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Bhakra level low due to less snow melt
Patiala Land Sale
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CM meets Pranab, seeks loan waiver
Minister moves HC
Cattle feed bags being used for wheat
Punjab ‘downgrades’ Advocate-General’s post
Preneet takes up Patiala rail link issue with panel
Ordinance on fuel price cut issued
jalandhar tragedy
Kulwant Singh
CWC-traders row: Talks today
Notifications on municipal corporations upheld
Police arrests five snatchers from Ferozepur
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Bhakra level low due to less snow melt
Chandigarh, May 8 Restricted snow melt is bad news for the dam as it contributes more than 50 per cent of the inflows received from the catchment areas of the Sutlej. If inflows do not match the outflows, the dam might not be able to release optimum water during the peak of summer. The inflow into the Bhakra dam was measured at 5,000 cusecs today against 6,400 cusecs the same day last year. Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) Chairman AB Agrawal maintained that the partner states were being supplied water as per their demand and that the authorities were confident that they would remain comfortable during the depletion period of the dam. He, however, admitted that the level of the dam was lower (1,549 ft) than that of last year (1,580 ft) as of today. He said this was mainly because of an increase in the demand from the partner states. The BBMB Chairman said the dam level was still comfortable as there was scope to reduce it to 1,506 ft till May 20. He said similarly at the Pong Dam, though the present level of 1,323 ft was less than that of last year (1,348 ft), there was scope to take it down till 1,290 ft. Agrawal disclosed that share of the partner states in power allocation from the Bhakra powerhouse had been redrawn following directions of the apex court. He said Punjab's share had been reduced from 54.5 per cent to 51.8 per cent. The state's share from Dehar and Pong powerhouses had been reduced from 60 per cent of the total power produced to 51.8 per cent, he added. The chairman said the BBMB had generated 12,491 million units against the target of 10,023 million units, which was 25 per cent more than the target fixed by the central electrical authority. He said this year also, the target of 10,023 million units had been fixed, but the BBMB expected to surpass it. Taking a hit Restricted snow melt is bad news for the dam as it contributes more than 50 per cent of the inflows from the catchment areas of the Sutlej If inflows do not match the outflows, the dam might not be able to release optimum water during the peak of summer The inflow into the Bhakra dam was measured at 5,000 cusecs on Tuesday against 6,400 cusecs the same day last year The level is low because of an increase in the demand from the partner states. It is still comfortable as there is scope to reduce it further to 1,506 ft. We hope there will be no problem during the depletion period of the dam — AB Agrawal, Chairman, BBMB
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Patiala Land Sale
Chandigarh, May 8 Those suspended include district revenue officer Rajbir Singh (under transfer), tehsildar AS Thind, naib tehsildar GS Walia, kanungo Priitpal Singh and patwari Suresh Kumar.These officials will face departmental action. Since they have different appointing authorities, joint proceedings will be conducted in the case. Former Patiala Divisional Commissioner GS Grewal has since retired and his role will be ascertained by the Vigilance probe. Initially, irregularities in the sale of government land, measuring about 6,000 square yards and valued at Rs 250 crore, were pointed out by Patiala’s Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar. The matter was then invesitigated by Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Navreet Singh Kang. Later, Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia had the matter reviewed and recommended a Vigilance probe. The Majithia report said that sale deeds were registered despite the fact that the land belonged to the government. The said General Power of Attorney and the Special Power of Attorney (in the names of Ravdeep Singh and Jaswant Singh), that were used to sell the land, stood cancelled and this fact was known to those involved in the scam. Khasra numbers 101, 102 and 103 belong to Kiraninder Singh. But post-demarcation, the adjoining government land in khasra number 104 was also shown to belong to Kiraninder. This government land houses several government offices. An attempt was made to get a sale deed registered which was refused by the then DC, Deepinder Singh. On October 7, 2011, the Sub Registrar of Patiala put up a note to Vikas Garg, mentioning that the sale deed for the land had been presented once again for registration. The note also said that the power of attorney given by the owner stood cancelled. On October 13, 2011, the Patiala DRO recorded that the matter had been discussed with the DC who had passed verbal orders that registration in the case could not be refused.
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Check fund misuse by state govt: Jakhar to Sonia
Chandigarh, May 8 Jakhar, who headed a delegation of MPs and MLAs from Punjab which called on the Congress president, alleged that funds allocated under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and other village development schemes were being pocketed by "corrupt" politicians and administrative officials of the state. He told Sonia how wheat meant for above poverty line families and subsidised kerosene were being diverted to make profits. Jakhar alleged that MNREGA workers were not given work and for the work done by them payments were either delayed or misappropriated. "Punjab ranks lowest in creation of work under MNREGA," he said. The CLP leader apprised Sonia of preparations for the ensuing local body elections. Jakhar demanded that the CRPF be deputed during the municipal corporation elections to ensure fair polling as the SAD-BJP was "likely to use the state police to highjack the electoral verdict". Jakhar said the Congress president had asked Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to visit Punjab on May 11 and address the issue of misappropriation of funds.
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CM meets Pranab, seeks loan waiver
Chandigarh/Delhi, May 8 Punjab has an outstanding debt of Rs 77,585 crore (as on March 31, 2012). The annual interest liability is about Rs 6,500 crore. The Chief Minister said the 13th Finance Commission had recommended only minor interest relief. The state had already amended its Financial Responsibility and Budget Management Act to make it in consonance with the fiscal consolidation roadmap recommended by the commission. Badal urged the Finance Minister to release grants of Rs 240 crore at Rs 80 per year, already earmarked by the Finance Commission for the stateb, without any pre-conditions. He said the money was required for maintenance of infrastructure in the water sector. The Chief Minister also raised the issue of settling the claims of the state’s procurement agencies amounting to Rs 7,461 from 2003-2004 onwards. These were yet to be recoved from the
FCI.
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Minister moves HC
Mohali, May 8 Tota Singh has reportedly told his supporters that he will not hesitate to resign if asked by the Chief Minister to do so . Badal, talking to mediapersons at Mohali, where he laid the foundation stone of Punjab Olympic Bhawan in Phase IX, said he was yet to go into the details of the judgement. “All I can say is that the minister may resign on moral grounds if he feels so, but there is no legal necessity for him to quit ”. A Mohali court had on May 5 held Tota Singh guilty of misusing the official vehicle of the school education board during his tenure as Education Minister from 1997 to 2002. Chandigarh: Agriculture Minister Tota Singh today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging a trial court orders of convicting and sentencing him in a corruption case. The appeal is expected to come up for hearing on Thursday. Tota Singh, in his appeal, has argued that he was given a private vehicle with unlimited fuel and there was no need for him to misuse his official car. The minister also submitted that the lower court, in its judgment, had cast serious aspersions on the investigating agency. The court had held that the investigating agency had deliberately not collected evidence against Tota Singh. The minister submitted that the investigating agency was biased against him and he was implicated in the case. In its 75-page judgement, the Mohali court had issued show-cause notices to three witnesses, asking them to explain why perjury proceedings should not be initiated against them for misleading the court.
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Millers, arhtiyas in illegal seed
sale
Hoshiarpur, May 8 Besides duping farmers, they have been causing loss to the state exchequer and authorised seed sellers for the past many years. The practice is rampant in Mukerian, Tanda and Dasuya belt where these traders are selling even the banned seed varieties. There is a nexus between shellers and commission agents, claimed Avtar Singh Singhpuria, district president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union. He said the issue had already been brought to the notice of SS Kandhari, Chief Agriculture Officer, Hoshiarpur. Singhpuria flayed the state government for banning paddy varieties HRK-127, 47 and 201 which otherwise were a hit among farmers because of their high yield. Being early varieties, these crops also consumed less water, he added. Deepak Trehan, a Mukerian-based seed seller, claimed that the miller-arhtiya nexus, which enjoyed political patronage, had been proving harmful to the farmers and authorised seed sellers. “We have no objection to their selling seed provided they get a licence,” Trehan said. Kandhari said a team of seed inspectors would be deputed to take action against those found violating the norms.
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Cattle feed bags being used for wheat
Muktsar, May 8 A visit to the grain market revealed that a number of bags with “cattle feed” written on these were found containing wheat. Though officials in the district administration maintained that the bags used for cattle feed could not be used for foodgrain, they failed to give a satisfactory reply for the irregularity. Kaushal Rao Singla, District Food Supply Controller, said: “Now, we have sufficient gunny bags to stack wheat. There is no possibility of reuse of cattle feed gunny bags”. When he was apprised of the situation at the grain market, he said: “It might belong to some individual as any government agency can’t use any other bag except for fresh or old foodgrain gunny bags”. Paramjeet Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said: “A few days ago, we faced huge shortage of gunny bags, but now the situation is better. The old bags of cattle feed might have been used during that period”. “Even this is not allowed. I will personally look into the matter and order the field staff to perform their duty diligently,” he added.
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Punjab ‘downgrades’ Advocate-General’s post
Chandigarh, May 8 In what is being seen as an action resulting in the diminishing of the advocate-general's stature, the Punjab Government has clearly indicated that the supreme law officer of the state is just like any other law officer hired on contract basis. The development is significant as the Advocate-General in the state, otherwise also, enjoys the rank of a Cabinet Minister. The indication came in the form of a communication addressed to the state Advocate-General by the Judicial Branch- I of the Department of Home Affairs and Justice. The letter clearly mentions in its subject that the services of various law officers, working on contract basis in the Punjab Advocate-General's office, are being extended till May 31. At serial number one is Punjab Advocate-General. Against his designation, it is unmistakably written "contract". The other posts mentioned in the communication are senior additional advocate-general, additional advocate-general, senior deputy advocate-general and assistant advocate-general. The Constitutional post of the Advocate-General corresponds to that of the Attorney-General of India at the federal, central or union government level; and is duly appointed as per Article 165 of the Constitution of India. His authority and functions are also specified in the Constitution of India under Article 165 and 177. The importance of the advocate-general can be gauged from the fact that under the Constitution "every minister and the advocate-general for a state shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceedings of, the legislative assembly of the state, or, in the case of a state having a legislative council, both Houses, and to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, any committee of the legislature of which he may be named a member but shall not, by virtue of this Article, be entitled to vote". The Supreme Court of India, taking into account the Articles, has held: "The office of and advocate-general is an exalted one. He is the supreme law officer of the state." And, "Under Article 177, he is conferred the right to audience before the legislature of a state both in the assembly and the council. In fact, he is treated on a par with minister."
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Preneet takes up Patiala rail link issue with panel
Patiala, May 8 In a communication addressed to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia last week the Minister apprised him that the railways authorities had confirmed that the project had been referred to the Planning Commission. She said, "Samana being comparatively backward, considering its socio-economic status, this rail line is an urgent necessity to provide proper rail connectivity in this area." Preneet had recently reviewed with the Railway Minister and the Chairman of the Railway Board some demands pertaining to Patiala, which included new rail link, stoppage of Shatabdi Express at Rajpura and re-routing of some trains to Amritsar via
Patiala.
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Ordinance on fuel price cut issued
Chandigarh, May 9 The ordinance will now be sent to the three state-run oil marketing companies who will then work out the new rates before these become effective from midnight. The delay in issuing the ordinance was mainly because the state government had to amend three Acts and to compensate the Local Bodies Department by giving it an additional one per cent of the total VAT collections of the state.
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jalandhar tragedy
Jalandhar, May 8 An exhaustive probe into the incident from technical point of view is already
underway by a team of engineers headed by Technical Adviser to the Chief
Minister Lieut Gen. BS Dhaliwal (retd). Ladhar will ascertain the apparent reasons of the mishap. He will also make suggestions on how to avoid such disasters in future. Ladhar today inspected the site. He was accompanied by ADC Parneet Bhardwaj, SDM Iqbal Sandhu, Nakodar SDM Sumeet Kumar and industrialist Narinder Saggoo. He said he would complete his probe within one month.
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He made it to civil services, defying all odds
Chandigarh, May 8 For this Income Tax inspector, currently serving in Shimla, the journey has been a long one. "There were trying times. But I did not give up and achieved my goal step by step", he says. Kulwant, whose father is a Class IV Railway employee, studied at a Jawahar Navodaya school. After doing his engineering from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Engineering College, Ferozepur, He worked as a computer professional and then as an assistant in the FCI till he became an Income Tax inspector. Kulwant says his success in the civil services has been all the more sweet because he wrote the exam in Punjabi. Kulwant had appeared in the Punjab Civil Service examination in 2011 also in Punjabi, but could not make it.
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CWC-traders row: Talks today
Amritsar, May 8 Sources said Ranga held a meeting of the coordination committee comprising representatives of various agencies involved in the ICP so as to overcome the teething troubles at the new infrastructure. Though a delegation of the traders visited the ICP and also met Ranga, there was no formal discussion over the latter's demands. The traders had resorted to a strike in April-end and resumed the trade after Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) officials conceded to one of their major demands.
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Notifications on municipal corporations upheld
Chandigarh, May 8 Justice Ajay Tewari, in his 41-page order, dismissed three petitions against the formation of municipal corporations in Pathankot, Mohali and Phagwara. Justice Tewari ruled: “In view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Sundarjas Kanya Lal Bhatija and that of this court in Bhupinder Singh's case, it is held that declaration of an urban area as a municipal corporation is an exercise of legislative function…. “Once it has been held that the process of declaration of an urban area into a municipal corporation is essentially a legislative function, the only ground on which it can be challenged is that of unconstitutionality or ultra vires. “The argument regarding ultra vires has not even been raised and as regards the constitutionality, the only ground on which this legislative action has been sought to be termed unconstitutional is arbitrariness. In this connection, the arguments which have been brought to bear are that the recommendations proposed inclusion of certain areas, the financial condition of the municipal councils, the non- consideration of the statutory parameters, non-adherence to the population parameter, the political motives assigned to the declaration and that after soliciting the views of the municipal councils concerned the government did not wait to receive them, leave alone take them into consideration, but considered only the recommendations of the Deputy Commissioners, who had no role to play. “On the other hand, a perusal of the notings on the files relating to the declaration of these municipal corporations reveals that the statutory parameters were considered. Once these have been considered by the competent authority, it is not part of the province of the court to sit in appeal or to substitute its own judgment”. The ruling came on a bunch of three petitions filed by Ajay Kumar and others. Dismissing the petitions, Justice Tewari added: “In any case, as was most felicitously held by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Missouri, Kansas, ... ‘Great constitutional provisions must be administered with caution. Some play must be allowed for the joints of the machine, and it must be remembered that legislatures are ultimate guardians of the liberties and welfare of the people in quite as great a degree as the courts.....’ On a conspectus of all that has been discussed the impugned notifications cannot be set aside”.
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Police arrests five snatchers from Ferozepur
Ludhiana, May 8 The members of the gang have been identified as Rajdeep Singh, Ranjodh Singh, Sarabjit Singh, Gurpinder Singh and Tajinder Singh, all residents of Ferozepur. They had snatched Rs 10,000 and other valuables from Sunil Kumar, a resident of Civil Lines here on May 5. Ranjodh Singh was overpowered by residents and handed over to the police on May 5, his accomplices Rajdeep Singh, Tajinder Singh and Sarabjit Singh were arrested following police raid here today, while fifth accused Gurpinder Singh Pinda managed to escape. The police has recovered a licensed pistol, four live cartridges, two knives and Rs 7,500 in cash and a car used in the crime from their possession. Beant Juneja, SHO Division No 5, said Rajdeep, who returned from New Zealand, formed a gang nearly six months ago. Police suspected that the accused were behind the spate of snatching incidents that took place on Ferozepur highway.
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A prolonged cold spell may have fattened the wheat grain in Punjab and Haryana, ensuring better yield, but it has also resulted in less snow melt and fewer inflows into the Bhakra dam which may affect the kharif crop of the partner states in case of a delay in the monsoon.
Chandigarh, May 8
