|
|
|
|
|
Priyanka captivates Bathinda as kabaddi cup off to colourful start
Cabinet approves setting up of investment promotion bureau
|
|
|
Atta-dal scheme a poor clone of UPA’s food security plan: Bajwa
Govt struggles to notify industrial sops ahead of investors summit
Kant blames politicians for going soft on drug menace
Cong leader Gurdarshan Brar dies at 83
BSF to build ring roads for better surveillance
Patiala medical college
passout awarded in UK
Oz hit-and-run fugitive held in Panipat
Nuclear energy to meet country’s power demands, says Dr Kakodkar
24 hrs on, police fail to trace ‘kidnapped’ PSPCL engineer
Man who killed 4 of family
nabbed after accident
Two held for misbehaving with woman cops
|
Priyanka captivates Bathinda as kabaddi cup off to colourful start
Bhatinda, November 30 And the audience too did not disappoint as her every gesture was feted with thunderous applaud by a record gathering, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, on the occasion of the inauguration of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi Tournament here this evening. That it was a mage event was evident from the loud cheers, high-octane music, LED lights, a laser show and confetti showers and to top it all a deafening fireworks to complete the elaborate ceremony. All this, though, was followed by traffic snarls. But the day definitely belonged to Priyanka. Calling herself ‘Punjab ki beti”, she thanked the Badal family for bringing her to the land where she was born. “I am feeling honoured to be here today among such a loving crowd. I love kabaddi and I could have also played the sport which Punjab is taking to international level. I have brought a gift for the people of Punjab and I hope you will like it.” Although every person sitting in the audience knew what the gift was, when she did deliver it, the crowd couldn’t help but erupt with joy. Quickly changing into a ready-to-wear green saree, she entered the stadium standing in a tractor-trailer. Jiving to the music of some of the songs of her blockbuster films, she took a round of the stadium and waved at the hysterical crowd. The ‘Punjab ki beti’ turned into a ‘Desi Girl’ as she matched her steps to the lyrics to the song from the film ‘Dostana’. Her performance to ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ from ‘Krrish 3’ sounded like just the apt song as it ended with ‘Aaj ki party aapke naam’. The much-awaited 12-minute performance ended with dancing to the beats of ‘Jai Ganesha Deva’ from the film ‘Agneepath’. Thanking the Canadian kabaddi team for performing with her, the crowd for its support and the Badal family, she left the stage and the stadium, not waiting for the show of fireworks. Earlier, the organisers did not forget to eulogise the senior Badal by presenting a folk performance in his honour. The staple at all the opening and closing ceremonies, Satinder Satti, must have given her stylists a tough time as she changed her dress several times. Singers Gippy Grewal and Sherry Mann had the audience put their hands up in the air and clap and sing along with them as they lip-synced some of their popular numbers. Mann sang ‘Yaar Anmulle’, ‘Yenken’, ‘Chandigarh Waliye’ and others chartbusters from his album ‘Aate Di Chiri’. Gippy added a personal touch to his performance as he came down from the stage and took a round of the ground while he sang and danced. “Kitthe Ae”, “Hello-Hello’, “Main Pind Nanke Rehnda Si”, “Angrezi Beat Te” and others. Annual razzmatazz
Want kabaddi in Olympics: Badal Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said it was his dream that kabaddi should be included in the Olympics and hoped that the day was not far away when this dream would become a reality. He said there was a time when this game was played only in India and that too particularly in Punjab. However, it was a matter of pride for them that the game was now equally popular in nations across the globe and a pointer was the presence of a number of foreign teams in the tournament. Dy CM: Duty-bound to promote game Sukhbir said it was the duty of the state government to popularise this rural game in every nook and corner of the state. Its popularity had spread across the globe and was evident in the participation of teams from New Zealand, Kenya and Mexico, he said. Why splurge on kabaddi: Warring Congress MLA from Gidderbaha Amarinder Singh 'Raja Warring' has criticised the state government for paying a huge sum of money to Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra for her performance during the opening of the fourth World Kabaddi Cup at Bathinda. Warring said the government was spending lavishly on the opening ceremony even as waterlogging victims of Muktsar were paid a paltry compensation. Punjabi Priyanka Although claiming to be a daughter of Punjab, Priyanka Chopra chose to address the crowd in Hindi and the only Punjabi she spoke was to greet the people with Sat Sri Akal. But the audience did not seem to mind this and cheered her every word. Harsimrat missing A notable absence from the gala function was local MP Harsimrat Badal. She had been a regular fixture at all the previous cups with here children. Sources said she was in Delhi as one of her children was unwell. Ditto for her brother, Bikramjit Singh Majithia. Function starts late The function that began over two hours late went on with clock work precision but for the jarring sound system. Ministers skip event A major part of the Cabinet too was conspicuous in the audience. Reason: the Delhi elections.
|
|
Cabinet approves setting up of investment promotion bureau
Chandigarh, November 30 By giving a go-ahead to these important decisions, the state has set the ball rolling for the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit to be hosted on December 9-10. The Cabinet approved the establishment of Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) to carry forward the new investment policy of 2013 expeditiously in a time-bound manner. The bureau would have a Board of Governors (BoGs), an executive committee and a chief executive officer to discharge its functions. The Board would be chaired by the CM while the Deputy Chief Minister/Minister in charge of investment promotion department would be its co-chairman. The Industry Minister will be its vice-chairman. The executive committee would regularly monitor, supervise and review the functioning of the bureau and would be responsible for holding campaigns, events, conferences and meetings for promoting Punjab as an investment destination. The government has also extended the deadline for 10% rebate on property tax till December 10. Other key decisions
|
||
|
Atta-dal scheme a poor clone of UPA’s food security plan: Bajwa
Jalandhar, November 30 He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would not be allowed to “play with the Central-sponsored schemes” anymore and that the Congress would scuttle all such attempts in future. He said the credit for providing subsidised food to poor people went to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting at Tanda in Hoshiarpur under the PPCC mass contact programme, Bajwa said the SAD-BJP government was misleading the people by making false claims on the Atta-Dal scheme. “The fact is that the Centre supplies wheat to the Punjab government at Rs 2 per kg offering subsidy of Rs 18. The state government was so far supplying foodgrains at Rs 4 per kg and the scheme reached a dead end due to severe fund crunch. He said that after getting Central-sponsored wheat at Rs 2 per kg, the Punjab government gave a subsidy of Rs 1 per kg only. The Centre, Bajwa claimed, was going to provide about nine lakh tonnes of wheat costing Rs 1,800 crore every year for which the state would bear only 10 per cent cost. Referring to the Kabaddi World Cup, the PPCC chief said it was a ploy to hush up the issue of drug trade and human trafficking being run by SAD leaders. Santosh Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, said the SAD-BJP government had failed in addressing the problems of SCs, backward classes etc. She said that welfare schemes such as MANREGA could not deliver in Punjab due to administrative failure and lack of political will. She said that center was giving about Rs. 475 crores every year to Punjab under National Rural Health Mission but, primary health services in the rural areas are in bad shape. Among those who addressed the meeting were former minister Lal Singh, Tarlochan Singh Soond and Sunder Sham
Arora. Need to regulate pvt school fee: Cong Punjab Congress spokesperson Nimisha Mehta in a communication to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged him to ensure formation of a panel to regulate the fee structure of private schools in the state. "The money being charged by private schools under the garb of school fee, stationery and extra-curricular activities is so high that it is becoming impossible for the common man to send their children to these schools. Besides increasing the fee manifold every year, these schools are charging hefty money for textbooks, uniforms etc. The amount is almost four times the market price,” she said.
|
|
Govt struggles to notify industrial sops ahead of investors summit
Chandigarh, November 30 With the policy still caught up in legal wrangling, the Industries Department is struggling to notify the policy before Punjab Government's mega investment event, Progressive Punjab Investors Summit, on December 9, 10 in Mohali. Officials said the policy would be notified on December 5. It has become a matter of prestige for the government to notify its policy before the event, which will see corporate czars like Mukesh Ambani, Ashok Hinduja and YC Deveshwar, among others, coming over to Punjab to study the scope for investment. Without a policy, which as of now is nothing more than mere announcements on fiscal incentives like 80 per cent VAT retention by investors, deferment of electricity duty, exemptions in stamp duty and property tax and concessions in Central Sales Tax, the whole idea of having an investment summit would be useless. The state has set umpteen deadlines to issue the notification of the policy. When the package of fiscal incentives to be offered in the new policy was announced in June, the government had said the policy would be notified within a month. But that could not be due to lack of coordination between various departments. The state then set November 20 deadline. This too couldn't be achieved as the Excise Department continued to struggle how to give CST (not a state subject) concessions to new investors. Sources said the government was contemplating giving this concession to the industry from its own share of CST that is devolved back to the state. On the delay, Industry Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said the government was trying to make sure that the policy was flawless. "But, it will be notified before the Investors Summit," he said.
|
||
|
Kant blames politicians for going soft on drug menace
Jagdev Kalan (Amritsar), November 30 “Like our daughters, there is an urgent need to save our sons from the rampant drug abuse,” said Shashi Kant, who is spearheading the campaign against drug menace. Kant said the campaign would be launched in this historic village on December 15 and famous comedian Bhagwant Mann would be present on the occasion. “It is a well-known fact that a majority of the youths in the state, especially in the border districts, were hooked to drugs,” he said. He stated that if asked, he would disclose the names of the politicians involved in drug peddling to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Kant said dismissed policeman Jagdish Bhola held in a drug racket was only a small fish. Kant blamed Cabinet Minister Bikram Majithia, Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president OP Soni and BJP MP Navjot Singh for “not taking sufficient steps” to tackle the drug menace.
|
||
|
Cong leader Gurdarshan Brar dies at 83
Muktsar, November 30 Hailing from Abul Khurana village in Muktsar, Brar was cremated at his native place today. Brar used to enjoy close relations with the Gandhi family. As he was quite tall, Sanjay Gandhi used to call him “Lamba Brar”. He fought assembly elections thrice against members of the Badal family. He also took on Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi constituency in 1997, but lost by a narrow margin. Brar is survived by his daughter Amrit Brar, Assistant Inspector General (Traffic), Punjab Police, Chandigarh. His son Arvinder Brar, a former SSP, was killed by militants in Patiala in 1987.
|
||
|
BSF to build ring roads for better surveillance
Jalandhar, November 30 The BSF categorically denied the charges that the Punjab frontier of the Indo-Pak border was porous as was claimed by some top SAD leaders. “We have excellent coordination with the Punjab government and police force. The Punjab border is not porous. The BSF will not allow any anti-national activities, including narcotic smuggling, on the border. We are zealously guarding our territory. We have so many contraband seizures on the border in the past three months,” Tomar said. Besides ring roads connecting the border observation posts to Chann Mulla, the BSF is also undertaking the construction of toilets and septic tanks for jawans and farmers, Tomar said. They were planning installation of kisan shelters for people of border villages under the Border Area Development Fund Programme, he added. An amount of Rs. 35 crores has been allotted to the BSF for the purpose. “We are also executing various programmes for the welfare of people living in the border areas under our civic action programme. Apart from 28 free medical camps, the BSF has been instrumental in organising a number
of drug-deaddiction programmes,” said Tomar. He was accompanied by DIG RPS Jaswal and Deputy Commandant Narinder Pal Negi. About the reports of Khalistani activists getting active, Tomar said the BSF would not allow anyone to encourage such elements.
|
||
|
Patiala medical college passout awarded in UK
London, November 30 Peter W Mount, chairman, Central Manchester Foundation Trust, presented the award to Dr Bamrah in Manchester last night. Those present on the occasion include Manchester Mayor Cllr Naeem Ul Hassan, Police Commissioner Tony Lloyd, Trafford Mayor Cllr Dylan Butt, British Medical Association Vice Chairman Kailash Chand MBE. Bamrah took his medical degree from Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab University in 1978. He was enrolled at Royal College of Psychiatrists, London in 1985. —PTI
|
||
|
Oz hit-and-run fugitive held in Panipat
Chandigarh, November 30 The police said Puneet, for whom the Punjab and Haryana police were looking for and carried a reward of Australian $100,000 (about Rs 56.5 lakh), was arrested following an Interpol tip-off from Panipat on Friday. A Punjab police team raided the place where Puneet had gone to meet a friend and arrested him. "The accused was produced in court. We have informed the Australian High Commission regarding this," said Vikramjit Singh Brar, Banur SHO. Puneet had fled Australia using the passport of another youth and has been trying to evade arrest. He was charged for killing a 19-year-old nursing student, Dean Hofstee, in Melbourne in 2008. — IANS
|
||
|
Nuclear energy to meet country’s power demands, says Dr Kakodkar
Ropar, November 30 Dr Kakodkar, who was here as the chief guest on the second convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, said the problem of power shortage could not be tackled without the use of atomic energy. He said the country needed to tap into all sources of energy, including hydro and coal to meet its requirements. “As of now 16 per cent of the total energy in the world is being produced at nuclear plants and I believe that 20 or 30 years from now, the world will depend mainly on solar and nuclear energy,” said Dr Kakodkar. Besides, he said quality research by our universities would put the country back on the high growth trajectory. At the convocation, Harpreet Singh was awarded PhD in the School of Mechanical, Engineering, and a hundred students were awarded BTech degrees.
|
||
|
24 hrs on, police fail to trace ‘kidnapped’ PSPCL engineer
Sangrur, November 30 Dharam Pal (50), who is posted at Rangian sub-division of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in Dhuri area, was allegedly kidnapped when he going to Rangian in his car. The engineer had reportedly been spotted between Ranike and Rangian by PSPCL employees. Pal never reached his office in Rangian. Station House Officer (SHO) Harinder Singh said the police had registered a case against unknown persons on the statement of the victim’s mother Kurshaida. Pal had reportedly phoned his family yesterday, informing them that he had been kidnapped.
|
|
Man who killed 4 of family
nabbed after accident
Phagwara, November 30 While the police had deputed several teams to nab the accused, he was admitted in an unconscious state to the Civil Hospital, Kapurthala. He was found lying along roadside at Chahrarri village on the Phagwara-Goraya highway. He had injuries on his head and a fractured arm. Senior Superintendent of Police Inderbir Singh said, “On gaining consciousness around 11:30 pm last night, he identified himself to the hospital staff as Baljinder of Gurre village in Goraya. The staff immediately alerted us.” The police, which had taken Baljinder’s father Kaila in its custody for investigation, brought the latter to the hospital to identify the accused. Behind bars
|
|
|
Two held for misbehaving with woman cops
Abohar, November 30 A case under sections 354,353,283,186 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at the city police station on a complaint filed by Rimpy and Shimla Rani, the woman constables. Reports said the constables asked the college-going boys to remove the motorcycle they had in the market near the main bus stand. On this, the accused allegedly misbehaved with them. In another case, two boys were caught misbehaving with the students of a girl school outside Nehru Park. A police team was rushed to the spot after some shopkeepers informed the police. The accused had reportedly been teasing the girl students for some time.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Bhatinda, November 30
Jalandhar, November 30
