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TOP STORIES

Industrial Policy-2009
Draft moots tax sops for units
Chandigarh, February 5
Draft of industrial policy- 2009 has proposed tax sops for units. For mega projects, it has been proposed 50 per cent of the VAT paid on the output may be retained as interest- free loan for five years subject to overall ceiling of 150 per cent of the fixed capital investment (FCI). For backward areas this would be 60 per cent up to 250 per cent of the FCI for six years and in case of border areas this would be 75 per cent up to 300 per cent of the FCI for seven years.

Potato Glut
Langah blames it on farmers
Ludhiana, February 5
Agricultural Minister Sucha Singh Langah has said farmers themselves are responsible for a potato glut in the region this season. The minister said here today that the farmers, who had not attended training camps/programmes organised by the state government or organisations concerned, had suffered losses because of their unawareness about marketing strategies.

POLITICS

Cong list after LS session: Capt
Mullanpur Dakha, February 5
The SAD-BJP government has made governance a purely family business and resentment over its alleged anti-public activities, poor procurement and erratic power supply will lead to its fall.

COMMUNITY

Meet a VVIP teacher, absent for six years now
Chandigarh, February 5
In Punjab, IAS officers are VIPs but their wives, it seems, are VVIPs. Urvashi Roul, wife of Punjab IAS officer C Roul, is a lecturer with the Government College Mohali for the past 13 years. But not a single student of this college has ever seen ‘Mrs VIP’ for the past six years.

Doctors block traffic
Bathinda, February 5
The Rural Medical Services Association (RMSA) today held a rally demanding regularisation and end to exploitation of rural doctors. The rally passed through localities of the city and jammed traffic for over an hour in front of the bus stand, before culminating at mini-secretariat here.
Doctors staging demonstration demanding regularisation of services in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Panel to go into hospital upgrade
Chandigarh, February 5
The Punjab government has decided to constitute an expert committee of medical professionals to give their recommendations on how the hospital can be upgraded on modern lines.

An event in progress during the annual sports meet being organised at Government Rajindra College in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Reinstatement leaves parents shocked
Patiala, February 5
The traumatised parents of the five newborns who died in the Rajindra Hospital fire fear that their chances of getting justice have dimmed with the reinstatement of the college principal, Dr Jaswinder Shergill, and other suspended officials by the Punjab government even before the initiation of a formal probe into the incident by Justice K.C. Gupta.

Pharmacy Council registrar sacked
Chandigarh, February 5
The Punjab State Pharmacy Council has sacked registrar Praveen Kumar Bhardwaj and requested the government to appoint new registrar. An emergency meeting of the council took this decision recently. President of the Council V.P Dogra passed an order saying the decision was taken after consulting other members of the council and taking into account charges of “irregularities in council funds, fake registration of some ineligible pharmacists”.

Farmers raise slogans during a gherao of the office of the SDM in Amritsar on Thursday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

UPA govt responsible for state’s ills: CM
Hoshiarpur, February 5
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the Congress- led UPA government was responsible for flight of industry and slowdown of agricultural growth in Punjab. At a rally in Garhshankar, Badal said the Congress had aimed at destabilising state’s economy. He cautioned people of Punjab to distinguish between the development based performance and pranks of the Congress party which made only promises.

Meira exhorts nurses to impart quality care
Moga, February 5
The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment has called upon young nursing professionals to serve patients with dedication and responsibility.

Farmers gherao SDM’s office
Amritsar, February 5
Farmers led by the Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC) gheraoed the office of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) here today in protest against the non-fulfilment of their demands. They blocked the entry and exit points to the office of the SDM.

COURTS

Tribune Impact
| HC seeks details of convicts’ pleas
Chandigarh, February 5
Within a day of The Tribune highlighting the status of convicts lodged in jails awaiting hearing of their appeals, the Registrar-General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice requesting all advocates to give details of such cases.

SC’s no to Punjab plea on Lok Pal 
New Delhi, February 5
The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by the Punjab government challenging the high court order that had quashed the appointment of Justice H.S. Rai as the Lok Pal in 1997 when Parkash Singh Badal was the Chief Minister.

Pollution board to submit report on Budda Nullah
Chandigarh, February 5
The high court has asked the central pollution control board (CPCB) to report whether the Sutlej and Budda Nullah have the capacity to take the untreated discharge from polluting industrial units, like electroplating, textiles and dying units.