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assembly in Session
Telecast House proceedings live, demands Jakhar
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Assembly pays tributes to eminent personalities
Government identifies flaws in working of legal machinery
Another Chandigarh-Amritsar express on cards, says Bansal
Sarna, Badal to cross swords in Delhi gurdwara panel elections
Change in state Cong leadership likely: Bajwa
Waive power bills or face stir: Labourers
RTS panel to start SMS service soon
State not in safe hands,
says Sanjha Morcha
SGPC steps up efforts to save ancient ‘ber’ trees
Twelth Plan to focus on ‘viability’ of small farms
Historical chimneys facing neglect
Stray dogs maul boy
to death in Sangrur
Punjab plans 600-acre IT City in Mohali
Pbi varisty to be under CCTV surveillance
Patiala dotted with illegal hoardings
Pensioners seek hike in medical allowance
Workers unqualified to conduct cancer survey
Projects worth Rs 45 lakh set up at Fatehgarh Sahib village
5 policemen hurt after being attacked by mob
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assembly in Session
Chandigarh, December 17 Sukhbir has directed party office secretary Dr Daljit Singh Cheema to coordinate with all district heads to screen SAD officer-bearers. The decision comes in the wake of the shooting of an assistant sub-inspector by an Akali worker in Amritsar as well as other incidents of SAD workers taking the law in their hands. Though the party has initiated the self-introspection exercise, it does not mean the SAD is ready to give any ground to the Congress in the Assembly session tomorrow on the issue of alleged breakdown of law and order. The SAD is likely to put up a spirited defence and will also target the Congress for what it terms as "ruining the reputation" of the state, which, it says, is also scaring away investors and affecting development. In an informal discussion, Sukhbir, who also holds the Home portfolio, said the party was ready to discuss the law and order situation in the State as was being demanded by the Congress. "In fact, I was readying to give an account of the law and order situation in the state myself but when the Congress raised the issue at the business advisory committee meeting today, I told the Speaker to leave everything else and discuss the issue threadbare tomorrow". The SAD is likely to point out that there were various parameters to measure the law and order situation in any state, including how the state was tackling terrorism, murder, rape and drug-related cases. The party is likely to put forth an argument that never before had police personnel been dismissed for not doing their duty. At the political level also, the SAD will stand firmly by Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia, the president of the party's youth wing who is being targeted by the Congress for giving undue patronage to youth workers. Sukhbir said an attempt was being made to “tarnish” Bikram’s image through “unsubstantiated” allegations. He said there was no truth in Congress' allegations that the SAD had distributed diaries of its office-bearers to police stations. “In fact, it is only the Amritsar (urban) unit of the party which has made a diary of office-bearers and that too for own use," he said. The SAD is also likely to launch an attack on the Congress for "scaring away potential investors" by highlighting both alleged lack of law and order and financial bankruptcy of the state. The party feels that the Congress was giving a wrong impression that Punjab was the “worst state to invest in whereas the opposite was true”. “VAT collection will touch Rs 16,000 crore this year from Rs 5,000 crore during the Congress rule and it is expected to touch Rs 40,000 crore in next four years," he added.
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Telecast House proceedings live, demands Jakhar
Chandigarh, December 17 In a representation to the Speaker, Congress Legislature Party Leader Sunil Jakhar said it was important to telecast the proceedings of the Assembly live on the pattern of the Lok Sabha to enable the people of the state to know the public issues being raised by their representatives. Jakhar also represented to the Speaker that the Congress needed more time to discuss burning issues, including the "complete breakdown" of the law and order situation in the state, "monopolising" of sand and gravel trade allegedly by the Youth Akali Dal, appointment of a Lokpal who was a "SAD sympathiser", border area development scams and anti-urban stance of the SAD.
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Assembly pays tributes to eminent personalities
Chandigarh, December 17 Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal presented a resolution before the House for making obituary references to eminent personalities who had passed away recently, including Rajesh Khanna, former Kerala Governor SS Kang, Pandit Ravi Shankar, AK Hangal, former MLAs Malkiat Singh Keetu and Zora Singh Bhagike and former SGPC members Dilbagh Singh and Harbans Kaur Sukhana, besides a number of others. An attempt by Congress MLA Charanjit Singh Channi to include the name of ASI Ravinderpal Singh, who was recently shot dead by an Akali worker, in the obituary references was shot down by the Speaker saying the ASI's name could not be included because he was a government employee. — TNS
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Government identifies flaws in working of legal machinery
Chandigarh, December 17 The action came after the Chief Secretary drew the ire of the Punjab and Haryana High Court over the issue. He was even directed to file an affidavit assuring the High Court of initiation of steps for timely reply on court matters. After gathering feedback from different official quarters, it was pointed out to a committee, formed specially for the purpose, that on several occasions, departments received communication about important cases in a routine manner. As such, certain cases did not get the kind of importance they should get and related papers lay ignored, therefore, causing unnecessary delay in filing of reply. The committee comprised Principal Secretary (Local Government) Suresh Kumar, former Education Secretary Hussan Lal, Officer on Special Duty (Litigation) in Health Department RL Mehta and Officer on Special Duty (Litigation) in Home Department Jaswant Singh. The panel also said that on several occasions when an official of the department concerned went to a law officer, minor aberrations were pointed out in the papers, thus, again putting the matter on hold. The official, thereafter, had to report to the law officer to clear air on the aberrations. The committee also accepted that at times branch officers did not pay due attention to legal affairs. Responding to an affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary in the High Court in reply to a civil writ petition, 'Samshad Ali Begum versus Punjab Government', the government had appointed special law officers for various departments so that they could whet legal matters of their respective departments for timely reply on all court cases. These officers will be appointed in nine departments, including Finance, Local Government, Education, Health and Family Welfare, Home Affairs and Legal, Housing, Cooperative, Irrigation and Village Development. A formal communication on the appointment of law officers has already been forwarded by the Chief Secretary's office to the Advocate-General Office. There will be two additional law officers to whet legal maters of the remaining departments. Legal officers will be stationed in the Secretariat to facilitate coordination with the departments concerned. Special law officers appointed
Missing Links
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Another Chandigarh-Amritsar express on cards, says Bansal
Chandigarh, December 17 The Union Minister said the train will get on track after a survey by the Railways. He said the residents had since long been demanding a return train from Amritsar to Chandigarh. Also, he said the train will have a stoppage in Mohali, which was another pending demand of the residents. About running a third Shatabdi between Chandigarh and Delhi, he said officials had proposed starting the train at 10 am and reverting it back in the evening at 7 pm. On launching new trains in the region, he said the Ministry would take up the proposal after the completion of the Chandigarh-Ludhiana track where trial run would commence soon. Bansal said work on giving a facelift to the Chandigarh railway station was being undertaken. “In next three months, the station will have a food plaza, four accelerators and a lift, especially for specially abled and senior citizens,” he said.
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Sarna, Badal to cross swords in Delhi gurdwara panel elections
Amritsar, December 17 While the SAD (Badal) is eying a hattrick after scoring victories in the SGPC elections and the Punjab Assembly polls, the SAD (Delhi) is making all out efforts to ensure that it retains power in the DSGMC elections, which are being held after a delay of almost a couple of years. After emerging stronger in the last year's SGPC elections, in which the opposition was almost wiped out, the SAD (Badal) sees an opportunity to extend its control over the gurdwaras from Punjab and Haryana, extending up to the national capital. The optimism of SAD (Badal) stems from the fact that Sarna is facing the heat over various issues. Among them are transferring ownership of a DSGMC hospital at Gurdwara Bala Sahib premises to a private trust and allegedly stalling the move to dedicate a park in Punjabi Bagh to 1984 riot victims. Till now, Sarna has managed to restrict SAD (Badal) to Punjab and Haryana. In July this year, he even managed to have his men elected to the Takht Shri Patna Sahib Management Board. Also the fact that the DSGMC is the second most important and second richest gurdwara body after the SGPC will make the two groups vie with each other to wrest its control. The recent move of the Delhi government to bring in an amendment which proposes direct election of the DSGMC president has already brought the two groups face to face and the recent clash in Rakabganj Gurdwara is being seen by many as a consequence of this confrontation. DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said, “We are ready to go to the polls. We were even prepared earlier also when the polls were scheduled for March this year. We’ve already decided the names of our candidates in 95 per cent of the seats. Mostly, we’ve re-nominated our sitting members. In the remaining six out of the total 46 seats, we are yet to finalise the names as there are more aspirants.” On the other hand, SAD secretary Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said the party was well prepared for the elections and their Delhi unit was already active on this front.
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Change in state Cong leadership likely: Bajwa
Bhaini Sahib (Khanna), December 17 Talking to mediapersons after expressing grief at the demise of Satguru Jagjit Singh with the latter's wife and new Namdhari chief Uday Singh, he said: "Party men are fed up with the state leadership as it has failed to lead them in any struggle against the anti-people policies of SAD-BJP government". He said a big movement would be launched against the state government after a change in the party leadership. On his vying for the state party president's post, he said he was not in the race for the top party post, but if the high command chose him, he would work earnestly. On the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in the state, Bajwa said the government had failed to take firm measures in several recent incidents of lawlessness in the state. Other leaders who visited Bhaini Sahib today included former minister Buta Singh, BKU president Balvir Singh Rajewal. PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal and other party leaders also condoled the death of Satguru Jagjit Singh. Meanwhile, new sect chief Uday Singh today organised his first kirtan in the dera in the presence of Mata Chand Kaur and other senior functionaries of the Namdhari Darbar after taking over as new chief.
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Waive power bills or face stir: Labourers
Jalandhar, December 17 They said if a favourable decision was not taken within a fortnight, they would intensify their agitation across the state. The activists belonged to the Pendu Mazdoor Union, Dehati Mazdoor Sabha, Khet Mazdoor Union, Mazdoor Mukti Morcha and the Pendu Mazdoor Union Krantikari. Addressing the gathering, representatives of the organidations, Tarsem Peter, Gurnam Dawood, Mahesh Malri and Bhagwant Samao said the Badal government had waived the power bills of farmers worth Rs 357 crore, but it did not waive the same amounting to Rs 60 crore of rural labourers despite giving assurances to them to do so. Similarly, the government did not provide five-marla plots to the labourers as promised, they claimed. The leaders alleged the SAD government had failed to properly implement MGNREGA scheme. They also demanded financial assistance for the kin of labourers who committed suicide due to their poor financial condition.
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RTS panel to start SMS service soon
Chandigarh, December 17 The service is specifically meant to save the rural population from making rounds of the commission office, said Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Commissioner, after a meeting on the assessment and implementation of the Punjab Right to Service Act here today. Dr Dalbir Singh Verka, Commissioner, said at present, the commission was taking care of 69 services. "As many as 51 new services will be added. These will largely be covering new aspects of several existing services regarding drinking water, colonisation, town and country planning, electricity and public health," he said. Dr Verka said: "In little more than one year after the Act was introduced, a total of 51,89,205 persons availed services under the Act at the district level”.
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State not in safe hands,
says Sanjha Morcha
Sangrur, December 17 The demand was made at a protest dharna organised by the Sanjha Morcha under the leadership of SAD (Longowal) secretary general Baldev Singh Mann in front of the DC office here today. Hundreds of members and activists of the morcha earlier took out a protest march in the city and raised slogans against the government. Mann said Punjab was not in safe hands. He said the law and order situation had been deteriorating in the state as incharge of police stations had been directed to obey orders of SAD leaders. Under such circumstances, the police was unable to perform its duties properly, he said. Others who also expressed their views included PPP district president Harmanjit Singh Jeji, CPM district secretary Bant Singh Namol and CPI district secretary Satwant Singh Khandewad. Fatehgarh Sahib: Morcha activists today held a protest dharna outside the district administrative complex. Morcha leaders said people in the state were feeling unsafe due the "wrong" policies of the
SAD-BJP government.
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SGPC steps up efforts to save ancient ‘ber’ trees
Amritsar, December 17 Darbar Sahib manager HS Malhi said they had started the process today with the Dukhbhanjani Ber in the presence of PAU experts. “We will be removing marble flooring around these ancient trees and widen the enclosure around it. It will make sure that these trees are surrounded by earth and are exposed to environment conducive to their growth.” He said they also plan to put up a glass enclosure around these trees so that devotees could not touch them with their greasy hands after partaking of the ‘parshad’ or throw anything under these trees. The Golden Temple Complex has three prominent ‘ber’ trees with over 400-year-old Ber Baba Budha Sahib being the oldest one. The other one is Lachi Ber, which is located next to the Darshani Deodhi. In June, the PAU experts had pruned Ber Baba Budha Sahib, besides cleaning up the lower part of its trunk. The lower portion of the tree had turned hollow due to its old age as well as the devotees throwing a variety of things under the tree as a “matter of faith”. While cleaning it up, the PAU team recovered ancient coins, polythene bags and even a pair of spectacles underneath it. Subsequently, the area around the tree was dug up and replaced with fresh earth, besides filling up the tree’s hollow part. The experts had stressed on the need to remove a part of marble flooring around it so as to widen the area covered by earth. The PAU experts have been conserving Ber Baba Budha Sahib, Dukhbhanjani Ber and Lachi Ber at the Golden Temple Complex for the last seven years.
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Twelth Plan to focus on ‘viability’ of small farms
Ludhiana December 17 Dr Sen, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said under the 12th Plan, the thrust would be on the viability of small farms, reducing yield gaps and meeting demands of the ever-increasing population. Saying that in the last five years there has been an addition of 40 million tonnes of foodgrain in the national kitty, Dr Sen said this was a creditable achievement and a matter of pride for the PAU as well as Punjab. Referring to minimum support price (MSP), he emphasised the MSP must give assurance to the farmers that their returns would not become unsustainable. Expressing concern over the depleting water table in Punjab, he said: "For a change in the cropping pattern, we need to look at livestock and horticulture”. Dr Sen said: "The PAU is a premiere agricultural university. India is proud of this institution for its research and transfer of technology. The university has produced outstanding human resource". He congratulated the students who received degrees and merit certificates.
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Historical chimneys facing neglect
Sangrur, December 17 But the chimneys are in a state of neglect. The locals say if steps are not initiated to preserve the historical monuments, these may fall in the near future. Out of the two chimneys, the taller one has some statues near its top which are said to be of Hindu gods. The Royal Foundry was set up by Maharaja Raghubir Singh when Sangrur city was passing through a development phase. The setting up of a foundry was need of the hour at that time for manufacturing materials like girders used in the construction of Jind state's buildings. Several units were set up in the foundry. These were apparatus for casting iron, a workshop of wooden material and a spare parts manufacturing unit. Keeping in view the historical importance of these chimneys, Rajeev Jindal, author of the book, "The Princely State of Jind Revisited", and Prof Charanjit Singh Udari, a Punjabi writer, have urged the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board to initiate steps to preserve these. They also asked the government to earmark funds for their maintenance.
Royal connection
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Stray dogs maul boy
to death in Sangrur
Barnala, December 17 Son of a daily wager, Arshdeep was reportedly playing in a street when he was attacked by the dogs. The victim was later dragged to a nearby garbage dump. All this while, the boy’s parents or any other person were unaware about the incident. It was only when the child did not return home that a search operation was launched. The family even got announcements made on the local gurdwara’s loud speaker but to no avail, said Manjit Singh, a resident. The victim’s body was spotted near the garbage dump after quite some time by a village woman who had gone there to throw cow dung. Manjit Singh said the police had been informed and the deceased’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination.
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Punjab plans 600-acre IT City in Mohali
Chandigarh, December 17 Sources in the Industries Department informed The Tribune that the process of acquiring the land had already been initiated and the state government was paying Rs 2 crore per acre as cost of land acquisition. The state is now in the process of arranging funds to acquire the land, and the project is expected to take off next year. The project cost is estimated at Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 3 crore per acre, including external development charges and change in land use). After the Global Industrial and Knowledge City failed to take off at Rajpura, IT City is the state government’s biggest industrial investment in recent times. Punjab Infotech will be setting up this IT City and is already in talks with IT majors like Infosys, Tech Mahindra and TCS to set shop in this IT Park. The state government is offering them a slew of concessions including an FAR (floor area ratio) of 3 and waiver on electricity duty. It may be recalled that the flagship industrial project of the Punjab government, Global Industrial and Knowledge City (GIKC) at Rajpura, never saw the light of day. The state government had proposed to set up an integrated industrial park here, by attracting big names in IT, textile, food processing and auto and light engineering sector. But following a stand-off between the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership and the State Industries Department, over the compensation package to be given to the land tillers here, the project was called off last year. The Industries Department had cited an upfront availability of funds to pay the compensation amount of Rs 30 lakh per acre, recommended by the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. The Industries Department had said that the project would become financially unviable if they were to pay a compensation of Rs 30 lakh per acre, which would escalate the cost of land acquisition to around Rs 435 crore (for 1,450 acres of land earmarked for the project). The government would also have invested Rs 1,150 crore on development of external infrastructure, making the project financially unviable. Officials in Punjab Infotech informed The Tribune that almost 75 per cent to 80 per cent of the funds for the IT City would be arranged through loans from banks and other financial institutions. “We are already in talks with the leading public and private sector banks to arrange the funds. We will be arranging the remaining funds by auctioning our own properties, or by taking some money upfront from the investors,” he said. Aiming for the sky
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Pbi varisty to be under CCTV surveillance
Patiala, December 17 There have been a couple of incidents this year, wherein a group of students clashed and a few of them had to be hospitalised. In one such incident, a group of students had even opened fire outside the university gate. Just over a month ago, a boy was badly thrashed by a group of students, following which there were numerous strikes in the university. These cameras have been fitted at hostels, parking lots and campus roads, main gate of the university, the T-point, main gate of the girls' hostel, round market, Bhagwan Das canteen, Book House, back gate and lawns. The range of these cameras is very high and rain and strong winds do not adversely affect their functioning. Vice Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said these cameras would help the authorities keep a check on the students’ activities and improve the security on the campus. "These have been installed on a trial basis and once they prove to be effective, they will be functional at all the chosen places. He said the project was being headed by the Chief Security Officer Gurtej Singh," he added.
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Patiala dotted with illegal hoardings
Patiala, December 17 The Patiala Municipal Corporation has failed to take action and take down the hoardings that were put up by politicians without obtaining the requisite permission from the Patiala civic body. Several illegal hoardings, displaying photos of politicians, can be spotted in various parts of the city, including Dharampura, Anardana Chowk, Lower Mall, Mall Road, bus stand, railway station, Model Town, Tripri, Sirhind Road, Rajpura Road, Rajpura Colony, Gurbax Colony, Bhupindra Road and Passey Road. Most of the hoardings display photographs of Punjab Rural and Panchayat Development Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra and Patiala Mayor Jaspal Pradhan. The Kabaddi World Cup hoardings, displaying photographs of Sukhbir Badal and other ministers, at YPS Chowk have still not been removed despite the fact that the tournament finished a while ago. However, there have been instances when hoardings belonging to Congress politicians have been removed with utmost urgency once the events connected to the hoardings have finished. The Patiala Municipal Corporation Assistant Commissioner Nazar Singh claimed, “We have removed illegal hoardings from main roads. As far as the interior city areas are concerned, we will remove these structures as soon as possible.”
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Pensioners seek hike in medical allowance
Sangrur, December 17 Chief Parliamentary Secretary Parkash Chand Garg, who presided over the function, assured the pensioners that he would take up their demands with the Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa to get the same implemented soon.
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Workers unqualified to conduct cancer survey
Patiala, December 17 Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department Vinni Mahajan said the department had not claimed that this project would enable them to get accurate data. “It is an effort to sensitise people about the disease within limited resources,” she added.
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Projects worth Rs 45 lakh set up at Fatehgarh Sahib village
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 17 Teenu also announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh each for other development projects in Chalehri Khurd and Behlolpur villages. He said in order to wean the youth off drugs, the state government had launched a campaign to attract them towards sports. Teenu said the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department had set up a tube well in the village at a cost of Rs 30 lakh. He also said a building had been constructed at the Government Middle School in the village at a cost of Rs 6 lakh. Moreover, concrete streets and drains were being laid at a cost of Rs 9.5 lakh, he added.
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5 policemen hurt after being attacked by mob
Abohar, December 17 The policemen, CIA incharge Navdeep Singh Bhatti, Assistant Sub-Inspector Gurcharan Singh, head constable Mangat Singh, constables Krishan Lal and Satnam Singh, were also thrashed by the mob. They have been admitted in a local hospital. The firing incident took place when the policemen raided the farmhouse. Vijay Kumar’s name had figured in a case registered on November 24 for allegedly trying to smuggle 40 quintals of poppy husk to Punjab from Rajasthan. A case has been registered against Vijay Kumar, Ashwani Kumar, Sonu, his mother Kamla Rani, Balbir alias Neelu, Om Parkash, his wife Darshana Rani, Atma Ram, Hans Raj, Prithvi Raj, Vikas, Nirmal Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Ravinder Kumar, Malika and Kamla
Devi.
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Chandigarh, December 17
Jalandhar, December 17
Amritsar, December 17
