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Pakistan 'negative list' to benefit state traders most
‘Horticulture Train’ on the cards
SAD, BJP look to each other for victory push
Khalsa Heritage Centre |
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300 detection camps planned across state
Gurdas Badal rules out truck with SAD
Junior Cong leaders lobbying for berths
eagerly awaited
Jails to set up vigilance cells
A dog bite that has cops in fix
Rescue and rehabilitation of wild
animals
Corporal Punishment
Radio serials to popularise science
High Court raps Punjab on encroachments
Italy-based NRI held in Maharashtra
Immigration fraud gang busted, 4 held
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Pakistan 'negative list' to benefit state traders most
Amritsar, March 1 Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Amrit Lal Jain said it was a positive step on the part of Pakistan and it would increase the bilateral trade manifold between the two neighbours via Attari-Wagah land route, which at present stood at 2.33 billion US dollars. “The opening of the integrated check post (ICP) in Attari in near future will further brighten the trade prospects.” He said Amritsar, which had badly suffered during the Partition followed by the Indo-Pak wars and dark days of terrorism, would certainly gain a lot in terms of trade and employment opportunities. CII Zonal Council chairman Suneet Kochhar said, “Firstly, it came as surprise to me as we didn’t expect Pakistan to act so swiftly on the matter. However, it is definitely a step forward in taking the trade between the two countries to another level. It will bring in clarity to the business as the negative list will give a clear idea as to what can be traded with the neighbouring country.” He said it will also provide a platform to the leadership of both the countries to further build a strong economic partnership. “The most important point is that the Pakistanis are sticking to deadlines. May be they have compromised a bit by increasing the negative list, but it is only an attempt to take everybody along so that there is no opposition at a later stage,” he said. Gunbir Singh, member, CII National Council on Public Policy, said the step would act as a force multiplier for trade in Punjab in general and Amritsar in particular. “Once notified, the trade, which is restrained to 1,963 items currently, will go up to over 5,600 items, which will certainly be a giant leap in the Indo-Pak bilateral trade,” he said. Amid the euphoria surrounding the Pakistan move, there is also a section of businessmen who are keen on first receiving the “negative list” before commenting on the benefits it will bring in for the holy city. Indo-Pak Exporters Association chairman Om Prakash Arora said there are around 5,600 items that can be traded now, but of these the number of items that Punjab can produce will decide how much it will benefit the trade in the state. He, however, said Amritsar will definitely benefit from the move as all the goods will pass through the city. Hoping to Rake in the moolah
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‘Horticulture Train’ on the cards
The pilot project would be carried out on a trial basis, said PK Basu, Secretary, Union Agriculture and Cooperation Ministry, after hearing grievances of farmers, especially potato and kinnow
growers of the Doaba belt, here today. Earlier, he heard the problems faced by rice/ basmati cultivators in Amritsar. Basu said the Union Government was celebrating 2012-13 as the Year of Horticulture and wanted Punjab, that had a huge potential in horticulture, to play a key role. To build storage facilities for foodgrain, fruit and vegetables and to prevent the produce from rotting, the ministry had begun working on the National Centre for Cold Chain Development, Basu said. Since there was hardly any research in this field in Punjab, the Central Government would grant all possible financial aid to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI). Basu advocated insurance cover for perishable crops like potato and kinnow and assured adequate financial assistance from the Centre to farmers interested in setting up small-scale processing units for their produce. Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha, secretary, Confederation of Potato Seed Farmers, Jalandhar, demanded that the prices of fertilisers be kept low. He also demanded that potato seed prepared by them be certified and they be given a subsidy on freight charges. A kinnow grower from Hoshiarpur, Jaswant Singh Chautala, complained that marketing remained the biggest problem. Climatic changes in this part of the region in the past two years had hit the crops, causing huge losses to the farmers, he said. Kulwant Singh, another kinnow grower, said the farmers should be provided with the latest technology for setting up small-scale units to produce citrus
concentrate. He also demanded that the Pakistani kinnow be placed in the ‘negative list’ in order to save the Indian kinnow market.
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SAD, BJP look to each other for victory push
Chandigarh, March 1 While observers give the BJP seven seats, they are unsure about the SAD performance. Akali leaders claim that the party will see a resurgence in Malwa and, hence, its return to power. The SAD concentrated on the Malwa region during its five-year tenure in power setting up most of its projects here. It tried to win over the Sikh peasantry with its Panthic agenda. However, it is difficult to judge how well the Akalis have performed in Malwa with Dera Sacha Sauda voting against the SAD. The Congress was able to successfully highlight instances of ‘persecution’ at the hands of Akali jathedars during its campaign. This may have had an impact on voters. The SAD hopes to improve upon its tally of 19 seats from this region. It expects a much better showing in Bathinda, Mansa, Moga, Faridkot, Sangrur, Barnala and Patiala districts. These seven districts had yielded only five seats to the SAD and resulted in the defeat of many of its titans. This time, the SAD hopes to do well not only in these districts but Ferozepur district too. Party managers say the SAD will see a status quo in the Doaba region even as they are likely to lose a number of seats in Majha. As far as the BJP is concerned, the party is giving itself 12 seats. However, its alliance partner is not so sure. The SAD feels the BJP could get as low as five seats or manage nine to 10 seats. The SAD is looking at the magic figure of 10, claiming if the BJP gets this figure, the coalition will be within an inch of power. The BJP organisational team claims the party could spring a surprise as it was able to run a smooth campaign with not a single rebel in the fray. This despite the fact that the party changed seven candidates and brought in three fresh candidates in seatssswapped with the SAD. The party also avers that it ran an organisation-centric campaign that is bound to show results. The party claims it will do particularly well in the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency where it expects to win the Sujanpur, Boha and Pathankot seats, riding on the popularity of its chief Ashwani Sharma.
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Khalsa Heritage Centre
The corpus fund was created to run the heritage centre that incurs a bill of nearly Rs 3 lakh everyday, that is Rs 90 lakh every month, on the light and sound show depicting the birth of
the Khalsa. Since the corpus fund was generating income in the form of interest worth Rs 40 lakh every month, the government was shouldering the rest of the burden by paying money from its own coffers. With the diversion of money from the fund, it remains to be seen as to how the government runs this prestigious project. Due to a delay in the payment of an installment of Rs 7.14 crore, the state government has incurred an interest of more than Rs 2.5 crore and will end up paying Rs 10 crore. The government had borrowed Rs 100 crore from five banks at the rate of Rs 20 crore each for setting up
the centre. It was to pay back the amount with interest in 14 installments of Rs 7.14 crore each. The government paid five installments but was unable to pay the sixth one because of paucity of funds. Finally, the Cabinet at its meeting recently decided to pay the installment from the corpus fund. Defending the Cabinet decision, Chief Executive Officer of the Khalsa Heritage Centre, Kamaldeep Singh Sra, said: “It made sense to decide to pay the installment from the corpus fund as we were incurring more interest
on non-payment of installment than the interest on corpus fund.” The project’s construction cost, including the exhibits, is estimated at Rs 224 crore and the government has spent approximately Rs 132.50 crore on it.
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Village in shock as 3-yr-old dies of cancer
Fatehgarh Channa (Sangrur), March 1 The latest victim is three-year-old Jaskaran, who was suffering from cancer in his left eye. He died on Sunday. A fortnight ago, the TNS team had visited Jaskaran's house. His father was optimistic that once operated on March 1, smiles will be back on the faces of his family members. Unfortunately destiny wanted something else, just three days to go for surgery, Jaskaran lost the battle for survival. As this correspondent visited Fatehgarh Channa today, a pall of gloom had descended on the village following the death of Jaskaran. There was pin-drop silence in his house. "Earlier, we used to hear his screams because of the pain and the chemotherapy sessions, but now his cries have been silenced,” said Satinder Singh, a resident of the village. With parents of the deceased in inconsolable state, Jaskaran's father Surinder Singh, a daily labourer said, "It is high time the authorities concerned takes note of cancer, which is spreading in Sangrur." Notwithstanding the monetary problems, during the past one year, Jaskaran's father sold off his household goods and cattle to arrange the funds for the treatment of his son at the AIIMS. "Jaskaran's father has not only lost his son but is also under huge debt as well. We hope that the government takes note of it and provide some monetary assistance to the aggrieved family,” feels majority of the villagers. During the past two months, four persons in the village have died because of cancer.
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300 detection camps planned across state
Moga, March 1 Talking to The Tribune from London, global ambassador of the organisation Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal said 150 camps would be organised in the Malwa region, while 75 each in the Majha and the Doaba regions of the state. He said, “We have decided to hold 300 medical camps at various locations throughout the state. Apart from diagnosis of cancer, other ailments like blood pressure and diabetes would also be checked and ECG conducted on the needy patients.” Free medicines would be distributed to the needy patients, he added. He also announced to hold a walk to create cancer awareness among the masses on March 9 on the eve of Women’s Day in Chandigarh, besides holding a breast cancer detection camp.
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Gurdas Badal rules out truck with SAD
Gurdas Singh Badal, PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal’s father, who contested the Lambi seat, said the PPP would not support the SAD on any condition. “We intend to adopt a middle path but a final decision will be taken by all party members after the poll results,” said Gurdas while talking to TNS on the phone. He said he had met a number of party candidates and supporters and all were of the opinion that the PPP would emerge as a major player in the formation of the next government in the state.
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Junior Cong leaders lobbying for berths
Chandigarh, March 1 PCC president Capt Amarinder Singh had in an earlier interview made it clear that he would go strictly by merit and that even second- time MLAs could have to wait for their turn. There is intense speculation in the party as to how many senior leaders, who have won three to four elections, will make it this time. There are 14 leaders in the fray who have won three or four elections before. There are a few who have won twice and have served in earlier ministries. This leaves little room for others as only 17 legislators can be included in the Cabinet. In such a scenario, there is much interest in the fate of senior leaders, many of whom are locked in fierce contests. Among them are Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, four-time legislator Lal Singh and three- time MLA Amarjit Samra, besides former MP Rana Gurjeet Singh. Senior leaders who could be part of the Cabinet on the basis of seniority in case of a Congress victory are Bhattal, Lal Singh, Brahm Mohindra, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Sardul Singh, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Rakesh Pandey, Amarjit Samra, Avtar Henry, OP Soni, Ramesh Dogra, Avtar Brar, Harminder Jassi and Ashwani
Sekhri.
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eagerly awaited
He was accompanied by Himmat Singh, Additional Director-General, BSF, and customs officials. Talking to mediapersons, Ahmad said the government was committed in providing the best facilities to the passengers coming from Pakistan through the newly built ICP. He said a shuttle service was being planned to cover the distance between the gate and the customs and immigration terminal. On scanners which are yet to be installed at the check post, he said equipment to scan trucks had been procured and it would reach here soon. He said the ICP was likely to be inaugurated by Home Minister P Chidambram by the first week of April. Ahmad also expressed concern over the parking of a large number of trucks on the roadsides waiting for clearance. He pointed out that there should be some designated area for parking.
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Jails to set up vigilance cells
Sources said the main purpose behind the initiative was to check the nexus between the prisoners and the staff, if any. Besides, the cell members would monitor the activities of potential troublemakers inside jails. Hardcore criminals, it has been learnt, often gang up inside jails and resort to violence with their rivals. Also, the cell officials would gather feedback from inmates regarding their problems, which would be conveyed to the higher authorities concerned. The Jail Department has also proposed the installation of incinerators inside jails to destroy seized drugs. In fact, the process is underway at Mansa and Kapurthala jails. Meanwhile, sources said over 900 vacant posts in the Jail Department were likely to be filled soon. the aim
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Residents protest against stray dog menace
Patiala, March 1 Talking to The Tribune, Dr DS Bhullar of the IMA (Patiala) and secretary- general of the Society for Peoples’ Welfare and Awareness Patiala (SPWAP) - an NGO, said the menace of stray dogs and dog bite cases had reached an alarming level in Punjab with maximum cases in Patiala. Dr BL Bhardwaj, president of IMA (Patiala), said even the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued directions for redressing peoples’ grievances on petitions filed by Puneet Mishra and others in Haryana and in this city too regarding controlling the menace of stray dogs and other animals. He said the sterilisation drive had failed to kick off in Patiala. He said, “To check this, the sterilisation process should be started on priority and the government must establish dog houses so as to keep dogs and bitches separately to check their population.” The government should make an amendment in the law relating to Cruelty to Animals to find a solution to this problem, said Karamjit Singh Jatana, chairman of the society. Figures available with The Tribune show that 2,899 dog bite cases had been reported at the Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, during the period from January 2009 till date. Apart from this, as many as 3,674 dog bite cases were registered at various civil dispensaries of the district. There is no data about the patients that have been treated at private hospitals.
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A dog bite that has cops in fix
Faridkot, March 1 While the victim and his employer are demanding action against the “irresponsible” dog owner, the authorities have been hunting for precedents that could be followed in the case. As per Section 289 of the IPC, a dog owner is liable for punishment with imprisonment up to six months if he is found negligent of taking guard against any probable danger to human life from his pet. Shambu (30) was admitted to the local Civil Hospital after he was mauled by the dogs on February 24. The labourer ended up with several lacerations on his thighs. SHO Narinder Pal Singh said the case was under investigation.
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Rescue and rehabilitation of wild
animals
Patiala, March 1 The orders came from the top brass following recent cases of wild animal attacks and deaths of wild animals, including leopards, due to inability of the forest officials in tackling the same. While the police top brass in the districts is not much amused after the orders, the Wildlife Department is relaxed following the sharing of responsibilities. “Till last month, whenever any wild animal was seen in a village or other areas, the police used to pass the buck on us. But with the recent orders, they would be equally accountable,” said a junior wildlife official. As per the letter (a copy of which is in possession of The Tribune) written to the district police chiefs, Principal Secretary, Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, DS Bains, has asked the police officials to provide help to the Forests and Wildlife Department in the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals. Further, he has asked all the Divisional Forest Officers to be in constant touch with the police. The police has also been asked to manage the crowd when a wild animal is being rescued by the forest officials. Sources said the letter was issued following requests from senior wildlife officials to Bains, who were worried after recent deaths of leopards and other wild animals, where the police failed to do much during rescue of wild animals. Meanwhile, perturbed over the orders, police officials say the Forest Department is a separate department and asked how they could be expected to rescue a wild animal without proper training. “Tomorrow, if an animal dies, they would surely blame the police,” they added. Former Divisional Forest Officer Karamjit Singh Jattana said the help of police cannot be taken in rescuing a wild animal as they are ill-equipped and untrained for the same. Punjab Chief Wildlife Warden Dhirendra Singh said they had requested for police help as it would make the job of wildlife officials easier to save the wild animals.
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Corporal Punishment
Tarn Taran, March 1 The DEO said the orders had been issued by the Director-General, School Education, which stated that the official would have to mark his attendance at the office of Circle Education Office, Jalandhar, during the suspension period. Deputy Commissioner Satwant Singh Johal said there was sufficient evidence to prove the principal guilty of giving harsh punishment to girl students. Earlier, students, in a complaint to the Education Department authorities, had complained that they had been subjected to corporal punishment by the principal.
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Radio serials to popularise science
Chandigarh, March 1 These serials include “Golden Waves”, “Jivan Bhuranga”, and a 26-episode serial “Colours in Chemistry”. Dr Pyara Lal Garg, state coordinator, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi, Punjab and Chandigarh, said these serials were broadcast every Sunday from 10 am to 10.30 am on All-India Radio Jalandhar, Patiala, and Bathinda in Punjabi.
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High Court raps Punjab on encroachments
Chandigarh, March 1 As Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover took up the case this morning, the State found itself at the receiving end with the Bench observing verbally in the open court that it appeared instead of assisting the court, the authorities were attempting to cover up the issue. The observations were made orally by the Bench during the course of hearing and could no way be construed as the expression by the Bench on the merits of the case. After hearing arguments at length on the issue of illegal encroachments in Nayagaon allegedly by high-ups of Punjab, the Bench also directed the State government to provide information on the illegal occupants of land. Turning down the request of State counsel to grant additional time to file a reply, the Bench asked him to provide detailed information on illegal occupants of government, shamlat, forest or village panchayat land. The Bench has also directed the authorities to inform the court about the cases registered and action taken against the illegal occupants. The Bench directed the authorities to give details of the action initiated to get the land freed from illegal occupants. The matter was brought to the court's notice by Nayagoan resident Kuldip Singh. Accusing a senior police functionary of a land grab bid in Nayagaon, he had sought protection while praying for the registration of an FIR and a CBI probe into the dealings. The inquiry was entrusted to the ADGP after Justice Ranjit Singh of the High Court took cognisance of the matter. Justice Ranjit Singh had asked the ADGP to lay emphasis on Nayagaon, Zirakpur, Mohali, Kansal and Koraran area. The Judge had added: "It would also need investigation to see as to what is the source of acquisition". The inquiry into the acquisition of properties by the high-ups in Chandigarh’s periphery has already gone to the Economic Offences Wing in Mohali.
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Italy-based NRI held in Maharashtra
Gurdaspur, March 1 SSP Varinder Pal Singh confirmed that Kulwinder Singh (30) had been arrested from a gurdwara near Manmad in Maharashtra. He said a special team under the leadership of Manpreet Singh, DSP (Rural-2), had been constituted to arrest him. He said acting on a tip-off, SHO of Dhariwal police station Tarsem Masih was sent to Manmad where the cops arrested him today morning. Kulwinder Singh got himself insured with Europ Assistance in Italy on July 19 last year and two days later he flew to India. His plan was to murder a man and show his body as his own so that on the basis of his death certificate his wife could claim the insurance amount. The SSP claimed that the cops worked on various theories to ascertain as to how the deceased and the NRI came into contact. The police has sent Kulwinder’s insurance policy to the Italian embassy in New Delhi to seek further details. On February 5, Kulwinder Singh, accompanied by Sham Lal and Jagir Singh, lured Kuljit Singh to his native village Sohal where all of them had drinks and later they killed Kuljit. As part of the plan, his body was dumped in a car which Kulwinder had purchased about three months ago. The car was the set on fire on the GT Road near Sohal village after which the NRI fled away. The deceased’s body was identified by his father Wassan Singh and on the basis of his compliant, the police registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC at Dhariwal. Two of the accused - Jagir Singh and Sham Lal - have already been arrested. The SSP claimed that the needle of suspicion pointed to Kulwinder Singh as he had purchased a second hand car just three months before the murder.
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Immigration fraud gang busted, 4 held
Ludhiana, March 1 Besides,
nearly 12 more persons, including the gang kingpin Bhinder Kaur of
Ahmedgarh Mandi, who are at large, have also been booked. The gang of
over 15 persons having links with drugs addict boys and girls in Canada
has duped a number of residents on the pretext of sending them abroad.
The gang was active in Jagraon, Raikot, Mullanpur and villages located
in the vicinity of Ludhiana.
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Pakistan's initiative of ‘negative list’ will give a clear idea as to what can be traded
Jalandhar, March 1
Chandigarh, March 1
Muktsar, March 1
Amritsar, March 1
Chandigarh, March 1