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Octroi abolition has hit revenue, feel mayors
Punjab’s poll-bound mayors stay away
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Cong councillors absent at meet
ASI begins work to restore the historic grandeur of Bathinda Fort
Speed limit warning goes unheeded in city
Rajindra College students selected for regional youth fest
Engineers’ Day celebrated at BFCET
Neighbour’s remarks drive man to end life
CUP observes Hindi Day
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Octroi abolition has hit revenue, feel mayors
Bathinda, September 15 While some of these mayors accused their state governments of not providing funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM), a massive city modernisation scheme launched by the Government of India in 2005, others blamed the Ministry of Urban Development for its 'bias and dictatorial attitude' in the allotment of funds. But they were all in unison when it came to voicing their opinion on the abolition of octroi. The abolition of octroi, the charges levied on goods moving between two municipalities, has left the local bodies financially crippled. The octroi helped the local corporations meet their expenses and made up for almost 70-80 per cent of their revenue. "But in the absence of octroi and the dependence of municipalities on the state governments, civic amenities in the urban areas have been adversely affected," said Madhu Sood, the former Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation, who imposed the 'green tax' on every vehicle entering Shimla from April 2012. The green tax, ranging between Rs 100 for two-wheelers, Rs 200 for cars and jeeps, Rs 300 for middle segment and utility vehicles and Rs 500 for buses and trucks, is levied on all vehicles not registered in Himachal. The tax is valid for a week. "After the octroi was removed in Himachal Pradesh, we faced an acute financial problem. So imposing the green tax to generate revenue was the only option for us," said Madhu Sood. Brinda Kartika Reddy, Mayor, Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, also shared the views. "During my participation in a number of executive committee meetings of the mayors in various parts of the country, I came across this common grouse of the local bodies after the state government removed the octroi," she said. "After the removal of octroi, there were ways to compensate the municipalities with the surcharge levied on VAT or excise duties. But this surcharge first goes into the coffers of the state government, so getting it back from the state government is a tedious and Herculean task," said Bhawna Shah, Mayor, Khandwa Municipal Corporation in Madhya Pradesh. With the landmark 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, there were wide-ranging urban sector reforms to strengthen municipal governance so that the elected representatives could effectively run their local affairs. "But now, for every financial aid, we keep looking at the state government and the latter looks towards the union government. This is not the 3-tier system of governance which the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act envisaged,"
said Tarsem Goyal, Senior Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB).
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Punjab’s poll-bound mayors stay away
Bathinda, September 15
Though the election for these four corporations were held in June this year and the Akali-BJP alliance had swept the poll in all the four cities, the matter is still pending due to the differences between the two parties over the selection of candidates for the post of mayor. So this was the reason why only the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) will gain from this exchange of ideas. Baljit Singh Birbehman, Bathinda Mayor, who is the vice-chairman of the All India Council of Mayors, said the meeting was meant for the executive members of the AICM but the participation of even a councillor in this exercise is a gainful experience. Rajinder Desai, Mayor of Surat Municipal Corporation, Ashutosh Varshney of Aligarh, Rama Khelkho of Ranchi, Sagar Naik of New Mumbai, Krishna Gour of Bhopal, Bhawna Shah of Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh), Rameshwar Akand, Mayor of Ujjain, Alok Aggarwal of Beghu Sarai Municipal Corporation, Tapas Banerjee, Mayor of Asansol Municipal Corporation in West Bengal, Brinda Kartika Reddy of Hyderabad, Subhash Patel of Bareli Corporation, Yog Dhayan Ahuja of Delhi, Jagan Nath Mahapatra from Bhubaneswar and Krishan Murari Mokhe from Indore were among the 18 mayors who reached today to participate in the AICM executive committee meeting. Uma Shankar Gupta, Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, who is the national general secretary of the AICM, also arrived today. With 142 municipal corporations in the country, the AICM has about 30 executive committee members who assemble every four months to discuss problems and solutions that the corporations face from time to time, said Baljit Singh Birbehman. Besides the sitting mayors, former mayors also take part in the executive meetings. Madhu Sood, former Mayor, Shimla Municipal Corporation, arrived in this capacity to participate in the meeting.
Cong councillors absent at meet
Bathinda, September 15 So, going there was of no use." Another councillor, Iqbal Singh Dhillon, also of the Congress, said, "There was no need to organize a national-level function in this small town, especially when we know that the MC is facing a shortage of funds. This was only a political stunt by the Akalis.” The spokesperson, district Congress, Rupinder Bindra, said, "It was a joint decision of the councillors to convey the message that the Akalis were doing injustice to people.”
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ASI begins work to restore the historic grandeur of Bathinda Fort
Bathinda, September 15 Conservation assistant at the Bathinda Fort, MC Sharma, said the work on restoring the low wall has almost been completed. He, however, could not elaborate on the amount spent on it. Along with the north-west fortification of the wall, construction in some portion of the Fort's southern part and the grill fencing at the rear (in 100 metre length) is also being undertaken. The Rani Mahal, situated right above the main gate and closed for the last three decades, has always been a centre of attraction for the visitors who wish to see from it from the inside. Old workers of the ASI, who have now retired from the department, remember that the roof inside is embellished with glasswork and colourful paintings. The outer side of Rani Mahal was restored in the late 1990s but nothing was done after that. The area remains out of bound for the local residents. Sources say the structure inside is in a dilapidated condition and at some places the roof has been supported using false pillars and scaffold. ASI officials refused to give details of the restoration work at Rani Mahal. The ASI also plans to restore the gate, which collapsed because of the incessant rain two years ago, by the side of the gurudwara. The gate had a flight of stairs leading to the roof of boundary wall of the fort. "Though the stairs won't be restored, we do have plans to put the gate back into its position," added another ASI official. Sources said the Government of India as well as the Punjab Government will together allocate funds for the restoration work. However, the share each would contribute is not yet known. Meanwhile, Dr Subhash Parihar, associate professor, Centre for Museology, Archaeology and Conservation at the Central University of Punjab (CUP), said in the name of restoration, the ASI is re-constructing many of the structures. He emphasized upon the need to consult the archaeologists before undertaking any restoration work. "This is because a mason working on restoration may not be aware that a single bend or curve in the arch of the door could take the monument from one era to another. For instance, the round arch is from the British era, the single pointed arch is from the pre-Mughal or pre-Muslim era and the four pointed arches push it to the Mughal era," he said. Bathinda Fort's present structure has marks of Patiala rulers who largely re-constructed it and initiated repair work after it became part of their kingdom in the 18th century.
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Speed limit warning goes unheeded in city
Bathinda, September 15
For instance, the maximum speed limit set by the traffic police on the Goniana road is 40 km/hour. But hardly any four-wheeler is seen complying with the same. Nakas laid by the traffic police on roads hardly served any purpose so far. For lack of strictness on the part of traffic cops, commuters are not willing to give up their bad habits. In the past, vehicles running above prescribed speed limits have proved to be fatal as well as injurious in some cases. In the absence of strict enforcement of traffic rules, more such accidents are bound to take place. An advocate, Ranjodh Singh, said, "Since the city developed into a major town in the past few years, its traffic needs to be regulated. The number of vehicles is increasing day by day and the violations are also increasing. In the past, the traffic police carried out a drive to check unauthorised parking of vehicles. Now, they must carry out a similar drive to curb over-speeding." A shopkeeper, Sumit Dhingra, said, "The number of road mishaps is increasing and it is the duty of cops to regulate the traffic and ensure vehicles don't cross the prescribed speed limits on roads. This can go a long way in saving the precious lives of commuters. The traffic cops must chalk out some plan and implement it strictly." When contacted, Kuldeep Singh, ASP Traffic, said, "We are going to start a special drive in this regard. All vehicles running above the permitted speed limit would be challaned. We have found a number of points in the city where we are installing boards mentioning the speed limits for different types of vehicles." "In the past, we carried out special drives to control the problem of parking, which has brought good results. But the people must also support us to streamline the traffic, which is a problem here," added the traffic police official. The ASP, however, parried the query about the number of vehicles that have been challaned for overspeeding. |
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Rajindra College students selected for regional youth fest
Bathinda, September 15 Principal Vijay Kumar Goyal welcomed the chief guest on the occasion, Charanjit Singh Brar, the officer on special duty (OSD) of Punjab Chief Minister. Students competed in debate, declamation and poetical recitation contests. The students also participated in rangoli, clay modeling, collage making, on-the-spot painting, posted making and photography competitions. As many as 45 students performed in various events. Earlier, a written test was conducted for quiz contest wherein 100 students participated. Students were also selected for music, theatre and dance (giddha and bhangra). Giving details of the regional youth fest, the college's youth coordinator Dr Gurjit Singh Mann said on September 21, the pre-zonal festival will be held wherein the chief guest will be Bathinda MLA Sarup Chand Singla while the MD, Cooperative Bank, Gurpreet Singh Maluka will preside over. Punjabi folk singer Deep Dhillon will also grace the occasion.
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Engineers’ Day celebrated at BFCET
Bathinda, September 15 Keynote speaker Dr Gursharan Singh, the head of the department of applied science at Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus, gave a presentation on ozone layer preservation. He enlightened the audience to ozone and ozone layer. He explained the ways to maintain the ozone layer and spoke about how the acts of human are destructing the layer that prevents the life on earth from harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun. Earlier, BFCET principal Manish Goel welcomed the guests and gave an introductory speech on the Engineers' Day. He put forward the significance of the day and related a brief biography of the father of engineering, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. Students Amritpal Kaur from the civil branch and Sunny Kumar from the IT branch were also honoured during the celebration for securing the fourth and eighth merit, respectively, in the PTU final exams held in April 2012. BFGI chairman Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal greeted all the engineers on their day. The celebration included other cultural activities like song, bhangra and giddha. The other dignitaries present on the occasion were BD Sharma and Harpal Singh. |
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Neighbour’s remarks drive man to end life
Bathinda, September 15 Sources said the neighbour of the deceased passed derogatory remarks against his wife, which led Tejinder to take the extreme step. Acting upon the complaint of the deceased's father, Surjit Singh, the Sadar police has registered a case against one Gurmel Singh. Meanwhile, the body was handed over to the legal heirs of the deceased, after conducting post-mortem examination. Man beaten up
A resident of Tungwali has stated to the Rama police that three persons, who were known to him, allegedly beat up his son Mohammad Ahmed yesterday and rendered him physically handicapped. The incident took place at Kankwal village and a case in this regard has been registered under Sections 341, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC. Held under NDPS Act
The Nathana police today claimed to have arrested a man with possession of 14 grams of smack. The police said one Gurdeep Singh of Bhucho Mandi was caught with narcotics. A case under Sections 21/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him. Two held with illicit liquor
The police yesterday caught two persons from Rampura town who were in possession of 40 litres of illicit liquor. The accused have been identified as Mander Singh and Roopa Ram of Rampura Phull town. A case has been registered under various sections of the Excise Act at the City Rampura police station. |
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CUP observes Hindi Day
Bathinda, September 15 Stage convener Dr Rajindra Kumar spoke about the journey of Hindi language till it was declared the national language on September 14, 1950. Students presented a patriotic song 'Sare Jahan Se Achchha' while assistant professor Manisha Dhiman presented a poem highlighting various problems. Students Tanya Bansal, Chitra and Abhishek presented poems. Ashish Pandey presented a patriotic song. The dean, Students' Welfare, Prof PS Romana, thanked the audience. Awareness camp for farmers held Bathinda, September 15
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places as far away as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Surat, Aligarh, West Bengal and Ranchi, reached Bathinda to deliberate over the problems facing the local bodies, the mayors from the four big cities of Punjab-- Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana-- could not attend the meet thanks to the tug-of-war over the selection of mayoral candidates.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has started restoration work at the Bathinda Fort. Beginning with the low wall situated on the right side of the entrance, the ASI intends to gradually undertake restoration work of the Rani Mahal as well as the gate and its staircase that collapsed on the side of the gurudwara two years ago.
Even though the traffic police claims to have brought down the number of traffic violations in the city, the ground reality proves otherwise.
One can witness vehicles running beyond the prescribed limit on almost every road in the city. A number of boards displaying the maximum speed limit have been installed in the city, but the commuters are still not ready to obey the instructions.
The Baba Farid College of Engineering & Technology (BFCET) celebrated India's 45th Engineer's Day and the International Ozone Layer Preservation Day today.
The chief guest on the occasion was Shruti Sharma, IAS under trainee, currently posted in
Bathinda. In her speech, the chief guest told girl students to stand for their rights and to never surrender before injustice.
