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New industrial policy may not address old issues
Traders want industrial corridor till Pathankot
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Will appear before Akal Takht if summoned: Sarna
Patiala Land Scam Cabinet to discuss issue of illegal colonies today
Cong scared of fighting panchayat poll: Sukhbir
Govt staff yet to get TA-DA for zila parishad poll
Sending central team illegal, against spirit of federalism, claims Akali Dal
Pak body wants to promote investment in Hasan Abdal
Stop illegal mining, Ferozepur DC told
Books scam: Central probe team grills members of purchase panel
2 die, 6 injured as oil tanker overturns in Patiala
Storekeeper suspended for bungling
Panel to be set up for research aspirants
Being framed in rape case: Nachhatar Gill SLIET to reopen on June 25
4 of family booked for bank fraud
Canada murder: Victims’ kin want son-in-law to get death
Police clueless on whereabouts of singer Rabbi’s nephew
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New industrial policy may not address old issues
Chandigarh, June 14 Alike the fiscal incentives, the new policy decisions, too, are likely to be restricted only to fresh investment. But considering the present economic scenario and the falling growth in the manufacturing sector, it seems unlikely (despite the concessions offered last week) that Punjab would get any substantial new investment in the near future. A slew of reasons could be attributed for this. The cost of land in Punjab continues to be amongst the highest in the country and the state government is yet to have the assured land bank for the industry. Though power availability has improved, Punjab is still deficit in the sector. The industry outside the state still eyes Punjab’s policy makers with suspicion, especially as the state government, unlike other investment destinations across the country, changes its industrial policy frequently, without allowing the beneficiaries sufficient incubation time. The states that have been preferred for industrial investment generally give at least 10 years for any new policy to yield results. Punjab, on the other hand, has been changing its policy every five years. The state had earlier come up with an industrial policy in 2009 and 2003. None of these factors have either been addressed in the decisions announced last week nor are expected to be taken care of next month. Another major worry for Punjab is the Centre’s decision to extend tax sops (subsidy on investment among other incentives) for another five years to neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh too has been eying a similar package. But in case the state fails in its mission, it would release a new industrial policy for matching the incentives already offered under the Union Government package so as to keep the investment flowing in. It would again make Punjab less attractive a destination than the neighboring hill states. This may lead to further flight of the existing industry from Punjab. As Punjab’s new policy may only focus on fresh investment, the existing industry would not be eligible for any of these incentives in case of expansion of their current units. These sops will be available to them only if they set up new green field projects. Among the new decisions that Punjab is expected to announce within a month are promoting new start-ups with the state government setting up a venture capital fund, getting angel investors and setting up of incubators to provide physical infrastructure to new companies. Common facilitation centres will be set up to assist small and medium manufacturing units. The idea behind setting up these centres is to make them competitive and these will have a common tool room, provide training to workers and help in market access to new companies. One of the major things that the policy will include will be ease in bringing regularity compliance and helping the companies get credit. Though the state government itself will not be extending any credit (either through Punjab Financial Corporation or Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation), it will have a tie-up with other public sector financial institutions to help the new companies get credit at easy terms, said a top official in the Industries Department. He said the state government was in the process of forging a tie-up with a leading financial institution for the purpose. Labour reforms too are being ushered in the policy and the government is going in for online filing of labour returns and reducing the labour maintenance registers from 18 to just three.
Worrying factors
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Traders want industrial corridor till Pathankot
Pathankot, June 14 With the state government not offering sops to the existing industry, many businessmen have shifted base to
Himachal, which is just 15 km from the town. The Himachal Government is offering traders massive tax concessions. Businessmen and local politicians say that since the town is a gateway to the neighbouring states of J&K and Himachal and has a large Army cantonment, it is important that the proposed corridor is extended till
Pathankot. Raman Mohindru, president of the Pathankot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said businessmen were looking forward to the corridor being stretched to the once industrially prosperous town. “The once prestigious Pathankot Industrial Growth Centre
(IGC) project, conceived with much fanfare 17 years ago by the then Chief Minister Beant Singh and Industries Minister Raman
Bhalla, has failed to take off. Stray cattle can be seen grazing on the land meant for setting up industries. "Despite having more than 400 acres of land in possession, the centre has just two industrial units against the capacity of 254 units." He said once the corridor touched
Pathankot, the town would see rapid industrialisation generating thousands of jobs. Raman
Bhalla, who was instrumental in establishing the centre in 1996, said: “ The area is immensely rich in minerals. A crusher in Behrian village near the Punjab-Jammu border, set up in the early nineties, gave ample job opportunities to the unemployed. If just one crusher can give a boost to employment avenues in the region, one can well imagine what the industrial corridor can do if extended till
Pathankot.” Bhalla said he had taken up the issue with Pradesh Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa who would pursue the matter with various ministries in New Delhi. He said he would lead a delegation of industrialists to New Delhi.
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Will appear before Akal Takht if summoned: Sarna
Sources in the Akal Takht secretariat said a letter was sent to Sarna today, asking him to appear before the Sikh clergy on Monday. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh had announced last evening that he would summon Sarna asking why he had "opposed the memorial for the 1984 riot victims and filed a petition against it in court." The Jathedar held a closed-door meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal here today. This is significant as the Sikh clergy is to meet on Monday. Sarna had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court a few days before the stone-laying ceremony of the memorial on June 12, contending that raising a memorial inside Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib was not correct and that it should be built outside the gurdwara premises. Sarna, when contacted, said he would appear before the Sikh high priests, if summoned, and give a clarification. He, however, hastened to add that an individual was summoned to by Akal Takht only if he/she had violated the Sikh code of conduct. "I haven't done anything against Sikh tenets," he said. He questioned as to why SAD leaders were not summoned to Akal Takht for "hampering" various projects undertaken during his tenure as DSGMC chief. He claimed that it was during his tenure that the DSGMC first passed a resolution for a memorial to those killed in 1984 riots. "We had sought land from the Delhi Government for the memorial while expressing preference to a park opposite Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla." Incidentally, this is not the first time that Sarna has been summoned by Akal Takht. On August 7, 2010, Sarna and his brother Harvinder Singh had appeared before the Sikh high priests to submit a clarification on remarks made by them against advocate HS Phoolka. Before that he was summoned on February 10, 2006, in connection with the postponement of the annual DSGMC elections.
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Patiala Land Scam
Patiala, June 14 The Vigilance Bureau had filed a challan in the case against three other accused on May 9. It planned to file a supplementary challan against Garg before the end of his 90-day period in jail. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pritam Singh, Patiala VB, said the bureau could not present the challan as "certain sanctions were not received." He refused to say more. Highly placed sources said the VB officials had prepared a final challan in the case which was cleared by the VB headquarters in Chandigarh. “However, the Personnel Department did not return the file with
the sanction to challan the officer. So the VB failed to challenge his bail plea in court.” “While the state government is competent to accord sanction in the cases of the other accused, approval from the Government of India is required to be procured in the case of the IAS officer,” said officials. On May 9, the Patiala VB had submitted a challan against Yashpal Aggarwal, Devinder Sandhu, Jaswant Singh, believed to be the middlemen in the land deal, a day before their judicial remand was to end. Garg was allegedly instrumental in marking the government-owned 6,000 sq yards of land on Grand Post Office Road, Patiala, as private property to allow its further sale. “Every officer accused in the case has shifted blame on Garg, saying he had pressured them into marking the land as private," said sources. The case
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Cabinet to discuss issue of illegal colonies today Chandigarh, June 14 The government had placed important cities into different categories and instituted a fee for unauthorised colonies seeking to be regularised. Besides the compounded fee, it had also decided to fine illegal construction. The issue will be discussed by the Cabinet in the wake of the feedback from developers who are unhappy with the high charges. The sources said other issues likely to be taken up were amendments in certain clauses of the industrial policy. Another item on the agenda, regularising the services of 146 assistant district attorneys, has reportedly been dropped. The attorneys, who were given jobs on an ad hoc basis in 2009, had earlier been asked to opt for regular appointment through the Punjab Public Service Commission which has advertised 250-odd posts in the same category. The sources said the Cabinet meeting was being held on a Saturday because the panchayat election was likely to be notified on Monday following which the model code of conduct would remain in force till July 3, the voting day. The Chief Minister and the Deputy CM both are leaving for the UK in the next few days. Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who leaves on June 16, will be back on June 30. The Chief Minister will leave on June 17 and return on June 22.
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Cong scared of fighting panchayat poll: Sukhbir
Amritsar, June 14 Sukhbir was speaking to mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of the Rs 24 crore new Amritsar Municipal Corporation building here. Also, the Deputy Chief Minister said the SAD would fight the Delhi Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, the seat arrangement for which would be worked out mutually. He hit out at the UPA for trying to bring out a food Bill on election eve. “It is an election bill aimed at befooling the public. The UPA is trying to copy Punjab’s atta-dal scheme.” To a query regarding speculations on swapping the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat with the BJP, he said there was no such proposal. The Deputy Chief Minister also reviewed the progress on the construction of the Rs 78-crore Golden Temple Entrance Plaza project and asked the authorities to ensure its completion by Diwali. He said the opening lobby of the plaza will have a pilgrim facilitation centre, an Internet café, railway and air ticket booking counters, a Punjab Tourism kiosk, a healthcare and first-aid counter for emergency care, besides a counter to provide free religious literature. He also went around the roads leading from the Hall Bazaar to the Golden Temple and it was decided that the façade of all shops and houses located on this road should also be realigned to give the whole street a new look.
SAD to go with NDA on PM candidate Chawla calls stone ceremony a ‘nautanki’
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Govt staff yet to get TA-DA for zila parishad poll
Muktsar, June 14 Now, the schedule for the panchayat elections has also been announced but the officials concerned are passing the buck on each other to pay the amount to the employees. In an order issued on April 12 by the State Election Commission, it was decided that “the staff deployed on poll duty may be able to get the TA-DA from their department concerned as admissible under the rules”. But when a number of employees who had done election duty were contacted, they said they were yet to get the remuneration. A schoolteacher said, “We have not yet received any payment against the election duty done on May 19. Nobody has even informed us to fill any TA-DA form to claim it.” Muktsar District Election Officer-cum-Additional Deputy Commissioner Ramvir Singh said, “The TA-DA to the poll staff has to be paid by the parent department of the employee, as per the State Election Commission guidelines.”District Education Officer Devinder Kumar Rajoria, however, said, “As the staff was deputed with the election department, it is bound to pay the allowances.” When apprised of Ramvir Singh’s statement, Rajouria claimed, “We have not yet received any such information from the election authorities or our higher-ups to pay the TA-DA to our employees.”Secretary, State Election Commission, ML Sharma, said, “The department concerned has to pay the allowance.” During the assembly and parliamentary elections, the election staff gets TA-DA on the polling day itself.
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Sending central team illegal, against spirit of federalism, claims Akali Dal
Cheema said sending the team to Punjab was illegal and the act was against the spirit of federalism. It was a clear attempt by the Centre to browbeat the state government. “The Centre sent the team to Punjab to oblige Congress leaders. It did not bother to seek the state’s comment on the memorandum submitted to it by the Congress leaders alleging misuse of central funds," said Cheema. However, Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said since funds under the SSA were provided by the Centre, it had every right to check if these had been misused.
“We will press for a CBI inquiry against Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka as the probe ordered against him by the state government is a mere farce,” Khaira said. "Several scandals have been reported in the Congress-ruled states in recent years. How many fact finding-teams have been sent by the Centre to such states," asked
Cheema. He objected to the team accepting a memorandum from Congress leaders. “The team was sent to ascertain facts and not to accept any memorandum against the state government,” Cheema said, pointing out that nevertheless the state government had cooperated with the team.
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Pak body wants to promote investment in Hasan Abdal
Chandigarh, June 14 Pak-Indo Friendship Association president Arif Chaudhary wants this and much more. Panja Sahib was declared a holy city by the Pakistan Government last year. Chaudhary met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today and invited him to Pakistan.Talking to The Tribune, Chaudhary claimed that the Nawaz Sharif Government was keen to promote ties with Punjab and that the Friendship Association would work in league with both the governments to promote investment in Hasan Abdal. “Panja Sahib, which was not easily accessible earlier, is now a 50- minute drive from Islamabad,” he said. The area had acquired further importance with Sikhs from various parts of Afghanistan settling there, he said. The lawyer said the forum was keen on Punjabi investment at Hasan Abdal, both by individual investors and the SGPC. He said the projects identified included a modern train service to Hasan Abdal, luxurious accommodation for pilgrims and bottling of the spring water associated with Guru Nanak. The Pakistan official said the forum would also try to sort out issues related to the welfare of Sikhs living at Panja Sahib. A rock in Panja Sahib is believed to have Guru Nanak's hand impression. Badal, while accepting Chaudhary's invitation, said he had always championed the cause for further ties with Pakistan through opening of the Hussainiwal and Fazilka borders. The Chief Minister hoped with the formation of a new government in Pakistan, the bilateral ties would further improve and new
business and cultural exchange avenues would be worked out. SK Sandhu, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, said Chaudhary had promised to get something in writing from the Pakistan Government to carry the initiative forward. “Let’s see. Something may come out of it,” remarked Sandhu.
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Stop illegal mining, Ferozepur DC told
Chandigarh, June 14 Taking up a petition filed by Anokh Singh and others against the State of Punjab and other respondents, Justice Rajive Bhalla and Justice Rekha Mittal also directed instant action against any person guilty of illegal mining. “If found guilty of excavating minor minerals, price thereof etc be recovered in accordance with Section 21 (5) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957,” the Bench said. The directions came after Deputy Commissioner Manjit Singh Narang submitted a report and photographs to show that a chunk of land, where illegal mining was on, had been “restored to its original state and illegal mining stopped”. The Bench disposed of the petition after the General Manager-cum-Mining Officer of the Ferozepur District Industries Centre, Gursharan Singh, further stated that FIRs had been registered and “proceedings for recovery of price of minor minerals excavated and royalty have been initiated”.
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Books scam: Central probe team grills members of purchase panel
Chandigarh, June 14 The team grilled members of the now disbanded purchase and selection committee, Pritpal Kaur, Vinod Kumar and Gurtej Singh, who had placed the order for the library books and science kits under
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). The probe team visited the schools to ascertain how the books, allegedly replete with objectionable matter, were procured by the schools. The team members reportedly made inquiries regarding how the books were delivered to the schools, who had received these books and who had made the payment. The team members reportedly questioned the school principals on the books' content. The team comprising Ranjana Arora, Associate Professor, Secondary School Department, NCERT, Arun Kumar, Under Secretary, Finance, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Gopalan, Chief Consultant, Procurement TSG-SSA, and Subir Shukla, an expert on children’s literature, completed the inquiry and left for New Delhi this evening. The committee will submit its report to the Union HRD Ministry for further action on the matter.
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2 die, 6 injured as oil tanker overturns in Patiala
Patiala, June 14 It is the policy of Punjab government that government hospitals treat all victims of road accidents for free. However, Rajindra Hospital proved to be an exception to this rule. Hospital authorities didn’t begin treating the victims for at least half an hour. They dithered over following procedural technicalities in procuring suture material (required for stitches) and Plaster of Paris (POP) needed to begin their treatment. One of the deceased was an unidentified female aged about 70 years. She was declared dead on arrival. The other deceased was three-wheeler driver’s son Lovepreet Singh. One of the injured, Jyoti, was referred to PGI, Chandigarh, as she was suffering from severe head injuries. The other injured were three-wheeler driver Dharampal Singh, Balwinder Kaur (30), Paramjeet Kaur, Gagandeep Kaur, Sarabjeet Kaur and Jaspreet. They were admitted to the emergency ward. As the hospital did not have suture material and POP, the Deputy Medical Superintendent asked the pharmacist to issue these, but he refused. The pharmacist said he could not issue these without getting the signatures of the Medical Superintendent Dr VK Sharda, who was busy in the operation theatre. The two then had an argument and the Deputy Medical Superintendent called the District Red Cross Society Secretary PS Sidhu for the POP. Sidhu confirmed they had received an order for POP. Dr Sharda, when contacted, said, “The relatives of the victims could have purchased the material from outside chemist shops. We cannot provide medicines to everyone.” However, Dr KD Singh, Principal of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, admitted they were supposed to provide free treatment to road accident victims. He said he would look into the matter. The Deputy Medical Superintendent confirmed that she had ordered POP for the girl child as her legs were badly broken. Violating rules
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Storekeeper suspended for bungling
Mohali, June 14 The official, Lakhi Ram, has been put under suspension with immediate effect while manager Tajinder Sharma will soon be issued a charge sheet. Dr Tajinder Kaur
Dhaliwal, chairperson, PSEB, said both these employees were found guilty in an inquiry conducted by the board. The inquiry officers - Rashpinder Singh, senior auditor of Text Book Cell of the board, and Varinder Kumar, auditor, - had recommended a strict action against the erring officials, she added. One of the charges against the officials was that they were selling Class VIII science book (English medium) for Rs 67 against the prescribed rate of Rs 125. Other charges include raising false bill of Rs 1.13 lakh in the name of a bookstall owner without supplying him any book and misbehavior with customers. A complainant, Rakesh Kumar of Jandial Book Stall in
Sujanpur, alleged he got a false bill of Rs 1.13 lakh in his name without getting any of the books mentioned in it. Kumar was shocked to see that the bill was debited into my account for books which were supplied to a bookstall in
Gurdaspur, he alleged, adding when he objected to it, the officials misbehaved with him. Dr Tajinder Kaur said the charges had been proved.
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Panel to be set up for research aspirants
Patiala, June 14 Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor, said they received numerous applications from scholars and senior citizens settled abroad every year but they could not meet the admission criteria. “The committee will find solutions for those who want to study further or do research,” he added.
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Being framed in rape case: Nachhatar Gill Ludhiana, June 14 Apart from Gill, three other persons were booked in the case. The victim alleged all the four accused raped her by mixing sedatives in a cold drink. Nachattar, however, termed as “baseless” the allegation that all the four accused used the same modus operandi to rape the girl. “The girl knew me since 2006 and she is lodging a complaint in 2013! It is all farce that everyone enticed her and she kept visiting abroad where she was given sedatives in cold drinks and then raped," claimed Gill. Deputy Commissioner of Police Harsh Bansal said a special investigation team (SIT) had been formed to probe the case.
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SLIET to reopen on June 25
Sangrur, June 14 The decision was taken by Prof Sunil Pandey, SLIET Director, at a meeting of the heads of various departments. Hundreds of students had gone on the rampage on May 6 in protest against the authorities. Thereafter, the institute was closed indefinitely. Dr AS Dhaliwal, SLIET Registrar, said they had decided to reopen the institute on June 25. Ph.D students and final year students of undergraduate and postgraduate courses had been asked to join the institute. Dr Dhaliwal said the institute would reopen on June 28 for final year students of diploma programmes as their examinations would begin on July 2. Meanwhile, the two-member probe panel, comprising Justice SN Aggarwal and RP Aggarwal, concluded its third four-day inquiry session on campus.
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4 of family booked for bank fraud
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 14 The Chief Manager of Bank of India, Mandi Gobindgarh, in his complaint to the police said that four accused namely Subhash Chander Goel, his wife Vanita Goel, and his two sons Sourav and Venus, had taken a loan from the bank after mortgaging a piece of land. However, the accused sold the land to another accused Jatinder Singh on September 26, 2009, without informing the bank. The police has registered a case against the accused. However, no arrests have been made so far. — TNS
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Canada murder: Victims’ kin want son-in-law to get death
Rajpura, June 14 Manmeet had allegedly murdered his estranged wife Ravinder with a hatchet at the office of Surrey’s newspaper ‘Sach di Awaaz’ in Newton on July 28, 2011. He had also allegedly stabbed her multiple times and slit her neck at the office where she worked as an administrative assistant. Manmeet (28) was to be tried for first-degree murder on Monday for the slaying of Ravinder Bhangu (24) but he pleaded guilty instead to the lesser offence of second-degree murder in a submission to Justice Miriam Maisonville in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster. Besides the mandatory life sentence, the victim’s lawyers say that Manmeet should serve 16 years in prison before he can apply for parole. Maisonville reserved her decision for June 21. The victims’ parents still can’t get over the shocking incident. Victim’s mother Surjit Kaur said, “Manmeet ruined our life. He was from Rajpura and met my daughter at a college here. He took my daughter to Canada after immigrating to the country. They got married in 2008 but the marriage didn’t last long and left him in 2011. We demand that an example should be made out of Manmeet so that no one in the future could commit such a heinous crime.” Victim’s father Balbir Singh, who works in Fatehgarh Sahib, said, “We hope that Manmeet gets death penalty.”
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Police clueless on whereabouts of singer Rabbi’s nephew
Patiala, June 14 The victim's family was told last week that the DNA samples of the cremated body did not match with that of his mother. Twenty-two-year-old Chetan Shergill, who is a Delhi resident had boarded a bus to Patiala a day before he disappeared mysteriously
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The Punjab Government believes in releasing its major policies in bits and pieces! What else would explain the state’s tearing hurry to announce a package of fiscal incentives last week whereas the major decisions under the Punjab Industrial Policy 2013 are expected to be announced next month.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today said the Punjab Congress was trying to run away from the panchayat poll contest.
Accusing Bajwa of trying to scuttle the elections in order to “save his job”, he said the SAD cadre, on the other hand, was ready for the fight. He also clarified that the SAD would not fight the panchayat elections on the party symbol.
Amritsar, June 14
Chandigarh, June 14
