Jalandhar, December 27
To express their resentment against the state government, industrialists and traders from across the state held a meeting here today and decided to hold a massive demonstration at Vishwakarma Chowk in Ludhiana on December 31.

Gursharan Singh, president of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders Associations (FJITA), in a press conference, said they were agitated over the “wrong policies” of the Punjab government which was causing them huge financial losses. “Many small industrial units are on the verge of closure. The big units have shifted to other states including Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir”, he rued.

The members lambasted the state government for its new announcement on deposition of security to the tune of two months’ power bills for industrial connections from January 1.

“All of us have decided that we will not pay this deposit”, they said adding that the government had played a prank with them by assuring withdrawal of hike in power tariff and not executing the same.

The members also expressed their anger over the imposition of 4 per cent entry tax in the state.

“Due to this, prices of raw material coming from other states have increased by 5 per cent”, they resented.

Adding that they were yet to get a refund of VAT deposited almost eight months back, the traders said this was adding to their burden forcing them to take loans on heavy interests from the market. The members also showed their annoyance over the non-fulfillment of promises made by the Akali-BJP combine to them, prior to the elections.

“We were told that VAT would be simplified. Even that has not been done, leave aside the other infrastructural requirements,” they said.

The members said they had visited their elected representatives a number of time but to no avail. “They are not at all available to us now at the time of our need. We have decided to knock the door of the court in case our demands are not fulfilled”, the industrialists seemed adamant. 

Jalandhar, December 27
Punjab excise and taxation commissioner A. Venu Prasad today said he was expecting the VAT collection to go beyond Rs 6,000 crore by the end of this financial year.

The commissioner, who was here for a meeting with the officials from the department at the circuit house, said VAT to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore had already been collected and it was likely to be up by 20 per cent from the previous year. He said this had been made possible due to regular checks and raids conducted by the department.

He said to ensure regular VAT collections, a network of 1.75 lakh dealers had been set up and a list of nearly 10,000 more dealers would be added soon. He said he is now concentrating on making tabs on evasion of tax by automobile dealers. He said a separate database regarding bus and truck body builders was being created to check tax evasion from this sector as well.

Regarding the resentment over delay in VAT refunds, the commissioner said an amount of Rs 250 crore was to be returned to the industrialists, of which Rs 200 crore had been refunded and remaining Rs 50 crore would be disbursed soon.

Over the imposition of entry tax, he said this had been done to save the industry of the state.

“Anyone coming from outside to sell his commodity in Punjab will have to face a stiff competition from the state’s own industry. This is also helping us boost revenue collections”, he added. 

Nawanshahr, December 27
Boycott call by teachers to holding of teachers training seminars during winter vacations is gathering momentum as many of the fraternity feel that the same serve no purpose. Virtually no training sessions are on at the seminar centres. Though teachers’ unions seem united over the issue but a lack of coordination is leading to some tension among them in following a single action plan.

Bhupinder Singh Warraich, state president, Democratic Teachers Front, Balbir Singh Bains, senior-vice-president, Punjab State General Category Welfare Federation, Prem Rakker (Government Teachers Union) and Shiv Kumar Vashisht (Government Teachers Union-Khatra), addressing dharnas at different seminar centers in the district have exhorted teachers to be united against the deterrent tactics of the government.

The boycott of seminar classes by agitating teachers continued on Thursday. Various teachers unions under the banner of “School bachao, Shikhiya bachao,” have been opposing the proposed move of the state government to privatise education, the union leaders said. Lack of coordination and unanimity in some union leaders on following single action plan, is leading to tense situations at some seminar centres. School heads and resource persons deputed on duty at different seminar centre are in a dilemma whether to abide by the government directions for not letting the agitating teachers to mark attendance or show solidarity with them. 

Batala, December 27
Thieves cut down around 400m of BSNL cables in the local Lakad Mandi area here on Tuesday night.

A police patrol party spotted some persons cutting the cables but took them to be workers of the telephone department undertaking some repair work. When the thieves started loading cables in a truck, the patrol party became suspicious. When the patrol party approached them, the thieves ran away leaving behind the truck and cables.

The police impounded the truck and cable. A case has been registered under sections 379 and 427 of the IPC.

The divisional engineer, telephones, while talking to mediapersons here yesterday, disclosed that the cutting of the cables had resulted in a loss of Rs 4 lakh to the department, besides about 2,300 telephone connections went dead.

The department has undertaken the work of emergency repair and replacement of cable and all connections are likely to be restored very soon.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers of the area requested the police to intensify the patrolling in the area in view of the increased incidents of burglary.

Jarnail Singh, SHO, city police station, assured them that the police patrolling would be further intensified.

Batala, December 27
A worker was killed yesterday when he fell into an iron furnace at Indian Foundry and Workshop, on the GT Road here. The victim has been identified as Satpal, alias Bhola (40), a resident of Dharamkot Bagga village. The victim’s family has alleged that the owners of the workshop killed him by throwing him into the running furnace allegedly because he was demanding payment of arrears from them. The victim’s family alleged that it was not his job to go near the running furnace. Satpal’s younger brother Vijay Kumar (36) also works in the same factory.

The owners of the factory could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. A case has been registered under section 306 of the IPC. SP (Hq) Paramdeep Singh Teja tried to pacify the hapless family.

Jalandhar, December 27
The signature tune of Doordarshan is a gift of his shehnai. He needs no introduction when it comes to this instrument. He has come all the way from Kolkata to participate in the 132 nd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan and enthrall audience with his charismatic music.

Talking about his passion for the instrument, Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan said, “I am going to perform at Harballabh for the second time. Giving performance in this event has always been one of my great desires. It is one of the oldest classical music festivals and audiences here are the people who understand music in its real sense.”

Terming shehnai as a ‘mangalwadi’ instrument, Ustad Ali said, “Shehnai is one of the most sacred instruments. You can see it being played at all sacred occasions like weddings and religious functions in temples. The instrument has a prestigious place in Indian classical.”

A disciple of Banaras Gharana and Saini Gharana, Ustad Ali feels the music in today’s arena has lost its sheen with upcoming remixes. Talking to The Tribune, he said, “People from abroad come especially to learn and play this instrument. However, when it comes to Indian youth, you would find very few takers. They just run about for remixes which are not a part of Indian musical legacy.”

He desires to have an academy where students can learn shehnai. Revealing his dream, he said, “You can find academies for different musical instruments, but there is none for shehnai. It is a beautiful, soft, subtle and sweet instrument which always fascinates the listeners. I want people to remember it and an academy would be the best possible way to make the instrument immortal.”

“The government should take efforts to promote Indian music. They can give scholarships or each state government can set up an institute for students to learn classical music. There is surely a need to preserve Indian classical,” adds the Ustad.

Ustad Ali Ahmad has performed in major India classical fests and has displayed his talent in many countries like Canada, USA, UK and Germany. That’s not all, Ustad Ali has also performed with the legend Ustad Bismillah Khan. He is going to perform in Harballabh on Friday with both his sons.