Chandigarh, September 30
While the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, has informally approved the proposal to increase the sugarcane price by Rs 15 to Rs 20 per quintal, there is also a move to expand the recently set up Kisan Commission and clearly define its role to avoid any duplication in the work of the Agriculture Department and the commission.

The issues of the sugarcane price and the Kisan Commission were discussed at two separate meetings held under the chairmanship of Capt Amarinder Singh here today.

Sources said the announcement regarding the increase in the price of sugarcane would be made in the Punjab Assembly during its coming session or later. Obviously, as Assembly elections are nearing, there would be political benefit to the ruling Congress in Punjab by increasing the price of sugarcane. So, the timing of the announcement would be decided accordingly, the sources added.

At present, the cane price is Rs 100 per quintal. It has not been revised for several years. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have increased it. Sugarfed has recommended an increase in the price to Rs 120 per quintal.

The sources said that Capt Amarinder Singh, who held an informal discussion with all concerned regarding the sugarcane price, urged officials to make a sustained effort to enhance the area under sugarcane to make sugar mills viable. Most of the sugar mills in Punjab remain starved of the raw material. They get only about 40 per cent the sugarcane required for crushing.

This year, Sugarfed has decided to operate 11 of the 14 cooperative sugar mills. The sources said the government had decided to appoint liquidators for the cooperative sugar mills at Zira, Jagraon and Rakhra (Patiala). These mills were in the red.

The sources said the Chief Minister also discussed the issue of the Kisan Commission with the authorities concerned. There is a proposal to appoint some progressive farmers as members of the commission. The experience of such farmers will be utilised to plan various strategies for the agricultural sector. There was also a move to make the Director, Dairy Development, the Director, Horticulture, and the Director, Agriculture, its members. The commission’s role would be clearly defined in due course.

Phagwara, September 30
Another instance of Punjab youths in wish to migrate to developed countries and landed in trouble. Five Punjab youth’s, case came to light when a representative of the Chambal Agrotech, who was on official tour to Algeria, sent an e-mail to Jeet Ram from Algeria, a resident of Jamalpur village in Phagwara, that five Indian youths were languishing in Algerian jail.

In an e-mail, Suman, a representative of the Chambal Agrotech, wrote that he was invited by a senior official of Algerian-based company who told him that five Punjabi youths were in the custody of Algerian police and added that language barrier was creating problems.

Suman added that when he visited Sede Belle Abbes Jail in Algeria, he came to know that Satnam Singh of Nahan village in Phillaur, Parwinder Singh of Nangal Lubana in Bholath subdivision of Kapurthala district, Jasbir Singh, son of Darshan Singh, of Garhshankar in Hoshiarpur district, Jasbir Singh, son of Sarwan Singh, of Shahkot in Jalandhar district and Vicky of Phagwara, were detained in that jail.

The youths told him that they were on their way to Spain via Male but the Algerian Army caught them and handed them over to the Algerian police.

After that they were made to go to Male jail and to Algerian jail. Youths further disclosed that they were beaten up by Algerian police and given meals only once in a day.

Suman also disclosed that the youths were in the age group of 18-22 years. They were living in very pitiable condition.

He (Suman) in his e-mail send that he had filed the papers as a guarantor for their early release from the custody of Algerian police.

He said that he hoped that they would be produced before a court in Algeria and the matter would be brought to the notice of the Indian High Commission in Algeria.

Jalandhar DIG P.S. Gill said that it was a very serious matter and asked the families concerned to complain about the erring travel agents and added he would take stern action against such travel agents.

Patiala, September 30
The ongoing agitation of students on the campus of the local Punjabi University took a new turn when 26 students, who were members of the Punjabi University Students Confederation (PUSC), were arrested while they were trying to block the entry of varsity employees and other people by blocking its main gate today.

However, all 26 students, including leaders of PUSC, Gurpal Dhaliwal, Mr Dharminder Patran, Chamkaur Singh, Rajinder Singh and Bakhshish Singh, were discharged by the SDM, Ms Poonamdeep Kaur after giving them a warning when they were presented before her following their arrest under sections 107 and 151 of the Cr. P. C.

The PUSC was supposed to organise an open durbar in front of the university campus to present their problems before representatives of various organisations and parents of students. For the past many weeks, a number of student organisations had been agitating for accepting their demands. Their agitation had forced the university authorities to close the campus twice.

After the students were arrested, the other members of the PUSC and representatives of various organisations, including group leader of the CPM in Rajya Sabha, Mr Nilotpal Vasu and Mr K.K. Ragesh, national President, Student Federation of India (SFI) staged a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and submitted a memorandum to him.

A section of students was manhandled by the policemen when they resisted arrest.

Mr Vasu said that CPM would take up this matter with the central Congress leadership. He added that as the university was getting UGC grant, the Central Government must intervene into the matter.

He said students would not be able to get any justice from Capt Amarinder Singh as he had given extension to the vice-chancellor Mr Swarn Singh Boparai without taking anything into consideration.

The 26 students were arrested as the University authorities had taken a stay order from the court barring anyone to hold demonstration within a radius of 500 meters of university campus.

Mr Manjeet Brar, SHO, Police Station, Sadar, said at first the protestors were asked to remove blocakde of the gate.

When the students did not agree a section of them were arrested .

Mr B. S. Sandhu, Director, Public Relations, Punjabi University, in a press note issued here today, said that though the university authorities had been asking the students for a dialogue in connection with their problems, they were indulging in goondaism under the garb of lodging a protest. 

Amritsar, September 30
India’s most wanted militant Gajinder Singh, today resigned as chairman of the Dal Khalsa, paving the way for the appointment of new chief at the 27th convention of the organisation, scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on October 2.

Gajinder Singh is among the 20 most wanted militants, of India after the attack on Parliament. He has been taking shelter in Pakistan these days .

It is a coincidence that Gajinder Singh had stepped down as the Dal Khalsa Chairman on a day (September 30) when he and four other Sikh youths had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore on September 30 , 1981 .

In his resignation letter, Gajinder Singh said the constitution of the Dal Khalsa, framed four years ago, did not permit anybody to hold third term in a row. The constitution of the radical outfit reads’ “President shall be elected for a maximum of two terms in a row”.

It is learnt that Mr Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, who had undergone 14 years imprisonment in Pakistan along with Gajinder Singh for hijacking the Indian Airlines plane, or Mr Jaspal Singh Dhillon, chairman, Human Rights and Democratic Forum, may succeed Gajinder Singh on October 2. The constitution of Dal Khalsa also did not allow Mr H.S. Dhami , acting president of the party to take over as regular Chairman as he had also completed two terms .

In his resignation letter, Gajinder Singh wrote, ‘It was never my wish to stick to the post of Chairman for the whole of my life, I reorganised Dal Khalsa in 1986 ….I request the party delegates to elect new president in the forthcoming annual meet, to lead the party in a democratic way to establish new healthy tradition in Sikh politics’.

According to sources, the local leadership had offered to amend the constitution to let Gajinder Singh continue as chairman, but he refused.

Sangrur, September 30
Tension gripped Khanauri village, about 60 km from here, on the occasion of election of president of the Nagar Panchayat today. The office of nagar panchayat was gheraoed by the villagers who were protesting against the reported declaration of Mr Girdhari Lal’s name as president of the nagar panchayat by the officer who conducted the election proceedings.

In order to end the gherao of the nagar panchayat office and to disperse the protesters, the police reportedly resorted to a lathi-charge. On this, the crowd also started pelting stones and bricks on the policemen. As many as 12 persons, including some policemen, suffered injuries. The police also fired several rounds in the air to disperse the protesters.

The protesters also overturned the gypsy of the Moonak SDM, besides damaging some other government vehicles. After that, the protesters blocked the Delhi-Sangrur main road at Khanauri.

As per the information, 13 members were elected to the Khanauri Nagar Panchayat in the recently held elections. Seven members are reportedly with Mr Satgur Singh while four members are said to be with Mr Girdhari Lal. Remaining two members are being considered neutral.

According to sources the SDM, Sunam, and the DDPO, Sangrur, reached Khanauri today for the election process. In the election meeting, all members were reportedly present. Seven of them were favouring Mr Satgur Singh for the post of president of the nagar panchayat, but the officer, allegedly under political pressure, announced the result in favour of Mr Girdhari Lal. The villagers were not happy over the decision and gheraoed the Nagar Panchayat office.

Mr Husan Lal, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, and Mr Harinder Singh Chahal, SSP, Sangrur, visited Khanauri today, to take stock of the situation and to resolve the issue.

Talking to The Tribune this evening, Mr Husan Lal said he had called the group of Mr Satgur Singh’s supporters, that had claimed majority, to his office tomorrow at Sangrur to listen to their grievances. He said as per his information, the DDPO, Sangrur, who had conducted the election proceedings as convener, had declared Mr Girdhari Lal as president of the Nagar Panchayat as per the rules, according to which the election to the post of president is held by show of hands.

Mr Harinder Singh Chahal, SSP, Sangrur, said as many as six policemen had received injuries during stone-pelting by the crowd. He also said the protesters had also tried to burn the gypsy of the Moonak SDM. The protesters had also damaged the glasses of vehicles of the SP (D) and the Sunam DSP. He said in self-defence, the police opened fire in the air to disperse the protesters on the orders of the Moonak SDM. He said the police was now registering cases against the miscreants.

Jalandhar, September 30
Music is all about harmony, but at times discordant notes flow audaciously from the audience side. And this dissipates an artiste’s creative energy. Grammy award winner, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, whose Mohan Veena has stirred the hearts of many a music lover, feels acutely about this jarring dissonance.

“The Indian audience needs a refresher course in discipline and music appreciation. In a striking contrast to this, the audience in the West can handle music concerts with grace and dignity,” observes the maestro wryly.

It is disconcerting to find the audience chatting uninhibitedly while the concert is in progress, he says. “It seems as if music is just a poor filler in the talk-suffused atmosphere!”

Known for his expertise in the “Tantrakari Ang” and the “Gayaki Ang”, Pandit Bhatt is an innovator par excellence. His jugalbandi with a Chinese Erhu player, Jei Bing Chen, has been much appreciated. His collaborations with the American Dobro guitar player, Jerry Douglas, and the Arabian Oudh player, Simon Shaheen, have gone well with the audiences in the USA and Europe.

“There’s nothing wrong with fusion. It is the demand of the day. But fusion is not merely the playing of the electronic beats. It is the coming together of two streams of music; it is the harmonious merging of musical notes. And you cannot be a successful fusionist unless you have complete knowledge of both streams of music,” he explains, adding, “I did not use any electronic beats in ‘Meeting by the River’ — the album for which Ry Cooder and I worked together.”

Composing music for Hindi movie ‘Bawandar’, recording Sanskrit epic poem “Megh Dootam” and creating a new instrument ‘Vishwa Veena’, versatility has been his hallmark. Along with his son, Saurabh V. Bhatt, he recorded ‘Music for Soul’ that received rave reviews.

Interestingly, he is not at all cagey about discussing the issue of musicians passing on their legacy to their children. “We are often blamed for teaching our own wards only. But I feel if there is talent, it cannot be ignored,” he says, without any trace of being defensive.

He’s a stickler for daily riyaaz. “Each day, you have to do something new. Your music must retain freshness. Otherwise also, in classical music, 80 per cent is improvisation, which needs a regular practice,” he signs off.

Pandit Bhatt’s music presentation, under the auspices of SPICMACAY, was organised in various colleges here on September 29 and 30.

Chandigarh, September 30
Punjab will continue to get assistance from the World Bank for its rural development programmes even as the kandi (Shivalik hills) area Integrated Watershed Development Programme (IWDP) draws to a close on September 30 after being run for five years.

Mr Daniel Sullen, Senior Agricultural Economist, World Bank, told The Tribune yesterday that a proposal on rural development sent by Punjab would be accepted by January next year. So far, Haryana had not sent any request, he clarified. He was here for a two-day “completion- review workshop for the integrated watershed development project” at the CII here. The workshop concluded today with five participating states giving a presentation on how the project helped them.

Mr Sullen also asked the Punjab Government to enquire into any allegations of wrongdoing at any of the watershed programmes and give a report.

Earlier, while delivering the keynote address at the workshop yesterday, the Finance and Planning Minister, Punjab, Mr Surinder Singla, demanded that all parallel programmes on rural development run by various departments of the government needed to be synchronised. He asked planners to tell him not only about the benefits of the project, but also whether there were any drawbacks. “Do a detailed analysis on self-help groups. If these are well run in the Shivalik hills area, tell us what model to adopt. We will adopt it in other areas of Punjab,” Mr Singla continued. He said the outlay for any scheme should match its outcome. Speaking on the IWDP, Mr Sullen said he was satisfied with the project, which was implemented in the lower Shivalik hills of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir. It covered more than 2,000 villages along seasonal rivulets.

Mr Sullen said the entire project cost nearly $ 160 million out of which the World Bank provided $ 130 million. For every village an empowerment plan had been drawn up. Each beneficiary family contributed to this. The project had empowered women and their participation was close to 40 per cent.

The Energy and Resources Institute that has been commissioned by the World Bank to study the impact has produced a report. It said soil erosion had come down in these ecologically fragile hills. Under the project natural barriers were created by having plantation on the hills and the building of check dams. It also improved the cropping patterns. For instance, farmers in these areas grew cash crops like vegetables and did not depend on wheat or paddy. Medicinal and aromatic plants were being grown.

The project helped in the construction of 1,110 km of rural roads, 720 foot bridges and 1,964 km of foothpaths. In Himachal Pradesh the number of girls coming for school enrolment had gone up as they could reach their places faster. The milk yield had gone up while the dams provided safe drinking water to 77,000 families across these states, Mr K.S. Sethi, team leader, told The Tribune.

In all, there were 14 lakh beneficiaries. The project also helped create 1,292 village development committees and 1,404 self-help groups which monitored the project and kept it running.

The report also said 75 per cent of the forest plantation under the project had survived. The groundwater levels had improved.

Jalandhar, September 30
Implementation of the much publicised scheme of limited free power to Dalits may get deferred owing to some constitutional and technical reasons.

Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, Punjab, stated this to The Tribune during his visit to Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya here today. He said the state government was quite firm on the welfare of Dalit families, there were certain factors due to which implementation of the scheme could be delayed.

The Finance Minister said that since there was no provision of free power to any section of people on the basis of caste in the Indian Constitution, implementation of the scheme could be stalled for a little time. The Minister added that since figures of Dalit families consuming less than 200 units of power was not available, there were technical problems also pertaining to the issue.

Statement of the Minister is likely to disappoint Dalit associations which had been demanding that the power supply be made totally free and without limit to all Dalits and people from weaker section, doing away which the condition of consumption of 200 units.

Confusion over free power to Dalits is also getting created at a time when the state government has spent crores on advertising the issue through media. There also have been some discussions that the free power limit could go up to 1 kw of consumption.

Mr Singla also pointed out that the octroi would also be abolished in Punjab after two months. He said the decision was being delayed as the state government was still thumbing of alternatives to it. He said that four alternatives had been suggested but the final decision could come in another 10 days.

The Finance Minister said that such decisions were not sops for the forthcoming elections. “In fact, we could not implement these earlier as the state was under heavy debt. Even still the state government was paying loan of Rs 65 crore per month as the previous Akali government had taken food credit worth Rs 4,500 crore without getting consent from the Assembly”, the minister said.

Mr Singla also alleged that Mr Parkash Singh Badal, former Chief Minister, had illegally used the same money for “sangat darshan” and other extravaganzas.

Phagwara, September 30
Eight more cases of gastroenteritis were reported from Onkar Nagar locality today. Four patients were admitted to ESI and Civil hospitals.

A couple of cases were reported from this slum-like locality of migrants yesterday.

Kapurthala civil surgeon Dr Jagjit Singh Sidana visited the affected locality today. Local SMO Dr Yash Mitra and senior officials of Health Department accompanied him.

Dr Sidana said that 5,000 more tablets of chlorine were distributed in the area today. Packets of oral rehydration solution (ORS) were also given. Samples of water were taken.

A team of doctors camped there and was available from 8 am to 8 pm in the locality for treating patients.

It was learnt that health department had arranged a stock of 20,000 tablets of chlorine.

Patiala, September 30
The Northern India Flying Club (camp) today alleged that its aircraft and other equipment lying at hanger no. 2 of the Patiala airfield were thrown out by a section of people belonging to a private aviation academy.

In a letter written to Director General, Civil Aviation, and other authorities, an official of the club alleged that Swati aircraft, glider, winch and other equipments had been thrown out despite the fact that a case was pending in that connection in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He added that the thrown out equipments had been lying in the open.

No senior official of the Aviation Department could be contacted to comment on the issue.

Kapurthala, September 30
The government procurement agencies bought almost all the paddy lying at New Grain Market without measuring any damage or moisture after the invention of the local Member of Parliament, Mr Rana Gurjit Singh, and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Samir Kumar, here today.

To pacify the agitated farmers, the Deputy Commissioner visited Sultanpur Lodhi, Dadwindi and Kapurthala City mandis and reportedly asked the officials of different procurement agencies to lift the paddy immediately without assessing the quality of the paddy.

The agencies procured a total of 5,577 metric tonne of paddy in the district out of which 788 MT of paddy was procured from Kapurthala city. The purchase was started at 4.30 pm after the interference of the Deputy Commissioner. In fact, not even a single grain was bought by the agencies till 4 pm citing the strict instructions from their departments regarding the parameters for procurement set by the FCI.

Due to excessive rains in the region in the past few days, the crop of paddy was affected badly.

The MP and the Deputy Commissioner asked the officials of the procurement agencies, including Markfed, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Pun Grain and Punsup, to purchase the paddy. The Deputy Commissioner reportedly snubbed officials of the procurement agencies when they raised objection on the quality of the crop.

Mr Rana Gurjit Singh said he was here for protecting the interests of the farmers. He said the paddy lying in the market was consumable and there was no harm in procuring it.

Rice millers withdraw strike
Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 30
The Punjab Rice Millers, after a meeting with Mr Avtar Henry, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, decided to withdraw their indefinite strike. They will now start purchasing paddy.

A delegation of the Punjab Rice Millers Association led by Mr Tarsem Saini, state president, called on the minister along with district presidents of the association. The minister assured the delegation that the government would concede their genuine demands and would ask the Central Government to concede their demands.

Mr Inderjit Singh Sandhu, president of the association, said the minister agreed to their major demands about the rates of surplus gunny bags left with the millers after delivering the rice.

He said the minister assured that the government would get back the surplus gunny bags and would not deduct any cost in future. Also now the paddy would be stored in the rice mills under single custody instead of joint custody. Now the millers would be free whether to mill the paddy or not, where as earlier they were bound to mill as per the agreement. The minister also assured that the state government would recommend to get the relaxation in norms of damage and discolored rice.

Mr Nakesh Jindal, press secretary of the association, welcomed the make.

Bathinda, September 30
While the government agencies are set to enter cotton markets today, rain-hit cotton growers of the region are likely to face problems satisfying agencies on various parameters like moisture content, ginning percentage and grade of cotton for the time being.

Talking to The Tribune, Chairman of Export Cell of North India Cotton Association, Mr Ashok Kapur, said though the farmer could face deduction due to moisture content, they would also gain on weight and it would compensate their losses to a great extent. He said the farmers would be eager to market their produce as long as their cotton had moisture. He said ginners would be restricted due to the entry of government agencies and the MSP would be maintained.

He said the decline in cotton prices in coming days would be dictated by the flow of arrival, but the farmers had nothing to worry, as the government agencies would be there to take care of the spillover. He said right now the demand was okay, as the ginners needed to fulfil their selling commitments. On the present weather conditions, he said these were conducive for cotton, as western winds were flowing, which would help in the fruition of the crop.

Mr MS Brar, OSD (Cotton), Markfed, too, admitted that the farmers could mainly suffer on two counts due to rain - moisture content and quality.

Sources said 102 mm of rainfall on September 22 in the district wreaked most damage, as it added to the moisture content in cotton. Reports received from the local cotton market put the moisture content between 11 to 15 per cent in a majority of cotton produce arriving in the market, while the government agencies like the Cotton Corporation of India and Markfed had fixed the moisture content at 8 per cent.

Ashok Kumar, an arhtiya at the local cotton market, said about 70 to 80 per cent cotton arriving in the local market was of poor quality, as a result of which it could only be placed under grade II and grade III. He said before

September 22 rains, the cotton produce arriving at the market was fine and the condition deteriorated only after that. However, experts opine that this phase would not last long, as the rain-hit cotton stock would be over within a week or so and after that good quality cotton would make its way into the markets. 

Patiala, September 30
The Arthiya Association, Patiala, yesterday alleged that though the Punjab Government had formally launched the procurement of paddy on September 26, no significant quantity of paddy had been purchased from the local grain market by the different agencies since then, despite the fact the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, belonged to this town.

Mr Gurdial Singh, press secretary of the association, said so far about 10,000 bags of paddy had arrived in the local grain market, but Punsup had purchased only 500 bags so far. The rest of the stock was lying there.

He said the association wanted that procurement should be made fast. Apart from it, the state government should also accept the genuine demands of the rice mill owners so that the functioning of markets could be made smooth.

Capt H. S. Mokha, District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), when contacted, said officials concerned had been procuring paddy which had been meeting the standard norms.

He added that most of the stock of paddy, which had been arriving in the local grain market, was discoloured and damaged and, hence, it was the main problem.

Hoshiarpur, September 30
The subdivisional office of the Punjab State Electricity Board at Bassi Kalan (Chabewal) here has issued fresh computerised bills to farmers for August for their power connections to tubewells. However, the farmers said they had already cleared the bills on due dates.

Mr Gian Singh, Mr Harinder Singh, Mr Mohan Singh and Mr Kewal Singh, all farmers of Bohan village, said they had already deposited their dues and the necessary entries had been made in their pass books issued by the PSEB. They were surprised to receive the fresh bills from the board. They said the Punjab Government had announced free power for tubewells from September 1, 2005, but the PSEB had issued the fresh bills. They demanded withdrawal of the bills and action against the erring officials.

Mr Bhagat Singh, Superintending Engineer of the PSEB, Hoshiarpur circle, said on account of computerisation in the subdivisional office, bills might have been prepared on trail basis. But he was surprised to know about their distribution. He advised the farmers not to make payment. 

Bathinda, September 30
The police has arrested three members of a gang that used to bring weapons from Rajasthan to supply these in the state. The police also claimed to have succeeded in saving two persons from being murdered.

Those arrested have been identified as Jaswant Singh, Gurjant Singh and Hardarashan Singh. The police has also recovered a pistol and cartridges from the possession of Jaswant Singh.

Addressing a press conference here today, the SSP, Mr Kapil Dev, said that Ram Kumar, a resident of Maur Mandi, has also been arrested. He said Ram's in-laws had got a case registered against him in 1996 in which he was jailed.

After he was released on bail, he paid this gang Rs 35,000 for getting him a firearm. Following his interrogation, the police recovered a 32-bore revolver and five cartridges from his residence.

He disclosed that after murdering his father-in-law, he was to hand over this revolver to Ashok Kumar who wanted to kill his maternal uncle Om Prakash, a resident of Rama Mandi.

The police raided Ashok's residence and arrested him too. Ashok had paid the gang Rs 23,000 for a firearm. His uncle had denied him a share in his property.

The police had arrested Hardarshan Singh a day earlier, as he was also involved in the murder of head sewadar of Tikana Bhai Jagta Ji. 

The candidates, Sunil Pawar, Manpreet Singh, Kirandeep Kaur and Anupreet Kaur, said they would now move the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The candidates had been in dilemma with regard to deposit of the fee since the starting of admission process. The Department of Research and Medical Education, Punjab, had asked them to deposit the annual fee of Rs 75,000, whereas the college was demanding Rs 2.50 lakh.

Dr U.S. Dhaliwal, Principal, said they had given adequate time to the candidates to deposit the fee and join the classes. He said they had waited for the candidates till 3pm but nobody turned up to deposit the balance fee. Hence, the college management was empowered to admit other candidates according to their merit, he added.

Amritsar, September 30
The SGPC-run Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences (SGRDIMS) will not allow six final year students of MBBS to complete internship since last month for not depositing their dues.

President, SGPC, Bibi Jagir Kaur told reporters here today that nobody would be allowed to attend classes till they cleared outstanding dues to the college.

She said that the trust, which governed the medical colleges and hospitals, had drawn up Rs 50 crore plan to provide ultramodern medical health facilities.

The 1000-bed hospital would be completed and commissioned with additional cost of Rs 20 crore by December this year. Besides the SGPC had sought loan of Rs 30 crore from the banks to upgrade the present cancer institute which would provide top class treatment to patients. Expansion programme will complete in three years.

On fee structure in medical colleges announced by the Punjab government appointed Majithia Committee, she said it was not based on ground reality and added that the SGPC-run minority institutions had fixed fee structure as per guidelines of the Supreme Court.

The SGPC President said the SGRDIMS had received approval for nine postgraduate seats in different faculties apart from they had got sanction to double the present strength from 50 to 100 seats in the MBBS. She said the SGPC had also planned a new residential complex for teaching faculties and a new hostel for boys.

Patiala, September 30
Mr Malvinder Singh, member, Punjab Pollution Control Board, expressed concern over dwindling forest cover and melting glaciers while delivering a keynote address at a seminar on youth power at Government Mohindra College here yesterday. The seminar was organised by the Director Youth Services, Rotary International District 3090, in collaboration with the Rotary Club, Patiala, State Bank of Patiala and Old Students Association of Mohindra College.

He advised the youth to protect the environment and eco-systems, failing which disastrous consequences would follow, he said.

Mr Jagjit Puri, Secretary to Punjab Government, Director, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, inaugurated the seminar.

Dr H.S. Deol, a former professor of National Integration Chair, Punjabi University, also spoke.

Prof S.C. Sharma, Director, Youth Services, Dr Bhagat Singh, former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Dr D.S. Brar, Principal of the college, Dr Harbans Pathak, Prof M.S. Salh, general secretary, Old Students Association, Dr Ashok Gupta, president, Rotary Club, Principal Mukhtiar Singh and Principal S.S. Gill, were also present.

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 30.
“Potential among the rural students to achieve excellency and go forward in life is not less than that in the students studying in the urban area,” said Dr D.R. Vij, an eminent educationist, while addressing a seminar on “Rural education” organised by the Rotary Club, Fatehgarh Sahib, Government Elementary School, Saidpura, today.

Dr Dharminder Singh Ubha, District secretary of Rotary District 3090, appreciated the response of the students.

Prof Kashmir Singh, secretary, Rotary Club, Fatehgarh Sahib, said there was no substitute for hard work.

Mr Sudhir Kumar Sudhir welcomed the guests while, Mrs Swarnjit Kaur thanked Dr Vij and other scholars.

BUSINESS

Govt to clear pending subsidies to tiny units
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 30
A provision for Rs 100 crore has been created by the Punjab Government with a view to clearing the backlog of pending subsidies to the small-scale industry. Besides, the government plans to strengthen and repair all roads in the state by March 2006. This was stated by Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, Punjab, at a function organised by the United Cycles and Parts Manufacturers Association here today.

Mr Singla also inaugurated a Research and Development Centre constructed at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

He said the government was committed towards fast industrial development in the state, for which emphasis was being laid on infrastructure.

Stating that pending subsidies would be cleared, he said the state government would issue interest-free tradable bonds by January 2006 against the pending subsidy to industrialists.

He said the trade and industry in the state had accepted the value added tax (VAT) system and said officers would not be allowed to harass tax payers. He said the government had declared the first year as a grace period for the proper adaptation of industry and trade to the new VAT system. He also assured industrialists that the required refund out of the tax paid under VAT would be started at the earliest.

On the notice by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) for shifting industrial units from residential areas along the Gill road, the minister said no such unit would be shifted.

Among others who were present on the occasion were Mr Surinder Dawer Parliamentary Secretary, Mr O.P. Munjal and Mr G. L. Phawa, president, of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association.