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State govt widens ambit of Right to Service Act
Ropar mine fetches Rs 4 crore more in open court auction
MBBS Admission |
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Govt bans commercial use of tractor-trailers
Depts directed to deposit 2% of income in cancer fund
Sidhu’s neglect charge vindicates our stand: Cong
Cong to take up ‘escalated’ power bills in assembly
Government presents its case for relief before finance panel
More Afghan onions likely to be imported
Panel upholds relief in medical negligence case
Terror module busted; 7 held
Man held with Rs 20 cr heroin in Tarn Taran
Man booked for raping 16-year-old
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State govt widens ambit of Right to Service Act
Among the latest additions are providing a school leaving certificate, copy of complete medico legal report and duplicate ration card within a week of an application, disability certificate in four days, correction of entry in birth and death certificate in 15 days, supply of essential medicines ( as notified by the department) on the same day; X-ray, pathology tests on the same day and emergency medical response (ambulance 108) in 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas and acknowledgement of a complaint by the police on the same day. Several new departments, including Housing and Urban Development, Health, Agriculture, Home, Industries, Local Government, Power, Social Security, Town and Country Planning, Transport and Revenue, have been covered under the Act. Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Commissioner, Right to Service Commission, said Chief Commissioner SC Aggarwal had included the new services after gathering feedback from people, officials of the government departments and all other stakeholders in the administrative network. Sources said there was a proposal to integrate 131 suvidha centres, 164 sanjh kendras and 155 fard kendras to provide a better network of services to people. With the integrating of these three separate entities, people would get an opportunity to submit their applications in any of these centres to avail services under the Act. So far, as many as 1.24 crore applicants have applied for various services at different suvida kendras. Of these, only 2.38 lakh applications are pending. “The delivery is in the range of 98 per cent, which is quite satisfactory,” said Sidhu. The commission has also been acting tough on officials not sticking to the mentioned deadline while providing services. Seventeen officials have already been fined. A Naib Tehsildar in Ludhiana was fined Rs 5,000 for not entertaining the application for sanctioning a mutation. Also, there are certain departments that are not working to the satisfaction of the commission. For instance, the delivery of certain services in the Local Bodies Department has been in the range of 70 per cent and in Home Department, it has been in the range of 70 to 80 per cent. The commission has taken up the issue with the authorities concerned to improve the delivery system in these departments.
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Ropar mine fetches Rs 4 crore more in open court auction
Chandigarh, September 6 The decision to hold auction in an open court this afternoon turned out to be a profitable affair for the state exchequer, evident from the enormous differences in the bid amounts. In a first, the High Court on August 23 had ordered the holding of an auction in an open court of seven mines in dispute in Pathankot and Ropar districts. The directions were issued on a bunch of petitions alleging attempts by the Punjab Government and its functionaries to block user-ID during an online auction to facilitate illegal mining in the state. As the case came up for auction at 2.30 pm, the mining officers were present in the courtroom. The bidding was done by the interested parties through their counsel. A bid was decided as the highest by the court while the mining officials accepted it. The auction continued till about 4 pm. The difference between two bids was at times running into lakhs. None of the petitioners, however, figured amongst the highest bidders. During the process, the Bench headed by Justice Jasbir Singh was of the opinion that probably there was no fault on the government's part as the e-auction might be affected due to a technical snag. Ropar district’s Bhallan mine witnessed the steep jump of more than Rs 4 crore. The mines in villages Kandrhan were sold out for Rs 5.18 crore against Rs 3.36 crore at the time of e-auction. The mines in Talwara Jattan, Belichangan, Nalunga and Terhti Narangpur villages were auctioned for Rs 3.53 crore, Rs 1.19 crore, Rs 1.15 crore and Rs 1.20 crore, respectively. The Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice GS Sandhawalia had on the previous date of hearing also stayed the allotment of the under-challenge mines on the basis of auction held on August 12. One of the petitions, filed by Balbir Singh and company, pertained to five mines in Pathankot district. According to the company's partner Vikrant Mahajan, the mines were in Belichangan, Nalunga, Talwara Jattan, Kandrhan, and Terhti Narangpur. The other petition has been filed by Mohali-based firm Shree Marble and Building Material Store through counsel AS Sullar for mines in Ropar district. Both the petitioners have alleged that their user-ID was blocked. Sullar asserted it was blocked "just in order to facilitate the illegal mining; and in order to help the political masters and the sand mafia operating in Punjab". Sullar said their firm was given digital signature, user-ID and password for the online auction. Sullar added the site was to refresh after every 15 seconds, but the refreshing time was between 20 and 25 seconds. The bidding was to start at 9 am on August 12. But, the system stopped refreshing the page after 10.58 am. No firm could update the online auction bid.
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MBBS
Admission
Chandigarh, September 5 The significance of the judgment can be gauged from the fact that a bunch of 19 writ petitions were filed by NRI students, and placed before Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain for adjudication. Mincing no words on the petitions filed by Sushriya Sachdeva and other petitioners against the State of Punjab and another respondent, Justice Jain asserted: “The action of the respondents for asking the NRI students/petitioners to appear in a special test as a qualifying exam for the purpose of admission in the MBBS/BDS course is patently illegal and is declared as such. “The petitioner is to be offered admission on the basis of eligibility criteria as provided in the notification dated March 31, 2008, which is silent with regard to any entrance test”. The petitioners’ case was that the NRI students were treated as a separate category and admissions were offered on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination equivalent to 10+2, as per 1977 regulations and notification dated March 31, 2008. The process of admission to MBBS/BDS course for session 2013-14 started in December 2012, when the Central Board of Secondary Education issued notice for conducting national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET-2013). Held on May 5, NEET was not prescribed for NRI students; and they did not apply for it. But on June 5, the day NEET result was declared, a notification was issued making it compulsory for NRI students. Observing that the test was held on May 5, and made compulsory the day the result declared on June 5, Justice Jain asserted: “I am in agreement with the arguments raised by counsel for the petitioner that he can not be compelled to do the impossible…”
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2 Doaba NRIs shot dead in US
Jalandhar, September 6 It being morning there, Jagtar Singh Bhatti (52) of Preet Nagar locality here and his cashier Pawan Singh of Dadiyan village in Tanda had just opened their store in Elkhart, South Indiana, when two masked men, probably with intent to loot, barged in and gunned down both of them. Bhatti's wife Jaswinder Kaur and son Dalwinder Singh Bhatti are in a state of shock. Dalwinder said his father had moved abroad 14 years ago and was joined there by his younger brother Palwinder Singh and sister Amarjit Kaur last year. "My father owns two stores and a filling station in the US. My brother was working in another store nearby when he heard about the incident. My father had no rivalry and we are told it was an act of robbery," he said. Victim's wife Jaswinder Kaur urged the authorities concerned in the government to get her husband's body at the earliest. NRI Sabha president Jasvir Singh Gill said he would raise the matter with Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Bikram Majithia and even Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to pursue the matter with the US Government.
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Govt bans commercial use of tractor-trailers
Patiala, September 6 Sources said the decision came following a spurt in the use of tractor-trailers for commercial purpose. These vehicles ply without paying any tax to the government. “As tractors are primarily used for agricultural purpose, these are exempted from many taxes,” said an official. As Punjab is an agriculture-dominated state, villagers here own a large number of tractor-trailers, which they rent out when not in use at farms. Recently, brick kiln owners, sand mafia and others were found using these vehicles for commercial gains without paying taxes. Tractor-trailers were being used for commercial activities in various parts of the state allegedly in connivance with the Transport and Police departments. In a majority of the cases, these vehicles were being used to supply sand, bricks, gravel and other construction material. Despite a ban on these vehicles for the past many years, tractor-trailers can be seen in every nook and corner of the state transporting construction material. A recent rise in the number of accidents involving tractors on the state highways and link roads have also been a cause for concern. Another Herculean task for the police and the transport authorities would be to ask the owners of the trailers to use reflectors as these were hardly visible at night.
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Depts directed to deposit 2% of income in cancer fund
Chandigarh, September 6 A spokesperson said PSUs, boards, corporations, apex cooperative institutions, urban local institutions, improvement trusts and panchayati raj institutes that were not into losses would deposit 2 per cent into this fund and they could even contribute more. The spokesperson said 1 per cent of the tender income (minimum Rs 50 crore) from roads and flyovers would be deposited in this fund. — TNS
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Sidhu’s neglect charge vindicates our stand: Cong
Chandigarh, September 6 In a joint statement issued here, Congress vice-presidents OP Soni, Tarlochan Soond and Charanjit Singh Channi, spokesman Rajanbir Singh and other leaders, including Navtej Cheema, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Kaka Randeep Singh and Brahm Mohindra, said the prolonged absence of Sidhu from his constituency, however, could not be condoned on any excuse. “It is tantamount to betrayal of the people’s trust.” They said the Congress MLAs had also been raising the same issue of “neglect” of their constituencies at the Chief Minister’s Sangat Darshan programmes. The leaders said in case of Amritsar, the issue was all the more serious as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had been making tall claims of changing the face of the holy city, which lacked even in basic amenities. Party hails Minister’s statement on graft
The Congress today welcomed PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon’s statement mentioning that “rampant corruption existed” in various government departments in the state. In a joint Statement, Congress MLAs Kewal Singh Dhillon, Harchand Kaur, Mohammad Saddique, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Jagmohan Singh Kang complimented Dhillon for “daring to speak the truth and exposing the SAD-BJP government”.
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Cong to take up ‘escalated’ power bills in assembly
Ludhiana, September 6 Jakhar said the Congress would take up the issue of escalated power bills with the state government and also raise it in the Vidhan Sabha. “Burdening the consumers by levying advance deposit charges on them is not acceptable to the Congress,” he said while talking to mediapersons in Ludhiana today. Coming down heavily on the state government for its "anti-industry policy", the Congress leader said the “escalated” electricity bills were sounding the death knell for small-scale industries. “Already, the power tariff is higher in Punjab as compared to neighbouring states like Haryana,” said the CLP leader while reeling off the comparative details of power tariff in the two states. "In the domestic category, the power tariff up to 100 units is Rs 4.56 per unit in Punjab while the tariff up to 40 units is Rs 2.98 in Haryana. In the non-domestic sector, the tariff per unit for arc furnace is Rs 6.33 in Punjab while the same in Haryana is Rs 5.30," he said. The CLP leader flayed the state government for "not notifying the industrial policy". The government's "lopsided economic policies" had created a wedge between the industry and the agriculture sector, he said. "The state government is desperate to fix up its empty coffers. Funds released by the Centre are being diverted to pay up pensions. The people are reeling under the burden of warped fiscal policies of the state government,” Jakhar said. Commenting on the state government's attempt to show ‘Shining Punjab’, Jakhar said, “How can a PowerPoint presentation (by the state government) help an impoverished old woman from a village? The (economic) growth rate means nothing till it translates into the well being of the people."
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Diarrhoea claims four lives in Jalandhar
Jalandhar, September 6 The health and MC authorities failed to check the spread of the disease even after receiving early warnings. Around 30 water samples collected in the district some time ago had failed the test. On Wednesday morning, two-and-a-half-year-old girl Reeti of Tara Chand colony died of diarrhoea while 52-year-old Rajrani died on Thursday. This morning, two-year-old girl Nisha was declared brought dead at the Civil Hospital. She along with her family was here to visit her relatives. Santo Devi (90) of Phagwari Mohalla in the area was the fourth victim who died this morning. Nisha’s father Parmod said, “After my daughter suddenly fell ill at about 6 pm last evening, we took her to a private doctor in the area. But, she fell ill again around 3 am in the morning and by the time she reached the Civil Hospital, she had died.” Nisha’s mother Geeta Devi is also suffering from severe diarrhoea and was admitted to the Garha Civil Dispensary today. Residents complained water in the area would get contaminated every year around this time and the administration had not been able to deal with the problem. A team of health and MC officials also surveyed the area today. While the health authorities put the total number of diarrhoea cases at 69 to 70, officials at the Civil Dispensary in the area revealed that at least 200 residents of Garha had fallen ill in the last two days. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said, “The area residents are living in unsanitary conditions but we are getting faulty connections checked. I have asked the corporation to stop water supply so we could fix the fault. Meanwhile, alternative arrangements have been made for the residents.” Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan said the health officials had distributed chlorine tablets in the area and had set up an emergency unit at the government dispensary in the area.
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Government presents its case for relief before finance panel
Chandigarh, September 6 Punjab made its case for getting a debt relief grant of Rs 20,000 crore from the commission, besides seeking higher devolution of central taxes to the states, including Punjab. The state has demanded a debt relief grant on the grounds that most of the debt had accumulated during the days of militancy. The debt growth, which has been the lowest during the past decade, was the highest during the terrorism era of 1980-1991 in Punjab. While the state’s debt burden went up by 24.2 per cent on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the decade 1980-91, the growth in the state’s debt was 16.96 per cent (CAGR) in 1991-2001, and it came down to 11.06 per cent in 2001-11. During its meeting with representatives of local bodies of the state, the elected representatives took up core issues concerning the state such as the problem of solid waste management; setting up and maintaining state-of-the-art water supply and sewerage system. These representatives demanded regular and adequate supply of funds from the Union Government for all these basic amenities. The state government requested the commission to double the grants for local bodies for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20 from existing 1.5% of divisible pool of taxes to 3%. The state government also requested the panel to recommend state-specific grants of Rs 1,550 crore for rural and urban local bodies of the state for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20. The second round of deliberations was held with representatives of rural local bodies. The representatives raised the issues concerning the overall development of the villages; upkeep of village ponds; construction of panchayat ghars, gaushallas and at least one community centre for a cluster of five-six villages. The last meeting of the day was held with the representatives of the trade and industry sector. The state government informed the commission that the state was losing industry and capital to other neighbouring states due to the Centre’s policy of giving tax concessions to the industry there. The representatives urged the commission to provide fiscal incentives to the state on the lines of tax exemptions given to other states for the development of industry. Members of the commission, Abhijit Sen, Sushma Nath, M Govinda Rao, Sudipto Mundle and its chairman Dr YV Reddy were received by Finance Minister Parminder Singh
Dhindsa.
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More Afghan onions likely to be imported
Amritsar, September 6 Talking to The Tribune, clearing house agent Manav Taneja said the import of onions from Afghanistan seemed feasible despite the long transit period of four to five days. He said the move would bring in relief in at least the markets of Punjab not ruling out sending the imported onions to other states. For instance, he said the first onion consignment from Afghanistan had been sent to Amritsar and Jalandhar markets. He said the onion prices were hovering around Rs 60 per kg in Punjab while the landing cost of Afghan onions at Attari border was around Rs 30 per kg. “Therefore importing onions seems economically viable,” he said. Taneja, however, admitted that these onions were not of first rate quality. He revealed that the Delhi-based importer, who ordered this consignment, had already got the permit to import 25,000 more bags of onion from Kabul in Afghanistan. Taneja said other importers from Delhi were also keen on getting onions from Afghanistan.
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Panel upholds relief in medical negligence case
Chandigarh, September 6 The commission has awarded the compensation along with 9 per cent interest till the date of payment along with Rs 20,000 as litigation expenses to the deceased’s daughters Amar Kaur, Jeewak Kaur, Kanwaljeet Kaur and Veerpal Kaur. Gurdip was admitted to a Moga hospital on September 2, 2010, where doctors advised that a tube had to be injected on the right side of his chest. He was referred to another hospital where the tube was injected. Several days after the operation, Gurdip complained of pain. He was referred to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, where another operation was performed. Though the blade was removed, doctors failed to control the infection. The victim died on February 13, 2011.
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Terror module busted; 7 held
Fatehgarh Sahib, September 6 Addressing mediapersons here today, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said three of the accused, Karamjit Singh of Batala, Sarwan Singh of Tarn Taran and Jatinder Singh from Peerjain village in the district, were arrested last night along with three pistols and some ammunition. Chauhan said the questioning of the trio led to the arrest of their other associates, Labh Singh, Dharm Singh (Tarn Taran), Harwinder Singh (Jagraon) and Rana Partap Singh (Gurdaspur). The police alleged the gang was being funded for its terrorist activities by New Zealand-based Gurjit Singh and Gurlal Singh of the UAE. The funds were allegedly received by Sarwan Singh of Tarn Taran. The accused procured weapons from Janpal Singh of Uttar Pradesh. The SSP said the accused were planning to assassinate a Shiv Sena leader who was currently residing in Gurdaspur. He said the accused had also attempted to loot an ATM in Tarn Taran and committed snatchings by threatening people with firearms at various places. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.
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Man held with Rs 20 cr heroin in Tarn Taran
Tarn Taran, September 6 Harwinder Singh Sandhu, Superintendent of Police (SP), Detective, said a case under the NDPS Act had been registered against the accused, Rachhpal Singh of Ramuwal village. Rachhpal was carrying the heroin, worth Rs 20 crore in the international market. Sandhu said the gang, which had links in Pakistan, had been using Pakistani mobiles and SIM cards. The SP said the accused during interrogation revealed the 4 kg of heroin was part of a 45 kg consignment they had taken from Mamdot border area in Ferozepur. The gang members had been supplying drugs in the nearby districts of Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Moga etc, Sandhu said. Those who managed to escape are Prem Singh, Pargat Singh, Sonu and Lakhwinder Singh.
3 held with 2 kg heroin near Attari
Amritsar: Acting on a tip-off, a team of Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police arrested three persons with 2 kg of heroin, worth Rs 10 crore in the international market, near Attari today. The police has also arrested the drug peddler to whom the consignment was to be delivered. The accused were nabbed while they were returning from Pakistan after unloading goods there. The counter intelligence wing intercepted the truck after it left the Integrated Check Post. Among those arrested are truck driver Gurtej Singh and his brother Sukhdev Singh, both residents of Mega village in Dera Babak Nanak, Gurdaspur. They were to deliver the contraband to Kabal Singh of Kasel village in Tarn Taran. A case has been registered.
6 drug peddlers arrested in Moga Moga: In its ongoing drive against the drug mafia, the narcotics cell of the Moga police arrested six drug peddlers here today. While Gurjinder Singh of Daulewala village was held with 500 gm of heroin that was worth Rs 3 crore, Rajinder Singh was held with 10 gm of heroin in Moga. Another four drug peddlers were arrested with 47 kg of poppy husk from various parts of the district. They have been booked under the NDPS Act.
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Man booked for raping 16-year-old
Tarn Taran, September 6 She alleged that the accused would often harass her on her way to school. In another incident, Surjit Singh and his wife Sukhwinder Kaur of Veeram village and their relative Gurjant Singh of Chhehtra village were booked for allegedly abducting a teenaged girl. — TNS
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Two Doaba-based NRIs, one hailing from Jalandhar and the other from Tanda in
Hoshiarpur, were reportedly shot dead by some assailants inside their convenience store in the US last night.
Patiala, September 6
industry in Ludhiana on the issue of “escalated” electricity bills. The power consumers in both the non-domestic and domestic sectors have been asked to shell out an amount that's almost three times their average electricity bills this time as advance consumption deposit charges have been levied on the consumers.
Chandigarh, September 6