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Anandpur Sahib-Amritsar Rail Link
PPCB chief to meet mining units’ owners
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Gadkari no one to judge UPA govt: Tiwari
‘Police raids’ on houses of SAD (A) leaders
BJP to take action against Chawla, Sahni
Release salaries of PAU staff: Bhattal
Potable water for 150 Patiala villages
Sirhind Fateh Diwas
Purchase of tiles: Moga MC contractors evade VAT
Extortions on the rise in Doaba
Tackling Farm Labour Woes
Medical college gets lapsed grant
‘Honour Killing’
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Anandpur Sahib-Amritsar Rail Link
Anandpur Sahib, May 14 Confirming this, Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna said the Centre has cancelled this project. On May 7, Khanna had raised this issue in the Rajya Sabha, asking the government when the rail link would be completed. “In her reply, the Railway Minister said the state government should bear 50 per cent cost of the project. It is surprising that the state has to contribute funds in the rail project. I asked the ministry, if Punjab would also be entitled to 50 per cent share of profits earned from this rail link and the answer was no,” said Khanna, talking to The Tribune. The Railway Minister took plea that the rail line, via Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Sirhind, has already connected Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib. She claimed that the connectivity between Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib would further get improved after completion of the Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail line. “It is not viable for any passenger to travel all the way, via Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Sirhind, from Amritsar to reach Anandpur Sahib,” Khanna added. It is pertinent to mention here that during 300 years of celebrations of Khalsa Panth, CM Prakash Singh Badal had sent a proposal to the Vajpayee government, demanding that all five Takht be connected through the rail network and the latter had given nod for the same. The last UPA government, too, agreed, but retracted from its commitment after coming into power the second time. In the budget speech 2008-09, it was mentioned that proposal of the Anandpur Sahib-Garhshankar line was being processed for approval. The new line proposal was processed for in-principle approval of the Planning Commission, but the same was not recommended. During the last tenure of the UPA government, then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has announced in 2008 railway budget that the Anandpur Sahib-Amritsar rail link would be established at a cost of Rs 900 crore. The Ambala railway division had even conducted a survey of the area to proceed with the land acquisition procedure.
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PPCB chief to meet mining units’ owners
Khera Kalmot (Nangal), May 14 Chairman Rajat Aggarwal will interact with the owners of units, officials of National Fertilisers Limited and Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (PACL) said. Sources said the meeting had been convened following The Tribune’s article on Nangal SDM’s report disclosing that mining units were polluting villages. The report highlighted that mining units doting Majari-Khera Kalmot-Kahnpur Khui road had become a source of pollution in nearby villages. The SDM had recommended that the PPCB be roped in to study the pollution effect. Interestingly, erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) provided power connection to only those units that had procured no objection clearance (NOC) from the board. Most of these units were issued NOC during the previous Congress tenure. “This brings role of the then PPCB, too, under scanner,” residents of Khera Kalmot said. The villagers hoped the district administration would take up the issue of 8km-long road that got damaged as heavy vehicles of these units move on it.
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Gadkari no one to judge UPA govt: Tiwari
Ludhiana, May 14 He was reacting to BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s remarks on the UPA government during an interview with The Tribune recently. Gadkari gave zero out of 10 to the government for performance and 10 out of 10 in corruption. Tiwari, while talking to TNS today, termed Gadkari an ‘‘uncultured’’ leader trying to gather political gravitas by making such statements. “He knew he was not able to attract any attention for the past six months. That is why he is making such statements and later, he is apologising also,”he said. Equating him with a “spoiled child” trying to get notices, Tewari said he was trying to plug in to draw political sustenance. “He displays a complete lack of understanding,” he added. Commenting on recent developments surrounding former Congress minister Shashi Tharoor and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, the AICC spokesperson said party’s parliamentarians were highly educated and well-aware people. “The Congress encourages free debate. Still I do not understand why Jairam ended up making such remarks against the government. May be, it is the intellectual restlessness within the people who make up the Congress leadership,” Tiwari said. TNS adds from Jalandhar: Senior Congress leaders said on Friday that BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s stand against the resumption of talks with Pakistan had no substance and logic. In an interview with The Tribune, the BJP chief had opposed to the resumption of talks with Pakistan. Senior party leaders, including Harnek Singh Gharuan, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Dr Mohinder Rinwa, Gurchet Singh Bhullar, Jasjit Singh Randhawa - all former ministers - and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Harpartap Singh Bajwa - both former MLAs - and Sukh Sarkaria said the Union Government had decided to resume talks with Pakistan after examining all aspects. They said this would strengthen democratic forces in that country, which were in the interest of India. “ To defeat terrorists in Pakistan, it is important to strengthen hands of those who believed in democracy and are against fundamentalist forces”, the leaders said.
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‘Police raids’ on houses of SAD (A) leaders
Bathinda, May 14 The district police reportedly raided about 10 houses/premises of the SAD (A) leaders and supporters today at Bathinda, Talwandi Sabo, Ballianwali village and Malkana village, but no one could be nabbed by it, as they were not found available at their respective houses/premises. Talking to The Tribune over the phone, national president of the youth wing of the SAD (A) Barinder Singh Mann said the police raided their houses to arrest them as a preventive measure so that they could not reach the venue of the state-level function at Sirhind today. He said the police raided their houses at different places that includes houses at Bathinda and Ballianwali village. Mann said the police raided his house, local unit president of the party Ranjit Singh, president of local unit of youth wing of the party Jaswant Singh at Bathinda, district president of the party Parminder Singh at Ballianwali village and Bikar Singh at Malkana village. With regard to the details, regarding the police raids on the houses of leaders of the SAD (A), the Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said no arrests had been made. Barinder Singh Mann also said he would move the Punjab State Human Rights Commission on Monday or Tuesday against the raids on their houses and harassment to them by the police without any provocation from their side.
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BJP to take action against Chawla, Sahni
Chandigarh, May 14 Meanwhile Sahni, whose resignation was accepted by the BJP core committee today, threatened to leave the “impotent” party and not fight the next election under the party. Balbir Punj, in charge Punjab BJP, today clearly spelt out that the party was extremely annoyed at the manner in which dirty linen has been washed in public due to the spat between Laxmi Kanta and Sahni. Responding to a query at BJP Chandigarh leader Harmohan Dhawan’s house here, Punj said the party would deal strictly with both Chawla and Sahni. Sahni, while talking to TNS, said he felt relieved that the party had accepted his resignation. “They should now do another favour and throw me out of the party,” he said adding justice has not been done in his case. The Batala legislator claimed that the party should have either absolved Chawla of the allegations charges levelled by him or told him that he was a liar. Sahni said though he was already inclined to leave the BJP, he would stay back only if the party proceeded against Chawla. He said he would however remain in active politics in Batala and that all options were open for him. “It is my guarantee that I can harm the BJP if I do not continue in the party,” he added. Meanwhile, sources disclosed that the core committee today decided to forward Sahni’s resignation to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal tomorrow. This is likely to be done by BJP legislature party leader Manoranjan Kalia. Though no official announcement has been made so far, sources disclosed that the BJP was contemplating a ministerial reshuffle. Sources said the reshuffle could witness a few changes in portfolios, including that of Chawla. This is being touted as a honourable exit for the Health Minister. Though Chawla enjoys the confidence of the RSS and draws her strength from the outfit, there is a growing feeling in the party that she needs to be taken to task. Punj, meanwhile, confirmed that the two-member committee comprising of state president Ashwani Sharma and Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu had submitted the report on the issue to him. Sources said action against Chawla had been kept pending because the committee had not been able to inquire into the allegations of corruption levelled against her. The committee had asked for more time to inquire into the allegations. Sources said the party is likely to take a consensus view on what action should be taken against both leaders and then forward its recommendation to high command, which is expected to endorse it.
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Release salaries of PAU staff: Bhattal Ludhiana, May 14 She also called upon the government to give salaries to the PAU staff under the “Non-planned Scheme” and not the “Planned Scheme”. Bhattal also flayed the Akali government for demoralising the agricultural scientists excelling in biotechnology and research, which is elemental in increasing agriculture production per acre thereby giving benefits to the farmers. Bhattal crticised the the SAD-BJP government. She said the government had miserably failed in governing the state.
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Potable water for 150 Patiala villages
Patiala, May 14 In urban areas, people are still aware and opt for water-purifying techniques but in villages, most of the households rely on the direct water supply. Thus, the Water Supply and Sanitation Department has undertaken a project to provide potable water in 150 villages of Patiala district. The department has allotted budget of Rs 45 crore for the project, of which about Rs 30 lakh would be spent on each village. Three divisions of the department have started working on the project. Besides, the department will put up new tube wells and water tanks wherever required. It has decided to complete this project by March next. The department will collect 10 per cent of the amount that will be spent on this scheme from each village sarpanch and villages that are incapable of paying the amount; the money will be collected from each house. The department will collect Rs 400 each from the houses of SCs and backward classes and Rs 800 from the general category houses. In villages where the groundwater level is low and the villagers are incapable of paying 10 per cent of the amount, senior officials will decide the further plan of action. Villagers are happy and see it as a constructive step. They feel that one-time investment on their behalf will help them enjoy the benefits of potable water for long term.
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Project to cost Rs 45 crore
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Rs 30 lakh to be spent on each village
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Deadline: March 2011
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Commemorative coin is ‘not a replica’
Tribune News Service
Mohali, May 14 Not only the authenticity, SGPC member Hardeep Singh, while addressing a press conference here said elitist colour had been added to the occasion by releasing the gold and silver coins that many cannot afford. Apparently pointing to the SGPC’s name embossed on the gold and silver coin, he said, “Unlike the SGPC coins that have stamp of the apex Sikh body, the original coin has just ‘farsi’ language embossed on it and did not mention name of the issuing authority. “While the great martyr and his brave soldiers fought the decisive battle to defeat the formidable army of the Governor of Sirhind Wazir Khan, to ameliorate the plight of the masses, the SGPC seems to have forget the common man, while releasing the commemorative coin”, said Hardeep. He claimed that it had been pointed out to the Chief Minister and the SGPC President to release a replica of the original coin, so that the historic importance of the event could be commemorated.
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Purchase of tiles: Moga MC contractors evade VAT
Moga, May 14 The MC had allotted tenders of over Rs 3 crore to at least eight contractors for the reconstruction of streets with interlocking tiles in the new/old town, Bhim Nagar Camp and other localities in the past few months. It is learnt that the contractors are not paying VAT on the purchase of tiles and are claiming payment without furnishing these documents to the local body. Jaswinder Singh of Johal Concrete Block Industry, who is supplying tiles, said the contractors mostly purchase tiles without bills. He also gave a quotation of tiles (60-mm) mentioning the rate at Rs 24 per sq ft (without fixing). The fixing rates in the market prevail between Rs 6 and Rs 8, depending upon the quality of work. Contrary to this, the MC has fixed the “analysis rates” at Rs 42 per sq ft for the reasons best known to the executive officer and policy makers. It raises doubts of a possible nexus between contractors and the local body authorities. Executive officer Kuldip Singh Brar, while revealing that tenders had actually been allotted at rates between Rs 36 and Rs 40 in competition bids to contractors, said the bills were, however, cleared by the engineering wing and the accounts branch. It indicates that the contract rates are Rs 6 to Rs 10 more than the prevailing market rates with fixing work and inclusive of all labour charges. Accountant Rajinder Singh Kalra said the engineering wing (ME branch) accept/finalise the rates, conduct the measurement of constructed roads/streets and calculate payment on the basis of sq ft at the rates on which the tenders were allotted to contractors. “I just calculate whether figures are correct and prepare a cheque of payment, which is signed by the executive officer,” he said. He said the MC did not verify whether the contractors had paid VAT on the purchase of construction material or not, but deducted four per cent TDS on all payments released to the contractors. Interestingly, Malwa Construction Blocks, a local company manufacturing tiles, has also got a contract of construction work in the local body and is using tiles manufactured in its own company without raising bills of the purchase order, thus giving losses in the form of VAT collections to the state exchequer. SJS Beesla, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner of Moga, said he had asked the excise and taxation officer concerned to inquire into the reports of evasion of tax by the contractors and report to his office within three days. Meanwhile, in most of the areas of the town, contractors are digging up streets made of premix and reconstructing it with interlocking tiles, even as many areas of the town still lacks pucca streets. The quality of tiles and the construction work being done is also not up to the mark and laid down specifications of the Local Body Department, which also needs to be probed by an independent agency.
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Extortions on the rise in Doaba
Chandigarh, May 14 With the administration simply looking the other way, these people claiming to be representatives of “oppressed” classes are now dictating terms to business houses, industrialists and others. The latest in the series is incidents of demanding “ransom” and “extortion” in Jalandhar and other areas to allow businesses to run. Over the past few days, these people have demanded the closing down of liquor vends around several roundabouts in Jalandhar. To further pressurise business houses into succumbing to their dictates, they have submitted memorandums to the senior SAD leadership demanding that vicinity of all roundabouts be cleared of liquor vends as these roundabouts are named after their leaders or gurus. But at the same time, these people have approached owners of liquor vends and demanded Rs 1 lakh per liquor vend to allow them to continue running them. Five out the nine vend contractors have already paid the “ransom”. And the remaining refused to do so. These contractors recently met State Excise and Taxation Commissioner A Venu Prasad and sought the state’s protection. A meeting was also held four days ago where contractors and officials of the Excise Department took stock of the situation. The police has been apprised, but it wants “proof of payment” before it can act. There is a strong apprehension that the elements behind this “extortion” comprises many supported by those involved in rioting in Jalandhar following the “Vienna incident”. Observers feel that a Talhan-like situation is emerging in Doaba with certain political leaders where using arm-twisting measures under the pretext of asserting their social, religious and cultural identities. This assertion of identity could take a violent turn with the line between “ideologues” and “goonda element” blurring. Jalandhar has already seen the forcible closure of these vends for a day and slogan shouting at the city’s main roundabouts. A contractor who has paid ransom to keep his vend open said, “I have spent nearly Rs 5 crore, now I cannot suffer a loss on account of Rs 1 lakh, but I hope this trend is checked before more people take cue and start demanding ransom for allowing businesses to be run.
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State offers subsidy on transplantation machines
Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 14 Based on the recommendations of the Farmers Commission, the state will extend a subsidy of Rs 75,000 on each transplanter machine and in addition, farmers who will help fellow farmers with paddy plantation with these machines, will be given an additional subsidy of Rs 5,000 per acre. The government is worried over the acute shortage of farm hands ahead of the plantation that starts around June 10. This shortage could have an adverse impact on the paddy yield. In previous years, farmers had tried every possible means to attract labourers from Bihar, Orissa and other states. But as these states have also got into the wheat-paddy cycle of cultivation besides providing assured employment under NREGA, the flow of farm labour from other states to Punjab and Haryana has reduced considerably. As mechanised plantation appears to be the only solution in view of the impending shortage, the government has entrusted the task of training farmers in the use of paddy transplanters to the state Agricultural Department as well as Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The Agriculture Department, which has offices in every district, will help farmers not only with operational issues, but will also help them in preparing their loan applications for the purchase of a machine and taking the subsidy offered by the government. Two models of Japanese planters are available in the market, one that has to be manually pulled costs about Rs 2.5 lakh while another model that is motorised and can be driven costs between Rs 8- 10 lakh. Paddy plantation is a laborious and a slow task and would normally take 200 people about a month to plant paddy on 300 acres. With the help of these machines, about 5 acres can be planted in a day as compared to five persons taking a day to plant one acre. Farmers are reportedly making advance tie-ups for arranging labour by offering lucrative incentives to Punjabi women to help out with the paddy plantation. On an average, a day’s wage for a labourer during paddy plantation range around Rs 400. Contract for the plantation of an acre ranges between Rs 1,400-1,600, but could be as high as 2,000 to Rs 2,500. In the past, transplantation machines have not been very successful on account of following reasons: one farmers were not trained in the use of these machines and secondly, they are not fully conversant with the preparation of a “matt nursery” required for these machines. Besides, machines imported from China performed poorly as compared to the machines imported from Japan. The government has tried to address all these issues this time.
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Medical college gets lapsed grant
Patiala, May 14 This is not only useful for patients but for doctors as well, as it makes the treatment process simple. Besides, it helps in detecting the growth of cancer. The Centre had earlier cancelled this grant and had started demanding the money back due to delay in purchase of the system. The government had issued this grant to the college in 2007, but the college authorities did not purchase it for two years. Consequently, the Centre had issued a letter to the college for returning money. But now as the grant had been reissued, the college is planning to buy it within one month.
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SSP rejects husband’s statement
Our Correspondent
Tarn Taran, May 14 Amarpreet, who married Gurleen Kaur of the nearby Dialrajputan village four months back, was injured when eight members of Gurleen’s family allegedly killed his wife Gurleen and mother Kuljit Kaur. Besides Gurleen’s father Joginder Singh, brother Guriqbal Singh, two uncles, three cousins and a relative have been booked under Section 302, 307 and other Sections by the Patti police on the statement of Amarpreet. SSP Virk, while talking to The Tribune here today, said the police was not ready to accept the whole points of the statement recorded with the police by Amarpreet. Virk told that he himself visited the spot soon after the incident and was of the view that the number of killers may not exceed from four to five. He also said Amarpreet in his statement revealed that he managed to escape himself from eight attackers, who were armed with swords, double barrel guns etc. was also looking to be unnatural. The SSP said one alleged accused Hardev Singh had been in Dubai since the last more than two months that makes the statement of Amarpreet more suspicious. The district police chief told that the police has detained Gurleen’s father Joginder Singh and uncle Mohinder Singh and have initiated investigation. Perhaps it would be the first time, when the accused in a murder case have been detained and not arrested for investigation. The SSP said the challan in the case would be presented in the court only after completing the investigation.
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Jawan cremated with honours
Kiratpur Sahib, May 14 Sangat’s body reached his village Cheekna this morning and was then cremated. His first cousin Gurdas Singh performed the last rituals. The eldest in the family, Sangat, was the only earning hand. His father had died 20 years ago. Sangat was to get engaged next month. His mother and three sisters were not told about the incident until this morning. Subedar Om Prakash and sipahi Sucha Singh accompanied Sangat’s body. They told family members that on May 1, a militant opened fired at Sangat injuring his rib cage, following which he was taken to Srinagar hospital through helicopter where he breathed his last. SDM Arvind Pal Sandhu, DSP Sant Singh Dhaliwal, Army personnel and area residents paid tributes to the martyr.
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6 of family killed in car-truck collision
Amritsar, May 14 The accident took place this morning at about 10 am, near Gopalpura village, about 17 km from here, when their Honda city car collided head-on with a truck. The deceased have been identified as Kunan Singh of Kot Dhandal village (Gurdaspur), his two daughters Sandeep Kaur (18), Karishma (12), his son Shamsher Singh (14) and two nephews Jagdeep Singh (14) and Vijay Singh (12). It took hours to take out the bodies from the car that was mangled after the collision. The police took the help of people of the nearby areas to pull out the car. While the police has registered a case under Section 304 A, the truck driver, identified as Manjit Singh of Kalanaur (Gurdaspur), was at large after the accident, said the police. Four killed, 11 hurt in
mishap
Phillaur: Four persons, including mother and son, were killed on the spot, while 11 more devotees of a kar
sewa, including two women, sustained critical injuries in a collision between a mini truck, a motorcycle and a jeep, near Rasulpur village on the Phillaur-Nawanshahar road this afternoon. The deceased have been identified as Sukhbir Singh (27), Rashwinder Kaur (48), Sakkatar Singh, while the fourth could not be identified yet. The injured devotees were admitted in the Phillaur Civil Hospital, but three of them were referred to Ludhiana Hospital due to critical condition. Senior Medical Officer,
Phillaur, MB Bali told The Tribune that the condition of the remaining injured was stable now. The accident occurred when a LPG cylinder-loaded mini truck collided with a motorcycle (PB-37-9065) and a Mahindra jeep (PB-10AR-7099), as both the heavy vehicles were in their attempts to save the motorcyclist. The gas agency vehicle was going from Goraya to
Apra, while the jeep having more than one dozen devotees, belonging to Kar Sewa Sat Baba Sheesha Singh Hazoor Sahib was coming from Nawanshahar to Phillaur side. The injured devotees include Paramjit Singh,
Dharmendera, Mekha, Jagtar Singh, Jagbir Singh, Satnam Singh, Surinder Singh, Jagtar Singh, Sarabjit
Kaur, Raj Kumar and Balbir Kaur, all belonging to Tarn Taran. s
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ngal), May 14
A controversy over the authenticity of the commemorative coin released by the SGPC to mark the tercentenary celebrations of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur’s Sirhind Fateh Divas has surfaced with a member of the apex Sikh body
poisnting that it was not a replica of the first coin released by the great soldier in 1710.
