Patiala, Mar 9: Transcending borders amid renewed tensions between the two countries, a Pakistani girl Saturday tying the knot with an Indian man at an SGPC-run gurudwara here.
Kiran Surjeet Kaur (27) married Parvinder Singh (33) of Tepla village in Ambala district of Haryana at Gurudwara Shri Khel Sahib according to Sikh traditions.
Kaur's plan to reach Patiala on February 23 got delayed due to heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the terror attack in Pulwama. She reached Patiala on a 45-day visa by Samjhauta Express on Thursday.
As the Indian Embassy in Pakistan gave her visa only for Patiala, she came here and stayed with her relatives at Samana. Parvinder Singh and his family reached here on Saturday to solemnize the marriage.
Executive member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Jarnail Singh Kartarpur also attended the ceremony and presented 'siropa' (robe of honour) to the bride and groom on behalf of the SGPC.
Parvinder Singh told the media their families had arranged their marriage in 2016.
He said his request for a Pakistani visa was denied last year, following which it was decided that Kaur and her family will come to India.
After solemnizing the marriage, Singh said his wife, who is in India on a 45-day visa, would apply for Indian citizenship.
Singh is the youngest of three siblings, and Kaur is a distant relative of his aunt, who had stayed back in Sialkot after the Partition in 1947.
They had first met in 2014, when Kiran had come to India and stayed in their village along with her family.
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Bengaluru: Justice John Michael D’Cunha’s committee has uncovered significant irregularities in the procurement of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing that more than 16 lakh RT-PCR test kits purchased by Karnataka in 2022 under the BJP-led government were either expired or close to their expiry dates.
After irregularities in PPE kit purchases, ventilators have also come under the scanner, with the report highlighting discrepancies amounting to Rs 173.26 crore in purchases made by the Medical Education Department.
The commission has also found that the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd. (KSMSCL) that cancelled a supply order for one lakh Rapid Antigen (RAT) kits placed with a Singapore-based company in March 2020 — for delay in supplying — has not recovered the Rs 6.99 crore paid to the company towards the order, as reported by The Hindu on Thursday.
According to the 279-page report on procurements made by the KSMSCL that is compiled in part IV of the report, a payment of Rs 148.84 crore was made by KSMSCL to various suppliers and firms towards procurement of RT-PCR kits from 2020 to 2022.
The Commission’s report, as cited by the publication, stated that there were records indicating procurement of RT-PCR kits, RNA extraction kits and Viral transport media (VTM) of a total value of Rs 106.25 crore during the pandemic in Karnataka. However, according to the report, this procurement was made without administrative approval.
“Since the KSMSCL has failed to discharge its obligation and responsibility, the loss caused to the State exchequer to this extent is required to be replenished by the erring officers and/or officials of the KSMSCL as well as the officers and/or officials of the consignee designated laboratories who received the consignment,” the report said, pegging the losses due to expired kits supplied by companies at Rs 3.11 crore.
In response to the report’s findings, state Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised the saffron party for profiting from the pandemic. He promised accountability for the irregularities involving PPE kits and ventilators, stating that those responsible would face punishment.