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TOP STORIES

Govt not cash-starved, asserts Sukhbir Badal
Chandigarh, September 9
Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal with Finance Minister PS Dhindsa in Chandigarh on Monday. Nothing is wrong with Punjab's economy and finances, claimed Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at a press conference here today.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal with Finance Minister PS Dhindsa in Chandigarh on Monday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Tax sops to neighbours a blow for state
Chandigarh, September 9
The extension of tax concessions comprising capital investment and freight subsidy to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has come as a severe blow to Punjab. At a time when the state is struggling to get new investment and contain the flight of industry to tax-exempt states, the development will only make the going tough for Punjab.



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EARLIER STORIES



Floods caused Rs 150 cr loss in Muktsar
Muktsar, September 9
A boy shows inundated fields and an overflowing drain at Raniwala in Muktsar. The recent rains that displaced a large number of people in the district caused a damage amounting to Rs 150 crore to crops and property, as per a report prepared by the district administration. Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said the crop loss was estimated around Rs 81.38 crore while that to road infrastructure was Rs 55.04 crore.



A boy shows inundated fields and an overflowing drain at Raniwala in Muktsar. Tribune photo 





 

POLITICS

Congress: Govt stands exposed
Amritsar, September 9
A day after Navjot Singh Sidhu lambasted the state government, the Congress today said the “bold and truthful criticism” by the MP trashed the tall claims of development made by the Chief Minister and his deputy.

BJP’s internal matter: Majithia
Adampur (Jalandhar), September 9
Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia today preferred to remain silent on the critical remarks against the Parkash Singh Badal-led state government being made by BJP Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. Speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the administrative complex at Adampur, he remained evasive on queries pertaining to Sidhu's outburst.

For laying stone of projects, Sukhbir's Amritsar visit today
Amritsar, September 9
In the wake of Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's outburst against the state government for "ignoring" his constituency, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will be visiting the holy city tomorrow to lay the foundation stone of various development projects.


COMMUNITY

Plans afoot to make Giani Zail Singh College a govt university
Bathinda, September 9
Giani Zail Singh college, a constituent campus of Punjab Technical University (PTU), is likely to become a government university. The PTU has sent the feasibility report in this regard to Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s office.

Bassi Pathana roads to be strengthened
Bassi Pathana, September 9
The work on strengthening the 225-km link road network in this block of Fatehgarh Sahib district will start from October and the state government will provide Rs 1.40 lakh per km to contractors for maintaining the same for the next five years.

Experts to monitor work on Golden Temple’s interiors 
Amritsar, September 9
The SGPC has decided to carry out the repair work on gold-plating and artwork in the interiors of the Golden Temple under the supervision of conservation experts. Talking to The Tribune, SGPC senior vice-president RS Virk said they had already held several meetings with the experts and decided that the work inside the holy shrine would be done under their supervision.

Six dists to get more funds for health
Chandigarh, September 9
Under a National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) programme, six districts in Punjab have been identified for budget allocation at least 30 per cent more than the other districts. Anuradha Gupta, Additional secretary-cum-Mission Director, addressing the media on the sidelines of a meeting on "High priority districts of Punjab for improved maternal and child health outcome" here today, identified the districts as Muktsar, Mansa, Barnala, Sangrur, Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

DSGMC seeks changes in Delhi Gurdwara Act
New Delhi, September 9
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee today submitted a letter to Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung urging him to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act 1971, on the basis of a resolution passed by the DSGMC in February this year.

Auction of Bhawanigarh MC building opposed, postponed
Sangrur, September 9
Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla addresses Congress workers in Bhawanigarh on Monday. Members of the Congress party today staged a dharna outside the Municipal Council (MC) office at Bhawanigarh, about 20 km from here. They were protesting against the auction of the office building, which was scheduled for today. The auction was later postponed by the council authorities for an indefinite period.





Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla addresses Congress workers in Bhawanigarh on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Battle of Phillora’s anniversary observed 
Patiala, September 9
An Army officer pays homage to martyrs at a war memorial in Patiala on Monday. The 48th anniversary of the Battle of Phillora during the Indo-Pak War of 1965 was commemorated at Black Elephant Cenotaph near the YPS Chowk here today. The General Officer Commanding, Black Elephant Formation, laid a wreath at the cenotaph to pay homage to the martyrs.



An Army officer pays homage to martyrs at a war memorial in Patiala on Monday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar


COURTS

Revising merit position of judicial officer a fraud, says High Court
Chandigarh, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has minced no words to say that the Punjab Public Service Commission and the state government’s action of revising the merit position of a judicial officer was nothing but a “fraud.” In the judges versus judge case, a Division Bench also quashed the revision of result carried out when Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu was commission Chairman.

HC suspends CBI judge 
Chandigarh, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today placed under suspension the services of CBI special judge Hemant Gopal. The orders came less than six months after Mansa district planning committee chairman and former MLA Mangat Rai Bansal along with 21 others was convicted and sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment in a 14-year-old paddy embezzlement case by Judge Hemant Gopal at Patiala.

Two get life term in Bathinda rape case
Bathinda, September 9
The court of Additional Sessions Judge MP Singh Pahwa today sentenced two youths to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl of Bhagta Bhai-Ke here in October last. The court, however, acquitted five other accused, including two elderly persons, one of them the father of a convict.

High Court rejects murder accused’s bail petition
Mohali, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the application for regular bail by one of the nine accused in the murder case of local advocate Amarpreet Singh. The court today dismissed the application of Sunbir Singh who, along with his eight friends, had gunned down the advocate on February 27 this year over the issue of car parking.


CRIME

Youth found murdered
Moga, September 9
The police today recovered the body of an unidentified youth from Kingwah canal on the outskirts of the city. The police said the body had been kept in the mortuary of the district hospital for identification.

Cricket betting racket busted, 2 held
Sangrur, September 9
With the arrest of two persons here, the district police today claimed to have busted a cricket betting racket. The accused were placing bets on the one-day cricket match between England and Australia yesterday.

20 held with drugs in Patiala
Patiala, September 9
The Patiala police has arrested 20 persons and recovered opium and other psychotropic drugs from their possession here. The district police arrested 18 persons and recovered  73 kg poppy husk,  70 gm smack and psychotropic tablets and capsules from them.



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Govt not cash-starved, asserts Sukhbir Badal
Says no harm in mortgaging properties for raising funds
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 9
Nothing is wrong with Punjab's economy and finances, claimed Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at a press conference here today.
Sukhbir made a presentation on state's fiscal situation to dispel what he described as "wrong notions" that the state was cash-starved.

"One of the strong indicators about the health of the economy is that the state has not once defaulted on payment of wages to its employees, on pensions or repayment of principal amount and interest on loans taken by the government," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said the state government was paying its employees salaries higher than those being given to Central Government employees as it had always accepted the recommendations of pay commissions. "Employees' arrears too have been cleared," the Deputy CM explained.

The rather charged up Deputy Chief Minister criticised the media for creating a fear psychosis among potential investors. He had come "armed with facts" to take on the media.

Defending the mortgaging of properties, he said this was not a bad thing. Earlier governments had done so and the Centre too mortgaged property to generate funds.

Debt, if used for productive investment, was not bad economics either, he argued. “Debt is a catalyst for growth. Even countries of the stature of Japan, Singapore and the US are under heavy debt. For achieving the target of investment implementation of Rs 2 lakh crore, an ASSOCHAM report has placed Punjab at number 3, the state having achieved 79 per cent of its target already,” Sukhbir said.

Quoting documents, the Deputy CM said the State Gross Domestic Product during the Congress tenure from 2002 to 2007 was Rs 5,04,937 crore while the same during the SAD-BJP's previous tenure was Rs 10,09,874 crore. He said the state's revenue receipts during the Congress tenure (2002-07) amounted to Rs 36,808 crore while the same during 2007-12 under the previous SAD-BJP Government stood at Rs 74,029 crore.

Similarly, VAT receipts during the Congress rule were Rs 19,653 crore while the same under the previous SAD tenure were Rs 45,815 crore.

The state's excise receipts during the Congress' five-year rule were Rs 7,314 crore which had increased to Rs 10,900 crore during 2007-12. Similarly, Motor Vehicle Tax revenue had increased from Rs 2,136 crore to Rs 3,082 crore. The Deputy CM claimed that the government had increased spending on education by 398 per cent, on health 184 per cent, roads 155 per cent, irrigation 157 per cent, social security 170 per cent and rural water supply 197 per cent.

Sukhbir made a special mention of the poor allocation of funds to the state by the Centre. Quoting an RBI report on state finances, A Study of Budgets 2012-2013, he said Punjab, with a devolution of Rs 9,200 crore, was ranked 15 and was placed below states like Uttar Pradesh.

The annual per capita income of the state had increased from Rs 33,395 in 2002-03 to Rs 1,05,459 in 2012-13 as per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementationreport, he said. The national per capita income during the same period was Rs 22,142 and Rs 77,748, respectively, he pointed out.

Asked if banks, including the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, had refused loans to the Punjab Government, the Deputy CM said: “ All loan proposals don't work out with all banks. There are different conditions for different projects.”

To queries on the rather delayed action on the crop diversification programme for which the state had received Rs 112 crore from the Centre, improper functioning of the mid-day meal scheme and negligible Horticulture Mission results, the Deputy CM said: “I'm not talking about individual departments. I am talking about the state finances in general. I will question the departments concerned on each of these issues.”

Asked why the state was asking for more grants from the Finance Commission if it was in the pink of health, the Deputy CM replied: “Asking grants from the Finance Commission is a different matter altogether as the money is needed for accelerating development.”

Deputy CM rolls out figures

  • Sukhbir defends mortgaging of properties. Says earlier governments have done so too and so has the Centre to generate funds
  • Argues that debt, if used for productive investment, is not bad economics
  • Blames media for creating a fear psychosis among potential investors
  • Says State Gross Domestic Product during 2007-2012 has risen to Rs 10,09,874 crore
  • Revenue receipts for 2007-12 stand at Rs 74,029 crore
  • VAT receipts under the SAD rule stand at Rs 45,815 crore
  • Excise receipts have risen to Rs 10,900 crore
  • Motor vehicle tax revenue has jumped to Rs 3,082 crore
  • Govt has increased spending in social sector
  • Annual per capita income had risen from Rs 33,395 in 2002-2003 to Rs 1,05,459 in 2012-13 

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Tax sops to neighbours a blow for state
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 9
The extension of tax concessions comprising capital investment and freight subsidy to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has come as a severe blow to Punjab. At a time when the state is struggling to get new investment and contain the flight of industry to tax-exempt states, the development will only make the going tough for Punjab.

Punjab has been the worst sufferer of regional economic disparity arising out of “preferential” treatment to hill states in its vicinity, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre with a view to accelerating growth in these states, offered them tax concessions without realising that the move would make investment in Punjab unviable. But just as Punjab was hoping that tax concessions would not be extended, the Centre has gone ahead with the move.

While the concessions for Jammu and Kashmir were extended in June, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were given an extension yesterday. The package was withdrawn from both the states in March 2010, but concessions on capital investment, which entails a capital investment subsidy at 30 per cent of the value of plant and machinery and a freight subsidy (75 per cent subsidy on transfer of goods from the production unit to the designate rail head), continued till January this year. These have again been restored.

Punjab Industries Minister Anil Joshi told The Tribune that the move was discriminatory. “This shows that the Congress-led UPA government is hell bent on wiping out industry from the state. I had sought an appointment from Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on several occasions, but he did not even meet me. The Centre is creating an atmosphere where Punjab cannot grow at all,” he alleged.

Punjab is witnessing a phase of low growth. Industrial investment has been on the decline. The contribution of the manufacturing sector to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is 6.8 per cent. In the past two years, the state’s industrial growth has remained stagnant. The state government had recently announced a slew of fiscal concessions to fresh investment as part of its new industrial policy. But this extension of sops to neighbouring states will negate the concessions offered by the state government. Gunbir Singh, member, CII National Council on Governance, and a businessman from Amritsar, said the move was unfair. “Punjab has seen shifting of industry and investment to these hill states. Even Punjab-based units have relocated in these tax-exempt areas to reap the benefits. Given the need for fresh investment in Punjab to give boost to its economy, this extension is a major setback for the state," he said.

It may be mentioned that the Ministry of Finance was not keen on extending area-based exemptions to the north-east and hill states as the revenue foregone because of these exemptions was Rs 18,500 crore in 2012-13. The total subsidy received by Himachal Pradesh till March 2013 was Rs 156.27 crore while the subsidy received by Jammu and Kashmir was Rs 106 crore.

Challenging the grant of tax sops to the hill states in the Supreme Court, the Punjab Government has maintained that 274 industrial units, involving an investment of Rs 3,679.79 crore, moved out of the state because of tax concessions in the neighbouring states. Ludhiana was the worst-hit with investment worth Rs 2,027.34 crore shifting to other states while Malerkotla lost an investment of Rs 742.50 crore and Gurdaspur/Batala suffered a loss of Rs 461.11 crore.

The total investment shifted out of Amritsar was Rs 188.50 crore. The units that moved out of Punjab dealt with the textile, steel and pharmaceutical sectors. The state government has also maintained that because of this reason, there has been a considerable decline in central excise contribution from Punjab. From Rs 2,786.46 crore in 2003-04, the collection fell to just Rs 661.83 crore in 2010-11.

Information accessed from the approved annual plan of Himachal Pradesh reveals that since the industrial package was announced for the state in 2003-04, the state received investment worth Rs 13,509.77 crore with setting up of over 3,800 industrial units. The contribution of industry to the GSDP in Himachal Pradesh is 16 per cent as against 6.8 per cent in Punjab and the per capita annual investment has risen from Rs 2,196.45 to Rs 4,442.25. This shows that the hill state has been growing rapidly ever since the industrial package was announced.

DL Sharma, president of the Punjab state council of the CII and the Vardhman Group, said new investment would continue to go to these hill states as the capital incentive subsidy was huge. The freight subsidy would also continue to make these states far better place to do business, he said, adding that the Centre could have at least granted these sops in the border districts of Punjab.

Disadvantage Punjab

  • At least 274 industrial units, involving an investment of Rs 3,679.79 crore, have moved out of the state
  • Ludhiana is the worst-hit with investment worth Rs 2,027.34 crore shifting to other states
  • Malerkotla lost an investment of Rs 742.50 crore while Gurdaspur/Batala suffered a loss of Rs 461.11 crore
  • The units that moved out of Punjab dealt with the textile, steel and harmaceutical sectors
  • There is a considerable decline in central excise contribution from Punjab
  • From Rs 2,786.46 crore in 2003-04, the collection fell to just Rs 661.83 crore in 2010-11

 

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Floods caused Rs 150 cr loss in Muktsar
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, September 9
The recent rains that displaced a large number of people in the district caused a damage amounting to Rs 150 crore to crops and property, as per a report prepared by the district administration.
Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said the crop loss was estimated around Rs 81.38 crore while that to road infrastructure was Rs 55.04 crore.

He said, “The schools infrastructure suffered a loss of Rs 4.71 crore, houses Rs 2.18 crore, the Health Department Rs 2.16 crore, animal husbandry department Rs 1.62 crore, water supply Rs 1.4 crore, powergrids Rs 80 lakh and canals Rs 69 lakh.”

Paramjit Singh said the details of the losses had been submitted to the Chairman of the 14th Finance Commission, who had visited Muktsar yesterday to take stock of the situation. The data showed that so far, 608 houses had collapsed fully while 947 had suffered partial losses. Besides, 106 government school buildings, including 80 of the Education Department and 20 of the zila parishad, have been damaged. At least 68 health centres had also suffered losses.

The total area affected is 78,910 acres in Muktsar, 59,849 acres in Malout and 24,000 acres in Gidderbaha.

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Congress: Govt stands exposed
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 9
A day after Navjot Singh Sidhu lambasted the state government, the Congress today said the “bold and truthful criticism” by the MP trashed the tall claims of development made by the Chief Minister and his deputy.

In a statement released here, PPCC spokesman Sukhpal Khaira said: “The stinging remarks of Sidhu that the Badal government has ignored Amritsar and diverted funds meant for its development for other purposes indicate that the Akali government has little respect for Amritsar, known as the Mecca of Sikhs”.

He said it was “shameful” that the Badals could not even spare just Rs 4 crore for the installation of CCTV cameras in Amritsar. “If the Badals cannot ensure the development of Amritsar, one can imagine the plight of other cities,” he added.

The Congress also trashed CM’s argument that the issues raised by Sidhu were an internal matter of the BJP. 

BJP’s internal matter: Majithia
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Adampur (Jalandhar), September 9
Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia today preferred to remain silent on the critical remarks against the Parkash Singh Badal-led state government being made by BJP Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. Speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the administrative complex at Adampur, he remained evasive on queries pertaining to Sidhu's outburst.

Asked whether Sidhu was referring to Majithia as the one creating problems for him, the Minister, in a guarded response, replied, “To the best of my knowledge, Sidhu has not taken my name or said anything against me. It is the BJP’s internal matter.”

Sidhu, a cricketer-turned-politician who has won thrice as an MP from Amritsar, has accused the SAD-BJP government of scuttling his pet projects for the holy city. Incidentally, Majithia too enjoys considerable political clout in Amritsar as his assembly constituency Majitha is part of the district.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Sub-Registrar Office in Jalandhar, Majithia said the Revenue Department had hired two world-renowned consultancies, namely Price Waterhouse Coopers and KPMG, to scrutinise the documents pertaining to property registration in 12 tehsils.

He said it would be ascertained whether these were registered as per the prescribed norms of the state government. "This initiative is aimed at ensuring transparency in the working of the Revenue Department. In case of any wrongdoing, the official concerned will have to face stern action,” he said.

The Minister said about 1.5 lakh property registrations would be scrutinised in the process.

Majithjia said the department was exploring the possibility of automating the revenue system to bring in more efficiency. “Integrated computerisation and registration of documents project has already been started in Mohali, Jalandhar and Nakodar,” he said. 

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For laying stone of projects, Sukhbir's Amritsar visit today
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 9
In the wake of Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's outburst against the state government for "ignoring" his constituency, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will be visiting the holy city tomorrow to lay the foundation stone of various development projects.

Sukhbir will lay the stone of various development works worth Rs 18 crore in the Amritsar Central constituency.

The works include replacement of water supply lines in the walled city and repair of streets. Sukhbir will also lay the stone of the main entrance gate to the city on the Jalandhar-Amritsar road.

The gate will be one of the four to be raised on key roads leading to the city.

The Deputy Chief Minister’s visit assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of Sidhu's outburst against the government for "scuttling" his pet projects and diverting Amritsar Improvement Trust funds to other towns.

“Amritsar is Guru ki Nagri. No one will be allowed to discriminate against it,” a furious Sidhu had warned.

“On the one hand, the Mecca of Sikhs is facing a financial crisis and on the other you are transferring money to other towns. Under which law are you doing so,” he had questioned the government.

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Plans afoot to make Giani Zail Singh College a govt university
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 9
Giani Zail Singh college, a constituent campus of Punjab Technical University (PTU), is likely to become a government university.
The PTU has sent the feasibility report in this regard to Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s office.

During the Chief Minister's visit to the campus  on July 27, he was requested to make the college a university for boosting technical education in the Malwa region.

“The Chief Minister asked us to send a feasibility report which could show that the university could have provisions to become a financially self-sustaining institution. We have already submitted the report,” said PTU Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajnish Arora.

The institute has 3,000 students and has enough infrastructure to admit 6,000 students. The PTU has proposed that 4,000 seats could be kept for students of Punjab and other states while the remaining 2,000 could be reserved for foreign students, whose fee structure could be designed differently for making the university economically independent.

The Vice-Chancellor said the emphasis would be on market-oriented courses. He said under the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM), 1,000 world-class skilled workers could be prepared and sent abroad legitimately in countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where there was a demand of trained workers from India.

“Distance education is the future of education. Institutes such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are running roaring courses under Massive Open Online Courses. We want to start similar institutes under the proposed Giani Zail Singh University with a target of enrolling at least 24,000 students in the first year,” Dr Arora said.

As per the National Knowledge Commission, 1,500 universities are needed in country. According to the population of Punjab, at least 50 universities are required.

Presently, there are 28 autonomous government and private educational bodies in the state. If the university status is accorded to Giani Zail Singh College, it will become a hub in the Malwa region in terms of mentoring other technical centres in the area. The draft submitted to the Chief Minister is likely to be presented before the Vidhan Sabha in its next session.

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Bassi Pathana roads to be strengthened

Bassi Pathana, September 9
The work on strengthening the 225-km link road network in this block of Fatehgarh Sahib district will start from October and the state government will provide Rs 1.40 lakh per km to contractors for maintaining the same for the next five years.

This was stated by local MLA Nirmal Singh while handing over cheques worth Rs 10.31 lakh to 10 villages of Khera block and Rs 19.59 lakh to 20 villages of Bassi Pathana block.

He also distributed cheques worth Rs 26.68 lakh for development works to 22 villages of Khamano block.

Nirmal Singh said the state government had issued a grant of Rs 62 lakh for various development works in villages falling under Bassi Pathana block. — TNS

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Experts to monitor work on Golden Temple’s interiors 
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 9
The SGPC has decided to carry out the repair work on gold-plating and artwork in the interiors of the Golden Temple under the supervision of conservation experts.
Talking to The Tribune, SGPC senior vice-president RS Virk said they had already held several meetings with the experts and decided that the work inside the holy shrine would be done under their supervision.

He said they had given advertisements in newspapers, inviting bids from the firms having expertise in conservation of historic buildings. He said though “kar sewa wale babas” would also be engaged, the work would be monitored by the experts.

Virk said all efforts would be made to save gold-plating and artwork from any further damage. Earlier, the SGPC had entrusted the “kar sewa” of the Golden Temple’s interiors to Baba Kashmir Singh Bhuriwale. But, following concerns by Sikh intellectuals, the SGPC had roped in a team of experts to prepare a report.

Sources said the gold-plating inside the shrine had suffered damage up to 40 per cent, mostly around the doors. However, out of this 40 per cent damaged area, the gold-plating on only 15 per cent was required to be replaced while the rest would need only repair work. 

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Six dists to get more funds for health
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 9
Under a National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) programme, six districts in Punjab have been identified for budget allocation at least 30 per cent more than the other districts. Anuradha Gupta, Additional secretary-cum-Mission Director, addressing the media on the sidelines of a meeting on "High priority districts of Punjab for improved maternal and child health outcome" here today, identified the districts as Muktsar, Mansa, Barnala, Sangrur, Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

She said the Centre had prioritised 184 poor- performing districts of the country for focused intervention. Gupta said that under a revised plan, the centrally funded ambulances would carry a uniform colour code and a logo of "National Ambulance Service."

Vinni Mahajan, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said Punjab had shown steady progress in bringing down the infant mortality rate (30/1,000) and the neo-natal mortality rate (25/1,000). Hussan Lal, Mission Director, Punjab, said the USAID would provide technical support for project implementation in the state which comprised data interpretation and conceiving health delivery plans.

CM's photos on ambulances to stay

The Punjab Government is likely to let go of 33 per cent central share for running Ambulance Service 108 rather than remove the pictures of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from ambulances. A senior officer gave an indication to this effect, saying “the state could manage to generate more finances for health programmes under Health Department schemes.”

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DSGMC seeks changes in Delhi Gurdwara Act
Syed Ali Ahmed
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 9
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee today submitted a letter to Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung urging him to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act 1971, on the basis of a resolution passed by the DSGMC in February this year.

It demanded abolition of Section 37 of the Act. Under the provision of this section, salaries and allowances of the Director, Gurdwara Elections, and his staff is recoverable from the DSGMC. Donation received from the devotees is the only source of income to run the gurdwara affairs, so the government should make an amendment to the Act, the DSGMC said.

It said Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, be included as the fifth Takht of Sikh Panth. The SGPC had approved the fifth Takht in 1966. The DSGMC also demanded setting up of a gurdwara judicial commission to resolve disputes pertaining to the staff of gurdwaras, educational institutions and other issues of the committee.

It also demanded that there should be a provision to prevent its elected members from switching over to other parties for their selfish motives.

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Auction of Bhawanigarh MC building opposed, postponed
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, September 9
Members of the Congress party today staged a dharna outside the Municipal Council (MC) office at Bhawanigarh, about 20 km from here. They were protesting against the auction of the office building, which was scheduled for today. The auction was later postponed by the council authorities for an indefinite period.

Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla, former MLA Surinderpal Singh Sibia, state Congress secretary Pardeep Kumar Kad, district Congress vice-president Ranjit Singh Toor and Bhawanigarh block Congress committee president Varinder Panwan were also present on the occasion.

Earlier, the Congress workers gathered at Vishavkarma Mandir at Bhawanigarh and marched through the market towards the MC office raising slogans against the 
state government for 
selling properties.

MP Vijay Inder Singla said the Congress would not allow the government to sell the land and building of the office of the Bhawanigarh MC. They said they would would agitate against the move in a big way.

Singla also lashed out at the SAD-BJP government for its "anti-people policies" and the poor financial conditions of the state. He said the Badal government had imposed various taxes on people and betrayed them by not fulfilling its promises made during the previous Assembly elections.

Sibia said though the council had postponed the auction of its building, more protests by the Congress would follow if the government decided to hold the auction again. 

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Battle of Phillora’s anniversary observed 
Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 9
The 48th anniversary of the Battle of Phillora during the Indo-Pak War of 1965 was commemorated at Black Elephant Cenotaph near the YPS Chowk here today.
The General Officer Commanding, Black Elephant Formation, laid a wreath at the cenotaph to pay homage to the martyrs.

The Battle of Phillora saw over 400 tanks slugging it out in a limited area of 50 sq km. A total of 165 enemy tanks were destroyed by the Indian Army with five officers and 64 other ranks of the Black Elephant Formation laying down their lives in the battle.

Among the martyrs was Lt Col AB Tarapore, who was posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra, the country’s highest award for gallantry.

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Revising merit position of judicial officer a fraud, says High Court
Saurabh Malik/TNS

Chandigarh, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has minced no words to say that the Punjab Public Service Commission and the state government’s action of revising the merit position of a judicial officer was nothing but a “fraud.” In the judges versus judge case, a Division Bench also quashed the revision of result carried out when Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu was commission Chairman.

“It appears that the state government and the commission have bended backwards to facilitate the change in the merit position of Tejwinder Singh in a wholly untenable and illegal manner, so as to permit him seniority over other officers selected….

“The categorical case of the petitioners is that the marks were revised when Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu was Chairman of the commission… The appointments made during the period of Sidhu, including in Judicial Services in the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, were quashed.... The said facts are stated only for the reason that the representation for revision of marks came to be filed after Sidhu joined the commission on June 6, 1996, as Chairman. The entertainment of representation at that stage by the state government and the commission raises many an eyebrow,” Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Fateh Deep Singh ruled.

The first-of-its-kind ruling came on a petition by Ashwani Kumar Mehta and other judicial officers. They had challenged a notification published by the commission on May 21, 1999, and the subsequent assigning of seniority to Tejwinder Singh.

The petitioners and Tejwinder Singh had appeared in the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Examination in 1989 and the result was declared on July 3, 1990. Tejwinder Singh was placed 17 on the merit list.

Almost seven years after the gazette notification, Tejwinder Singh submitted that marks of Criminal Law-III had not been counted in the total. On the basis of his representation, the commission revised his result. Even before the objections could be invited and considered, the state government issued a letter to the High Court on July 23, 1999, for change in seniority. In reply, the commission claimed the earlier award of “0” was a clerical mistake. Taking up the matter, the Bench observed: “The action of Tejwinder Singh to seek a re-examination of his answer-sheet of Criminal Law paper seven years after the declaration of result and six years after his appointment is wholly untenable, illegal and lack bona fides.

“The grant of zero marks is based upon Rule 7, which provides not to grant credit of marks obtained, if the total marks obtained are less than 33 per cent. The respondent was offered appointment even with zero credit. He never raised any dispute soon after the declaration of the result or any time before his appointment….”

The Bench said the court was misled by the state to presume that notices were issued and opportunity of hearing granted to affected persons. “The result and the merit position have attained finality and could not be tinkered with by the commission on such dubious representation and under the guise of correction of clerical mistake…. “The action of the commission and the state government in revising the merit position of the respondent is without jurisdiction. Such action is, in fact, a fraud on the process of appointment…. The manner in which the commission has revised the result of a candidate after his appointment is fraught with danger and is full of mischief….”

Allowing the writ petition, the Bench directed the respondents to assign seniority to Tejwinder Singh as per the result declared on July 3, 1990.

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HC suspends CBI judge 
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today placed under suspension the services of CBI special judge Hemant Gopal.
The orders came less than six months after Mansa district planning committee chairman and former MLA Mangat Rai Bansal along with 21 others was convicted and sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment in a 14-year-old paddy embezzlement case by Judge Hemant Gopal at Patiala.

The decision was taken during a full court meeting of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Judge Gopal was transferred out of Patiala last week.

Out on bail in the paddy scam case, Bansal had just about a month ago accused the CBI court judge of wrongly convicting 
him. He had claimed that the truth would be soon out as “I have full faith in the Punjab and Haryana High Court”.

Bansal had won the 2007 assembly election from Budhlada in Mansa on the Congress ticket. In 2012, he lost to Janmeja Singh Sekhon of the SAD from Maur. In September 2012, Bansal joined the SAD. 

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Two get life term in Bathinda rape case
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Bathinda, September 9
The court of Additional Sessions Judge MP Singh Pahwa today sentenced two youths to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl of Bhagta Bhai-Ke here in October last.
The court, however, acquitted five other accused, including two elderly persons, one of them the father of a convict.

The case had hogged limelight as the FIR in the case was lodged five days after the crime and that too on the intervention of Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka. It had caused much anger in the state with the victim alleging the father-son duo had raped her, besides other relatives.

The fast-track court found evidence against only two of the accused, Manpreet Singh and Harbans Singh, both aged around 22 years. Charanjeet Singh (56) and his brother Gurjeet Singh (54) were let off.

In her complaint (lodged on October 20 last year), the victim had alleged that the accused raped her on the intervening night of October 14-15.

The minor alleged that Manpreet alias Manni and his friend Harbans called her outside her house on the pretext of deleting an earlier forcibly shot video, which showed her in bad light. But instead of deleting the video, she alleged, the accused dragged her to a nearby tube-well room, tied her hands and raped her. She had alleged the duo was then joined by the other accused in the crime. She stated that a video-clip was also prepared.

After the incident, the victim, a Class VIII student then, could not continue her studies. She has been living with her relatives ever since.

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High Court rejects murder accused’s bail petition
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the application for regular bail by one of the nine accused in the murder case of local advocate Amarpreet Singh.
The court today dismissed the application of Sunbir Singh who, along with his eight friends, had gunned down the advocate on February 27 this year over the issue of car parking.

He had moved an application recently requesting the court to grant him regular bail as his marriage was on the cards.

“Invitation cards, booking of marriage palace and other formalities related to the marriage had taken place,” the accused had stated in his application.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court turned down the application on the basis of Mohali police’s preliminary inquiry report.

The report stated that the formalities related to the marriage were made after the arrest of the accused, indicating that it was a concocted story to get regular bail.

In his petition, the accused had requested the court to grant regular bail claiming that his marriage was scheduled to take place on September 13.

The court had directed the Mohali police to check the veracity of the Sunbir's claims in the application.

Mataur Station House Officer Navin Pal Singh Lehal conducted the preliminary inquiry in this regard.

He recorded the statements of the general manager of the printing press which printed the invitation cards for Sunbir's marriage and the owner of the marriage palace, which the accused claimed was booked for the function.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has also turned down the bail application of another accused Onkar Singh.

The next date of hearing in the case is September 19.

On February 27, advocate Amarpreet Singh was shot down by nine persons over the issue of parking of vehicles in front of his house in Phase III A here. Amarpreet’s cousin Gaganjot Singh and his friend had also sustained injuries in the firing.

A case had been registered under Sections 302, 307, 427, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC and 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act against the accused at the Mataur police station. 

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Youth found murdered
Tribune News Service

Moga, September 9
The police today recovered the body of an unidentified youth from Kingwah canal on the outskirts of the city.
The police said the body had been kept in the mortuary of the district hospital for identification.

The residents of Dunek village, adjoining the canal, spotted the body and informed the police. The body is of a youth appearing to be less than 20 years.

The body bears injury marks on the head and other parts, which points to murder. Earlier, a panel of the doctors conducted a post-mortem examination, the report of which is awaited.

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Cricket betting racket busted, 2 held
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, September 9
With the arrest of two persons here, the district police today claimed to have busted a cricket betting racket. The accused were placing bets on the one-day cricket match between England and Australia yesterday.

The police said during a raid, a police team headed by Sangrur Station House Officer (SHO) Harinder Singh had seized Rs 1.15 lakh and eight mobile phones, which were used for betting, and some registers having entries of betting in code words.

Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said they had got a tip-off the previous day that some persons at a house situated in Shekhupura Basti had been accepting money in connection with the one-day international cricket match. Besides, they had also been showing a “licence” to people stating they were government-approved agents for betting, he added.

Those who have been arrested are Suraj Parkash of Shekhupura Basti, Sangrur, and Baldev Kumar of Partap Nagar, Sangrur.

The SSP said the accused had confessed that they were into cricket betting for past few months. He said they would be produced in a court, where the police would seek their custody for the recovery of the "licence" and other documents related to the racket.

He said from betting entries like Rs 10,000 in registers, it seemed that 
the accused could have contacts with those involved in bigger cricket betting rackets.

A case against the accused was registered under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC and Sections 4-A, 13-A/3/67 of the Gambling Act. 

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20 held with drugs in Patiala
Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 9
The Patiala police has arrested 20 persons and recovered opium and other psychotropic drugs from their possession here.
The district police arrested 18 persons and recovered  73 kg poppy husk,  70 gm smack and psychotropic tablets and capsules from them.

In a separate case, the police said the Assistant Sub-Inspector at the Basantpura police post, Bhinder Singh, had recovered 2.5 kg opium from Joginder Singh. In another case, the police arrested Baldev Singh with 2.5 kg opium near the Patiala Truck Union office. The police has also arrested nine persons for their alleged involvement in snatching and theft cases. 

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