Sunday, March 28, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Sunday, March 28, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Bhattal has
'exceeded her brief' Ranjit
Singh fears threat to life |
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Puran Singh
to hold "darbar" PPCC
to be pruned Baisakhi:
Pak for change in venue of celebrations Santa
Singh plea opposed Health
fair to mark Khalsa celebrations OFC
facility for Nakodar Punjab
claim on liquor vends' auction Students
not allowed to take exam Chawla
worried over worsening law situation SC
Judge 'should head Netaji probe' |
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Bhattal has 'exceeded her brief' CHANDIGARH, March 27 — Visibly upset over the recent utterings of a former Chief Minister, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Capt Amarinder Singh, said here today that he would bring the issue to party president Sonia Gandhi's notice. Asserting the discipline in the party would be enforced strictly. Capt Amarinder Singh said Mrs Bhattal was no one to take a decision with regard to the boycott of the ongoing Assembly session and to start an agitation against the Budget in the state. He said taking a decision as regards the session was the prerogative of Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, who is the leader of the Congress Legislative Party in the House, and to decide on the launch of an agitation was his (Capt Amarinder Singh) domain. She had not been authorised by anyone to commit the party on any issue. Her statements were bordering on indiscipline, he added. It was a democratic duty of the Congress to take part in the session to raise the issue of public interest and expose the government on various issues. Mrs Bhattal was clearly playing into the hands of Akali leaders, who wanted no challenge from Opposition benches. Asked whether he would recommend any action against her to the party high command, Capt Amarinder Singh said he would only bring the matter to the notice of the high command. "Mrs Bhattal knows what she was saying and doing. If she were president of the party in Punjab she had certainly not allowed anyone to interfere in her domain and make the statements she issued in the past days," Capt Amarinder said. Asked whether any MLA was siding with her, Capt Amarinder Singh said he would like MLAs to take part in the proceedings and discharge their duty fully by confronting the government on various issues. "I am sure Mrs Gandhi will take up the issue seriously as she is very strict as far as enforcing discipline in the party is concerned." Asked what was the progress in Brahm Mohindra's case, Capt Amarinder Singh said action against him was in the pipeline. Commenting on the Budget said that the fall in the gross state domestic product from 7 per cent to 1.91 per cent was a very dangerous development. The state government should be very serious about it and set up a high-level panel to examine why this happened. The decrease in the GSDP was a clear indication that financially the state had been ruined. He said the GSDP in a state like Punjab should be above 10 per cent. The government had not taken any remedial measures in the Budget for saving the hosiery, dying, rice shellers, steel and other industry from falling sick. Already the industry in the state was facing a crisis he added. No one could imagine that Punjab was going down in the farm sector, criticising the performance of the state government. He said in the meantime that specially prepared vehicles would leave tomorrow for Patna Sahib to bring "Gobind Jot" from Patna Sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh was born. The 'Gobind Jot would come to Delhi via Allahabad and would be received by the Delhi Chief Minister. It would come to Anandpur
Sahib via Haryana on April 13. The Congress would hold a
function at Anandpur Sahib on April 13 and it would be of
historical nature. Already 12 acres of land had been
taken on rent by the Congress party at Anandpur Sahib for
the purpose. |
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Ranjit Singh fears threat to life BATHINDA, March 27 — While calling upon the "Sikh sangat" to launch a peaceful struggle for liberating Akal Takht and the SGPC from the "grip of landlords", Bhai Ranjit Singh, suspended Jathedar of Akal Takht, and Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former president of the SGPC, today dared Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to stop them from celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa under the aegis of the Akal Takht. They said this was possible only if he had them killed. Bhai Ranjit Singh, talking to mediapersons, said he feared he may be eliminated at the hands of Mr Badal for his struggle to "liberate" Akal Takht. He said his office in the Golden Temple complex had been closed and his guards withdrawn. His movements were being monitored by government agencies. Mr Tohra, on the other hand, said the "Sikh sangat" would launch a struggle for the "purification" of the Shiromani Akali Dal. An action programme would be announced after April 15. He clarified he was not in the race for any post. Alleging that Mr Badal was indulging in "government terrorism", Bhai Ranjit Singh and Mr Tohra said their fight against the policies of Mr Badal would continue in a peaceful and democratic manner till Akal Takht and the SGPC were "liberated" from the clutches of "landlords and undeserving persons. Mr Tohra and Bhai Ranjit Singh said the site allocated earlier to them at Anandpur Sahib for the tercentenary celebrations by the mela sub-committee of the SGPC had been cancelled by its president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, and they were looking for an alternative site. "We will hold the function on the roadside. If Mr Badal tries to stop us from holding the function then my sacrifice will settle the issue, Bhai Ranjit Singh declared. Mr Tohra said by challenging the December 31, 1998, of Akal Takht Mr Badal had added a "black chapter" in the history of the Sikhs. The function, which was organised by various religious organisations, including the Sant Samaj, attracted a large crowd. Much importance is being attached to this function in political circles as it is for the first time that Mr Tohra and Bhai Ranjit Singh has challenged the authority of Mr Badal at his home turf. Significantly, Mr Sukhdev
Singh Dhillon, former Akali minister and a close
confidant of Mr Badal today announced his dissociation
from all programmes planned by the Badal government for
celebrating the tercentenary. He said Mr Badal did not
own the Shiromani Akali Dal and advised Mr Badal to admit
his mistake in violating the Akal Takht edict. |
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Punjab Assembly session CHANDIGARH, March 27 — Internal bickerings, dissensions and groupism within the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the principal Opposition, the Congress, have cast their shadow on the ongoing Punjab Vidhan Sabha session. In fact a clear division within the ranks of the Congress has surfaced during the session. Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, a former Chief Minister and ex-President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has already given a call for the boycott of the session for the remaining period due to "anti-people" Budget presented by the Badal Government in the House. However, making the party's stand clear in this connection, Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) in the House, told TNS that there was no decision at the party-level for boycotting the session for the remaining period. When his attention was drawn towards the statement of Mrs Bhattal, Chowdhary Jagjit Singh said: "You see yourself that Congress MLAs were present in the House and participated in its proceedings today". It may be mentioned that only seven MLAs belonging to Congress were in the Vidhan Sabha today while total number of the MLAs is 14. It is believed that the most of the MLAs owing allegiance to Mrs Bhattal within the Congress stayed away from the session today following her call to boycott the session. Following these developments in the Congress it had become clear that one group of MLAs is siding with the Capt Amarinder Singh, President PPCC, and other group with Mrs Bhattal, a former chief of the PPCC. At this stage which group has the majority of MLAs is not clear. Likewise, there is a clear division within the ranks of the BJP. It came out in the open even in the house today. There was an exchange of hot and angry words between Mr Jagdish Sahni and Mrs Laxmi Kanta Chawla in the house. Both belong to the BJP. Mrs Chawla had raised an issue with regard to the unavailability of sugar at depots. Mr Sahni intervened to say something which could not be heard. However, Mrs Chawla objected to Mr Sahni's intervention and, then an exchange of hot words between the two ensued. The Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, had a tough time in pacifying both. Earlier on several occasions, Mrs Chawla has embarrassed ministers by asking probing questions. She makes it a point to raise issues like the public distribution system, lack of medicines in hospitals and deteriorating conditions of cities and towns. Incidentally the departments with regard to Health, Local Bodies and Food and Supply are with the ministers belonging to the BJP. As far as ruling SAD party is concerned, the MLAs belonging to Tohra camp within the party yesterday fired their salvo by attacking the Budget presented by the Badal Government. Today they walked out of the House. Led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, they have asked Mr Parkash Singh Badal to immediate call a meeting of the legislative wing of the party to discuss the anti-people aspects of the Budget. From the stand taken by pro-Tohra MLAs with regard to the Budget proposals, the factional fight within the SAD has taken a new turn. Although earlier Mr Tohra had attacked Mr Badal and his government but it is the first time that MLAs belonging to his camp (Tohra's) had also taken a stand against the Badal camp on the Budget. The Leader of the Opposition, Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, had a dig at the SAD when he pointed out that even Treasury benches had criticised the Budget. From this reference it was clear that he was talking about the stand taken by pro-Tohra MLAs about the Budget. On the otherside, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, took a pot-shot at the opposition leader by saying that he (Chowdhary Jagjit Singh) wanted to score over Mrs Bhattal by insisting on discussing certain issues during zero hour. Due to these factional
fights within main parties in the House, the level of
discussion on various issues continues to be
disappointing. |
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Puran Singh to hold
"darbar" AMRITSAR, March 27 (PTI) — The SGPC has decided to assert its authority by holding "Khalsa darbar" at Akal Takht on the last Sunday of every month, a practice started by the suspended Jathedar of Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh. In a press note issued today, the SGPC said the acting Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Puran Singh, would address the "Khalsa darbar" tomorrow. All SGPC members aligned with the Akali Dal chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, have been asked to be present at "darbar" where the new SGPC president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, will speak. The SGPC secretary, Mr Kulwant Singh, said a meeting of the SGPC members would be held at Teja Singh Samundari Hall here tomorrow where duties would be assigned for celebration of the tercentenary of the Khalsa. The SGPC executive meeting will meet on Monday which, besides approval of budget to be presented to the general house on March 30, may take a decision on sacking the suspended Jathedar, according to sources. Meanwhile, the SGPC general secretary, Mr Hardalbir Singh Shah, today refuted the reported statement of the former SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, that the SGPC had given Rs 3 crore to the Punjab Government for the tercentenary celebrations. He described the
allegation by Mr Tohra as "baseless" aimed at
creating "confusion" among the Sikh masses. |
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PPCC to be pruned LUDHIANA, March 27 — The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) is in for a heavy pruning following the adoption of certain important amendments to the constitution of the party fixing a ceiling on the number of office-bearers and the size of the executive committee. At present, the PCC headed by Capt Amarinder Singh has eight vice-presidents, nine general secretaries, 10 secretaries, 22 organising secretaries and one treasurer. The total strength of the executive committee is 85. With the incorporation of the amendment, the strength of the executive has been fixed at 31 members, 70 per cent of which will be office-bearers, including one president, five vice-presidents, six general secretaries, one treasurer and not more than eight secretaries or organising secretaries. The executive will also have a 33 per cent reservation for women and not less than 20 per cent reservation for SC, ST and OBC's. The amendments will formally come into force when the next elections of the PCC take place in August. According to Mr Harnam Dass Johar, former Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and a member of the PCC executive, the amendments to the constitution adopted at a meeting of the party held at Chandigarh on Wednesday were in line with the amendments suggested by the AICC. The term of the committee will be three years. A primary committee at the (polling station) level shall be the basic unit of the party. It will have an executive of 11 members. The Block Congress Committee shall have an executive of 21 members of which 50 per cent shall be office-bearers. A DCC shall have an executive committee of not more than 31 members of which up to 50 per cent shall be office-bearers. All members of the Congress belonging to panchayat, nagar palikas, vidhan sabhas, vidhan parishad, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha shall be ex-officio members of the committees at the corresponding level. The central election
authority shall appoint a pradesh election authority at
the PCC-level comprising not less than three or not more
than five members, one of which will be the chairman of
the authority. The term of the authority shall be three
years. |
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Baisakhi: Pak for change in venue AMRITSAR, March 27 — In a surprise move the Pakistan Government has suggested a change in venue of Baisakhi celebrations from Panja Sahib at Hasan Abdal to Nankana Sahib. The SGPC secretary, Mr Kulwant Singh, told The Tribune that the Pakistan Government had asked the SGPC to give its approval to the visit of the jatha which had been cleared by the Pakistan Government. It, however, said the government had made some changes in the itinerary for the celebrations. The Pakistan Government had also sought confirmation of the new itinerary by fax as "if it is accepted to enable further action on the matter." Mr Kulwant Singh said that the SGPC president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was expected to arrive in Amritsar by tomorrow would take the final decision. The secretary said no
reason had been given for the change of the venue. |
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Santa Singh plea opposed CHANDIGARH, March 27 — Jathedar Balbir Singh, head of the Budha Dal, today opposed the prayer of Santa Singh, a former head of the Budha Dal, for granting him exemption from personal appearance in a case pending against him in the court of Mr Jasbir Singh, Judicial Magistrate. Santa Singh had filed the application for the grant of exemption from personal appearance on December 10, 1998. Filing reply to the application moved by Santa Singh, Jathedar Balbir Singh stated that in a criminal case the presence of the accused could be exempted only if the accused was admitted to bail by the court and the accused appeared in person and made such a request. As Santa Singh had not
appeared in the court, his application for exemption from
personal appearance deserved to be dismissed. |
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Health fair to mark Khalsa
celebrations LUDHIANA, March 27 — A health fair dedicated to the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa was organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad in collaboration with the Health Department and other voluntary organisations to spread the message of "service to the suffering humanity" at Begowal village, today. The Punjab Governor, Lt Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) inaugurated the fair and honoured over 20 representatives of voluntary and social organisations for their exemplary services to the mankind. Addressing the function the Governor called upon the voluntary organisations to come forward to help government extend educational and health facilities to all parts of the country. The parishad provided 300
artificial limbs and 20 hearing-aids to the handicapped.
The District Red Cross Society presented 25 tricycles,
Helpage India presented financial assistance to nine
senior citizens, the Khanna police (district) organised a
blood camp and donated 213 units of blood and the Health
Department organised a general medical check-up camp, eye
camp and AIDS awareness camp. |
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OFC facility for Nakodar JALANDHAR, March 27 — A new technology — optical fibre cable (OFC) digital electronic transmission link of a 34 megabytes per second capacity — has been established between the Nakodar and Jalandhar telephone systems. The 30-channel UHF link between Nakodar and Shahkot has been upgraded to 120 channel UHF system. Mr Rajesh Wadhwa, General Manager, Telecom, said here yesterday that with the installation of these higher capacity transmission links, congestion on these routes for STD and '92" level class for Nakodar and Shahkot towns and also for many other areas in Nakodar subdivision would be relieved. Customers in these areas would find a vast improvement in the success rate for calls within and outside Nakodar. The state-of-the-art OFC
connectivity had so far been provided to Nakodar, Malsian
and Lohian Khas. During the year 1999-2000, it was
proposed to be further extended to more towns and smaller
stations in rural areas, he added. |
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Punjab claim on liquor vends'
auction CHANDIGARH, March 27 — The Punjab Government has claimed that there is a sharp increase of Rs 110 crore in revenue over last year in auction of liquor vends. The government which has lost Rs 125 crore as a result of low sales last year, is now facing a court case in the matter of auctions in Ludhiana and Faridkot. A government statement said today that after 1994-95, this was the highest increase. In the past five years, there has never been such an increase in the licence fee/auction money in the state. "Free and fair auctions were held in all the districts in the state. Video cameras were in operation to record the fair and transparent auction of liquor vends in the state. Such a big increase in the auction money has been due to fair, transparent and licensee-friendly policy framed by the government for the year 1999-2000," the government said. Special concession has been given to the licensees to convert 15 per cent of the Punjab Medium Liquor (Desi) quota into IMFL of their choice on which very nominal duty will be charged from them. This is to overcome the problem of left-over quota of Punjab Medium Liquor (Desi), if any, in any district in the state. This is a special concession given to the liquor contractors in this policy to encourage them and ensure proper competition among the liquor contractors. Second, if during the current excise year, some quota of Punjab Medium Liquor (Desi) was left unsold with them, they have been allowed to carry forward this quota to be sold next year from April 1, 1999, onwards. They have also been allowed to open sub-vends on the borders adjoining other states. With these special
concessions to the liquor contractors , it is also
expected that they do not indulge in any malpractices
which are harmful to the consumers of liquor in the
state. They are expected to maintain the quality of
liquor to be sold to the customers. Also, the law in
regard to illicit distillation in the state has been made
more stringent. Smuggling from outside the state is be
crushed with a heavy hand so that the interest of the
liquor contractors within the state do not suffer. |
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Students not allowed to take exam KHARAR, March 27 — As many as 13 plus two students who came to Khalsa Senior Secondary School here today to appear for the sociology paper were not allowed to sit in the examination. In a written communication to the Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board, they said they were not allowed to sit in the examination by the Superintendent who told them that their names were not mentioned in the list provided by the board. The students have demanded
that the Chairman should take necessary action and they
be allowed to appear in a fresh examination immediately. |
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Chawla worried over worsening law
situation AMRITSAR, March 27 — BJP MLA Lakshmi Kanta Chawla has expressed concern over the spate of killings in the city during the past fortnight besides daily cases of theft and robberies which has cast a shadow on the working of district administration and the police. Mrs Chawla in a press release issued here felt concerned over the silence on the part of the state government about these incidents. She said the government seemed to be unconcerned over the rising crime graph in the holy city. Blaming the district administration and senior police officers who, she said, cared only about the political bosses and had no time to attend the problems faced by the public. She urged the Punjab Government to compensate the families of the victims by offering Rs 5 lakh each and arrange government jobs for their dependants. She reminded the government of its responsibilities to protect the lives and property of its people. Mrs Chawla also demanded a total ban on lottery business in the state. Mrs Chawla lashed out at the state government for encouraging the vice of gambling. She urged the government
to review its lottery policies and added that for the
sake of limited financial gains, the entire society need
not be sacrificed at the alter of lotteries. |
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SC Judge 'should head Netaji
probe' ROPAR, March 27 — Hailing the decision of Union Government to appoint another inquiry commission to probe the controversy regarding the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Netaji Research Foundation here has demanded that the inquiry commission should be headed by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court while a retired high ranking military officer not below the rank of Lt-Gen and a scholar of high repute, dealing with research on Netaji, should be the other members of the commission. Making this demand here yesterday, Mr V.P. Saini, chairman of the foundation, claimed that the setting up of the inquiry commission was the outcome of the meeting, held on March 24 with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, regarding this issue. Mr Saini said at the
meeting, a 13- point resolution was presented to the
Prime Minister by a delegation, comprising MPs, members
of Netaji's family and research scholars. |
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Punjab JD panel dissolved CHANDIGARH, March 27 — Mr Jagpal Singh Chahil, newly appointed secretary-general and spokesman of the Punjab Janata Dal, said here today that national president of the party, Mr Sharad Yadav, had dissolved the steering committee that was looking after the affairs of the party in Punjab since April 28 last year. He said following new
office-bearers of the party had been appointed: president
— Mr Jagir Singh Ganesh; vice-presidents — Mr
Harish Khanna, Mr Sathi Sohan Lal, Prof Darshan Singh;
general secretaries — Ms Kamaljit Kaur, Mr Jaspal
Kapoor, Mr Amar Singh Mehmi; secretary — Mr Sube
Singh; and treasurer — Mr Satinder Singh Sandhu. |
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Kidney transplant operation LUDHIANA, March 27 — A team of doctors at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital has successfully done a kidney transplant operation free of cost on Kuldeep Singh, a student of GNE College here. Kuldeep Singh was
discharged from the hospital yesterday. He had been
suffering from kidney failure and was infected by
Hepatitis-B. Kuldeep Singh's mother donated one of her
kidney's to her son. |
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Bains criticises govt attitude CHANDIGARH, March 27 — Mr Ajit Singh Bains, Chairman, Punjab Human Rights Organisation has criticised the indifferent attitude of the state government towards teachers, who were removed from service a few months ago. He said the state
government was not bothered though the condition of those
teachers who were on an indefinite fast had deteriorated.
There was no ban by the court on the reappointment of
removed teachers. The government should review their
cases sympathetically, he added. |
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BSP rally was a fiasco: Kainth PHAGWARA, March 27 — Calling BSP supremo Kanshi Ram a "megalomaniac" playing negative politics, Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, president of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha and MP, yesterday claimed that yesterday's BSP rally at Ludhiana was a fiasco. The Bahujan Samaj Party could muster a scanty gathering, mostly migrants from UP and slumdwellers. He said rather than giving any direction or party programme or policy to the "samaj" Mr Kanshi Ram chose to hurt abuses at leaders of the "sangh". He said a BSM deputation would meet Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee after April 14 and demand withdrawal of the "anti-reservation" letters issued during the H.D. Deve Gowad government. He said the morcha would
have its own conference on April 13 at Anandpur Sahib to
celebrate the Khalsa tercentenary. |
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Kataria regrets closure of park FEROZEPORE, March 27 — The AICC member and a former MP, Mr Virendra Kataria, has appealed to people to participate in the march being undertaken by the PPCC in connection with tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. Talking to this correspondent here yesterday, he said the march would reach Delhi on April 8 from Patna Sahib. The march was being held to spread the message of brotherhood among the masses, he added. Mr Kataria who hails from Abohar, said that over six months ago he, out of his MP Fund, had released nearly Rs 9.50 lakh for various development projects, including the setting up of a reading room in Nai Abadi and Harijan Dharamshala in Azeemgarh, to the Abohar Municipal Council. He regretted that the funds were lying unutilised due to the alleged infighting among municipal councillors. Mr Kataria said during this tenure as MP, he took initiative to set up children amusement parks at Ferozepore, Abohar, Fazilka and Jalalabad and for the purpose, funds out of his discretionary quota, were released. But, it was regretted that the park at Abohar was lying closed for the past six months. He demanded from the
authorities concerned to immediately reopen the park. |
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Demands for grants approved CHANDIGARH, March 27
— The Punjab Assembly today passed the demands for
grants presented in the House by voice vote. The demands
of grants worth several crores pertaining to Irrigation
and Power, Home Affairs, Justice, Education and Transport
on revenue and capital accounts were presented in the
House. |
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CM’s
directive
on milk collection LUDHIANA, March 27 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal has declared that in future the fat content of the milk collected through cooperative milk producing societies in Punjab will be measured before lifting the milk from the villages instead of measuring it after bringing the milk to the milkplants. He issued these instructions on phone to the Managing Director, Milkplant, Ludhiana, from Sangowal village about 10 km from here yesterday in response to complaints from milk producers, who had turned up in large numbers to attend the bhog ceremony of the mother of an SGPC member, Jathedar Gurmail Singh. Mr Badal utilised the opportunity to call for practical suggestions from the villagers for diverting unemployed youth into gainful self-employment ventures. He pointed out that there were not many takers for the Punjab paddy in other states. Most of the people were of the view that dairying, fisheries and small industries were the best commercial ventures if the government could check the exploitation of the farmers at the hands of the middlemen and government employees. In response to a demand
for providing sufficient number of refrigerated vans to
carry fish to big cities of India. The Chief Minister
assured that more such a vans would be provided. The
freight tariff for the only van available in Ludhiana
district would also be fixed soon. |
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TV sets offered at samadhi MOGA, March 27 — Television sets, horses, goats, tonnes of rapeseed oil and other goods worth lakhs of rupees were offered for peace and prosperity at the samadhi of Baba Nagahia Peer at "Lgeana Khurd village by devotees yesterday. Pilgrims in large numbers
from all over Punjab, Haryana and other states thronged
the mela. |
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MC budget approved AMRITSAR, March 27 — The municipal corporation budget for 1999-2000 was approved with a surplus of Rs 2.05 crore and an estimated income of Rs 85.86 crore and expenditure of Rs 83.81 crore at a meeting here yesterday. The Mayor, Mr Subhash Chander Sharma, in a press note issued here today said that Rs 14.21 crore had been earmarked for development works, including repairs of roads and bylanes, construction of drains, maintenance of parks etc. He said with the additional funds of Rs 5 crore which it would get from the Punjab Government, the corporation would further improve the basic civic amenities. The hike in the octroi
charges enforced by the corporation would fetch Rs 44
crore while the house tax would fetch about Rs 5 crore.
The remaining income would be generated from other
sources, he said. |
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Permanent Lok Adalat opened MUKTSAR, March 27 — Mr Justice Harphool Singh Brar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court-cum-Executive Chairman, Punjab Legal Services Authority, inaugurated a permanent Lok Adalat here today. He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided to set up permanent Lok Adalats in all districts to help reduce the burden of courts and to provide speedy justice. Permanent Lok Adalats have already been set up at Bathinda, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ropar, Sangrur, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Ferozepore, Moga, Gurdaspur and Patiala. Mr Justice R.L. Anand, who
presided over the function, said time had come to deliver
speedy justice to people through the Lok Adalats. |
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Petrol dealers resent ST hike AMRITSAR March 27 — The president of the Punjab Petroleum Dealers' Association, Mr J.P. Khanna, today expressed resentment over the 2 per cent hike in the sales tax on petrol. He condemned the state government for increasing tax on petroleum products every two or three months. At first 1 per cent cess was imposed and then after 3 months motor spirit tax was amended to general sales tax and tax on petrol was raised from 7 per cent to 10 per cent with surcharge of 10 per cent. Thus raising it to 12 per cent higher than Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. He regretted that now after two months, the state government had proposed to increase sales tax on petrol by 2 per cent which will make it highest in the region. He pointed out that the standing committee of the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, headed by Mr Balram Jakhar, MP, had already recommended uniform sales tax and selling rate of petroleum products in the entire country. This, recommendation was endorsed at the Finance Ministers' meeting held recently. It is surprising that "Punjab Government had adopted different approach and increased sales tax on petrol. Mr Khanna said he had convened a meeting of the executive committee of the association at Patiala on April 8 to discuss the issue.
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Govt staff plead for teachers PATIALA, March 27 — The local District Class IV Government Employees Union and SC/BC Employees Union in a joint statement have expressed shock over the callous attitude of the Punjab Government towards the ongoing agitation of the 'relieved teachers. They sought immediate intervention of the Governor, Punjab, to save lives of Ms Rajinder Kaur, Mr Ritu Joshi, Mr Jaspal Singh and Mr Gurcharan Singh, 'relieved' teachers who are sitting on an indefinite fast. While condemning the Punjab Government, they said that though thousands of posts of teachers were lying vacant, yet the qualified teachers who had been duly selected by selection committees were being deprived of job opportunities. While expressing
solidarity with the agitating teachers, the unions have
appealed to the Punjab Government to immediately redress
the genuine grievances of the teachers. |
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