Rich tributes paid to Jyoti Basu
Chandigarh, January 17
Cutting across party lines, leaders of various parties today paid rich tributes to former West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM leader Jyoti Basu, maintaining that not only the country but also its working class has lost one of its tallest leader.

His death loss for state: Wadala
Jalandhar, January 17
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala said today that with passing away of former Chief Minister and topnotch communist leader Jyoti Basu, Punjab has lost a friend.

Chandigarh, January 17
Recruitment of primary members and filling of vacant Rajya Sabha seats have been the issues that are intensifying infighting in the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

While a strong lobby is at work to keep Union Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Manohar Singh Gill out of reckoning for renomination as party candidate for a second term in the Rajya Sabha, confrontation between former Jalandhar MP Rana Gurjit Singh and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, too, has come out in open.

Rana Gurjeet Singh has reacted adversely to charges levelled against him by Sukhpal Singh Khaira by categorically denying his role in raising the issue of discrepancies in membership drive before the media. “In fact, the issue was raised at the party forum by many where Congress PRO Usha Thakkar stated that discrepancies if any will be looked into by a scrutiny committee,” said Rana Gurjeet Singh, holding that it was his discretion and he submitted the forms at party headquarters against a proper receipt.

Refuting charges of taking benefits from the state government during the previous Congress regime, Rana said he was an industrialist and chose to invest in the state. The incentives available to the entrepreneurs for setting up industry in the state were available across the board under an industrial policy of the state government and not to the individuals. Rana further stated that if Khaira felt that he had taken any undue advantage during the previous Congress regime, he was free to approach Prakash Singh Badal and get the same reversed.

Rana, however, asserted that he did lead a delegation of the Congress leaders to Oscar Fernandes impressing upon him to hand over the command of the Punjab Congress to Amarinder Singh in the larger interests of the party and peoples aspirations, as also to give a befitting reply to the atrocities being inflicted upon the Congress workers by the SAD-BJP government.

While Rana-Khaira confrontation has come to the forefront recently, a war of attrition has started in the higher echelons of the party over the coming Rajya Sabha nominations. While Ambika Soni, Manohar Singh Gill, Ashwani Kumar and Dharampal Sabharwal would be retiring after completing their six-year tenure in the Upper House, only three of them could at best get back into the Parliament.

Only non-politician among the outgoing MPs is former Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill. While some of the senior leaders of the party, including sitting Lok Sabha members, have assailed the Sports Ministry over hockey muddle and hockey goalkeeper Baljit Singh case, they preferred to duck questions over twits of the Union Minister of State for External Affairs.

This brings to the surface an apparent divide in the party over who would get the party nomination in the Rajya Sabha elections. Going by the strength of the party in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, it could only get three of all seven Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab that would fall vacant by August this year.

Two of the sitting Congress Rajya Sabha members are Union Ministers- Ambika Soni and Manohar Singh Gill. Manohar Singh Gill holds the important portfolio of sports in the year when India is playing host to both the Hockey World Cup and Commonwealth Games. His continuity looks imminent. Further, he has been lucky, too, that it was during his first term in office, India got its first individual Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.

Ambika Soni, too, has been certain for her renomination for her closeness to the party President Sonia Gandhi. For the time being, tie is between Ashwani Kumar and a nominee of the Dalits.

Ludhiana, January 17
Accusing the SGPC of having assimilated features of the Bikrami Calendar into the Nanakshahi Calender, Panthic organisations from all over the state, including the Dal Khalsa, SAD (Panch Pardani), DSGMC, Sikh Students Federation and Tat Khalsa, today registered their protest against the amendments made by the SGPC executive committee to the original Nanakshahi Calender.

They demanded an immediate withdrawal of the changes at a meeting convened at Gurdwara Shaheedan, Model Town, here today. The gathering vowed to stick to the original version of the calendar.

A resolution to this effect was also passed during the convention. To mark the first day of the New Year as per the original calendar on March 14, the Sikh bodies, in consultation with Gurdwara Management Bodies and Singh Sabhas, have decided to convene a conclave on the same day. 

Chandigarh, January 17
Cutting across party lines, leaders of various parties today paid rich tributes to former West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM leader Jyoti Basu, maintaining that not only the country but also its working class has lost one of its tallest leader.

Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, who was one of the 12 founder members of the CPM in early 60s, not only recalled his long association with the longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal but also his contribution in organising the working class in general and peasants in particular.

While condoling the death of Jyoti Basu, Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri said India has lost one of its tallest politicians who dedicated his life towards ameliorating the working class. Joginder Dyal of the CPI also paid rich tributes to Jyoti Basu saying that only thing dear to his heart was welfare of the common man, a worker, a peasant and a labourer.

He dedicated his entire life to a cause and stood by that till his end.

Jalandhar, January 17
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala said today that with passing away of former Chief Minister and topnotch communist leader Jyoti Basu, Punjab has lost a friend.

Basu and the late Harkishan Singh Surjeet were strong supporters of the regional parties and stood with the SAD on issue of giving more powers to the states and also creating new states on basis of the language. Both the Communist leaders and their party had supported the Punjabi Suba Morcha. Later during the emergency, the CPM and the SAD were on the forefront to oppose the emergency, said Wadala.

Even during the Kapuri Morcha near Patiala in early 1980s, the CPM supported the SAD with regard to its demands. He said the CPM had passed a resolution during one of its national conference held at Jalandhar long back that the SAD was a secular party and not a communal party.

With passing away of Basu and earlier of Surjeet, the Communist movement would never be same in the country, he said. “Basu was a simple man of high integrity. There was not a single allegation of corruption against him, though he remained CM for 24 years, a record in the country,” said Wadala.

Jalandhar, January 17
After enjoying a break of few warm days, the region today again reeled under intense cold wave conditions with mercury plunging at many places in the region.However, Chandigarh registered maximum rise in mercury with 8° Celsius, Amritsar recorded the lowest temperature of 1.4° Celsius, making it the coldest in plains.

Adampur recorded a low of 2.6° Celsius, followed by Halwara that saw a low of 4.6° Celsius. The mercury had witnessed a considerable rise coupled with sunshine at all these places during the past two days.

In the Malwa belt, Bathinda recorded a minimum temperature of 5.2° Celsius, while Pathankot saw a low of 5.6° Celsius. Ambala recorded a low of 9.4° Celsius bringing respite from the chill in the weather. Jammu remained at a cosy 6.4° Celsius followed by Udhampur that recorded a minimum temperature of 4° Celsius.

The major respite came for the residents of the upper reaches of the valley, who have been braving freezing low temperature for the past many days. Leh recorded a minimum temperature of minus 13.2° Celsius, while Srinagar saw a low of 0.3° Celsius. Avantipura shivered at a low of 0.2° Celsius.

The Met Department has predicted a thick blanket of fog and haze in the morning hours with a visibility of 2 km up to 12 noon in the next 24 hours. It was also disclosed that the chill in the weather might continue for another three to four days, bringing mercury down at many places, the Met Department sources added.

Amritsar, January 17
BJP president Nitin Gadkari today accused the UPA government of having failed to curb terror in the country.Kickstarting his political campaign from the holy city, Gadkari went on to elaborate “failures” of the Congress-led UPA government. “In the US, no terrorist has dared to think of any misdemeanor after the 9/11, but terrorist were targeting India repeatedly. The UPA government has failed on all fronts. 

Its faulty policies, particularly import-export set-up, has led to inflation and shortage of essential goods in the country and the common man is suffering due this,” said Gadkari while addressing his first rally in the state.

“People need a fearless environment, wherein every family can get adequate food. Deteriorating law and order situation and inflation coupled with farmers’ suicides has exposed the failure of the UPA government and PM Manmohan Singh has failed to check rising prices,” rued Gadkari.

While CM Parkash Singh Badal gave a clarion call to the people to thwart anti-national forces, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that the SAD-BJP government was doing all out efforts to ensure peace and harmony in the state. Brushing aside the talk of “differences” between the SAD and the BJP, Sukhbir said: “The SAD-BJP alliance is not based on any conditions, but a bond of faith and confidence.”

The CM and the Deputy CM, who accompanied Gadkari along with senior SAD-BJP leaders, including Balbir Punj, Manoranjan Kalia, MP Navjot Sidhu, Rajinder Bhandari and Balram Ji Das Tandon, paid tributes to Baldev Parkash, whose statue was unveiled today. “Baldev Parkash was a symbol of the Hindu-Sikh unity,” said the CM and the Deputy CM.

Earlier, addressing party workers, Gadkari said the BJP was on its path to revival and that workers should be ready for a new phase of polity. “I have decided not to attain any post during the next three years, as I will work to strengthen the party,” said Gadkari, adding the BJP was planning to launch a nationwide protest against rising prices.

Jalandhar, January 17
As the election for the state Congress chief is round the corner, infighting between Congress groups, one led by PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and the other by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, has further intensified and reached the party high command.

Loyalists of the Kaypee-Bhattal group today sent off letters to party president Sonia Gandhi, general secretary Rahul Gandhi and senior leader Mohsina Kidwai in which they lambasted the Amarinder coterie for terming the membership drive in the state as “bogus”.

PPCC secretary Virendra Sharma and organising secretary Anil Dutta said the Amarinder coterie had pointed out a few days ago to the media that the proper procedure was not being followed in the recruitment drive and in many cases money had been deposited but membership forms had not been submitted.

Claiming that the membership drive was genuine, Sharma and Dutta stated that the leakage of inner party grievances and complaints to the media by the Amarinder coterie amounted to “gross indiscipline” and called for strict disciplinary action against them.

They said over 35 lakh persons were recruited in the party and not even a single member of the state Congress was fake, as the photo of each member was attached to the membership form.

Sharma and Dutta further alleged that the Amarinder coterie played in hands of Akalis while pointing fingers at the party membership drive.

They said the Amarinder coterie must not forget that the drive had been launched by party president Sonia Gandhi, therefore any criticism was equivalent to flaying the party chief.

They added that if the Amarinder coterie had any grievance regarding the drive, it should have spoken to the high command in person and not the media on inner 
party affairs.

Ludhiana, January 17
The Punjab Agricultural University has sent an SOS to the Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal urging him to release funds for the pensioners of the university to enable it to disburse them their pension.

In a telegram to Badal, copies of which have been sent to Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah, Vice-Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang has stated that pension fund of the PAU has been totally depleted and it has not been able to disburse pension from November 2009 onwards.

The Punjab Government has revised pensionary benefits with effect from January 2006, which are also applicable to PAU pensioners. The increased financial liability on this account would be substantial.

The Vice-Chancellor has informed the Chief Minister that the pensioners have served a notice on the PAU to pay the due pension immediately and plan to go to the high court for contempt of court proceedings against the PAU and Government since it is not in a position to pay pension from November 2009. The non-payment of pension is bound to attract contempt of court proceedings and PAU needs immediate financial assistance to pay due pension to avoid legal complications.

The suggestion to generate funds by levying 0.5 pc cess on agricultural produce as well as by imposition of taxes levy on some items as an alternative have already been submitted to the Financial Commissioner (Development) for consideration of the government, he has pointed out. Urging for immediate financial assistance, the Vice-Chancellor has asked for Rs 3.80 crore every month to tide over the pension needs and avoid legal complications.

Chandigarh, January 17
The Chief Minister has taken a serious view of the fact that the state exchequer has for years continued to pay heavy subsidies to closed as well as non-existent industrial units on the plea that a former industrial policy mandates it. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is believed to have directed the Industries Department to immediately stop payments to all such units as well as ask office of the Advocate-General to file a review petition in all cases were the subsidy was being given based on court orders.

According to information supplied to the Chief Minister by the Industries Department, 873 closed units had been disbursed a subsidy of Rs 62.55 crore. As per the policy accepted by the Finance and the Industries Departments, all units that had worked for at least five years before being closed were eligible for subsidy. Though the Finance Department has in principle opposed subsidies, in case of such units, it approved continuing granting subsidy to all such closed units.

As per the minutes of the meeting held on February 20, 2009, in the office of the Finance Minister, with regard to disbursement of subsidy it was noted in the minutes, “……. The units which have worked at least for five years from the date of production may be allowed the disbursal of subsidy.” It was also decided that the subsidy should be released to the closed units on the condition that the units must have worked for at least five years from the date of production and the units were asked to produce documentary evidence in the form of electricity bills, sales tax returns, balance sheets, etc.

The Chief Minister, however, subsequently approved the minutes of the meeting with the amendment that subsidy be released to units that are functional at the time of the disbursement of the subsidy. In case of those units that remained in production for five years and were later closed, legal opinion was directed to be sought as to whether subsidy can be disbursed to closed units.

The Advocate-General HS Mattewal has in his opinion to the government referred to a Public Interest Petition (PIL) CWP No 10475 of 1996 on the subject of granting subsidy to closed and non-existent units. A CBI inquiry was ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the CBI in its report indicted a number of officers of the Department of Industries and Commerce for disbursal of subsidy to closed units. The state accepted the said report and several cases were said to have been registered against delinquent officials and departmental action ordered for recovery of subsidy disbursed.

After the Chief Minister intervened and ordered stopping of disbursement to closed units, a number of such unit owners went to the high court demanding subsidy quoting a previous industrial policy. On November 12, 2009, the high court asked the Punjab government to formulate a policy on the issue within two weeks.

Mattewal has told the government that any decision to grant subsidy to closed units may invite another PIL and in the absence of extremely compelling and justifiable reasons, it may become difficult to justify the action. He has written, “In my view it may not be advisable to grant subsidy to closed units, on the other hand the government should let the stopping of subsidy be judicially tested in court”.

Following the opinion of the AG office, the Chief Minister is believed to have asked the Industries Department to stop subsidy to closed units and file a review petition in court wherever the units have got judicial orders to get subsidy from the government.

Malerkotla, January 17
A state-level Shaheedi Samagam was organised here today to pay floral tributes to 66 Kuka martyrs, who were blown off by cannons by the British rulers on January 17, 1872, at Kuka Kallar here.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal deputed Secretary-General Shiromani Akali Dal and Former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and General Secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder to represent the Punjab government and the SAD, as he could not arrive here from Amritsar to attend the state-level function due to foggy and inclement weather.

Paying glorious tributes to the Kuka martyrs, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa announced that the Punjab government would soon develop suitable memorials in the memory of the Kuka martyrs in their native villages, to which they belong. He also informed that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had already taken up the matter with the Centre to get the possession of 67 acres of land in Malerkotla from the Ministry of Defence.

He said once the land was reverted back to the state government, it would immediately handover to the Kuka Memorial Trust, so that they could develop the same for academic and institutional purposes. Dhindsa asked the people of the state to draw inspiration from the unparallelled sacrifice of the Kuka Martyrs, who were blown off in front of canons by the British rulers on this historic day in 1872. He said the real tribute to the Kuka martyrs would be to rise above the parochial considerations of caste, colour, creed and religion to strengthen the bonds of communal harmony, universal brotherhood, peace and amity.

While paying homage to the Kuka martyrs, General Secretary SAD and former Minister Balwinder Singh Bhunder said the unique sacrifice of Namdhari Sikhs in the history of Indian freedom struggle would be ever remembered by one and all, as it was the first ever struggle against the tyranny of the British rulers. He said our future generations should imbibe the spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice through such sagas of unmatched martyrdom full of valour and courage.

Meanwhile, Deputy Information Minister of Thailand Fom Thom Kanchanchana also paid glorious tributes to the Kuka martyrs memorial on the occasion. Deputy Commissioner Sangrur Harkesh Singh Sidhu look after the arrangements made by the district administration for this state-level Shaheedi Samagam. Tight security arrangements were made under the supervision of SP (D) Jagtar Singh. 

Patiala, January 17
A team from the Union Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies has taken samples of PAU-201 variety of paddy from different places in Patiala. The team led by a senior official of the Union Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies, Dr Mohinder Singh, will test the samples of the PAU-201 paddy produce to verify whether the percentage of damage and discolouring in the rice produced out of this variety of paddy was 7 to 8 per cent, which is 3 to 4 per cent more than the other varieties or not.

Notably, a few days back, the rice shellers across the state had announced that since the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was not ready to give relaxations in the specifications for the acceptance of rice manufactured out of the PAU-201 variety, they would return the entire PAU-201 paddy produce of about 40 lakh tonnes, to the FCI.

As per information gathered by The Tribune, the team took a total of 10 samples of the PAU-201 paddy produce from different rice shellers. It is learnt that four samples were taken from Sirhind Road, two each from Samana and Devigarh and one each from Langh and Bhunerheri.

Speaking to The Tribune, president of Rice Sheller’s Association of India as well as Punjab Tarsem Saini said, “We will wait for the report of the sampling to come. After the report is submitted, we will take a decision accordingly.” He added that in case FCI still refused to relax the specifications for the acceptance of the rice manufactured from the PAU-201 produce, we would stick to our decision of returning the paddy produce to the FCI.

President of Patiala Sheller Association Sanjeev Kumar Goyal asserted that there was no logic of paying for the extra loss of 3 to 4 per cent to FCI. “When the shellers are not at fault, why should we suffer,” he questioned, while urging the FCI to accept the reality. Notably, before the sowing of paddy last year, sheller owners in Punjab had advised the farmers not to sow PAU-201 paddy because of the apprehensions about its quality. 

Chandigarh, January 17
“Innovative ideas” would be at the forefront in the two-member committee report on resource mobilisation, which is expected to be submitted to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in a week’s time.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, while talking about the mobilisation report with TNS here today, said innovative ideas would be used to raise resources and that many avenues, which had remained untapped, would be opened up.

“We will make the system (tax) more efficient”, he said while indicating that the state was poised to collect more in the form of sales and other taxes by widening the net. The two-member committee, which includes Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, has held 13-14 meetings to finalise the report.

While Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal has made his position on the financial status of the state quite clear recently, Sukhbir says the state is using debt for a positive purpose. “Moreover, debt is not a criteria to judge lack of progress”, he said while asserting that the state was simultaneously generating resources to pay debt. “We have never defaulted on paying interest on debt”, he added.

The Deputy CM said along with the report of the mobilisation committee, the reforms suggested by the Reforms Commission would be used so that money could be effectively ploughed back for development.

He said the SAD-BJP government was concentrating on creation of infrastructure as well as increasing its VAT and excise collections consistently and it would continue to be a growth story in the next two years. The government has already topped the growth figures vis-a-vis the previous Congress government, both in VAT and excise collections.

The rate of increase in the case has also been on the higher side. After taking over the reins of the state with annual VAT collection of Rs 5,136 crore, the SAD-BJP government is set to record a Rs 1,000 crore increase upon completion of its third year in office with the VAT collection likely to be Rs 6,187 crore by the end of the current financial year. The SAD-BJP government has recorded an increase of 14.3 per cent in 2007-08, 20 per cent in 2008-09 and is likely to see an increase of 12 per cent in the current financial year.

In case of excise collections, from a base of Rs 1,548 crore in 2006-07 during the Congress rule, the collections went up steadily by eight per cent during the past two years and will see an over 10 per cent increase by the end of the current financial year. The collections are expected to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore. 

Bathinda, January 17
Out of 645 applications received in 2006, the district administration has approved claim of just one deserving beneficiary for the anti-Sikh riots that took place in 1984, while four are still awaiting approval and 640 were flatly refused in 2009 as they reportedly failed to prove their claims.

Now, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has given a fresh chance to all applicants to prove their claims with relevant documents. The process has put the district administration in perplexity that how applications once rejected would now be approved?

Acting upon the recent orders of the CM, the district administration called all applicants to the mini-secretariat, here this morning. The applicants thronged the meeting hall in such a large numbers that officials found themselves amid a sea of humanity and after few minutes, adjourned the meeting asking them to reach the office of the ADC (General) in small groups, that, too, in a scheduled manner.

ADC Shruti Singh, who found herself unable to hear such a large number of applicants in a single meeting, said she would hold meetings with the applicants on a regular basis but in small numbers, for which a proper date-wise schedule would be prepared.

On other hand most of the applicants, while talking to The Tribune, irked over the “futile” exercise, termed the adjournment as just another reason to keep pending their long pending claims. “We urge the government either to accept our claims or stop playing such pranks to waste our time, money and energy,” said some of the applicants.

After losing his comfortable life in Kolkata in 1984, Bau Singh, who is now living at Bhunder village in the district, said, “We took shelter at Bhunder in 1985. It is our ill fate that neither we can get back our old old happy life nor the administration approves our application. The possible available documents, which we attached with the file, could not satisfy the officials.”

An elderly couple Mahinder Singh and Kulwant Kaur said, “At the time of riots, we left Bareilly (UP) empty-handed just to save our lives. Now the administration does not believe our words. We lost everything there and now we are finding ourselves unable to prove our claim in the documents.”

When contacted, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari said, “We have to follow the set procedure as once the government issues a red card to any riot victim, he/she becomes entitled to cash compensation worth Rs 2 lakh as well as a claimant in the reserved category, while seeking jobs. So, we can not take any chance before approving the case.”

Patiala, January 17
The Department of Transfusion Medicine (Blood Bank) of Government Medical College, Patiala, has achieved the distinction of being number one blood bank in Punjab in terms of voluntary blood donation. As per the annual report prepared by the Department, a total of 158 voluntary blood donation camps were organised by the Department in 2009. During these camps, organised with the help of NGOs and other organisations working in social sector, 9,752 blood units were collected, which is highest in the state.

Notably, as per the National Blood Policy, 100 per cent blood should be collected through voluntary blood donors. Punjab’s average voluntary collection is 29 per cent against the national collection of around 55 per cent.

Professor and Head, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Government Medical College, Patiala, Dr Shashi Prabha said, “There has been an increase in blood donation camps, as well as collection of blood units. Last year, 69 per cent of the blood collected by their department was through voluntary blood donors, which is highest in the state. The figures of 2009 shows that we are inching towards achieving the target of 100 per cent voluntary blood collection,” she revealed.

While asserting that Patiala district is doing well in voluntary blood donation and it has witnessed constant increase in the past five years (see box), Dr Prabha told The Tribune that they were able to increase the voluntary blood donation with the help of NGOs. “Besides, we also launched an aggressive campaign through electronic and print media for encouraging voluntary blood donation,” she added.

Dr Prabha, however, admitted that though voluntary blood donation in the rural areas was still low, youth clubs and other organisations working in the social sector were now taking keen interest to promote voluntary blood donation in the rural areas. “Earlier, we had to go to far off places to collect blood, but now maximum collection is being done in the district itself,” she informed.

The medical college officials also disclosed that in 2009, maximum number of blood donation camps were organised by youths and sports clubs of villages.

Amritsar, January 17
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal inaugurated a memorial to the great patriot and Sikh solider of eminence, Gen Sham Singh Attariwala of the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, at Naraingarh chowk here today. The memorial, including a beautiful and life-like statue of General Attariwala, has been built at a cost of Rs 3.75 crore.

The ceremony was attended by Punjab ministers, including Manoranjan Kalia, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Gulzar Singh Ranike, MPs Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajmohinder Singh Majitha.

Addressing a gathering, Badal called upon the present and future generations especially to imbibe the values and high standards of valour and gallantry set up by General Attariwala.

Paying rich tributes to the great stalwart of the freedom movement, Badal said General Attariwala had made a significant contribution towards strengthening of the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and making the Sikh army fight against the British army with a renewed vigour.

He said the real homage to this legendry hero is to follow in his footsteps for taking Punjab forward on the path of progress and prosperity.

Badal announced that the Punjab government would observe the martyrdom day of the great General as a state-level function every year on February 10 to propagate the legacy and saga of his bravery.

He said he would take up the issue of naming the Attari railway station and the proposed four-lane national highway after General Attariwala, with the Government of India. He assured that the state government would make suitable arrangements for the beautification and maintenance of the memorial site.

Manoranjan Kalia said it was only during the SAD-BJP government’s rule that the tradition of commemorating the significant occasions of warriors and stalwarts of the freedom movement was upheld without any failure. He complimented the Chief Minister on setting up the memorial in the memory of General Attariwala and also paid tributes to the brave warrior.

The heroic tales of General Attariwala were sung by the Dhadi jathas.

Anandpur Sahib, January 17
The state government has issued Rs 25 lakh each for modernisation of 30 sub-tehsils in state. Minister for revenue and rehabilitation Ajit Singh Kohar made this announcement, while addressing mediapersons at the second national rural games meet that started here today.

Stating that the state government was committed to the development of tehsils and sub-tehsils in the state, he said, “We have undertaken a major task of computerisation of land records. At the same time, special emphasis is being laid on giving a facelift to patwarkhanas in the state.”

Talking about the recruitment of patwaris and kanugos that stopped since long time, Kohar said the revenue department has prepared a detailed report and sent the same to the Chief Minister’s office for his approval.

The issue of the stalled promotions of tehsildars and naib-tehsildars has also been sent as a case study to the CM office. He assured that soon a decision would be taken to this effect.

He appreciated the step taken up by the Punjab sports department for the development and promotion of sports in the state. He added that the state government was soon coming out with a new sports policy under the chairmanship of deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal with the aim to establish supremacy of the state in sports.

He also expressed satisfaction towards other schemes run by the Punjab Sports Department, especially the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) for creation of sports infrastructure at village and block level.

Olympian Ranjit Singh (20 km walk), Ramanjot Kaur (handball), Ravinder Pratap Singh (weightlifting), Jashandeep Singh (swimming) performed the torch-bearing ceremony. Anamika Chaudhary (volleyball) took the oath on behalf of all participants. A cultural programme was also presented by students of Shivalik Public School, Govt. Girls Senior Secondary School, Government High School, Guru Harkishan Public School, Anandpur Sahib. 

Patiala, January 17
Acting on the directions of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to ensure the proper implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), DS Guru, Principal Secretary to the CM, today started field visits here.

Guru would be touring the entire state to monitor the implementation of the NREGA and to ensure that officials of the respective district administrations are taking interest in this Central government-funded scheme.

Besides the NREGA, Guru would also be monitoring other development schemes, currently underway in various districts of the state.

During his visit to Kalyan village, about 10 km away from here, where the project to cleanse the 102-km Jhabbowal drain is in progress under the NREGA, Guru told The Tribune, “The state government is committed to the proper implementation of the NREGA in letter and spirit. In case any of the officials is found guilty of ignoring the NREGA and any other development schemes, strict action would be initiated against him.”

While disclosing that of the Rs 123-crore aid sanctioned to Punjab under the NREGA for 2009-10, Rs 86 crore was utilised, he said more funds would be utilised under the scheme this fiscal.

Meanwhile, Guru also convened a meeting with officials of various government departments and purchase agencies regarding the preparations for the procurement of wheat, at Circuit House here today.

He directed the administration to make all preparations for the procurement of wheat, scheduled to start from April 1.

He also directed Patiala Deputy Commissioner Deepinder Singh to hold weekly meetings with the purchase agencies and ensure that preparations are made in such a manner that farmers do not face any problem during the procurement.

Guru also instructed the DC to also to make proper arrangements for the storage of wheat well in advance. The DC has to give a report to Guru on the availability and requirement of the space for the storage.

He said strict action would be initiated against officials (if any) found guilty in the alleged fraud in the Shagun Scheme.

Punjab’s flagship Shagun Scheme, which provides grant of Rs 15,000 to eligible Scheduled Caste girls upon marriage, had come under question recently. Following detection of a large-scale fraud in Faridkot district, the Punjab government ordered the verification of beneficiaries’ bonafides in all districts.

Ferozepur, January 17
Taking advantage of intense fog and extreme cold conditions, the anti-social elements and international drug smugglers from across the border have intensified their attempts to push drugs, arms and fake currency into the Indian territory. In another such incident today, the alert BSF troops foiled a bid by Pakistani drug peddlers to push a consignment of heroin into India.

Giving details, BSF DIG Rajesh Gupta said in the early hours of the morning, the BSF sleuths posted at a naka spotted some movement close to the fencing along the zero line. He said when the BSF jawans challenged the intruders, they opened fire towards them who also retaliated with return fire.

The DIG further told that due to thick fog and poor visibility, the exact number of intruders could not be ascertained. After the exchange of firing, the Pakistani intruders, who were about 20 yards ahead of the fencing towards Pakistan side, sneaked back taking advantage of fog, leaving behind the consignment of drugs.

He further said when the BSF sleuths cordoned off the entire area and carried out search operations, they recovered 5 packets of heroin weighing 1 kg each.