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Paddy plantation begins today
Corridor will propel growth in state
BJP fumes as Batala MC chief set to join SAD
Rajpura plant to open on CM’s birthday
Solar power generation to go up 10% by 2020: Majithia
State govt wants to bring down area under paddy
High input costs may push small farmer into debt
Kidnapped child found near gurdwara
Rural-urban divide in state getting bigger: Report
Sarna: Will back memorial outside Rakabganj Sahib
Unions reject draft
agriculture policy
Sukhraj murder case: Prime accused says he is innocent
Patiala police caught ‘stealing’ forest wood
13 years on, husband wants to testify in Canadian court
Patiala MC to discuss moving 631 establishments today
Govt to spend Rs 43 lakh on Sirhind choe
Now, Cong’s Soni claims credit
for corridor
Flesh-trade racket busted, five held
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Britain’s move to compensate African colonial victims
Amritsar, June 9 They, however, expressed resentment that even after 65 years of India's independence, the Centre never pursued the matter firmly and always discouraged them. Referring to the British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to Jallianwala Bagh on February 20, Bhusan Behl (65), whose grandfather Lala Hari Ram Behl, then 36, was killed at the entrance of the Jallianwala Bagh, claimed he had got an appointment with Cameron from the British High Commission. "I kept waiting for four hours at a hotel to meet officials of the British High Commission, but the local administration did not let it happen. Some of us were detained in our houses till the British PM left the city. Now, we hope our case might find a place on the British agenda as has been done in case of Kenyan victims," he said Sunil Kapoor (37), whose great grandfather Vasu Mal Kapoor had died three days after sustaining bullet injuries in 1919, had managed to hand over a list of 501 martyrs to the British High Commission officials who were accompanying Cameron. "The British PM's visit was meaningless for us because it ended up as a politically motivated tour. On the instance of the state government, the local administration desisted us from expressing our cause before them. But I had managed to hand over a joint representation to British officials," he said. "My father, Jagdish Lal Kapoor, was just two years old at the time of the incident. We did not get a single penny as compensation. We can hope for justice only if our government pursues the matter with the British government," he narrated. After the British PM's visit, the state government had formed a committee to make an "authentic" list of martyrs' kin. Directions were also issued to the district administration, but the panel has failed to yield any result till date. "Most of the people submitted affidavits of their authenticity with the district administration three months ago, but the authorities have no clue about their case," said Kapoor. The Jallianwala Bagh martyrs were conferred upon the freedom fighter status in 2008, but their kin were denied any privileges usually bestowed upon the families of freedom fighters. New Trust members New Delhi: Union Minister Ambika Soni, and former PPCC chiefs Virendra Kataria and HS Hanspal have been nominated by the Centre to serve on the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust. The trust, which is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the site, has the Prime Minister, Punjab Chief Minister, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Culture Minister as its members. The three nominees will serve on the trust for a period of five years. — TNS The British PM's visit was meaningless for us because it ended up as a politically motivated tour…My father was just two years old at the time of the massacre. We did not get a single penny as compensation.
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Transfer of 62 specialist doctors rolled back
Ludhiana, June 9 Dr Hardeep Singh, state president of the association, said, "It is not a matter of transfers only but an issue related to the management of 100 upgraded hospitals and 76 downgraded hospitals of rural areas. We stand by our earlier decision to go on strike on Monday and Tuesday." He said as a result of this change, the total number of sanctioned posts of specialist doctors had been reduced. The posts of 1,800 specialists for 176 hospitals had been reduced to 1,420 specialists posts for 100 hospitals. Meanwhile, specialist doctors working under the NRHM have given a memorandum to Dr Inderjeet Rana, state president of the NRHM Employees' Association during a meeting held at Jalandhar yesterday. Dr Rana said the doctors had demanded the rollback of transfers failing which they would resign from their respective posts. He said the specialist doctors were appointed under the NRHM four years ago on a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 and on the condition that they would never be appointed away from their home. Meanwhile, the National Scheduled Caste Alliance (NSCA) has asked for a probe into how specialist doctors posted in "lucrative" cities like Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Amritsar have managed to avoid transfers to other cities. Paramjit Singh Kainth, president, NSCA, said, "The strike call has come after the Health Ministry's decision to transfer 523 specialist doctors from these lucrative cities to other cities of Punjab”. "The transfers have been done on the pretext of upgrade of about 100 hospitals. In fact, it is being done for political reasons with an eye on the parliamentary elections,” he alleged. Docs stand divided
"The PCMS Specialists Doctors Association won't go on strike along with the PCMS Doctors Association, claimed Dr Ashok Nayyar, Director, Health Services.
Open to talks: Health Minister
Chandigarh, June 9 In a statement here, Mittal said that as the government was open to dialogue with the doctors and would listen to their genuine problems, they should not go on strike and cause problems to patients. Presiding over an emergency meeting of senior Health Department officials here, Mittal said he had spoken to Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra and requested him to put 1,000 doctors in his department at the disposal of civil surgeons in all the 22 districts so that medical services did not get affected in case of a strike.
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Paddy plantation begins today Chandigarh, June 9 With incentives planned for maize cultivation, the government is hoping that the area under paddy will decrease, especially in areas where it was not grown traditionally. It is also hopeful that the area under basmati will increase, despite problems of marketing faced by farmers last year owing to the concessions announced for basmati export. The state Agriculture Department’s efforts to encourage direct seeding of paddy in order, to save groundwater, as well as mechanised transplantation are yet to produce results. The state has seen some success in Patiala district as far as direct seeding is concerned. The area under direct seeding is likely to increase from 20,000 hectares last year to 50,000 hectares this season. However, farmers remain overwhelmingly dependent on migrant labour for transplanting paddy, mechanised transplantation having failed to pick up. Farmers claim the labour cost is on the rise and those who want to start on the first day of transplantation tomorrow, the rates will be rather steep. Charanjit Singh of nearby Kaul village said he expected to spend Rs 1,800 per acre on labour charges. Meanwhile, the government claims it has made arrangements for ensuring eight hours of uninterrupted power supply to farmers during the paddy season. It said Rs 1,600 crore had been spent for this purpose. This, it said, was necessary as demand during the paddy season would go up to 8,900 MW while the state power generation was only 3,600 MW. The government has gone in for both short-time and long-time options to make additional power available to the farmers. The government expects the area under paddy to come down from 28.18 lakh hectares last year to 27.50 lakh hectares this season. The 68,000 hectares where paddy will not be transplanted this year could be brought under maize, cotton and sugarcane plantation.
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Corridor will propel growth in state
Amritsar, June 9 Talking to The Tribune, Khanna Paper Mill director Suneet Kochhar said the development bodes well for Amritsar as the beleaguered border area was struggling for connectivity with freight corridor. "Given the fact that ours is a landlocked state, this will definitely help in economic growth of Punjab, besides attracting huge investments. This will help Amritsar industries to reduce input and output costs and be globally competitive as India's logistics cost is higher than other countries which makes Indian products unviable at global markets. India spends 13 per cent of its GDP on logistics cost against the international average of 7 per cent". He felt that the corridor should be extended up to the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Attari as it was the gateway to the Central Asia and would help achieve the purpose of the freight corridor in totality. CII National Council on Public Policy member Gunbir Singh said the corridor should provide jobs for the youth and opportunities for industry in northern Punjab as well. "The announcement shall be path breaking in its impact over the next 10 years. The rewards of this milestone shall be manifold in not just inviting investment but also in creating logistic infrastructure, product linkages, spurring economic growth and providing employment. Coupled with an aggressive industrial policy from Punjab, supporting new and existing industrial expansion and liberally allowing sick industry to free frozen distressed assets can be a game-changer for the state. The potential is immense and must not be frittered away," he added. Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Amrit Lal Jain said: "Since it covers seven states, Punjab would get a swift transportation of goods in these markets. Ludhiana already has a good market for supplying hosiery and cycles while Amritsar-based industries like fan, nut and bolt, warp knitting, blanket, rice and others would gain access to these markets”. Indo Foreign Chamber of Commerce president BK Bajaj said the eastern part of the country was known for supplying basic raw material like coal and iron for industry and if they got these materials at subsidised rate then the industry of Punjab would gain a level playing field. The move will help in economic growth of Punjab, besides attracting huge investments. Amritsar industries will be able to reduce costs and be globally competitive The rewards shall be manifold in not just inviting investment but also in creating infrastructure, product linkages, spurring economic growth and providing jobs Amritsar will get benefits from Kolkata port. Containers of merchandise could be shipped out to South East Asia and other countries close to the eastern part of the country
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BJP fumes as Batala MC chief set to join SAD
Batala, June 9 This has left district BJP office-bearers fuming. On a sticky wicket, the party held a press conference today, condemning Lodhinangal’s role. A livid Suresh Bhatia, president of the Batala BJP, said: “What Lodhinangal has done is blatantly wrong. The BJP is the alliance partner of the SAD and he should refrain from dividing the party.” All eyes are now on Batala Municipal Committee (MC) president Jatinder Kalyan, who has already been expelled by the BJP. It was with Lodhinangal’s covert support that Kalyan was installed as MC chief in August last year. A BJP leader said: “During the last assembly elections, the BJP did not fully back Lodhinangal and he lost by a massive margin of more than 20,000 votes. Now he is taking revenge.” Sources said the former Qadian legislator was all set to further dent the image of its alliance partner. “He is trying to make a SAD councillor chairman of the local Improvement Trust. His logic is simple. He says since the Batala Vidhan Sabha seat has been allotted to the SAD, it is the latter’s prerogative to install its own chairman,” said a Lodhinangal loyalist. Kalyan, despite being MC president, has been feeling isolated in the BJP and his defection to the SAD may come anytime. “At one time a loyal BJP worker, new permutations in the party following the removal of Ashwani Sharma as Punjab BJP chief and the subsequent elevation of Kamal Sharma to the post changed that. Kalyan developed sharp differences with the party leadership following which he was expelled. “Kalyan, although a BJP man, had to take the support of the SAD to become MC president. Now that he has been expelled by the party, he has no option but to switch over to the SAD,” claimed his supporter. When contacted, an unfazed Lodhinangal said: “I am only strengthening the SAD, not dividing the BJP.”
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Rajpura plant to open on CM’s birthday
Chandigarh, June 9 Stating this here today after reviewing the overall progress of the 1,400 megawatt plant being constructed at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the inauguration of the plant would fulfil the Chief Minister's dream of making the state power surplus in 2013. He expressed satisfaction at the commitment shown by L&T, the company constructing the plant. The first unit of the plant will be inaugurated on December 8 and the second unit on Baisakhi 2014. Officials of the Nabha thermal plant told the Deputy CM that the work would be completed before schedule as 90 per cent of it for one unit of 700 MW was complete. The work on the second unit was 80 per cent complete. The railway linkage from Sarai Bajara station to the plant was nearing completion. Officials said that the deal to supply coal had already been signed with Coal India, all transformers had been installed, work on cooling tower and reservoirs for water storage for 21 days was over, the turbine had been set up and the boiler hydro-tested. A 400 KV power line for one unit had been laid and the work to set up the line for the second unit was in progress. Irrigation officials present at the meeting said the work to widen 31 km of the water distributary from Bhakra canal to the plant had been completed. Officials of the Nabha Thermal Plant briefed Sukhbir that that 400KV Rajpura-Nakodar, 400KV Kanodar-Dhuri, 400KV Rajpura-Dhuri transmission lines were being erected by Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited. Speaking about the expansion plan, the general manager said that the company had already signed a MoU with the government for setting up an additional 700 MW capacity plant at the cost of Rs 3,800 crore. He said that with the expansion of the plant, it would produce 2,100 MW. Sukhbir said the establishment of the thermal plant proved that his work spoke for itself. He said that despite hindrances created by the Centre, the thermal plants being set up in the state would succeed in making Punjab power surplus. Badal’s gift to state
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Solar power generation to go up 10% by 2020: Majithia
Amritsar, June 9 “The aim is to install solar voltaic panels on the rooftops of houses so that domestic power demand can be met through non-conventional energy. The state government is offering 70 per cent subsidy on such panels,” he said. The state government has approved a Power Source Policy 2012 for new and renewable power sources. According to this policy, the contribution of renewable energy sources - mini-hydro, solar, bio-mass and other co-power production sources - to the total power production would be nearly 10 per cent. The minister said that to achieve this objective, initiatives were being taken at the government level and a favourable environment was being created to attract private players into this field. The state government will give 100 per cent exemption from power duty to state-level licence holders on the power that will be consumed during the construction of the project. “There is also a relaxation in cess on VAT applicable on equipment required in such projects. Similarly, there will be 100 per cent relaxation in fee and stamp duty for registration/lease of the area where the project will be set up,” he added. Incentives offered
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State govt wants to bring down area under paddy
Bathinda, June 9 Unlike the previous years, an alert state government got several acres of land ploughed where paddy saplings were transplanted before the scheduled date. The crop has over the year become the backbone of the state’s economy with more and more land being brought under paddy in the cotton belt of Bathinda, Abohar and Mansa. Paddy was cultivated in 28.45 lakh hectares last year from a mere 3 lakh hectares in 1976. The government now wants to turn back the clock. It wants to reduce the area under paddy by at least 50,000 hectares every year. Agro economist Dr MS Sidhu says that apart from 8 lakh families growing paddy, labourers, traders, commission agents, transporters and banks all financially benefit from it. But paddy cultivation consumes a lot of water and power. A whopping 5,000 litres of water is required to produce just 1kg paddy. “With nearly 105 lakh tonnes of paddy produced last year, you can well imagine the depletion of underground water caused by the crop as well as the pressure on the canal water,” Dr Sidhu observed. Meanwhile state residents may have to face power cuts from tomorrow. “Of the nearly 8,500 MW of electricity produced, 2,000 MW per day would have to be earmarked for farmers. The power demand is already over 11,000 MW per day,” said Baldev Singh Sra, president, PSEB Engineers Association. The good news is that all units of the Lehra Mohabbat plant, the three units of the Bathinda Thermal Plant and all units of the Ropar Thermal Plant have begun to capacity. However, coal shortage at Lehra continues to be a problem.
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High input costs may push small farmer into debt
Chandigarh, June 9 With the government having announced a token increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, farmers fear that the high input costs on the crop will lower their profit margins and push small and marginal farmers into a debt trap. This year, the labour cost has gone up by over 29 per cent. The diesel prices, too, have increased by 27 per cent. The total area under paddy this year is expected to be 28 lakh hectares. Since the labour available is inadequate, labourers are quoting high rates. As against Rs 1,700- Rs 2,000 per acre last year, they are demanding Rs 2,300- Rs 2,500 per acre this season. Though the Agriculture Department had tried to introduce mechanical paddy transplanters, these have not been too successful. Dr MS Sidhu, a farm economist, said apart from schemes like MNREGA, another reason for labour shortage was the fact that paddy cultivation in Punjab (harvesting and threshing) had become mechanical. Only paddy transplantation wa being done manually. Dr Sidhu said over the years, area under paddy had increased drastically from 5.67 lakh hectares in 1975-76; 19.02 lakh hectares in 1990-91; 26.04 lakh hectares in 2000-01 to 28.18 lakh hectares last year. Manjit Singh of Nagra village said the cost of diesel had increased by Rs 11 per litre in the past one year. “A farmer can’t make profit when input costs are increasing rapidly. The government will have to have a policy to determine MSP in consonance with the input costs, if it wants to bring down rural indebtedness,” he said. Deciding factors
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Kidnapped child found near gurdwara
Amritsar, June 9 Gurmilap's hair were shorn by the accused, who were yet to be identified, apparently to conceal his identity. Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said a woman, who ran a toyshop, approached the B-division police station. She claimed two women left the boy near her shop around 11 am asking her to take care of him for a few minutes. When nobody returned till evening, she took the boy to the police station, which in turn contacted the Kotwali police to ascertain his identity. The relatives of the boy were called who then identified him. "Gurmilap says he was taken away by his paternal aunt (his father's sister)," said Harjit Singh, Assitant Commissioner of Police. The city police has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about the accused.
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Rural-urban divide in state getting bigger: Report
Chandigarh, June 9 The rising share of the services and industrial sectors in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has not effected any changes in the state’s occupational structure. The share of industrial and services sector in the state’s GSDP has gone up to about 76 per cent and that of the agriculture and allied sectors declined to 24 per cent. Sixty per cent of the state’s population, mostly comprising small and marginal farmers and landless agriculture workers, lives in rural areas. These sections are at the lowest ladder of economic development, says a report compiled by the Punjab State Finances prepared under Dr Surinder Kumar, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID). and Dr Kulwant Singh, Assistant Professor. The report analyses the state’s finances from 1983-84 to 2011-12. “Though the state has significant achievements in terms of creating educational, health and public health facilities, it lags behind in terms of human development indices,” says the report. Though Punjab figures among the top states as far as the per capita income is concerned, it is behind in the health and educational sectors. Some sections still have no access to education. It lags behind other states in universalisation of elementary education. The state’s literacy rate is marginally higher than the all-India average of 74.04 per cent. It is far behind Kerala in the education sector though the number of schools have gone up substantially during the past few years. Punjab’s expenditure on general services, considered non-productive, has remained in the range of 50 per cent since 2000-01. It went up to 53 per cent in 2010-11 but slipped to 46 per cent in 2011-12. However, the expenditure on social and economic services has remained in the range of 22 per cent-24 per cent from 2000-01 to 2010-11. Over the years, development revenue expenditure gas gone down and non-development revenue expenditure up. Punjab’s committed expenditure is very high. It went up to Rs 29,383 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 7973 crore in 2000-01. This expenditure on salaries of employees and payment of interest on loans, pension and subsidies has been in the range of 94.74 of the revenue receipts, leaving little money for anything else. The report concludes that there is a need to generate more revenue to accelerate development and an effort towards resource mobilisation to improve the quality of education and health services. Food for thought
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Sarna: Will back memorial outside Rakabganj Sahib
Ludhiana, June 9 He alleged that the SAD was merely playing politics by raking up the 1984 riots issue when parliamentary elections were round the corner. — TNS
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Unions reject draft
agriculture policy
Chandigarh, June 9 Participating in a debate on the draft policy, the unions and civil rights groups said though they welcomed the formation of a state agriculture policy, the draft policy did not offer any sustainable solution. Agriculture scientist Dr Om Prakash Rupela said the crisis in the state's farm sector was of a serious nature and required bold and extraordinary steps. The proposed steps were like patch work while a road needed to be re-laid for sustainability, he added. Kheti Virasat Mission head Umender Dutt said it had been resolved in the discussion to reject the draft agriculture policy. The participants expressed resentment over non-representation of farmers, ecologists, public health experts in the drafting process. It was unanimously decided to prepare an alternative draft of the policy. It was also decided that there should be wider public consultations and discussions at the grassroots level for the purpose.
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Sukhraj murder case: Prime accused says he is innocent
Chandigarh, June 9 The Punjab Congress is leading an agitation to demand justice for Sukhraj and it claims that the state government was protecting Sarwan Singh. Sarwan, who is the president of the Block Congress Committee, Patti, claimed he had been wrongly implicated in the FIR which states that he had killed Sukhraj Singh. He said his name had been dragged into the FIR because of his past enmity with the deceased. Sarwan said he was ready to surrender in case the victim's father Daljit Singh stated that he had shot Sukhraj. He claimed that as Daljit Singh was present at the spot, he knew the truth and that was why he had not registered an FIR in the case. On his past enmity, Sarwan claimed that he was attacked by Sukhraj on August 7. A case was registered against Sukhraj in this regard. He said he had informed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi about the attack.
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Patiala police caught ‘stealing’ forest wood
Patiala, June 9 The accused said the wood was meant for the kitchen at the Police Lines. The forest officials confiscated the trolley loaded with the tree branches but failed to nab the accused who fled. Sources said the erring policemen were trying their best to put pressure on the forest officials and hush up the matter. Sources said some officials of the Police Lines were today seen cutting a fully grown tree that stood on forest land. However, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Satinder Sagar saw this and immediately alerted his staff
members who rushed to the spot. The police officials told the forest officials that they were going to use the branches as firewood in the Police Lines kitchen and that their seniors had given them the permission to do so. The forest officials then told the policemen that the land from where the tree was axed belonged to the Forest Department and they had no right to steal it. “We have taken the trolley loaded with the wood to the nearest forest office as there were strict instructions from the DFO,” said a forest official. Sagar confirmed that he had instructed his Range Officer “to inquire into the matter and take necessary action”. A few days ago, the Patiala police had challaned and confiscated the official vehicle of the Patiala DFO as he did not have the requisite documents for the vehicle.
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13 years on, husband wants to testify in Canadian court
Mithu said that he wanted to attend the hearing as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was not updating him about the progress of the case. "I came to know about the extradition case through the newspapers. I wasn’t informed when Jassi's mother and maternal uncle were arrested last year. The Canadian officials lied to me when they promised to update me with all the developments in the case a few years ago. They had come to my house to get a few documents signed," said Mithu. Jassi Sidhu, a Canadian girl of Indian origin, was killed and her husband Sukhwinder Mithu brutally attacked near Narike village in Malerkotla by a few contract killers who were allegedly hired by Jassi's mother and maternal uncle. Malkit Kaur and Surjit Singh were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, last year. However, they were later acquitted on bail. Case File
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Patiala MC to discuss moving 631 establishments today
Patiala, June 9 The Congress workers have criticised the government for failing to provide alternate sites to the establishments which are being shifted. The affected traders too are stiffly opposing the move and will strike work from Monday. Sources say 631 establishments short-listed by the MC will be moved. There are also a few SAD-BJP councillors backing the shopkeepers who are likely to be uprooted if the proposal goes through. “The one thing that upsets everyone is the fact that the government has failed to provide any alternative sites to the affected shopkeepers. The government should have framed some rehabilitation policy for the affected businessmen,” claimed Sanjiv Bittu, a Congress leader.
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Govt to spend Rs 43 lakh on Sirhind choe
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 9 Senior Akali leader Harinder Singh Chandumajra said here today that Chief Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, would lay the foundation stone tomorrow. — TNS
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Now, Cong’s Soni claims credit for corridor
Chandigarh, June 9 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa have already claimed credit for the industrial corridor. Soni said he along with a delegation of industrialists from Amritsar had met the PM a few months ago and submitted a proposal aimed at uplifting the investment scenario in Amritsar and ensuring jobs for the unemployed youth. — TNS
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Flesh-trade racket busted, five held
Sangrur, June 9 Satnam Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Sunam city police station, said the police after receiving a tip-off, raided the locality, where the racket was being run, and arrested three women and two men. The names of the arrested persons were Balwant Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Anju, Karanvir Singh and Manjit Singh. A case has been registered against them under the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act. — TNS
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Amritsar, June 9
Patiala, June 9
Ludhiana, June 9