|
|
|
|
|
Gabria kicks off Heritage Walk
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Govt on fast track to combat cancer
Post-SC order, power tariff set to go up
Now, four-day weekly off for industry
Hansi Butana: Punjab was miffed at Jain’s presence
BHULLAR ISSUE
Pupils to pay for board faux pas
Don’t coerce Mansa farmers, Capt to CM
Submit details of big purchases, staff told
Relief for industrial plot owners
Varsity don dismissed
|
|||||||||||||||||
Gabria kicks off Heritage Walk
Amritsar, September 27 The two-hour walk, which showcases 14 heritage buildings, will start at 8 am everyday from the Town Hall and conclude at the Golden Temple. The nearly 2.5 km walk will take the visitors to a guided tour criss-crossing a maze of narrow roads. The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) got the project prepared by nationally acclaimed expert Debashish Nayak. The walk covers the Saragarhi Gurdwara, Quila Ahluwalia, Chowk Jallebiyan Wala, Akhara Sangalwala, Akhara Chitta, the Darshani Deori, Baba Bohar, Thakurdwara Dariana Mal, Chaurasti Attari chowk, Taksal, Radha Krishan Mandir and Akhara Brahm Buta. Principal Secretary, tourism, Geetika Kalha said the Heritage Walk would be free of cost for the first month. Subsequently, domestic tourists would have to pay Rs 25 per person and foreign tourists would have to shell out Rs 75 per person. Another walk showing all the sarovars (holy ponds) inside the walled city would start in December. A train connecting all the five Takhts would be started in December too. Addressing a Press conference, Gabria said the state was ranked 14th in the country in the number of tourist arrivals. He said 60 Sulabh complexes were being constructed in the major cities of the state. Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mayor Shwait Malik, DC Rajat Aggarwal, MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta, SAD leaders Gurpartap Singh Tikka, Upkar Singh Sandhu and Bawa Singh Gumanpura were present at the conference.
about the project
|
|
At last, govt announces concrete bridge for Fazilka’s border village
Fazilka, September 27 Badal, who was on a one-day visit to the district, acceded to the long pending demand of the village, having a population of over 1,000, residents. Earlier, the villagers used to cross the river via a makeshift pontoon bridge, which was maintained by the Border Security Force personnel. The bridge had to be disassembled as soon as the monsoon season arrived, as the area faces a perennial problem of floods. Therefore, the villagers were let with no other option but to abandon their houses till the floods were over. Muhar Jamsher has a peculiar topography. As it is situated on the India-Pakistan border, the village is fenced by barbed wire on three sides and the Sutlej flows on the fourth. In the absence of a permanent bridge, the village is inundated and cut-off from the mainland whenever water overflows from catchment areas. Apart from the bridge, Badal also announced to raise a new bundh on both sides of the Sutlej passing through the area. He directed the district administration to install RO system in the village on a priority to mitigate the drinking water problem. Badal also announced that the villagers who were in possession of government land for residential purpose would be given ownership rights. He said the crop loans of the flood victims would be waived and tube well connections would be given to the villagers on a priority. About the alleged diversion of floodwater from Lambi, which had inundated several areas in Abohar and Balluana, Badal claimed there was no manipulation on the part of his government. Regarding the allegation by Congress leader Sunil Jakhar about the squandering of Union Government funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, Badal denied any such action by his government. When asked to comment on the government’s “faulty” transport policy that had resulted in “losses” to the state exchequer, Badal remained mum and said “only queries related to the floods be raised on the occasion and other questions may be asked later”.
|
|
Govt on fast track to combat cancer
Built at a cost of Rs 145 crore, the state-of-the-art hospital was a much awaited project as the cancer patients had to travel outside the state for treatment, which was beyond reach for many. Badal clarified that the cost of treatment of the patients who could not afford it would be borne by the Rogi Kalyan Samiti, which had been provided a grant of Rs 3 crore by the hospital. The hospital would also pay the Samiti 5 per cent of its earnings every year. Analjit Singh, chairman-cum-managing director of the Max, said that another hospital has come up under the PPP mode at Mohali. Meanwhile, this was the second cancer treatment facility provided by the Punjab Government in the Malwa region within one week. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had on Friday inaugurated projects worth Rs 58.15 crore for providing comprehensive cancer and research facility at the Faridkot-based Guru Gobind Singh Medical College of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. These facilities include the Rs 34 crore Radiotherapy Department, projects worth Rs 19 crore for the Department of Nuclear Medicines and projects worth Rs 5.15 crore for the Department of Radiodiagnosis. The Chief Minister said the government had released a sum of Rs 60 crore for opening a cancer hospital here by the BFUHS. He said the state government had established a corpus fund of Rs 20 crore for the current financial year to provide free treatment to the poor patients suffering from cancer.
|
|
|
DC Aggarwal to preside over SGPC meeting
Aggarwal took charge as Amritsar DC in June, succeeding Kahan Singh Pannu. It was after 34 years that the holy city got a regular non-Sikh DC. The last non-Sikh DC in Amritsar was JD Khanna( 1975 to 1977). Amritsar has mostly had Sikh DCs post-Independence. However, there is no clarity whether the DC of Amritsar would preside over the first meeting of the SGPC during the pre-Independence period. Former SGPC secretary Kulwant Singh said: “There is no condition that a non-Sikh DC can’t convene the first meeting of the SGPC. Nevertheless, it is a religious issue directly linked with the gurdwaras. I think a Sikh DC should preside over the meeting.” He recalled that once a non-Sikh was made the Gurdwara Election Commissioner, which created a lot of furore. Subsequently, he was replaced. “To my mind, this will be the first instance in independent India that a non-Sikh DC would preside over the first meeting of the new SGPC members,” he said. Another former SGPC secretary Manjeet Singh Calcutta said he had raised this issue when Aggarwal was appointed DC. “The holy city has had mostly Sikh DCs post-Independence. There have been non-Sikh DCs too, but they were posted for short durations. Amritsar is the biggest spiritual centre of Sikhism and receives guests from abroad. Therefore, its DC should be a Sikh who would be in a better position to acquaint the guests with various aspects of Sikhism.” Former Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission Chairman Kashmir Singh Patti said: “As per the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, the Amritsar DC presides over the first meeting of the newly elected members, but there is no clarity in the Act that the DC should be a Sikh. Technically speaking, it doesn’t make a difference.” He said the Act would have to be amended if such a provision was to be made. He, however, said the Act was clear that only a Sikh should head the Sikh Gurdwara Election Commission and the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission. He said if there were objections from certain quarters, then the Gurdwara Election Commissioner could be asked to preside over the meeting. historic moment
|
|
Unit IV of Bathinda plant to close down
Bathinda, September 27 The PPCB also ordered the plant authorities to begin ammonia dousing in the other three units to further check emissions and control the level of pollution. The order to shut down Unit IV within 40 days was taken after an inspection of the plant by PPCB Chairman KS Pannu this morning. Pannu held a meeting with senior officers of the plant and conveyed his displeasure over the failure of the authorities to adhere to the PPCB time-table for reducing pollution levels. He said that although Units I and II had been renovated, their pollution levels remained marginally above the prescribed limits. Pannu was told that the PPCB officials had checked the pollution level of the plant in May and June and found that the level of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the renovated Unit II was 175 mg/Nm3 against the prescribed limit of 150 mg/Nm3. Besides, the level of the SPM in the emissions discharged by Unit IV (yet to be renovated) was found to be 333 mg/Nm3. Almost similar results were found during the month of June. Pannu discussed the matter with senior functionaries of the PSPCL, including its Chairman, and insisted that the most polluting Unit IV be shut down in 40 days. To control the concentration of the SPM in the renovated Units I, II and III, Pannu directed that the PSPCL should immediately start the use of ammonia gas to reduce the concentration of pollutants in the emissions. Chief engineer K Lal said that ammonia dousing had so far been undertaken in Unit IV only.
|
|
|
Post-SC order, power tariff set to go up
Chandigarh, September 27 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Chairman KD Chaudhari said the power utility would have to go in for a marginal increase in the power tariff as its share in hydel projects in Himachal would go down.
Chaudhari said Punjab would now have to arrange for the resultant deficit from other sources, which would involve additional expenditure with hydel power being available at extremely low rates. Hydel power from the three projects - the 1,380 MW Bhakra Nangal project, the 990 MW Beat unit I (Dehar) project and the 360 MW Beas unit 2 (Pong) project - is available to all three partner states at around 20 to 25 paise per unit. The three partner states are selling most of this at commercial rates of around Rs 4 per unit. The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), which manages all three hydel projects, generates around 10,000 to 14,000 million units annually. Of this, the Punjab share is 54.5 per cent annually. BBMB Member, Power, Ashok Thapar said the board had generated and distributed power worth around Rs 400 crore to the three partner states in the past six months. Though Thapar said he did not have the exact figures, by this logic the BBMB distributed power worth around Rs 700 to 800 crore to the three partner states. Meanwhile, All-India Power Engineers Federation president Padamjit Singh said cheap hydro generation was sustaining the power utilities in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and all three utilities would be adversely affected by the apex court’s decree. Padamjit said the decision would also cause financial distress to the utilities, which were already facing difficulties in raising loans from financial institutions. He said compensation to be given to Himachal for excess power drawn since 1996 from the Bhakra project, besides the other two projects, as per the apex court directive would “cripple” the power utilities. Padamjit said Himachal stood to gain as it was already selling its entitlement of free power from the Nathpa Jhakri and other projects in the state at commercial rates. He said this season during the summer Himachal had sold its share of free power from the Nathpa Jhakri project to Uttar Pradesh at the rate of Rs 4.30 per unit. Sources said Himchal could stand to gain an additional 150 MW of power following the Supreme Court decree on the basis of population ratio of transferred territory in terms of the Punjab Reorganisation Act - 1966.
|
|
Now, four-day weekly off for industry
These power regulatory measures come into effect from tomorrow. According to the top brass of the power corporation, any relaxation in the weekly offs in the next few days is unlikely. The decision has come as a shock for the Punjab industry with industrial associations condemning the move. According to sources, the power demand in the state on September 26 was recorded at 1700 lakh units, whereas 1480 lakh units were available. Punjab received 187 lakh units from the BBMB, 545 lakh units from the central pool, 500 lakh units from its own thermal plants and 224 lakh units from hydel generation yesterday. The hydel generation has come down by 60 lakh units. The power corporation is getting 80 lakh units less from the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Plant and the Rihand Thermal Plants in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, the power being purchased by the industrialists through open access has come down by 100 lakh units. “These factors have increased the gap between demand and supply, compelling the PSPCL to impose a four-day weekly off on the arc/induction furnaces and rolling mill consumers”, said PSPCL Director (Distribution) Arun Verma. A senior official, pleading anonymity, said: “Since the cost of power available through open access has gone up, the industrialists have stopped purchasing power.” PSPCL CMD KD Chaudhri said these regulatory measures were temporary and would be withdrawn as and when the power supply position eased.
|
|
Hansi Butana: Punjab was miffed at Jain’s presence
Chandigarh, September 27 Documents available with The Tribune reveal that the State of Punjab said almost everything with the assertion that it had nothing more to say while referring to the presence of Mohan Jain in the case. Haryana’s former Advocate-General Mohan Jain was representing the Union of India in the case as Additional Solicitor-General. During the course of hearing on August 26, Jain had submitted a copy of the "Brief note on BML Hansi Branch Butana Branch Multipurpose Link Channel (MPCL) Haryana". The note was placed before the Bench of Justice JM Panchal and Justice HL Gokhale. The State of Punjab, in its reply, apparently tried to add another dimension to the issue, saying: “We are constrained to add that earlier Harin P Rawal, ASG, appearing for the Union of India, had made a statement that the Union of India has no stand in the matter and, therefore, was not taking any stand. “On August 26, the Union of India was represented by Mohan Jain, ASG, who was former Advocate-General for the State of Haryana. The State of Punjab says no more". The reply mentions the names of nothing less than seven advocates, including three senior advocates involved in settling, re-settling and approving the contents. The reply was filed on September 3. The verdict in the case reveals that the apex court not only took the brief note submitted by Jain on record, but also gave time to the parties for filing a response. The Bench observed: “A copy of the brief note was taken on record and the plaintiff (State of Punjab) as well as defendants (State of Haryana) were granted time to enable them to file a response to the report submitted by the Additional Solicitor- General. Available information suggest the brief note did go a long way in giving the final verdict its shape.
|
|
BHULLAR ISSUE
Patiala, September 27 Bir Devinder categorically said: “As per the existing Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, rule 93 sub rule (2) clause (IV) clearly debars a member of the House from referring to any such matter on which a judicial decision is pending in a court.” Meanwhile, quoting Rule 93 sub rule 2, he said an MLA could not refer to a matter on which a judicial decision was pending. “This clearly implies that the issue relating to commuting the death sentence to Bhullar cannot be discussed on the floor of the House as the case is being heard by the Supreme Court.” “If at all the Punjab Government wishes to discuss the matter in a form of resolution, then the government will have to request the Speaker to suspend Rule 93 sub rule (2) clause (iv). Furthermore, such a suspension of rules would require the support of a majority of members present in the House,” he added. Chandigarh: Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa has accused the SAD-BJP combine of double standards, claiming that the coalition government’s political opportunism had been exposed in the case of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. In a statement, he accused the SAD-BJP government of changing its stand on Bhullar time and again. Bajwa said the BJP’s move to oppose a resolution proposed to be moved by the CM on the issue revealed that the party was two- faced. “ If the BJP does not subscribe to the views of the government, it should have the courage to walk out of the alliance.
|
|
Mills, ration depots usurp fortified flour
Amritsar, September 27 While the supply of the fortified ‘atta’ (flour) bags remained largely on papers, various mills took the money from the government after showing forged receipts, thus causing huge loss to the state exchequer. Taking a serious note of the development, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal has, via a communiqué to the Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab, urged him to hold a high-level probe and take stern action against the erring mill owners. Earlier, a complaint was lodged by former BJP councillor Naresh Sharma with the district administration and a probe was carried out by the district controller, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. Sharma, via a letter to the Chief Minister, Deputy CM and Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister, had demanded a probe by an independent agency into the scam. During the investigation, 11 ration depots were checked and the probing team found that it was not practically possible to dole out the quantity of flour distributed by the ration depots, which was shown as lifted from the flour mills on the official website of the department. “This clearly indicates that the fortified flour was embezzled and sold in the open market for making fast bucks,” the inquiry report had pointed out. When the records of the depot holders were compared, it was found that neither the depot holders deposited the money in banks nor did they enter the stock details in their registers. “From the initial inquiry, it appears the flour mills took the money from the government after depositing fake receipts and sold the flour in the open market,” the Deputy Commissioner wrote in the communiqué. Aggarwal pointed out that the “wicked designs” of the erring flour mills, certain officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department and ration depot holders caused a huge loss to the state exchequer and, therefore, a thorough probe should be conducted all over Punjab. About The scheme Aimed at fighting malnutrition, the Punjab Government had, in 2009, launched a scheme for the distribution of whole wheat fortified 'atta' through its nodal agency Pungrain. Under the scheme, a 10-kg bag of whole wheat flour, fortified and enriched with iron and folic acid, was to be provided through ration depots at a subsidised price of Rs 120. Modus operandi Mill owners and ration depot holders in connivance with a few government officials embezzled the fortified flour stock and sold it in the open market for making fast bucks, the inquiry report pointed out. When the records of the depot holders were compared, it was found that neither the depot holders deposited the money in banks nor did they enter the stock details in their registers.
|
|
Pupils to pay for board faux pas
Mohali, September 27 Due to a printing mistake in the examination form, the officials concerned in the examination branch had charged Rs 120 instead of Rs 150 each as migration fee from 2.60 lakh students. When the faux pas was detected in July last, the board officials, in a bid to cover up their mistake, had decided not to charge the difference from the students and it was decided that increased fee would be charged from the next academic session. However, after the anomaly was detected, the Controller of Examination is learnt to have pressed the authorities to charge the difference of Rs 30 from each student in the next semester. The fee will be collected next month. The students are already appearing in the first semester of the board exams. It has been pointed out that the board had decided to increase the migration fee from Rs 120 per student to Rs 150 per student to increase the income of the board. Sources in the board said an inquiry had been marked to fix responsibility. Examination branch Deputy Secretary Karan Jagdish Kaur was in charge of the examination section that was entrusted with the task of printing the examination forms. However, no one checked the forms and the previous rates were
published.
What went wrong
|
|
Don’t coerce Mansa farmers, Capt to CM
Chandigarh, September 27 Referring to recent “threats” issued by the Chief Minister to various farmers’ organisations, Capt Amarinder Singh said it was unbecoming of the Chief Minister to threaten his own people in such a manner. The PCC chief also warned Indiabulls against playing with the farmers’ interests asking it not to depend too much on this government “which is not going to survive for long”. “This government will not last beyond four months from now and it will not be there to protect your interests”, he warned, adding that “the best thing for the company will be to compensate the farmers to their satisfaction and not to the satisfaction of
Badal”.
|
|
Submit details of big purchases, staff told
Chandigarh, September 27 An official spokesman said today that the state government had amended Section 18 of Government Employees Conduct Rules - 1966 and now every government employee will have to report to the authority concerned each transaction of moveable or immovable property made by way of lease, mortgage, purchase, sale, gift or otherwise either in his own name of any member of his family, if the actual
cost of such transaction exceeds his one month’s gross salary.
|
|
Relief for industrial plot owners
Chandigarh, September 27 Local Government and Industries Minister Tikshan Sud said under the scheme the defaulting allottees would be given an opportunity to discharge the liability of enhanced land cost of their plots by paying the principal amount along with interest as per the terms of the allotment, subject to a maximum of 15 per cent per annum in two equal installments on November 15 and February 15 next year.
— TNS
|
|
|
Varsity don dismissed Amritsar, September 27 He said that Bhalla had been proved guilty of flouting norms in internal assessment, claiming false TA/DA bills and getting information under the RTI under a false name. He said a high-powered committee would be instituted to carry out an inquiry against Balwinder Singh of the same department for irregularities in attendance. The syndicate approved 68 appointments. Earlier, the VC inaugurated the “online examination form submission facility”.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Bathinda, September 27
Amritsar, September 27
Patiala, September 27