|
|
|
|
|
Disaster management not on govt agenda
Farmers threaten to dump potatoes on roads
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
EC order on depositing firearms ‘hurts’ licencees
Manpreet, 435 supporters held
Sekhon to contest from Maur
Not in race to be CM, says Jagmeet
Won’t revoke social welfare schemes: Capt
Harsimrat: Cong using CBI to arm-twist rivals
Technology to produce onion seed in a year
Forensic science to help locate car owners
Teachers’ meeting with CM put off by a day
Air India changes flight timings
Nurses to shun uniform in protest
College told to pay arrears to professor
Health workers, teachers seek revision in pay scales
Media role evaluated at meet
MP smuggler held with 1 kg smack
|
Disaster management not on govt agenda
Chandigarh, December 11 According to the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), run by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 27 of the 29 states in the country held 544 training programmes during 2010-2011 for preparing experts for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Punjab did not hold any such programme. The concept of the NDRF was proposed in Section 42 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Since then, more and more states have been utilising Central funds to train its officials to deal with exigencies classified as disasters. In 2008-2009, as many as 354 programmes were held in 22 states and training imparted to 9,486 persons. Even as the number of such programmes dropped to 354 in 2009-2010, the number of people trained rose to 15,233. Punjab has remained aloof to such programmes and does not have a single disaster management expert though 45,320 specialists have received training countrywide in the past three years. Though Punjab failed to claim Central assistance for disaster management training in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010, it received Rs 3.90 lakh in 2008-2009 and Rs 10 lakh during 2010-2011.According to information released by the NIDM, Punjab was not given some grants as it had not submitted utilisation certificates for the previous years. The funds are released in instalments after physical and financial progress reports are received from the state’s Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) that have been entrusted with the task of disaster management training. It is strange that the NIDM, the nodal agency entrusted with the task of coordinating with the ATIs, has not given an adverse report on Punjab. At the annual training conference in February-March, 2012, Punjab will have to explain as to why it had failed to keep up with the other states in training its personnel. The annual meeting reviews the functioning of the disaster training centres in each state. The neighbouring state of Haryana has held 62 disaster training programmes and trained 1,649 officials and Himachal Pradesh has held 67 training programmes and trained 1421 officials since 2008. The NIDM had released Rs 1,240 crore across India during 2010-11 for the training programmes. It has already received the expenditure account for Rs 1066 crore.
|
|
Farmers threaten to dump potatoes on roads
Chandigarh, December 11 Farmers from the Doaba region have threatened to dump potatoes on roads on December 15. They claim that potatoes worth Rs 1500 crore - Rs 2000 crore would be lost if the government did not come to their rescue. A large number of farmers had stored their crop in cold stores, hoping to make some profit, but a bumper potato crop in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts has caused a glut. An official spokesperson said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had directed the Rural Development Board to release a sum of Rs 2 crore from the RDF in favour of MARKFED to enable it to give freight subsidy to various agencies/ individuals involved in the inter-state movement and export of potatoes. A delegation of farmers had recently called on the Chief Minister at Jalandhar, demanding freight subsidy. They had said that the bumper potato crop this year was being sold below the market price. However, the potato growers have said the amount of Rs 2 crore was woefully adequate and a joke on the farmers. “ We will dump potatoes on roads and distribute these free of cost to show our resentment against the government,” said a farmers’ representative.
|
||
|
EC order on depositing firearms ‘hurts’ licencees
Faridkot, December 11 Earlier, such a directive used to be issued once the poll dates were announced. But this time, the Election Commission has become overcautious and has started the process in advance, something that is hurting the licencees as well. Several licencees who live on the outskirts of cities or in their agricultural fields say without their weapons they are exposed to threats to their life and property. The firearms have to be deposited at nearest police stations and a receipt is given to licencees. Once the elections get over, the licencees can get back their weapons after producing the receipt. The police is seeking the help of private gun dealers to deposit these weapons and allowing them to charge monthly deposit fee from weapon owners. In all, there are over 3.3 lakh licenced weapons owned by 3,23,927 licencees in the state. In Faridkot, the number of licenced firearms is 11,113. The maximum number of licenced weapons in Punjab is in Gurdaspur: 35,794, followed by 35,152 in Bathinda, 26,726 in Ludhiana, 25,801 in Moga, 22,500 in Amritsar, 21,503 in Hoshiarpur, 17,332 in Ferozepur and 17,120 in Muktsar. Many a time earlier, the directions for depositing firearms became a bone of contention when several citizens refused to surrender their weapons for various reasons and approached the courts, pleading that the authorities be restrained from compelling the petitioners to deposit their weapons. Various directions had been issued by the courts telling the authorities not to force the licence-holders from depositing their weapons, said Mangat Arora, an advocate in Faridkot. If it is found by the competent authority that there is a chance of misuse of the weapon, only then should the fire-arms be deposited, he said. However, Sat Pal Singh Sidhu, Faridkot SSP, said the police and the civil administration were working as per the directions of the Election Commission. "We got the instructions to ask the licencees to deposit their weapons last month," he said. "People keep licenced weapons from safety point of view. What's the point of having a licenced weapon if it has to be deposited? The police or the administration gives no surety of any untoward incident taking place. When proper verification is done prior to issuance of an arms licence, then why this harassment," asks Amrik Singh, a resident of Kameana village in
Faridkot.
|
||
|
Pollution Board goes online
Patiala, December 11 With introduction of the online services, the industrialists would not have to visit any office of the Board for seeking either consent to establish Speaking to The Tribune, Pannu said that the hassle-free and paperless service would bring complete transparency and efficiency in the regulatory mechanism of the Board. "The industrialists will be able to fill the requisite forms online and the Board officials from the level of Assistant Environmental Engineer to the Chairman will process the case online without any paper work", he said. The Board functionaries further said that the online system would enable the PPCB officers to effectively monitor the processing of files in a time-bound manner and would also make the them accountable. Initially, the online service would be made available to the large-scale industries, with investment of Rs 15 crore and above. "The service for other industries would also be started soon", said the PPCB officials. With the new online system in place, now the status of the applications would be displayed on the login of the applicant industry, during the course of its processing with the Board. "The initiative taken by the Board would make the PPCB functioning transparent", said PPCB Deputy Director (PR) Charanjit Singh.
|
||
Manpreet, 435 supporters held
Chandigarh, December 11 They were arrested for violation of Section 144 CrPc as they were trying to stage a protest in a restricted area. Around 18 women were among those arrested. As the supporters gathered at the Matka roundabout, Manpreet announced that they were moving towards Sector 17 to stage a peaceful day-long dharna in support of Anna Hazare and claimed they have a written permission for holding the protest. The police, however, denied that the agitators had any permission, which it claimed was cancelled last night. The police arrested the supporters from near Taj Hotel as they began to proceed from Matka Chowk towards Sector 17 Plaza. All of them were later bailed out at 2 pm after they were produced before the SDM. Prominent among those arrested included martyr Bhagat Singh's nephew Abhay Singh Sandhu, freedom fighter Sukhdev’s nephew Bharat Bhushan Thapar, former VC of Punjab Agricultural University and PPP's patron SS Johal and former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon. “The supporters did not have any permission to hold protest in the area where the DC had imposed Section 144 CrPc and thus we arrested them. We had requested Manpreet and his supporters to hold the agitation at the rally ground in Sector 25, but they refused,” said ASP (Central) Desraj Singh. “The People’s Party of Punjab salutes Anna Hazare’s spirit and sacrifice. The Central Government had failed to enact an effective legislation against corruption. There is a need to bring about radical change in the system to put an end to rampant corruption. The people are now losing patience as the politicians have failed to take right steps in this direction,” said Manpreet. “The PPP appeals to the government that it should act in the right earnest and implement the Jan Lokpal Bill in true spirit. Inaction or insensitivity from the government this time could lead to a powerful tide of public movement that would be disastrous for it,” he added. Meanwhile, the CPM condemned the arrest of Manpreet Badal, calling it an attack on democracy.
|
||
|
Sekhon to contest from Maur
Sukhbir flew in here this evening, drove to Nakai’s residence and declared Sekhon as the party candidate amid a large gathering of SAD activists. Sekhon represents the Ferozepur (Rural) assembly seat that has been reserved post-delimitation while Maur has been carved out as a fresh constituency. Sukhbir held separate closed-door meetings with both Sekhon and Nakai before taking them together to a room for talks. Thereafter, addressing the party activists, Sukhbir said since Nakai was reluctant to contest the coming assembly elections because of personal reasons, Sekhon had been shifted to this newly carved out constituency. He said he was sure that Sekhon would nurture the seat just as well as in the case of Ferozepur. Sekhon said he would work hard for the development of Maur. Nakai said that he had informed SAD president Sukhbir Badal about six months ago that he was not inclined to contest the coming assembly elections.
|
||
|
Not in race to be CM, says Jagmeet
Speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of an agitation here, Brar said, “Though I had earlier supported the demand for a Dalit chief minister, it did not mean that Capt Amarinder should not be given this post”. “Using these words in a broad context, I had not said that a Jat Sikh like Capt Amarinder or Rajinder Kaur Bhattal should not be given this post, but that any other person can also stake his claim,” Brar said. He said, “Amarinder Singh is a much popular face in the public and the party high command will definitely finalise his name for the chief ministerial candidate”. However, he added that after winning the elections, it would be the job of the Congress Legislature Party to first decide the name and then the final approval would be given by party chief Sonia Gandhi. About his own candidature for the post, Brar said, “I am not even in the race as I am not willing to contest the forthcoming assembly elections”. Asked whether former PCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, who is openly demanding a Dalit to be the CM, would accept Capt Amarinder Singh as the next CM, Brar opted not to comment. It may be mentioned that earlier on March 25 at a rally in Mansa, Jagmeet had said, “Some people say that a Dalit cannot become chief minister of Punjab. If Mayawati can become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, why cannot a Dalit become the chief minister of Punjab?” After this statement, strong reactions had come from different corners of the state from within the party.
|
||
|
Won’t revoke social welfare schemes: Capt
Ludhiana, December 11 During his visit to the city for the Jagannath Rath Yatra today, he said the recent decisions of the government were being taken keeping in view the forthcoming elections. Amarinder claimed that the Badal government had not given anything new to the people of the state. “First, the government withdrew various concessions that we had given to different sections like 200 free units of power to the poor. Later, it restored these,” he added. The PCC president denied that there was any factionalism within the Congress, particularly in some constituencies in Ludhiana. He said a large number of applicants for different constituencies did not mean that there was a dissension. “I take it in a positive manner, as it only shows the enthusiasm, expectation and anticipation of the people that the Congress is coming back to power. Hence, the rush for ticket,” he said.
|
||
|
Harsimrat: Cong using CBI to arm-twist rivals
Bathinda, December 11 In a statement, Harsimrat alleged the Congress-led UPA government was using the honesty of Manmohan Singh as a facade to safeguard the interests of 10 Janpath that was the direct beneficiary of the Bofors multi-crore scam. She said the Congress was using the CBI to arm-twist its political opponents and to keep the investigative agency in its control, it wanted a toothless Lokpal. Questioning the rationale of keeping Group C employee out of Lokpal’s preview, Harsimrat said by keeping out thousands of employees who directly interacted with the public, the Congress was making a mockery of the Lokpal. She said the UPA government was determined to come out with a dummy Lokpal. The MP said the NDA and the SAD had been demanding an effective and strong Lokpal that should cover the entire bureaucracy, including group C employees. Vowing to expose the UPA government, Harsimrat said the SAD-BJP government would continue to struggle till Parliament passed the Bill for a strong and effective Lokpal.
|
|
Technology to produce onion seed in a year
Pavittar Pal Singh Pangli, president, PAU Kisan Club, said due to the long cycle (two years), farmers in Punjab showed no interest in the production of onion seeds and they had been producing onions for themselves rather than for commercial purpose. “Vegetable experts from PAU have come up with a new onion seed production technology after a research of about seven years. Through this technology, farmers will be able to get seeds within one year”. “During a recent state-level conference on horticulture at PAU, we held discussions on the new technology and we are hopeful to get good returns by adopting it in Punjab. In one year, the farmers can get 200-250 kg of seed per acre with the new method,” said Pangli. RPS Rana, a farmer from the Jagraon area, who is a commercial grower of onion and garlic, said Punjabi farmers were facing the problem of bolting (sprouted onion) since long as the seed was coming from different places like Maharashtra and Gujarat but now with the latest technology, farmers can grow their own seeds in bulk in Punjab. “The new technology is the direct seeding of onions mechanically. Onion seed production is a sensitive method which is linked with the day length. It is a good alternative crop which can replace the regular wheat and paddy cycle. The freezing units in Punjab get white onions from other states to supply it to different food chains and they get good business. Once we come into our own seed production, we can have even better returns,” said Rana.
|
||
|
Badal’s fondness for two chairs
The people of this district, however, are well aware of Chief Minister’s fondness for these chairs. They often find him sitting on either of these during his Sangat Darshan programmes. District police officials say if the CM is not in this area, these chairs are generally kept in lock and key at the Lambi police station. “On getting information about CM’s Sangat Darshan, it becomes our duty to transport these ‘special’ chairs to the venue,” says a policeman posted at Lambi police station. He added, “The popularity of these chairs has certainly gone up as recently an official of the Sangrur administration came here to take them”. Badal seems to be fond of these two chairs, one grey and another multi-coloured. There is hardly any public meeting when you can spot the Chief Minister sitting on any other chair. The specialty of the chairs lies in their bigger than the normal size. Vipin Choudhary, SP (administration), CM security, said, “These chairs were introduced about four years ago by the then DIG. Since the Chief Minister is tall, he had problem sitting on normal chairs, so these chairs were made especially for him”.
|
||
|
Forensic science to help locate car owners
Faridkot, December 11 As the gang members had scratched the VIN on the engine firewalls of these cars, crafted fake metallic numbers and prepared fake RCs, it has become difficult for the police to find the original VIN and the vehicle owners. The gang used to lift cars from metro cities and hand them over to another group for scratching the VIN, allotting new numbers and preparing fake RCs. Yet another group, three of its members have been arrested, used to sell these vehicles in various towns of Punjab. Sources say those arrested claim that they were only handling the job of selling the cars and, therefore, had no information on from where the cars were stolen. “We are taking the help of the Forensic Science Laboratory and laser techniques to trace the scratched VIN numbers….Once that is done, tracing the owners will become easy,” said Faridkot SSP Sat Pal Singh Sidhu.
|
||
|
Teachers’ meeting with CM put off by a day
Chandigarh, December 11 Pritpal Singh Fazilka, union president, said the meeting would be held tomorrow. “On reaching here, the authorities told us that the Chief Minister had to leave for some other place due to some unavoidable reasons and hence the meeting had been postponed,” said delegation head Pritpal Singh. He said a delegation of 20 members of the teachers’ union had come from different parts of the state to take part in the talks. “As most of us have no arrangements to stay here, we have to return to our respective destinations,” he said, adding that the meeting should not have been postponed. The EGS teachers have been agitating for quite some time, demanding that they be given regular employment.
|
||
|
Air India changes flight timings
Jalandhar, December 11 SK Kaundal, Station Manager, Air India, Amritsar airport, said that anticipating the possibility of fog (early morning and late evening) upsetting the flight schedules, the timings of AI flights had been rescheduled till January 31, 2012. He said the Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi flight would arrive in Amritsar at 1050 hours and depart at 1150 hours from December 15. The Dubai-Amritsar-Dubai flight would arrive at 1400 hours and depart at 1505 hours from December 12. However, the timings of the Dammam-Sharjah-Amritsar-Sharjah-Dammam flight would remain unchanged. Kaundal said that AI passengers could contact the airline officials on 1800-180-1407 for any clarification.
|
||
|
Nurses to shun uniform in protest
Patiala, December 11 District president, Punjab Nurses Association, Paramjeet Kaur Hundal said while the contractual nurses were equally qualified and experienced like the staff nurses, the government was not regularising their services. Despite many years of service, they were given Rs 7,500 per month, she added. She said, "Though the government had accepted that they would give Rs 70 per day for their diet, Rs 500 for their uniform and Rs 300 for washing allowance, they should issue notification in this regard. Also, the contractual staff nurses should be regularised after three years of service and they should be given proper allowances and
promotions."—TNS
|
||
|
College told to pay arrears to professor
Ludhiana, December 10 These lecturers have not received revised pay scales of the UGC. They are being paid a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 to 15,000 against the regular scales of approximately
Rs 35,000. In a case of Prof Tarun Ghai v/s Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, the Punjab Educational Tribunal directed the
college management to pay the arrears from the date of joining, as per
the Punjab Government notification of September 2, 2009 within one-month's period. "This judgment will provide relief to hundreds of lecturers working against unaided posts in colleges of Punjab. The college management has also admitted in the court that they would pay the arrears within a month. They did not pay any amount till day, so I wrote a letter to the Secretary, Higher
Education to cancel the grant of the college according to the rules, " said Prof Tarun Ghai. According to Section 9 (A) of the Service Security Act, 1974, non-compliance of the judgment of the Punjab Education Tribunal may result in stopping of grant by the State Government to the college. Ramesh Kaura, general secretary of the college management, said, "Tarun Ghai is misguiding people about the case. We
are working according to court and not violating any rule set up by the UGC
or the court."
|
||
|
Health workers, teachers seek revision in pay scales
Patiala, December 11 Talking to The Tribune, the district president of the ANM and LHV Union, Pal Kaur, said that after a massive protest rally in Chandigarh, the government had given verbal assurance to the union that they would revise the grades at the earliest, but no notification has been issued in this regard so far. She further said that they were demanding a revision in their pay grades, as their scales were lower than their counterparts in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. "The grade we are seeking for ANMs is 5,910-20,200-3,000 and for LHVs is 10,300-34,800-4,800. This would increase the salaries of ANMs and LHVs by Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,800, respectively. Moreover, we are demanding Rs 20 per day for our daily diet. We also want the Department to increase our washing allowance to Rs 300 per month along with Rs 6,000 for dress per annum," she added. Meanwhile, infuriated with the Punjab government for delaying their long-pending demands, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and CSS teachers said they would intensify their stir, as the government had not yet responded positively to their demands. Demanding equal pay for equal work, president of the union Jai Singh said, "Our counterparts have been regularised in few states already and we are also demanding regular jobs." "Moreover, we want that our salaries should be at par with the Education Department teachers, because we also do the same amount of work. The master cadre teachers amongst us get a salary of Rs 18,000 only and there is no provision of PF and GPF whereas the master cadre teachers in Education Department get a salary of at least Rs 25,000 along with PF and GPF facilities," he added. They also demanded that female employees under the SSA and the RMSA should get six months maternity leave without pay instead of three months leave that too without pay.
|
|
Media role evaluated at meet
Patiala, December 11 In his address on "The changing Role of the News Media in Contemporary India", Ram threw light on media traditions in India and evaluated the role of the Press in historical and social context. He said the status of media freedom in India was a crucial issue of the contemporary times and interpreted in the light of present social political scenario. In his address in the Ancient India section, Prof Ranabir Chakravorti pointed out that the institution of land grants impacted coastal areas as it did in the case of inland areas. It was the institution of land grants that helped the spurt of state societies in coastal tracts.
|
|
|
Youths exhorted to adopt dairy farming
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 11 In the championship, which is being organised by the Animal Husbandry, Diary and Fisheries Department, farmers bought their buffalos, sheep, goats, cows, horses, pigs and other domestic animals for competitions. Kirpal Singh Badungar, Chairman, Backward Commission, Punjab, inaugurated the championship, whereas Raju Khanna, Chairman, Youth Welfare Board, presided over the function. In the championship, prizes worth Rs 15 Lakh, trophies and certificates would be distributed to the winners. In his address, Badungar appreciated the efforts of the department in organising the championship, which would encourage the farmers, particularly the youths to adopt dairy farming as a mode of employment. Dr HS Sandha, Director, Animal Husbandry Department, said, "As fertility of the soil has reached its peak, we can not expect more produce from it, so these competitions are the first step towards diversification from agriculture to animal husbandry and to motivate the farmers to adopt dairy farming to improve their financial status as well the breed of the state cattle." He said that for improvement of cattle breeds, the State Government had purchased 2.5 lakh dosages of semen from the USA and distributed among cattle farmers on 50 per cent subsidy. "For cattle, mineral supplements are being provided on subsidies rates and the Government has set up new polyclinics in all the districts at the cost of Rs 13.5 crore to provide veterinary services at farmers' door steps."
|
|
MP smuggler held with 1 kg smack
Muktsar, December 11 A case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Lambi police station.
|
|
| 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 | |
Succumbing to pressure by potato growers, the Punjab Government has ordered that a freight subsidy of Rs 2 crore be immediately released from the Rural Development Fund (RDF) to accelerate the export of potatoes.
Rampura (Bathinda),
December 11
Gidderbaha, December 11
Ludhiana, December 11
Lambi (Muktsar), December 11
l
Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi flight to arrive in Amritsar at 1050 hours and depart at 1150 hours (from Dec 15)