Bathinda, August 6
Educational institutes situated outside the municipal limits are opposing the property tax that the Punjab Government has imposed under The Punjab (Institutions and other Buildings) Tax Ordinance, 2011.

As per the ordinance, all the educational institutes and hospitals situated outside the municipal limits have been directed to pay additional property tax at the rate of Re 1 per square feet.

Opposing it, JS Dhaliwal, the president of Punjab Unaided Technical Institutes’ Association (PUTIA), which has 380 technical institutes of the state as its members, has written to the chief minister and talked to him.

“Although in its meeting on January 22, 2010, the cabinet had duly approved the grant of exemption of property tax on all educational institutions and hospitals, it is surprising that under The Punjab (Institutions and other Buildings) Tax Ordinance, 2011, property tax on the institutions is levied while schools are given an exemption,” said Dhaliwal.

On an average, every institute has 5 lakh to 10 lakh square feet of area, including its administrative blocks, hostels and main campuses. This translates into heavy taxes. The PUTIA has taken a plea that it caters to 95 per cent of the demand of technical education in the state as well as creates employment opportunities.

The owner of a technical institute on the Muktsar road pointed out that although the government gives land for school at subsidised rates, no financial assistance was given to the institutes catering to the needs of higher education. Land for institutions is acquired at market prices, that too by borrowing hefty loans at huge rates of interest.

“Now, this new tax has been introduced. When education is exempted from income tax, why not from this tax as well,” he asked.

Ferozepur, August 6
There is a resentment among the residents of Ferozepur due to stray cattle menace. However, the issue does not seem to have caught the attention of the authorities concerned yet.

Stray cattle can be seen on the busy streets, congested roads and even residential areas. Almost everyday accidens are being reported due to stray cows. At times, the passersby are attacked by these cattle inflicting serious injuries. Nand Kishore Gugan, president, Beopar Mandal said it has become difficult for the women and children even to go out to the market. Gugan said the dairy owners and milkman after milking the cattle in the morning release them and again collect them in the evening. “Whenever the civic bodies get into action and impound the stray cows, the move is thwarted by the cattle owners with the support of influential politicians, who get them discharged without any penalty,” said Rakesh Aggarwal, president, Gopal Gaushala, in the cantonment. Aggarwal added that at present they had a capacity to house 200 cattle. However, if the government provides resources and financial assistance, we can accommodate more than that. Stray dogs also add to the woes. “Most of the dogs have never been vaccinated and there is a great possibility of Rabies in case of a dog bite,” said Ashok Bajaj, a social activist

The residents maintain that they have complained to the government officials manytimes but to no avail. Earlier, the Cantonment Board (CBF) had a sanctioned post of Dog Killer but due to stringent laws regarding animal protection and rights, it was abolished.

“We are planning to launch a drive to sterlise the dogs," said Amit Kumar, CEO, adding that due to the scarcity of funds and dearth of adequate manpower, the issue could not taken up well. “We are even thinking to relocate the cattle pound.” Amidst all the promises, an ultimate solution remains elusive, feel citizens.

Moga, August 6
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) today demanded the Election Commission (EC) to announce the date of assembly elections at the earliest so as to protect the life and liberty of people of this state from the ‘criminals’ active under the shelter of the senior leadership of the ruling SAD party.

Stating this, the former MLA Vijay Sathi, also a member of the state working committee of the PPCC, said the administration has collapsed and lawlessness prevailed in the state.

Lashing out at the Punjab DGP Paramdip Singh Gill, he said the top cop was acting as a puppet in the hands of the SAD leaders for his vested political interests.

“The government should immediately send him on leave till his retirement due on coming September 30 and appoint a new DGP with immediate effect to restore the faith of people in the police system,” he said.

Sathi alleged that the DGP is protecting the criminals at Moga, his home district, with the sole motive to use them in the elections, which was not a good sign for a healthy democracy. He said the Congress had already written to the Prime Minister and the Chief Election Commissioner of India on the 'political' activities of the DGP and a delegation of the party would also meet the CEC on his visit to Chandigarh on Monday.

He was of the opinion that it was high time for the Election Commission to immediately announce the date elections and replace IPS officers as SSPs in all the districts instead of the PPS officers appointed by the government, recently.

He also demanded the Election Commission for appointing special committees to look into the 'bargaining being done with the media' by the SAD leadership. He said after the ban imposed on paid news, certain media houses were being offered huge amounts at the assembly level segments for the coverage of news in their favour.

“This needs to be checked carefully with inputs from the intelligence agencies,” he added.

Bathinda, August 6
The indefinite dharna started by rural health pharmacists on July 21 outside the Mini-secretariat here entered its 17th day today. They are protesting against the state government for not accepting their demand of regularisation of their services on the pattern of rural medical officers (RMOs).

The protesters said if the services of the RMOs could be regularised by the state government then why was it running away from regularising their services.

Besides, during the past two weeks they had also taken out protest march and held rallies here to compel the state government to accept their demand.

They also raise slogans daily against the state government and in favour of their demand, but to no avail so far.

The leaders the Rural Health Pharmacists Association, Punjab, said the state government was not even worried about the healthcare of rural folk as services in the villages were being affected due to their agitation.

President of the association’s Muktsar district unit Balwant Singh said they would not end their indefinite dharna till the state government issued them appointment letters as regular employees.

The leaders said if their demand was not agreed to then they would be compelled to intensify the agitation and the state government would be responsible in case of any untoward incident during their agitation.

Muktsar Sahib, August 6
The 650-km-long Rajasthan Feeder Canal, which supplies water to Rajasthan, is worrying the Irrigation Department of three states including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan as hundreds of tonnes of hyacinth is flowing in it.

The canal, carrying nearly 10,500 cusecs of water, originates from the Harike barrage in Punjab, crosses Haryana and then enters Rajasthan to supply water to far off places there. However, due to the monsoon, the weed flowing in the canal has drastically increased, causing tension to the officials of the Irrigation Department. The weeds accumulate under the bridges creating fear of blockages.

“It is also posing a danger to the structure of the canal. The canal is one of the main sources of irrigation for Rajasthan and the water level is also high. So, the officials of Punjab and Haryana are on their toes to keep the flow of water uninterrupted,” said an official of the Irrigation Department. He further said a large number of people and machinery from Punjab and Haryana were put in place for the past couple of days to find an amicable solution to the problem and make arrangements for the smooth flow of water. “However, the problem is still not coming to an end as the flow of weed from the Harike is increasing day-by-day,” he added.

RK Garg, Executive Engineer, Irrigation Department, Punjab, said, “The flow of weed in the canal is there to a large extent but we are now putting in some extra efforts to clear each and every blockade.”

ML Gupta, Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department, Hanumangarh (Rajasthan), said, “The canal is very important to us and the irrigation officials of Punjab and Haryana are working hard to stop the flow of weed in it. Still, a huge quantity of weed is coming along with the water.”

“It is a threat to our other distributaries and channels, so we have also roped in some machines at the entrance point in Rajasthan,” he added.

Bathinda, August 6
In a road mishap that took place on the Bathinda- Goniana road near Bhokra village last night, one person died while 11 others sustained injuries. The condition of two injured persons is reported to be serious.

The injured persons were admitted to the local Civil Hospital and the Nahianwala village’s health centre. However, the Civil Hospital referred one seriously injured person to the Adesh Medical Hospital.

Nahianwala police station SHO Gurpreet Singh said today the accident occurred near Bhokra village when a Mahindra pick-up carrying 14 persons collided with a truck coming from opposite direction. The occupants of the pick-up vehicle were labourers and were coming from Sukhanand village to Bathinda while the truck had been going towards Goniana from Bathinda side. He said the deceased labourer had been identified as Bhushan.

The SHO further said the police had registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC against the driver of the truck.

The president of Naujwan Welfare Society, Sonu Maheshwari, said after receiving the information about the accident the previous night, they immediately reached the accident site and rushed the injured persons to the hospital here.

He said the injured persons had been identified as Prabhu Yadav, Kanshi Ram Yadav, Neti Yadav, Khanat Yadav, Ashrafi Yadav, Anil Yadav, Satnam Singh, Joginder Singh, Manoj Kumar, Ajmer Singh and Umesh Yadav.

Fazilka, August 6
A farmer Gajjan Singh was allegedly killed by his brothers and nephews over a domestic dispute in the border village Muthianwali of Fazilka.

As per the FIR registered with the Sadar Police, Fazilka, Gajjan Singh had an altercation with his brothers Des Singh and Jagga Singh at their agricultural fields over domestic issues and carrying out agricultural work on Thursday.

Thereafter, they had a wordy duel again while having dinner on Thursday at their joint residence in the village.

According to Karnail Singh’s statement, brother-in-law of the deceased, who had gone to meet his sister, brothers and nephews of Gajjan Singh allegedly picked up the sticks and hit Gajjan Singh on his head. When Karnail Singh tried to intervene, they also attacked him with sticks.

As a result, Gajjan Singh fell on the ground. Karnail Singh raised an alarm. The villagers reached the site and shifted seriously injured Gajjan Singh and Karnail Singh to the local Civil Hospital.

The doctors declared Gajjan Singh brought dead.

Investigating officer Kuldeep Singh Randhawa said the brothers and nephews of Gajjan Singh have been booked under Section 302,323 and 34 of the IPC.

All the accused are stated to be at large. Post mortem of the deceased was conducted at the local civil hospital on Friday.

Bathinda, August 6
The District Food and Civil Supplies Department and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) conducted a joint raid on Friday and seized 14 LPG cylinders from Talwandi Sabo.

The raid continued for nearly two hours as officials conducted surprise checking at hotels and dhabas besides the canteens of educational institutes.

Assistant manager of the IOC Suresh Sharma said the seized LPG cylinders would be returned to the respective oil companies. — TNS

Abohar, August 6
The Lok Nayak Jaiparkash Narayan Park (JP Park), which was developed to keep up the memory of great fighter during the Emergency, has become a paradise for anti-social elements.

Hundreds of residents visit the park, located in Nai Abadi neighbouring Powercom sub-divisional complex and Ahuja Colony, twice a day. However, most of them now feel scared due to presence of gamblers, tipplers, smack and poppy husk users. Many a times, gamblers indulge in thrashing and abusing each other, forcing women and children to run for safer places. The Municipal Council had not been able to maintain the streetlights fitted there and fountain too had been abandoned.

The renovation work that was started a few months back including reconstruction of the boundary wall was left in between. Scores of residents in Nai Abadi and adjoining localities recently organised a meeting at the park to express resentment over the apathy of the administration in checking unlawful activities of unscrupulous elements. Some retired police officials were also present at the meeting.

They expressed resentment on finding empty bottles of liquor near the Hanuman temple that was raised with public funds inside the park. In a memorandum faxed to the CM and Director General Punjab Police, the residents urged them to ensure congenial environment by putting the law and order enforcing agencies in order. 

Sriganganagar, August 6
A senior official of the Indian Army had a marginal escape as the car by which he was travelling collided with a three-wheeler near a canal outside village Nathanwali near here on Friday.

A total of six passengers of the three-wheeler were injured. The three-wheeler overturned following the collision.

The highway emergency 108 ambulance staff had to face slogan shouting by the crowd that resented that the van had not responded to phone calls immediately.

Those injured were shifted to a private hospital in the Sukhadia Nagar by the passengers of another three-wheeler.

The site was immediately cordoned off by the police, the Military Police contingent too reached there later.

A case was registered after preliminary investigation in the incident.