who hails from Chhiden village, lived in Chheharta. Amritsar Police Commissioner Ram Singh said the Station House Officer of the Chheharta police station had been suspended for negligence.

SAD district president Upkar Singh Sandhu said Rana, who was inducted in the party in September, had been expelled with immediate effect. He said there was no place for criminals in the party.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121206/main2.htm

Dawn – Pakistan’s graft image worsens

Islamabad, 6 December 2012. Corruption situation in Pakistan has worsened as its ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has fallen from 42nd most corrupt country in 2011 to 33rd in 2012.

Releasing the global index here, TI’s chairman in Pakistan Sohail Muzaffar said the country had scored 27 points and had been placed at 139th position among 176 countries.

Bhutan has the best record in the region.

About two-thirds of the 176 countries scored below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), showing that public institutions need to be more transparent, and powerful officials more accountable.

According to a press release, TI chair Huguette Labelle said: “A growing outcry over corrupt governments forced several leaders from office last year, but as the dust has cleared it has become apparent that the levels of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings are still very high in many countries. TI’s CPI 2012 shows corruption continues to ravage societies around the world.

“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people.”

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place with scores of 90, helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions. (Reporter)

http://dawn.com/2012/12/06/pakistans-graft-image-worsens/

Dawn – To the end of Punjab

Taimoor Farouk

Wednesday, 5 December 2012. In a rugged and remote part of the Potohar Plateau, a lonely road winds through scenic barani villages, quaint railway stations and uncharted historical sites. Starting from Talagang, this narrow thoroughfare goes beyond Soan Valley into Attock District and ends at Makhad Sharif on the banks of River Indus – the last town in Punjab.

An 80-kilometre stretch of the road is surrounded by barani lands. Water is scarce and life is dependent upon rainfall here.

The history of Islam in this region dates back to the battle between Mahmud Ghaznavi and Anand Pal in 1008 A.D. The battle ended in the total defeat of Rajput confederacy and India lay at the mercy of Muslim invaders.

A view of Tamman village – the seat of political power in the region. It rose to prominence when Sardar Muhammad Hayat of Tamman became the railway minister in Ayub Khan’s cabinet and later served as an advisor on political affairs to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The Mughal emperors traversed through this region on their way to their summer resort in Kashmir and considered the area not worth holding and administering.

To read the full article and to see the many pictures go to :

http://dawn.com/2012/12/05/to-the-end-of-punjab/

Panjab is the land of the five rivers between the Indus and the Yamuna