B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Arhtiyas threaten to boycott procurement
Fazilka, August 8
The Federation of Arhtiyas Association, Punjab, has threatened to boycott the procurement of Kharif crop from October 1 if the governments at the state and Centre limited their commission to a particular amount.

State Home Dept seeks to ‘placate’ complainant in case against Sukhbir
Faridkot, August 8
The Home Affairs and Law Department, Punjab, is seeking to placate Naresh Sehgal, a resident of Kotkapura, who is the complainant in a 10-year-old attempt to murder case against Sukhbir Singh Badal, registered on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to effect a compromise.

41 more services to come under RTS Act
Ferozepur, August 8
Nearly 41 services concerning various government departments will be brought under the ambit of the Right to Service (RTS) Act soon. It will raise the number of services under the Act to 110.

Abohar lad makes it to Army
Abohar, August 8
An NCC cadet hailing from Panjkosi village here has qualified a six-day SSB interview to join the Indian Army as an officer. Amit Godara, a cadet in the 2nd Punjab Independent NCC Company, who recently graduated from the DAV College here, was felicitated at a ceremony held here today.

Amit Godara

Pbi varsity boasts of many accolades in its golden year
Patiala, August 8
Established on April 30, 1962 in Patiala, Punjabi University is the second university in the world to be named after a language after the Hebrew University in Israel. In its golden jubilee year, the university now boasts of 55 Teaching and Reseach Departments on its campus and 221 affiliated colleges.

PU topper a local DAV student
Abohar, August 8
Monika, a student of DAV College here, has topped the MA Hindi (Final) exam conducted by the Panjab University (PU). She was felicitated at a brief function held on the college campus today.

4 held for betting on cricket match
Abohar, August 8
The city police arrested four persons on the charge of betting on a cricket match last night.

Arhtiyas threaten to boycott procurement
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, August 8
The Federation of Arhtiyas Association, Punjab, has threatened to boycott the procurement of Kharif crop from October 1 if the governments at the state and Centre limited their commission to a particular amount.

At present, the state government pays 2.5 per cent commission to the agents on the minimum support price (MSP) of different commodities.

It is learnt that the central government has been pressurising the state government to cut the taxes levied on the foodgrain procured for the central pool, as it was the maximum (14.5 per cent) in the country.

Last month, Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal announced that commission agents would be paid a lump sum of Rs 27 per quintal for the foodgrain procured. The announcement left the commission agents fuming.

“We shall not enter the markets during the coming paddy season if the government did not continue with the old practice of paying 2.5 per cent as commission to arhtiyas,” warned Vijay Kalra and Daya Krishan Sachdeva, presidents of the state and district units of the Federation of Arhtiyas Association, respectively.

Kalra and Sachdeva demanded that instead of slashing the commission of thousands of arhtiyas, the state government should reduce the VAT of five per cent and infrastructure development cess levied on the MSP of foodgrains procured.

They maintained that Punjab levied the highest tax of 14.5 per cent on foodgrain. This included five per cent of VAT, rural development cess, infrastructure development cess, market fee and arhtiyas’ commission.

If their commission was slashed, it may not be economically viable for the traders to run their business, maintained the commission agents.  

Kalra and Sachdeva said the input cost of procurement process, including power bills, labour charges and maintenance, had been accelerating continuously and it would not be possible for them to run the business on the fixed sum as announced by the Mandi Board chief.

Commission capped

Last month, Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal announced that commission agents would be paid a lump sum of `27 per quintal for the foodgrain procured.

The announcement did not go down well with the commission agents who have threatened to boycott the procurement of Kharif crop if the state did not continue paying the 2.5 per cent commission on procured foodgrain.

State Home Dept seeks to ‘placate’ complainant in case against Sukhbir
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 8
The Home Affairs and Law Department, Punjab, is seeking to placate Naresh Sehgal, a resident of Kotkapura, who is the complainant in a 10-year-old attempt to murder case against Sukhbir Singh Badal, registered on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to effect a compromise.

In the last one month, while the state government has provided high-profile security cover to Sehgal with a Gypsy, two gunmen and 580 litres of petrol per month, the Law Department has started proceedings to withdraw a criminal case pending against him.

The case for the alleged offence of assaulting and using criminal force against public servants was registered against Naresh Sehgal in July 2010.

The case was registered on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner of Faridkot after Sehgal had allegedly assaulted a junior assistant and steno in the DC office.

While for the last two years, the case was being aggressively pursued, now the civil and police administration in Faridkot have agreed to withdraw the case on the ground that “it is a loss of precious time and energy for Punjab government”.

Naresh Sehgal had approached the High Court in a case relating to alleged violence in 1999 during the parliamentary elections, demanding action against Sukhbir Badal.

A case under Sections 307, 392, 327, 323, 201, 120-B of the IPC was registered against Sukhbir and others.

Naresh Sehgal had filed five writ petitions in the HC, seeking protection to his life and liberty after the SAD (B) came to power in 2007. He alleged receiving threats to withdraw the case.

Now, on June 28, the ADGP (Security) Punjab ordered that a government Gypsy (PB-65/E-9045), security guards and a driver be provided to Sehgal.

Four days after providing the security cover, the district attorney, Faridkot, on July 2, sent a letter to the DC and SSP Faridkot, recommending withdrawal of prosecution in the criminal case against Sehgal, saying the withdrawal is in public interest and it would help in lessening the tension between the government employees and the public.

In a hasty move, the SSP and DC offices gave their nod for the withdrawal and on July 18, the district attorney moved an application before the CJM court under Section 321 of the CrPC, for withdrawal of prosecution against Naresh Sehgal.

As Section 321 is used rarely when public interest is served by the withdrawal of prosecution, the court of the CJM has not yet decided on the application.

41 more services to come under RTS Act
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, August 8
Nearly 41 services concerning various government departments will be brought under the ambit of the Right to Service (RTS) Act soon. It will raise the number of services under the Act to 110.

This was stated by the Commissioner of the RTS Act Commission, Dr Dalbir Singh Verka, who was here to review the implementation of the Act in the district today.

Addressing mediapersons, Dr Verka said over 20.12 lakh application concerning various departments in the state had been received ever since the RTS Act came into effect. Out of these, 18.41 lakh applications had been disposed of, he added.

Dr Verka said in Ferozepur district alone, 75,713 applications were received, of which 69,952 were disposed of in the stipulated time frame. The remaining applications were being processed, he added.

Replying to a query, Dr Verka said the first appellate authority for the implementation of the Act had received 174 appeals so far.

He said following suggestions from elected public representatives and other stakeholders, more improvements would be made in the Act to ensure hassle-free as well as time-bound services to the common man.

Abohar lad makes it to Army
Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 8
An NCC cadet hailing from Panjkosi village here has qualified a six-day SSB interview to join the Indian Army as an officer.

Amit Godara, a cadet in the 2nd Punjab Independent NCC Company, who recently graduated from the DAV College here, was felicitated at a ceremony held here today.

After finishing his school education at the Government Senior Secondary School in Panjkosi, Amit took admission in the DAV College and joined the NCC in 2009 with a dream to become an officer in the Indian Army. He was a participant in an All India Thal Sainik camp and the national Republic Day parade in 2010.

Amit said before him, one Akshay Kumar Dhaka from his village, who studied at Kapurthala Sainik School and graduated from the DAV College Jalandhar, had joined the Indian Army as second lieutenant in 1986.

Major Iqbal Singh Godara and Captain Sarabjit Singh, who groomed Amit as NCC cadet, said the Punjab Government had announced an award of Rs 1 lakh for those who belonged to the region and were selected as an army officer. Amit Godara will be the first to claim it.

Principal of the college Dr SK Arora said a free coaching centre had been set in the campus for NCC cadets and it would be run by Colonel KL Bishnoi.

Pbi varsity boasts of many accolades in its golden year
Gagan K Teja/TNS

Patiala, August 8
Established on April 30, 1962 in Patiala, Punjabi University is the second university in the world to be named after a language after the Hebrew University in Israel. In its golden jubilee year, the university now boasts of 55 Teaching and Reseach Departments on its campus and 221 affiliated colleges.

Punjabi University was set up with the objective of promoting Punjabi language, culture and literature. It has indeed stuck to its agenda and taken concrete steps in achieving the holistic development of the language. It has published 3,000 books in Punjabi covering a wide range of subjects.

University’s Dr Ganda Singh Punjabi Reference Library has built a strong collection of 1,00,000 documents on the region’s history and culture and Punjabi literature. With over 58,000 documents from noted litterateurs and historians, the library also has all the Punjabi newspapers, magazines, books, diaries and rare manuscripts pertaining to the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Centre for Teaching of Punjabi as a Foreign Language (CTPFL) and the Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi Language, Literature and Culture (ACTDPLC) are also spearheading Punjabi University’s efforts in spreading awareness about the language in the global community.

Considering its diverse and wide-ranging accomplishments, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council bestowed the university with Five Star status in 2001 and termed it as an A Grade University in 2008.

The university has earned the title of “Best Sports University” for the fourth consecutive time this year and won the coveted Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy.

PU topper a local DAV student

Abohar, August 8
Monika, a student of DAV College here, has topped the MA Hindi (Final) exam conducted by the Panjab University (PU). She was felicitated at a brief function held on the college campus today.

Principal Dr SK Arora said students of the college had topped in MA Hindi and Punjabi several times. The previous topper from the college was a girl from Gidderbaha, who commuted 50 km to pursue her masters in Hindi. — OC

4 held for betting on cricket match
Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 8
The city police arrested four persons on the charge of betting on a cricket match last night.

It is learnt that following a tip-off, the police raided a printing press in the sixth street of Patel Nagar here and found that betting on a Twenty-20 cricket match between India and Sri Lanka was in progress.

Those arrested have been identified as Sonu of Gobind Nagari, Rajiv Kumar of Street No. 6, Satish Bittu and Ramesh Dhamija of Gopal Nagar.

DSP Raj Kumar Jalhotra confirmed that the accused have been arrested under Section 420 of the IPC and Sections 13-3-67 of the Gambling Act. Further, 18 mobile phones, two colour TVs, one laptop and three pads to record the betting details, have been recovered from them, he added.

Meanwhile, a tea stall owner, Vicky, was nabbed near an abandoned cinema house here last night on the charge of selling intoxicating syrups. Some bottles were recovered from his possession.

The cops also detained six addicts for interrogation, sources said.