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Govt to reduce VAT on CSD items
Jalandhar, February 23
To benefit Army personnel the state government has decided to decrease the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the CSD items. The proposal will be cleared by the Cabinet shortly. The statement was made by Punjab Minister for Defence Services Welfare Capt Balbir Singh Bath (retd) while interacting with retired Army personnel at the Sainik Welfare Office here today.

Sarpanch removed from post
Tarn Taran, February 23
Harbans Kaur, sarpanch of Dashmesh Nagar village, 40 km from here, falling under Valtoha block, has been removed from the post for not convening the rabi and kharif sessions of the panchayat.

50 govt employees found absent
Tarn Taran, February 23
As many as 50 government employees were found to be absent from their duties in the district by different teams today. Kulbir Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), told mediapersons that 18 teams were formed to check different government offices, including schools, anganwari centres, health centres, veterinary hospitals, etc.

EARLIER STORIES

	Gurdaspur lawyers end strike after CM’s intervention February 23, 2011
	Sarpanch’s death: MLA accused of murder February 22, 2011
	Digging work for laying sewerage stopped February 21, 2011
	Nehru Champion Colleges Hockey Tournament begins February 20, 2011
	Sports fair begins February 19, 2011
	Cong men gherao Jhander police station February 18, 2011
	118 employees of Amritsar Improvement Trust found absent February 17, 2011
	Fake foreign currency racket busted February 16, 2011
	Gurdaspur stands out amidst a flop show in Punjab February 15, 2011
	Residents to lodge protest on Feb 21 February 14, 2011

	Govt to reduce VAT on CSD items Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 23 To benefit Army personnel the state government has decided to decrease the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the CSD items. The proposal will be cleared by the Cabinet shortly. The statement was made by Punjab Minister for Defence Services Welfare Capt Balbir Singh Bath (retd) while interacting with retired Army personnel at the Sainik Welfare Office here today. Capt Bath, who is also holding the portfolio of the Ministry of NRI Affairs, was in the city to listen to the problems of NRIs in the first-ever district-level sangat darshan organised for the NRIs at the district administrative complex. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has also given his consent to the proposal. He disclosed that pension for those Army personnel who died during the ’84 riots while performing duty had been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 and the family pension had also been increased from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 per month. Earlier, Capt Bath listened to the grievances of NRIs. Out of the total of 177 complaints, 50 were solved on the spot. Most of the complaints were related to land disputes. The minister said the rest of the complaints would be solved by next month. He also instructed the authorities concerned to enquire about 16 more complaints, which came to his notice during the sangat darshan.
	Sarpanch removed from post Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 23 Harbans Kaur, sarpanch of Dashmesh Nagar village, 40 km from here, falling under Valtoha block, has been removed from the post for not convening the rabi and kharif sessions of the panchayat. The District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), while confirming the removal of the sarpanch, said the powers of the sarpanch had been seized (terminated) under the Section 5 (2) of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act-1994. The DDPO said under the Panchayati Raj Act two sessions of the panchayat were mandatory to be convened, but Harbans Kaur failed to abide by the rules of the Act for which her services deserved to be terminated. The DDPO said the BDPO, Valtoha, had recommended for seizing the powers of the sarpanch. The notification in this regards was issued here today by the DDPO.
	50 govt employees found absent Tarn Taran, February 23 As many as 50 government employees were found to be absent from their duties in the district by different teams today. Kulbir Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), told mediapersons that 18 teams were formed to check different government offices, including schools, anganwari centres, health centres, veterinary hospitals, etc. The ADC said the whole staff of the Market Committee, Chabal, 16 km from here, and that of the the Cooperative Society, Kot Jaspat, was found to be absent as both the offices were found to be locked. Dalbir Kaur, Gurpreet Singh and Harmit Kaur, teachers and class IV employee of Government Secondary School, Bhalaipur, beaides Dr Karandeep Singh from the village veterinary dispensary and anganwari worker Kailash Kaur, Ranjit Kaur and helper Rani were found absent from their duties. The DDPO, Sarabjit Singh Walia, in his surprise checking of the Civil Dispensary, Sheron, 8 km from here, he found Narinder Kumar absent from his duty. Four employees, including Dr Raman Kumar, pharmacist Harpreet Singh and MPHW Jaswinder Singh of the Primary Health Centre, Panjwar, were found absent from their duties. — OC
	Crime File NRI robbed of cash, valuables, murdered Tribune Reporters Gurdaspur, February 23 A US-based non-resident Indian (NRI) was murdered by some unidentified persons when he was returning to his home at Kunde Ghesal village, near here, with his wife and six-year-old son from his in-laws’ house at Naushera Bahadur late last evening. According to DSP Jaspal Singh, NRI Paramjit Singh, who had arrived in India from the USA on January 20, was attacked with sharp-edged weapons by some unidentified persons when he, accompanied by his wife Gurpreet Kaur and son, was returning to his village at Kunde Ghesal. The assailants looted Paramjit and his wife, who is also based in the USA, of their valuables and cash and fled in a car. Interestingly, the car in which the accused made good their escape was stopped by a terrified Gurpreet Kaur, who asked the occupants of the car to help her and her husband. A senior police officer said, “The occupants of the car turned out to be accomplices of the culprits, which is evident from the fact that the criminals escaped in the same car which was stopped by the deceased’s wife. The incident happened near the Bibi Sundri Gurdwara near Paramjit’s village.” Passersby and relatives, who reached the spot after receiving a mobile phone call from Gurpreet, took the profusely bleeding Paramjit Singh to the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him “brought dead”. The SSP, Varinder Pal Singh, said a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against unidentified persons at Puranashala police station and the police had launched a manhunt to track down the accused. Boy abducts beloved Jalandhar: A boy with the help of his five friends allegedly abducted his beloved at gunpoint from her residence in the Saipur locality in the wee hours on Tuesday. Seetal Dass, the girl’s father, in his complaint to the police, alleged that his daughter had an affair with the boy, identified as Vicky, for the last couple of months. The complainant alleged that Vicky, a resident of Dada Colony, and his five friends were armed when they barged into his house. They threatened to kill him before abducting the girl, the father added. Harbhajan Singh, additional SHO, who is investigating the case, said the case under Section 363 and 366 of CrPC and Sections 148 and 149 of IPC had been registered against the six at police station Division No 8. The accused are absconding. The FIR also reads that the girl had escaped under mysterious circumstances a day before her abduction. She was, however, traced by the family members later. 2 chemist shops raided Jalandhar: The district drug authorities today raided two chemists shop of the city and seized a large quantity of habit-forming drugs. While 180 capsules of Proxyvon and 107 tablets were seized during the raid on Satyam Medicos, near Namdev Chowk, the raiding team discovered that the permission to sell narcotics item had been withdrawn from the owner of the shop. “The permission for the same was cancelled around three months ago. However, the chemist was found selling narcotics and habit-forming drugs,” said Kulwinder Singh, Drug Inspector. “We will forward a recommendation for the cancellation of his licence,” he added. Another raid was conducted on Lucky Medical Hall, Deol Nagar. “Owner of the shop had stored a stock of over 1,100 capsules, 20 syrups and 1,550 tablets containing habit-forming formulations at his home. As he did not possess licence to store medicine at home, the entire stock was seized,” Kulwinder Singh added. Kulwinder Singh said a case was registered against the chemist under Section 18C of the Drug and Cosmetic Act. Rs 2 lakh snatched Amritsar: Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched a bag containing Rs 2 lakh from a cloth agent at the busy Bhandari bridge this evening. Cloth agent Anil Tondon of Ludhiana was heading for the railway station on a rickshaw when the snatching took place. He had come here for business. Deputy Commissioner of Police A.S. Chahal said a complaint had been received and the inquiry was going on. The area of snatching falls under Durgiana Temple police chowki. One held with spurious ghee Nawanshahr: On a tip-off, the Rahon police arrested Udham Singh of Sesowal village (Machhiwara) under Sections 272 and 420 of the IPC and seized 51kg of spurious ghee from his possession. He was allegedly going to Kanuan on his cycle for selling the ghee. The police contacted Civil Surgeon Dr Rakesh Gupta, who immediately sent a team led by the District Health Officer. The team of the Health Department took a sample of the ghee and sent it for examination. 3 booked in suicide case Batala: Vandana, a married woman, committed suicide at her in-laws’ house here. Vandana was married to Sumandeep, resident of Sugar Mill here ,just three years ago. Sandeep Kumar, brother of Vandana, blamed Sumandeep of having illicit relations with his elder sister-in-law. He said the illicit relations had been the root cause of the daily altercation between Vandana and Sumandeep. Vandana could not bear the infidelity of her husband and took the extreme step. The SSP, Gurdeep Singh, talking to the mediapersons here on Monday said according to the statement made by Sandeep Kumar, a case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC was registered against Sumandeep, his mother and sister-in-law at Civil Lines police station.