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Badal meets Pawar, seeks
Rs 100 bonus on paddy MSP
Rs 60 crore for rural drinking water scheme |
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Cong plans to ground govt’s chopper move
BJP forms strategy for Lok Sabha poll
Industrial project site now a grazing ground
Reduce ‘trust deficit’, boost ties: Pak traders
Protest against e-trip billing
Police again searches Nabha Jail
DGP decorates 10 officers
Provide infrastructure to labour courts: HC
Five killed in road mishap
Man held for son’s murder
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Badal meets Pawar, seeks
Rs 100 bonus on paddy MSP
New Delhi, August 25 Badal sought a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, "which too needed a significant revision". The Chief Minister also demanded a relief package of Rs 5,112 crore for the farmers affected by deficient rain. Of the package, Punjab has attributed Rs 2,531 crore as the amount spent on purchase of additional power, Rs 850.80 crore for diesel used by farmers for operating tubewells, Rs 893.49 for conversion or rescheduling of cooperative credit, Rs 300 crore for additional groundwater irrigation, Rs 300 crore for restoration of capacity and installation of alternative tubewells, Rs 211.60 crore for arrangement of feed and fodder for livestock and Rs 26 crore for drinking water supply. A state government spokesperson said Pawar assured Badal of taking up his demands with the quarters concerned. The Chief Minister urged Pawar to sanction Rs 1,000 crore to Punjab for developing infrastructure and technology required for production and post-harvest handling of alternate crops. "The grant is a must if a major push has to be given towards crop diversification. It is the need of the hour to bail out the state from the conventional wheat-paddy cycle. The area under paddy has risen from 2.4 lakh hectares in 1961 to 28 lakh hectares at present," he said. The Union Ministers is learnt to have assured Badal of help here too. The spokesperson said the Union Government will hold a two-day seminar in Chandigarh on September 27-28 to make the farmers aware about crop diversification. Cost account Punjab has attributed Rs 2,531 crore (of the Rs 5,112 crore relief package sought) as the amount spent on purchase of additional power, Rs 850.80 crore for diesel used by farmers for operating tubewells, Rs 893.49 for conversion or rescheduling of cooperative credit, Rs 300 crore for additional groundwater irrigation, Rs 300 crore for restoration of capacity and installation of alternative tubewells, Rs 211.60 crore for arrangement of feed and fodder for livestock and Rs 26 crore for drinking water supply.
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Rs 60 crore for rural drinking water scheme
Chandigarh, August 25 The administrative approval for implementing these schemes was accorded in a meeting chaired by Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, a Press release said here today. Sanjay Kumar said that 158 schemes, including 125 for rural areas, were approved in the meeting. Villages in Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Pathankot, Kapurthala and Muktsar districts would be covered under the project, he said. The state government has also planned to ensure that all 12,258 villages in Punjab get a supply of 70 litres for each member of a family by December next year. These approvals were part of the Punjab Government’s Rural Water Supply projects costing Rs 1,280
crore.
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Cong plans to ground govt’s chopper move
Chandigarh, August 25 In a statement issued here today, Congress MLAs Laal Singh, Brahm Mohindra, Parminder Singh and Gurkirat Singh Kotli and MP Ravneet Singh Bittu said the party would gherao the helicopter wherever it was flown in the state. The state government has already released the first installment of Rs 7.5 crore for the Rs 38-crore helicopter. The Congress said the debt burden was multiplying and was likely to reach Rs 90,000 crore. It said the government lacked funds even to finance its atta-daal scheme. Even the ruling alliance leaders were ridiculing the idea, they claimed. Similarly, there was no money to disburse pensions and even teachers’ salaries. “How can the government justify an expenditure of Rs 38 crore in a small state like Punjab, which can be crossed from one end to another in less than four hours,” they said. The state government would also have to engage three pilots and at least 10 technicians for running the helicopter service, the leaders said. Clipping the wings Congress leaders say they will gherao the helicopter wherever it is flown in the state Say the order has been placed at a time when Punjab lacked funds to finance atta-daal scheme Punjab has already released the first installment of Rs 7.5 crore for the Rs 38-crore helicopter
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BJP forms strategy for Lok Sabha poll
Chandigarh, August 25 In the first phase, the BJP leadership would be holding meetings in all districts in the state to mobilise the party's rank and file. "We believe that the Lok Sabha elections can be held anytime next year and hence the party rank and file needs to be strengthened," said Ashwani Sharma, state party chief. He said he had already spoken to leaders in all the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. In the next phase, such meetings would be held at the booth level, he said. The BJP had fielded candidates from three Lok Sabha constituencies last time. It had won one, Amritsar, but lost Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. In the Vidhan Sabha elections, it contested 23 assembly seats and won 12. The BJP has also launched a membership drive. Its earlier membership was about six lakh. Party's media in charge Vaneet Joshi said this time the target is 15 lakh. The BJP, known for its base in urban areas, is now equally concentrating on increasing on rural areas. Party's organisational elections are due next month. The party high command has appointed Vinod Sharma for the exercise.
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Industrial project site now a grazing ground
Pathankot, August 25 All this while, the state Industries Department could attract just two industrial units on the 400-acre land allotted for the centre. The initial plan was to accommodate 254 industrial units. Of the two industries, one manufactures wine and edible oils while the other is its subsidiary. The vacant land has now turned into a grazing ground for cattle and other stray animals. A few temporary constructions have also come up, which are an eyesore. The area’s development on his mind, the then local MLA and Minister of State for Industries, Raman Bhalla, had persuaded Beant Singh to okay the centre for Pathankot. The idea was to develop it as a full-fledged industrial hub, which could have generated thousands of jobs. Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, the then Gurdaspur MP, was also actively involved in the project and she managed to pull strings during her tenure as the Union Minister in the corridors of power in Delhi to get necessary sanctions from various departments. However, things fell flat once Raman Bhalla lost the Assembly elections in 1997; the succeeding legislators caring two hoots for the project. “We had high hopes from the Union Minister of State for Planning, Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar, who hails from Gurdaspur. He promised to turn the area into a food-processing zone by nurturing fruit-related industries. However, he has done nothing so far. We had high hopes from him earlier as well when he was allotted the industries portfolio. But, nothing came our way,” an industrialist said. For its part, the state Industries Department developed the area by constructing roads and putting up streetlights. “All efforts by the department, however, came to a naught as the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir started offering tax holidays, which prompted industrialists to invest there,” said Raman Bhalla. Locals whose land was acquired for the project are now seething with anger. They are demanding from the state government to either develop the area into an industrial hub or return their land. Businessmen who had purchased plots have their own reasons for not setting up projects. An industrialist said, “I have put on hold all my plans of setting up a plant here because of the high rate of electricity and also in view of the fact that the neighbouring states are offering tax holidays.” Alike him, others too are wary of the double whammy that awaits them if they set up units in the area, following which the project lies in limbo. In limbo The Pathankot Industrial Growth Centre was planned in 1995 Though conceived to accommodate 254 industrial units on a 400-acre plot, a mere two projects could come up in 17 years The project was a brainchild of the then local MLA Raman Bhalla But after Bhalla lost elections in 1997, no MLA cared to pursue the project, which could have ensured thousands of jobs in the area
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Cash-strapped govt stops supply of PDS pulses
Amritsar, August 25 The families having blue cards are facing hardships as they are finding it difficult to buy pulses from the market owing to higher prices. "Earlier, we used to get 1 kg of pulses and 25 kg of wheat. For the last five months, we are only getting wheat. The depot holder keeps telling us that the government has not issued the quota of pulses," said Karam Kaur, a resident of Maqboolpura area. "We cannot afford to buy pulses from the market," she added. Sukhwinder Kaur, another resident, flayed the government for "neglecting" the poor. She said: "The government had promised to give 25 kg of wheat and 2.5 kg of pulses to the blue card holders. But we are getting only 1 kg of pulses and that too has been stopped now". Jagjit Singh Saini, district president, Ration Depot Holders' Welfare Association, said: "We have requested the Food and Civil Supply Department to supply the pulses to ration depots, but we have not got any response". Rakesh Singla, District Food and Civil Supply Controller, said the department had informed the government and Punsup authorities about the situation. Sources said the cash-strapped government had been incurring losses due to high prices of commodities being supplied under the
PDS.
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Reduce ‘trust deficit’, boost ties: Pak traders
Amritsar, August 25 Leading an LCCI delegation to a visit to Khanna Paper Mill here, Lashari said: "India and Pakistan have been blaming each other for incidents in their respective countries. This must stop for bilateral trade to flourish. It is high time to liberalise visa regimes and remove non-trade barriers". He said: "Pakistan imports paper worth $123 million dollars annually. India's share is a meagre $85,000". Tayyab Aijaz, a Pakistani trader, said it took 45-60 days for them to import paper from Russia, Europe and US and importing paper from India would be a win-win situation for both the countries. Later, talking to mediapersons, Lashari defended the Pakistan's move to restrict the import list via Attari-Wagah land route to a mere 137 items, saying that Pakistan needed to protect some of its industry like pharmaceutical and automobile. The delegation explored the trade possibilities between the two nations with special emphasis on paper, board and newsprint. Newsprint in demand
Khanna Paper Mill Director Suneet Kochhar revealed that the Pakistan delegation visit concluded on a positive note with the mill receiving an order of another 500 metric tonnes (MT) of newsprint from Jang Group and other publications based in Pakistan. Khanna Paper Mill had dispatched India's first newsprint consignment to Pakistan on May 3, 2012, and since then it has sent 250 MT of newsprint to the neighbouring country. Filth in city
Lashari's comment that it was an unpleasant experience to see Amritsar dotted with heaps of garbage gave some embarrassing moments to the local participants present on the occasion. Besides showing the city in bad light, it also brought to the fore the incompetence of the Municipal Corporation in lifting garbage after the private firm engaged for the job pulled out of the contract.
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Protest against e-trip billing
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 25 Kamal Sharma, political secretary to the Chief Minister, exhorted the members of the Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana Steel Manufacturers Association to stop the strike. He said the government was keen to resolve the issue at the earliest and assured the representatives of the association of arranging a meeting with the Chief Minister. Sharma said the steel industry was not only generating revenue for the state government through taxes and VAT but was also playing a vital role in providing employment to thousands of people. He said the government was taking steps to improve the functioning of the Excise and Taxation Department in the state so that industrialists didn’t have to face any problems. Mohinder Pal Gupta, president, Mandi Gobindgarh Furnace Association (MGFA) said, they would continue to hold the strike till the e-billing issue was not resolved. He said even though Sharma had assured them of a meeting with the CM, they would not withdraw the strike. Since the imposition of e-trip, which has made interstate transactions of Rs 2 lakh to be registered online, no one was sending scrap to Punjab from outside. Neighbouring states had not taken such a step, so companies were shifting their scrap there, Gupta said. “Our industry is getting no work,” he said. The furnace industries in the town have been on a strike since August 23 and now Induction Furnace Association of North India will go on a strike from tomorrow onwards. There are over 200 furnace units in Mandi Gobindgarh that supply steel to most parts of the state. KK Garg, president, North India Furnace Association, Ludhiana, SN Sharma, District BJP president and senior BJP leader Lal Chand Jindal were among those present at the meeting.
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Police again searches Nabha Jail
Patiala, August 25 Police searched the entire outer cordon of the premises including the uncovered area outside it. They discovered the wiring on two of the towers, located on the high outer wall, to be missing. This was the second consecutive day, police conducted search operations in the prison. Over 500 policemen and commandos had searched the premises for over 10 hours. A team headed by Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Gill carried out the search operation today. The operation went on for almost three hours from 6.30 am to 10 am. Officers used metal detectors and searched the part of the premises that could not be checked on Friday. Sources said police teams found no objectionable item from the prisoners’ quarters today though they recovered mobiles, drugs and SIM cards on Friday. The prisoners however complained about the frequent raids that had caused them much inconvenience. Some prisoners claimed that the raids delayed their meals. Yesterday due to the combing operation, many prisoners had to skip breakfast and were served lunch a couple of hours late. A senior officer explained, “We did not want to delay their meals, but after we got the intelligence inputs we had to conduct the raids urgently which affected the day to day running of the prison.” Senior officers have instructed the jail staff to remain alert and ensure that the prisoners do not have access to any sharp objects that could be used for digging. When contacted, SSP Patiala confirmed that this search operation had finished but did not rule out conducting more such operations in the near future. “If we get any inputs, we would search the premises again.”
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DGP decorates 10 officers
Phillaur, August 25 Saini presented them with DGP’s Commendation Discs for their laudable contribution in improving the overall training standards of police. The DGP observed and assessed the different training activities taking place at the academy.
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Provide infrastructure to labour courts: HC
Chandigarh, August 25 The directions by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain came on a petition filed by Chaman Lal Vashisht against the State of Punjab and another respondent, underscoring the deficiencies in infrastructure provided to the Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals in the State. The main writ petition filed on the matter was disposed of on March 17, 2006, with certain directions to the State Government. But, the present application was filed after no action was taken. Taking up the petition, the High Court on March 26 observed the petitioner has depicted “a picture of gross inadequacy of the existing infrastructure, including manpower. According to him, it has come in the way of smooth handling of the cases by the presiding officers of the Labour Courts-cum-Tribunals.” The Bench also observed that counter affidavit filed on behalf of the State and other respondents indicated that “the number of cases pending before each of the tribunals in the State of Punjab is sizeable. There appears to be no exercise carried out till date by the State of Punjab with regard to what should be the minimum infrastructure to be provided to the presiding officers of the Labour Courts-cum-Tribunals. The Bench then directed the High Court Registrar-General to call a meeting of the presiding officers to ascertain the requirements in terms of infrastructure, manpower and other facilities. A meeting was held on April 4 by the Registrar-General with the presiding officers, followed by another meeting on May 16 by the State of Punjab under the chairmanship of the chief secretary. The decision on accommodation, maintenance of tribunal buildings, security, infrastructure and appointment of competent staff was taken during the meeting. Taking a note of the decisions, the bench disposed of the petition by observing: “The State Government shall implement the recommendations made/decisions taken in the meeting dated May 16 expeditiously”.
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Five killed in road mishap
Abohar, August 25 The victims have been identified as Vijay Sharma, Hira Lal Suthar, Jaspal, Bal Ram and Sudhir Meghwal. Bhupinder Asija of Rawatsar said the Santro car (DL 8C G 4694) in which they were travelling collided head on with a truck on the highway, about 10 km from the sub-divisional town, last night. The rescue team had a tough task in taking out the bodies from the badly damaged car. The bodies were handed over to the families after a post-mortem at the Rawatsar Community Health Centre. A case has been registered at the Rawatsar police station against the drive of the truck who fled the spot.
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Man held for son’s murder
Bathinda, August 25 Investigating officer Kashmir Singh said interrogation of the family members and area residents helped the police crack the case. He said Chamkaur Singh had earlier told the police that he did not want the police to investigate the matter as his son might have fallen into the lake while playing. However, conflicting statements from the relatives led the police to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, a local court remanded the accused in two-day police custody. — TNS
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Singh Badal today met Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and demanded "adequate" bonus on the soon-to-be-harvested paddy crop and a relief package to tide over the drought-like conditions prevailing in the state.
Chandigarh, August 25
It was in 1995 that the then Chief Minister Beant Singh and Industries Minister Raman Bhalla had conceived the Pathankot Industrial Growth Centre amidst much fanfare. But 17 years down the line, the project has failed to take wings.
Dubbing the trade as a great unifier, former senior vice-president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(LCCI) Sohail Lashari today said India and Pakistan must work together to reduce "trust deficit" to pave the way for better trade ties between the two countries.