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Special Girdawari |
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But power tariff likely to go up
Punjab yet to distribute Central largesse to students
Repair over, water to flow into BML tomorrow
Sharjah Murder Case
Protest against thermal plant
Labour shortage hits production
Sikh studies in Dehradun to get a boost
Pak jatha returns home today
Malerkotla rape victim dies
Decide Moga vends’ auction in 2 weeks : HC
Cops turn a blind eye to drunken driving
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Special Girdawari Political bosses see it as deliberate laxity on the part of the official machinery in a pre-election year Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 20 The Chief Minister had asked all DCs to get a special girdawari conducted to ascertain the extent of damage to the standing crop. Tentative reports suggest that the damage could be up to 5,000 hectares ( about 12,000 acres) across the state. The political bosses see this delay as deliberate laxity on the part of the official machinery in a pre-election year. Meanwhile, the PCC chief, Capt Amarinder Singh, has been demanding a quick survey so that the affected farmers can be given compensation. The worst hit is the small and marginal farmer. In case of complete crop damage, the farmer gets a compensation of Rs 5000 per acre, but there is no compensation for loss up to 25 per cent. At the existing MSP of Rs 1,120 per quintal and a bonus of Rs 50, a farmer gets a yield of 20 quintals to 21 quintals per acre-that fetches him about Rs 25,000. The districts worst-affected by rain have been identified as Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Hoshiarpur. Here the damage has been widespread. But officials in the agriculture department say the damage to wheat will not affect the over-all yield that is expected at 157 lakh tonnes, 4 per cent more than last year’s yield. The procurement process is still slow despite the clear skies now. Up to April 19 last year, various agencies had procured nearly 70 lakh tonnes of wheat, whereas the agencies have procured only 11.98 lakh tonnes of wheat so far. Out of this, the FCI has picked up only 1.43 lakh tonnes. In the past two days, Patiala district has taken the lead in procurement with 4.61 lakh tonnes, followed by Sangrur with 2.61 lakh tonnes and Ludhiana 74,927 tonnes. Worst-hit dists:Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Hoshiarpur Worry: For complete crop damage, farmer paid Rs 5,000 per acre; none for loss up to 25 per cent Tardy lifting: Wheat procured by April 19, 2010: 70 lakh tonnes Wheat lifted by April 19, 2011: 11.98 lakh tonnes
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No power cuts this summer
Chandigarh, April 20 Talking to TNS here today, PSPCL CMD KD Chaudhary said Punjab was going in for a 60 per cent increase in power banking arrangements this summer. He said the banking arrangements, which would come into effect till October. Last year’s banking arrangements had yielded only 1200 mu of power. Besides the banking arrangements with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, under which the state will return the power taken from these states in winter, the state has gone in for additional short-term power purchase (3000 mu). Chaudhary said the power corporation had planned for uninterrupted free power during the summer months. “We expect problems only in case of a snag in thermal generation”, he said. The electricity utility has decided to ensure eight hours’ of power supply for the agricultural sector to ensure smooth paddy transplantation. The industry sector will have only one day off in a week. Meanwhile, even as the corporation is bracing itself for a smooth summer, its financial status remains weak and it is facing difficulty in getting additional loans. Chaudhary , when questioned on this , said the issue was likely to be addressed by the State Power Regulatory Commission. According to the annual revenue receipts submitted by the corporation, a case has been made for a 20 per cent power hike. Chaudhary, however, said the corporation was simultaneously going in for financial planning to ensure smooth functioning. The corporation is following the twin strategy of improving distribution and computerising its functioning. Chaudhary said tubewell feeders had been separated to ensure round-the-clock power supply to villages. In a major drive, 3,000 km of transmission lines had been replaced and another 2,000 km would be replaced by June 30. Chaudhary said the corporation would make paying bills and bring in technology to ensure quick redressal of complaints. Other unique initiatives which would be carried out this year were the ‘bachat lamp yojna’, under which CFLbulbs would be provided to consumers, and introduction of energy-efficient pumpsets to bring down the agricultural load. Action Plan * Eight hours’ of power supply for farm sector * industry sector will have only one day off in a week * Better distribution:3,000 km of transmission lines replaced
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But power tariff likely to go up
Patiala, April 20 While the BBMB supplies their quota of power at fixed tariff to member states, the Punjab Government has decided to redirect its quota to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited at the current market rate, thus pocketing the huge difference. If Punjab gets its share from the BBMB at 33 paise per unit, it will sell the same to the Punjab Power Corporation at Rs 2.11 per unit, thus shifting the additional burden to the ultimate user, the consumer. The Punjab Government has already issued a notification asserting its status as the owner of the state’s share in the BBMB. It means that the state has wrested the rights of its own Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) The notification issued by Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, Principal Secretary, Finance, on April 7 makes it clear that from now onwards, the state government would divert the power received from the BBMB to the PSPCL at Rs 2.11 per unit. Financially speaking, it would put an additional annual burden of Rs 739 crore on the cash-strapped PSPCL. Ultimately, this burden will be shifted to the consumer as cost of power purchase would go up. The PSPCL would be left with no choice but to move the Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission for upward revision of the tariff to make up for the huge difference in the cost of purchase of power. Sources in the PSPCL said that in case the government doesn’t withdraw the notification, the power tariff being levied on metered power consumers in Punjab would go up by Rs 0.32 per unit of power. Notably, for 2010-11, PSPCL had got 41,510 lakh unit (LU) power from the BBMB at the rate of Rs 0.33 per unit. Now, as per the notification, for the power received from the BBMB, PSPCL would have to pay Rs 2.11 per unit to the state government. This means that there would be an additional burden of Rs 1.78 per unit. K.D.Chaudhri, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, PSPCL, said, “I would only like to say that PSPCL is contributing its share of expenses being incurred for the annual operation and maintenance of the assets of BBMB.” However, reacting sharply to the development, president of the PSEB Engineers’ Association HS Bedi claimed, “The notification is factually incorrect * Punjab gets 41510 lakh unit of power from BBMB at 33 paise/unit * Government to supply these 41,510 lakh units to PSPCL at Rs 2.11/unit * Additional burden on PSCPL Rs 739 crore * Likely increase in power tariff: 32 paise/unit
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Punjab yet to distribute Central largesse to students
Chandigarh, April 20 The most affected are 82,000 SC students who were to get their post-matric scholarships. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had even approached the Prime Minister’s Office on March 5 to get the Central assistance of Rs 58 crore released immediately claiming that the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister was creating needless hurdles in the release of the grant. However, even after the Centre released Rs 58 crore under the scheme on March 24, the state failed to release the same to the Welfare Department for distribution to the beneficiaries. Students are awaiting their scholarship amounts, most of which has to be paid to private institutions on account of annual and tuition fees. A survey conducted by The Tribune revealed that it is not only this scheme under which the state has failed to protect the interests of deserving students. The state has also failed to release Rs 37.41 crore received from the Centre under the pre-matric scholarship scheme for students belonging to the minority community. As many as 2.92 lakh students are awaiting money under this scheme in which students are paid annual fee of Rs 500, tuition fee of Rs 350 per month and maintenance allowance ranging from Rs 600 to Rs 1,000 per month. Even in the case of the post-matric scholarship scheme for minority community students, it has only released Rs 6.87 crore out of the total Rs 17 crore received from the Centre. As many as 27,000 students of class XI and XII are to be given annual charges between Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 and tuition fee between Rs 300 to Rs 500 per month. There are also instances of Central grants not being released for inordinate periods. In case of the post-matric scholarship for backward castes, the state has received Rs 3 crore from the Centre since more than one year, but has not released the money. Even in the merit-cum-means scheme for students belonging to the minority community, Rs 1.5 crore out of the total Rs 7.17 crore received from the Centre is still to be released. Central assistance received but not distributed * Rs 58 crore under post-matric scholarship for SC students * Rs 37.41 crore under pre-matric scholarship for minority community students
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Badal announces extra relief for total crop failure
Raikot, April 20 Badal was talking to the Tribune after a sangat darshan at Bassian village near here today. "As I am a son of a farmer, I can understand the pain of a farmer seeing his otherwise bumper crop fail just before harvesting. “Compensation for cent per cent failure of wheat crop at a meagre Rs 1,500 per acre is a cruel joke on the peasant whose whole family has toiled for the entire season,” said Badal adding the state government would give an extra amount of Rs 3,500 for the loss. All Deputy Commissioners had been directed to initiate the process for assessing the losses suffered by farmers in their respective areas. Badal criticised the UPA government of ignoring his communication seeking more benefits for farmers of the border state. The revival of the depleting water table, procurement of diversified crops and shifting and storage facilities were major issues that Badal claimed to have raised before the Union government. On the issue of problems faced by rural people in getting birth and death certificates, Badal said he had asked the Chief Secretary to direct the concerned officials to organise special camps to issue such certificates on the spot. He said that a Rs 20 crore corpus had been created for treatment of cancer patients.
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Repair over, water to flow into BML tomorrow
Ropar, April 20 The BML is an extension of the Nangal hydel channel, which takes off from the Nangal barrage downstream of the Bhakra Dam. The BML has a length of 164 km, of which 159 km falls in Punjab and the remaining in Haryana. The BML canal was commissioned in 1954. It is an inter-state channel which supplies water for irrigation and drinking purposes to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. After leaving Patiala, the BML is called the Naruana branch that caters to Haryana. Earlier, water was to be released on April 20 midnight. “While the BBMB and Punjab have completed the maintenance and repair of the canal, Haryana has requested the board to extend the deadline by a day and a half. Consequently, it has been decided that the board will start releasing water from April 22 evening,” said BBMB officials. The canal was closed for repairs on April 4. Due to the decrease in the release of water into the canal, slabs lining its sides have become loose near Alowal village . While the BBMB authorities claim to have repaired the stretch, villagers say the BML should not become functional till the slabs are fixed again.
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Accused Punjabi boys can hope for early release
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh/Dubai, April 20 Though the next hearing in the case has been fixed for May 16, the final verdict is expected sooner. The Shariat Court has asked the defence to produce all the documents pertaining to the settlement with the family of the victim before the next hearing. The settlement was reached between the families of those facing trial and the victim on the intervention of the Dubai-based businessman SP Singh Oberoi. SP Singh Oberoi had submitted the settlement documents to the Indian Consulate in Dubai on September 10 last year. The Consulate had forwarded those documents for approval to the foreign office on September 19. According to the prosection, 16 expatriate workers, including two from Pakistan and one from Bangladesh, were allegedly involved in a bootlegging-cum-murder case in which Ashok Kumar of Kapurthala lost his life. The court at an earlier hearing had granted bail to five Punjabi boys - Jatinder Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Harpal Singh, Buta Singh and Amarjit Singh - on the condition that they would not travel out of Dubai till the disposal of the case. Yesterday, all the suspects were presented in court for their final evidence. Two policemen, who could not depose in the case earlier, also recorded their evidence. After closing the evidence, the court adjourned till May 16.
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Protest against thermal plant
Rajpura, April 20 After suspending work, most of the workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, gathered at the entrance of the plant and raised slogans, demanding that their salaries be restored as per work experience. “Ten workers are being forced to stay in one small room since the beginning of the construction work. Those who are close to the contractors and seniors are getting more wages as compared to other workers,” said Ram Kishore, a welder in the plant. He said there were around 2,000 workers in the plant and most of them were reprimanded and abused for not performing well. The workers alleged that three of their colleagues were falsely implicated and taken to the local police station. They are now being pressurised to resume work. “Three workers have been accused of breaking chairs and glasses in the canteen and are under pressure to withdraw the strike,” said Kamlesh. He said workers were getting Rs 110 to Rs 225 per day, which is less as compared to their counterparts in the Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant, which too is under construction. Meanwhile mediapersons were not allowed to enter the plant to visit the labourers’ colony. It is pertinent to mention that on January 31, unemployed youth of the area had launched a protest against the construction company for not been employed in plant despite promise by the Punjab government. The government had acquired 1,079 acres of fertile land of seven villages to setup the plant. Area residents were assured of overall development of the area and jobs for the unemployed. Joint general manager Nabha Power Limited Jagdeep Singh said, “The constructing company has denied the allegations of labourers and said it was not possible to give uniform salaries and they were executing work as per the prescribed rules and law. Labourers have adopted the arm-twisting method to get a hike in wages which is impossible. We have told them to either resume work or leave.” Their Demands
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Labour shortage hits production
Dera Bassi, April 20 Some industries had cancelled its one shift of working hours to meet the labour shortage and so the industrial production was adversely affected. Some units have got auto machines to overcome the problem. After talking to the management of industrial units of Lalru and Dera Bassi, it was found that industries had been facing a decrease in their production from 15 per cent to 50 per cent due to the labour shortage. The owner of Cheema Spinning Mill, Lalru, and president of the Industrial Association Lalru, Hardyal Singh Cheema, said nearly 500 workers had been working in his unit and now he was facing a shortage of 250 workers that was leading to loss in production. They had stopped one shift of working hours. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was one of the reasons that had led to labour shortage, he added. Managing director of Punjab Agro Dutch, MS Bhinder, said his unit was facing a shortage of 400 workers, which had to decrease in 50 per cent production. A major fall had been noted in the turnout of labour from other states due to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Along with this, season of wheat harvesting was the reason behind labour shortage, he added. Meanwhile, expressing concern over the labour shortage, president of Dera Bassi Industrial Association Kewal Garg said that this problem could become the reason behind closing of most industries, so the government should take appropriate steps to solve the problem. Nahar Fabrics And Rana Polycots, which are the big spinning mills in this area have also stopped one shift of working hours of the total three shifts. Mohanjeet, chief engineer in Rana Polycot and Ram Kumar Vashist vice-president of personnel and administration in Nahar Spinning Mill said labour was not turning out from Bihar and Uttar Pardesh due to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and it had led to labour problem in industries. Their industrial units were facing the 30 to 35 per cent shortage of labour, which had caused a loss in production up to 15 per cent. They further informed that they would turn auto machines to meet the problem.
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Sikh studies in Dehradun to get a boost
Patiala, April 20 “The main purpose of the expansion will be to accommodate more research scholars who will help sustain the glory of Sikh religion,” Jaspal Singh Vice-Chancellor Punjabi University said. Dr Jaspal was presiding over the first Bibi Mohinder Kaur Memorial Lecture in the Senate Hall, here today. The university has decided to introduce a fellowship of Rs 10,000 per month in the name of Mohinder Kaur. Chief Guest Tarlochan Singh, former chairman of the Minorities Commission, urged for developing the centre into a premier intellectual centre equipped to carry out in-depth analysis of Sikh history, art and culture.
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Ropar land records to go online by June 30
Ropar, April 20 Of the 156 fard centres at tehsil and sub-tehsil level in the state, around 100 have started functioning. As a result, the land records of 7,000 villages were now available online. Launched in 2006, the project’s aim was to computerise the entire land revenue record in the state and ensure its delivery to applicants within half an hour of their application — at the rate of Rs 20 per page. Another objective was to tighten a noose around revenue officials who allegedly used to charge exorbitantly for issuing land record documents. Notably, the project has had its own set of problems, leading to the extension of the deadline to June 30. While the work in Sangrur and Barnala was awarded to one company, that of the 18 other districts was given to another firm. And, the Punjab Land Record Societies was entrusted with the task of uploading the data. “Earlier, data operators working on the project were not aware of different metric scales and the lingo of the Revenue Department, which includes words from Persian language. Converting canals, biswas into metric system was a huge task,” pointed out officials at Ropar tehsil. Confirming the extension of the deadline, Punjab Revenue Secretary Anurag Verma said: “We did not want to rush with the project. The data of every centre has been validated thrice before being computerised.” “Besides successfully sustaining the project, we have also incorporated a feedback mechanism, whereby officials from three to four centres are called up randomly everyday,” Verma said. “At the centres, we also talk to those who come to seek land record documents, he added. Meanwhile, the Morinda tehsil, which was adopted as pilot project for the state, has so far seen 99 per cent land record computerisation — only two villages are left. District Revenue Officer Paramjit Singh said the records in Behdali village and Morinda city are pending. The records here are yet to be consolidated. The absence of computerisation has been causing inconvenience for the residents. Progress card
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Pak jatha returns home today
Amritsar, April 20 The jatha had come to India to attend a religious celebration at Shadani Darbar, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Tragedy struck the pilgrims yesterday when a member - nine-year-old Pardeep Kumar - was electrocuted in Haridwar. He was cremated in yesterday evening. The victim’s grandfather Kanji said, “He accidentally fell from a swing, landed on a bunch of uncovered wires and died. The authorities there insisted on conducting a post-mortem examination before taking legal action against the guilty, but we refused to get into it and performed his cremation. His father Lachman is still in Haridwar to complete some formalities. He will join us soon.” Gobind Ram from Ghotki said that except for this tragic happening, the whole trip was enjoyable, informative and comfortable. How it began In March 1978, followers of the Shadani Darbar from Pakistan visited Raipur to attend the death anniversary of Saint Raja Ram Saheb for 15 days. Ever since, this yatra has become an annual feature. There is a 300-year-old pracheen darbar in Sind and the darbars in India are in Raipur, Amravati, Durg, Bhopal and Haridwar
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Malerkotla rape victim dies
Sangrur, April 20 According to Parveen and Imran, siblings of the victim, Micky Singhla and Kunwar Singhla, owners of a socks factory in Malerkotla, had repeatedly raped their sister. On March 26, the victim developed intense pain around her stomach after which her mother and aunt got her admitted to the civil hospital in Malerkotla. Parveen and Imran alleged that when the condition of their sister deteriorated, the CMO and two doctors of the hospital operated on her and probably performed an abortion on March 29. She was later shifted to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, where she died yesterday at 11.30 am. The kin, neighbours and residents led by municipal councillors Beant Kinger and Sardar Bara lodged a protest against the CMO, Malerkotla civil hospital, and two doctors and sought their suspension. They demanded the arrest of the accused. The senior medical officer of the Malerkotla civil hospital couldn't be contacted. Harcharan Singh Bhullar, SSP, Sangrur, said that the police has registered a case and investigations are on.
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Decide Moga vends’ auction in 2 weeks : HC
Chandigarh, April 20 The direction was issued by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal on a petition filed by Moga Wines. The petitioner had alleged manipulation in entertaining and accepting the “lower” tender in favour of H.R. & Company. Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, advocate-cum-Haryana’s additional advocate-general Vikram Jain argued the petitioner was illegally ousted from the allotment process by discarding his higher tender of Rs 20.11 crore by manipulating the records.
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Cops turn a blind eye to drunken driving
Patiala, April 20 When it comes to taking action against traffic violators, the figures of Patiala police oppose their claims of taking action ensure traffic rules are not violated. Following a RTI query by activist Kamal Anand, the Patiala police has accepted that 51,440 challans were issued to commuters driving two wheelers without helmets from April, 2007, to October, 2010. In comparison the city police found only 117 offenders guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol. The police has no column to show any challan issued for use of illegal flag rods, black filming and red beacon in the past four years. “It is sad to know the seriousness of the police wing which has failed to check drunken drivers and challan VIP’s for using illegal red beacons or using black films on their vehicles,” said Kamal Anand. “Also drunken driving is a menace due to which the lives other commuters is endangered and with the cops ill-equipped to handle such cases on priority the results can be dangerous,” he added. In comparison, the district police issued 2,200 challans for the use of mobile phones while driving in the same period, while 253 challans were issued to overloaded buses and trucks in the past almost four years. In the same period the traffic police issued 333 challans for underage driving. This speaks for the laxity of traffic cops as the city roads are full of underage drivers. Challans issued in past 4 years Violations Count Unsafe driving 51,400 Drunken driving 117 Use of flag rods - Use of cell 2,200 phones Overloaded 253 buses Under aged 333 driving
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Rajpura, April 20
