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Land grab probe comes to a halt
Food security scheme will help cut state’s subsidy bill: AICC delegate
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Poor rains push up input costs, farmers worried
Illegal colonies: BJP wants development fee slashed
Ready to contest LS poll from Bathinda: Manpreet
Splinter Akali groups plan united front to take on SAD
Sukhbir indulging in self-glorification, says Congress
PPP backs New Chandigarh move
Protest after youth dies of medical ‘negligence’
Keen to invest, Tata group discusses modalities
Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal with Ravikant (centre), vice-chairman, Tata Motors, and Madhu Kanan, business head, in Chandigarh on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
Proposal to hike VAT on diesel put on hold
School bus crushes two bikers to death; 2 hurt
Body released without postmortem, cops bring it back to hospital
Wards in Ropar increased to 21
Sangrur MC faces financial crisis
Poland keen to partner with Punjab in food processing
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Land grab probe comes to a halt
Chandigarh, July 18 Justice Kuldip Singh has expressed his disinclination to continue with the inquiry on health grounds. He has already informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court of his unwillingness to carry on. But so far, the Division Bench hearing the matter has not passed any orders on the issue. The Bench has also not issued any orders on granting further extension to the commission. The three-member tribunal, headed by Supreme Court's former judge Justice Kuldip Singh, was directed to be constituted on May 29 last year to look into land grab cases not just in Nayagaon and other villages on Chandigarh's periphery but the entire state of Punjab. Issuing the directions to the state of Punjab and its functionaries, the High Court had then set a four-month deadline for the completion of probe. But, at the same time, the High Court had given the tribunal the liberty to seek additional time after taking into consideration the enormity of the task. For months, the Punjab Government "deliberately" kept dragging its feet in the land grab probe by not providing infrastructure to Justice Kuldip Singh panel. After strictures and delay of nearly six months, the government provided the panel with necessary infrastructure by the fag end of the last year. In March this year, the panel submitted its first interim report to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In the damning interim report, the panel minced no words to say "thousands of acres have either been grabbed or are in process of being grabbed". The probe also brought out how Punjab Director-General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini and other VIPs showed themselves as joint cultivators in the process of getting land. As its first step, the panel concentrated on land within the periphery of Chandigarh. Out of around 360 villages, it has looked into the revenue records of eight villages, including Karoran, Kansal, Mirzapur and Mullanpur Garibdass. The panel submitted its second report in a sealed cover on July 15. The Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice GS Sandhawalia also directed the Registry to supply a copy of the report to Punjab Advocate-General for requisite compliance. Before parting with the order, the Bench added: "A request is made to the Advocate-General, Punjab, to make a prayer before the Supreme Court to take up the SLP, filed against the order making appointment of commission by this court, which is ending". The Bench also fixed August 14 as the next date of hearing. But the order does not mention anything about the grant of extension. work done so far
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Food security scheme will help cut state’s subsidy bill: AICC delegate
Chandigarh, July 18 Addressing a press conference here today, Mishra said the state government had reportedly claimed that it was already implementing the atta-dal scheme. "This does not mean it cannot implement the food security ordinance," he said, adding if the Punjab Government implemented the central scheme, a big portion of the subsidy given by the state under the atta-dal scheme would be taken over by the Centre. "All that is required is better coordination," he said. Mishra admitted that if the two schemes ran parallel, the beneficiaries would end up receiving food under both the schemes. There was nothing wrong in it, but there should be no politics on public welfare schemes, he said. Referring to the criticism that the food security ordinance had been promulgated by the UPA with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he claimed: "This is not the case. The Food Bill had actually been delayed by about two years because of the intransigence of the BJP, which stalled the proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament on one pretext or the other." He alleged the BJP was frustrated because its allies were leaving it one after the other even as the UPA was gaining strength and winning new partners. Mishra also said the food security ordinance would be tabled in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the next session and he had no doubt that it would receive the support of even non-UPA parties. He said the ordinance was a historic initiative taken by party chief Sonia Gandhi which would cover 67 per cent of the country's population, including 75 per cent population in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas. It would ensure a supply of 35 kg of food per month per individual, he added.
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Poor rains push up input costs, farmers worried
Chandigarh, July 18 Officials at the Department of Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, expected the state to receive 125 mm of rainfall this month. Although heavy rain in June came as a relief for paddy farmers, less rainfall this month has pushed input costs up. Dr KK Gill, Assistant Professor, Department of Agro-Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University, said, “It rained 296 mm in June against its monthly average of 66 mm but that is irrelevant as paddy needs more water in July.” Dr Gill said, “At least 97 per cent of the state land depends upon irrigation facilities.” Jagsher Singh, a farmer from Khurdpur village in Jallandhar district, said, “The power supply is not regular. Maize, oilseeds and pulses too need to be irrigated well this time of the year. Increased cost of production is a cause for concern.” Surinder Pal, Director of the Meteorological Department, said, “The monsoon clouds seem to be gathering force and there are chances of widespread rain in the region in the next 48 hours. The low air pressure suggests that the revival of monsoon is on the cards.”
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Illegal colonies: BJP wants development fee slashed
Chandigarh, July 18 Senior BJP leaders met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in this regard here late last evening. It was decided that a four-member committee comprising Bikram Majithia, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Anil Joshi and Som Parkash, would fine-tune the policy to regularise the colonies and reduce the charges. There is obviously vote politics behind the move to regularise the colonies. Once regularised, those residing in these colonies will get various facilities such as drinking water, sewer system and a road network. However, regularising the colonies will be against the concept of planned development. Officials say the government should register criminal cases against those behind the illegal colonies, if haphazard growth is to be stopped. The BJP, it is learnt, wants the charges to regularise these colonies be based on the collector’s rate.The government had placed various towns and cities in separate categories for levy of charges. Sources said the BJP also expressed its reservations on the levy of professional tax to mop up more revenue. The BJP leadership fears that such a step may hit its vote bank in urban areas. However, it accepts the fact that there is a need to generate more revenue to accelerate development in the state. As of now, the annual salary and pension liability of the state government is Rs 24,000 crore. After meeting committed fiscal liabilities, the state government is left with nothing to spend on various projects.
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Ready to contest LS poll from Bathinda: Manpreet
Patiala, July 18 Manpreet was in Patiala to attend a public meeting. He said he was not afraid of any challenge and was willing to take on anyone fielded by the SAD. "The rest depends on the decision taken by our party's executive committee," he stated. Manpreet claimed that 330 sarpanches and 1,400 panches hailing from the PPP had won the elections, which showed the "growing acceptability" of the PPP among the rural masses. "Unlike the SAD, our party will never cheat the people of Punjab. Instead, we will try our best to free the people from the misrule of the present government," he alleged. On a possible tie-up with the Congress, the PPP chief said his party was open to a pact with the Congress if it would help keep the SAD-BJP away from power. "We had some seat-sharing understanding with the Congress during the recently concluded panchayat elections and it worked," he said, adding he was yet to hold a meeting with Congress leaders in this regard. Meanwhile, Manpreet met several local leaders and discussed strategy for the upcoming municipal council elections. "Our party strategy and party core group is ready with the preparations. Soon, we will start working on it", he said, adding that he would tour the entire state the next year and exhort the youth to fight against corruption and government's "failure" on all fronts. Ruling out the possibility of returning to the SAD, Manpreet said such decisions were taken once in a lifetime and he had already taken it. "I will never return to the SAD. My motto now is to free the youth from the clutches of Akali goons", he said.
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Splinter Akali groups plan united front to take on SAD
Amritsar, July 18 Talking to The Tribune, Sarna said they intended to form a council of intellectuals which would formulate a common minimum programme (CMP) of all the splinter Akali groups and help them narrow down their differences. He expressed hope that all the Akali factions would join hands and give a tough fight to the SAD in the coming Lok Sabha elections. He said if everything went as per plan, the joint front would take shape by next month. He alleged that the SAD had negated Sikh traditions while Sikhism too was on the decline under its rule in Punjab. He termed the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the national scene and SAD's support to him as dangerous for minorities while stating that "a wave of hatred is being spread to polarise majority Hindu votes and garner electoral gains in the Lok Sabha elections". The SAD (Amritsar), led by its president Simranjit Singh Mann and general secretary Jaswant Singh Mann, had taken an initiative to unite splinter Akali groups early this year. They had held a meeting with former SGPC secretary Manjeet Singh Calcutta in Amritsar on May 19, followed by talks with SAD (1920) leaders on June 6 and then with former Chief Minister Surjeet Singh Barnala at Kasauli on June 13. The SAD (Amritsar) is in touch with a number of Taksali Akali leaders to bring them into the party fold. Meanwhile, Jaswant Singh Mann today said they were restructuring the party organisation so as to strengthen it at the grassroots level before the Lok Sabha elections. He said the process to strengthen the party organisation would be over by November 30 and they would converge in Amritsar on December 14 to mark the anniversary of the SAD's Foundation Day.
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Sukhbir indulging in self-glorification, says Congress
Chandigarh, July 18 In a statement here, Punjab Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira alleged the function held to confer the "jetu Jarnail" title on Sukhbir was nothing but a brazen display of self-glorification organised by a group of power hungry Akali leaders. Khaira said the self-managed show not only displayed arrogance but was also contrary to the Sikh ethos and principles that preached simplicity and humility. He said in so far as the claim of electoral victories of Sukhbir was concerned, he should not forget that his family was "responsible for polluting the entire electoral process" of Punjab.
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PPP backs New Chandigarh move
Ropar, July 18 The former Finance Minister criticised the decision of the state government to charge “exorbitant” fee for regularising unauthorised housing colonies. “First they failed in checking unauthorised colonies and now these are being allowed to flourish,” he said.
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Protest after youth dies of medical ‘negligence’
Gurdaspur, July 18 The father of the deceased, Mohan Lal, said his son Kamal Joyti and his friends Deepa and Aju were on their way to Chack Sharif village. On the way, their motor cycle collided head-on with a car. The three sustained serious injuries and
"When I reached there, I was astonished to see my son lying in a pool of blood. The emergency ward of the hospital was closed as there was no paramedical staff or doctor on duty. We called the Senior Medical Officer (SMO), who referred my son and his friends to the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital. Unfortunately, my son succumbed to his injuries," said a sobbing Mohan Lal. As news about the Kamal Joyti’s death reached his village, hundred of residents ransacked the hospital. They broke the hospital windows and threw away medicines. Raising slogans against the Health Department, the residents held a massive protest march through the main bazaars of Kahnuwan and staged a dharna at the Sathiali bridge on the Gurdaspur-Sri Hargobindpur highway, demanding stringent action against Health Department officials. The protesters alleged that lack of medical aid had led to two deaths n the town in the past 48 hours. They were pacified by Tejinderpal Singh Sandhu, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gurdaspur, and Civil Surgeon Vinod Beri who said that posts lying vacant in the hospital would be filled soon..
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Keen to invest, Tata group discusses modalities
Chandigarh, July 18 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Deputy CM had earlier held a series of meetings with the Tata group head, Cyrus Mistry. Tata group company heads, including those of Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Sons, Tata Housing, TCS, Tata Chemicals, TML and JUSCO, held a marathon meeting with the Deputy CM, Revenue Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia, Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Industry Minister Anil Joshi. This was followed by a presentation by the Deputy CM. Ravikant, vice-chairman, Tata Motors, initiating the discussion, said it was for the first time that all Tata group companies had collectively come to a state to participate in a discussion with the state government. He said this was made possible because the new Tata group chairman, Cyrus Mistry, was impressed with the statesmanship and leadership qualities of the Punjab Chief Minister. Sukhbir said the state had come out with a one-of-its-kind industrial policy that offered incentives to investors as per efficiency and productivity. He said the new VAT and CST retention model, one of its kind in the country, would allow upcoming companies to retain up to 80 per cent VAT and CST collected by them rather than look towards government for reimbursement. Sukhbir ensured water and sewerage connectivity, power distribution, road development, solid waste management and streetlighting with 24X7 help desks to Tata companies investing in the state. He said the government had chalked out a plan worth crores for holistic development of 147 cities that offered mega investment opportunities to the Tata group stakeholders. He said Tata Motors could work out a BRTS system for metro cities of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda besides helping the state in the Solar City project. The Tata group companies evinced an interest in city- level services, BRTS projects, the Ropar-Phagwara Expressway, the Water City (Ludhiana) and other infrastructure projects of Rs 500 crore, the high-rise concept at Mohali, the Solar City complex, housing projects, the Mohali downtown and the renewable energy sector, including biomass and mini hydels. Ashish Mathur, MD, JUSCO, said his company after successful implementation of the city services project in Mysore and Kolkata, could work out modalities for two or three big cities in Punjab after a detailed study of these cities. Sukhbir suggested that the BRTS model of Istanbul be studied and replicated in Ludhiana. The Tata group companies evinced keen interest in setting up a “Tata Skill University” in the state besides investing in eco-city and medi-city in New Chandigarh.
Areas of interest
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Proposal to hike VAT on diesel put on hold
Chandigarh, July 18 Though there is no political consensus within the government on imposing new taxes or raising the VAT rate, the government proposes to increase its revenue generation by Rs 1,200 crore this fiscal. Sources in the Finance Department said the proposals to increase VAT on diesel (from 8.8% to 13%) to raise an additional Rs 500 crore and impose professional tax to generate another Rs 500 crore had been stalled owing to stiff opposition from the SAD’s alliance partner, BJP. The government is considering deferring payment of retirement dues to its employees by raising the retirement age from 59 to 60, thus preventing a cash outgo of Rs 1,000 crore a year. Also, the government hopes to generate an additional Rs 200 crore through fee charged for regularising illegal colonies. Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa told The Tribune that both the proposals were under consideration. “To be implemented, these proposals will have to be approved by the Cabinet first,” he said. Officials said as against the target of 16 per cent growth in the state’s revenue receipts for the entire fiscal, the growth in the first quarter of the year (April- June) was only 8 per cent. As against the total revenue collection of Rs 6,525 crore in the first quarter of last year, the revenue receipts this year stood at Rs 7,050 crore. “Though there is no negative growth in revenues, we were expecting buoyancy in VAT and stamp duty collections. These have not been on the expected lines,” said an officer. As compared to the VAT collection of Rs 3,680 crore between April- June 2012, the collection during the corresponding period this year is Rs 4,126 crore, an increase of a mere 11.9 per cent. The government was looking at an increase of 25 per cent from VAT collection this year. But the VAT collected from the sale of wheat is down by Rs 70 crore in the first quarter while that collected from the sale of automobiles is down by Rs 21 crore when compared with the corresponding period in the last fiscal. Revenue collection from stamp duty and land registeration has also been slow in the first quarter. The government was targeting an increase of 15 per cent even though the increase in the first quarter (over the first quarter of 2012-13) was just 6.11 per cent. As against Rs 800.23 crore collected as stamp duty and registeration charges during April-June 2012, the collections this year stand at 806.34 crore.
Raising resources
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School bus crushes two bikers to death; 2 hurt
Patiala, July 18 New Officer’s Colony police post in charge Simranjeet Singh said a school bus of Udaseen Modern School, Dera Bir Kheri Gujran village, was returning after dropping students and was taking a turn when suddenly something came in front of it and the driver applied brakes. As a result, the bus lost its balance and overturned on the motorcycles, killing both the riders and injuring two others. The driver of the bus fled the spot after the accident. Passersby helped the injured and brought them to the Government Rajindra Hospital where two of them were declared brought dead. The deceased have been identified as 51-year-old Varinder Singh, a resident of Medewas village near Sunam, and 24-year-old Amarinder Singh, a resident of Kheri Gujran village. Varinder’s 18-year-old son Sandeep Singh and Nirmal Singh, who were riding another motorcycle, were injured in the mishap. Simranjeet Singh said Varinder Singh had come to Patiala to drop his son at his relatives place for higher studies. A case had been registered against the bus driver, he said.
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Body released without postmortem, cops bring it back to hospital
Patiala, July 18 Later realising their mistake, the hospital authorities informed the police that took the body in its possession minutes before the cremation. Komal, who was hailing from Gharachon in Sangrur, was brought in a poor health condition at around 3.30 am and she died within half an hour, said a doctor, and added that instead of sending the body for the post-mortem, doctors attending on her in ward number 13 handed over the corpse to her relatives for the last rites. Realising their mistake, the doctors informed the local police which immediately informed their counterparts in Sangrur. "We had no choice as the post-mortem was essential to ascertain the cause of the death," said a senior police official in Sangrur. The body was about to be cremated when the police arrived, said a relative of the victim. However, the attending doctors refused to comment on the issue. Medical Superintendent Dr VK Sharda did not attend calls on his mobile phone and later switched it off. “The body was brought back by the police and after the post-mortem, we have handed over the body to her relatives for the last rites,” aid Dr KD Singh, principal, Government Rajindra Medical College and Hospital.
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Wards in Ropar increased to 21
Ropar, July 18 The term of the present civic body is scheduled to expire on July 23. Thereafter, the Ropar Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) will take over as the administrator. Four wards will be reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, one out which will be reserved for female candidates. Similarly, one ward has been reserved for the Backward Class category. As per the 2011 Census, the population of Ropar town is 56,038 against 49,159 in 2001. Of the remaining 16 wards in the general category, six are reserved for female candidates.
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Sangrur MC faces financial crisis
Sangrur, July 18 An official said due to paucity of funds, as many as 117 safai sewaks had not received their salaries for the month of June though they had no other source of income to meet their monthly as well as daily expenses. "In such circumstances, one can easily assess the sincerity of the state government towards its employees,” he said. Besides 117 safai sewaks, nine employees of the municipal fire brigade and eight employees of the sewerage wing had also not received their salaries for the month of June, he said, and added that apart from municipal employees, the 21 elected members of the council had also not got the payment of their monthly honorarium of June month so far. “Forget about salaries, the council does not have money to pay even the electricity bills worth Rs 16.50 lakh of the 22 tubewells,” said the official. Even the monthly instalment of Rs 2 lakh had not been deposited with the Life Insurance Corporation for the past couple of months. Due to financial crunch, the MC even failed to deposit the provident fund of the employees worth Rs 8 lakh per month for the past three months. “The instalments of bank loans worth Rs 5 lakh per month have also not been paid for the past two months. Municipal council president Iqbaljit Singh Punia said it was true that the council had no money today to pay the salaries and meet other expenses. He said the council was dependent on the Value Added Tax (VAT) instalment worth Rs 65 lakh per month provided by the state government. But it had not yet received the money for the month of June, he added.
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Poland keen to partner with Punjab in food processing
Chandigarh, July 18 “The Republic of Poland looks forward to partner strategically with Punjab and Haryana in food processing and renewable energy sectors,” he said. The Ambassador visited the PHD Chamber as part of efforts to increase bilateral trade and investment between Poland and India. Sebastian Domzalski, First Secretary and head, economic section, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, New Delhi, accompanied him. India was perceived in Poland as one of the most important non-European economic partners, the ambassador said. He said there was great potential for cooperation between India and Poland in energy, oil and gas, mining, food processing, technology innovation and technology transfer.
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All India Congress Committee (AICC) special representative Prem Chand Mishra today expressed the hope that "good sense will prevail on the SAD-BJP government and that it will sincerely implement food security ordinance promulgated by the UPA government to guarantee food to the weaker sections".
Patiala, July 18
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s strategy to reach out to industrial houses today saw nine heads of the Tata group gathering here to discuss modalities for investing in the state.
Farmers are also worried about their crops since the power supply in the state has been irregular. 
A meeting was recently held between SAD (Delhi) president Paramjeet Singh Sarna and SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann at New Delhi in this regard. It was proposed that an "intellectual conclave" be called to evolve a panthic policy and programme for the future.