|
|
|
|
|
Assistant Solicitor General Rupinder Khosla resigns
Poll on mind, Cabinet set to ratify sops
Finally, govt sets up fund for VAT refund claims
|
|
|
RTE norms not met, 1,170 schools shut
Druglord Dev’s aides arrested SGPC: No heavy vehicles near Golden Temple
4 of family feared dead as car falls into canal
Motorists using loud horns to face music
CPM to contest four LS seats in state
Tributes paid to Kuka martyrs
Travel agents told to pay licence fee
token money
PU nod to research centres at colleges
Three lakh youth yet to get registered as voters in state
Traffic education to be part of school syllabus: Maluka
Booth to be set up to check polio from Pak
School principals resent move to shift male staff
Monkeys cause havoc in Pathankot
acid attack
Proclaimed offender from Ropar held
|
Assistant Solicitor General Rupinder Khosla resigns
Chandigarh, January 17 The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee’s (PPCC) official spokesperson and former MLA Sukpal Singh Khaira had then condemned Khosla’s appointment. Khaira had said Khosla was appointed as senior Additional Advocate General by the SAD-BJP Government. He said Khosla had later headed a committee to look after the affairs of the Advocate General’s office after the sudden illness of incumbent AG Hardev Singh Mattewal. Sources said the matter had been under consideration for the past 10 days or so. The information regarding the acceptance of Khosla’s resignation was forwarded to him today. In a communication, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, through Joint Secretary-cum-Legal Advisor RS Shukla, asserted that his resignation from the post of Assistant Solicitor General for the Punjab and Haryana High Court had been accepted. “You are therefore advised to immediately hand over all the cases to Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, Assistant Solicitor General, Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh”. Appointed for two years, Khosla was vested with the responsibility to conduct Central Government litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was also given the “power of marking and distributing the cases as an overall in charge of litigation” in the High Court. Political angle
|
|
Poll on mind, Cabinet set to ratify sops
Chandigarh, January 17 The Cabinet will discuss the withdrawal of one-time tax on city buses operating in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda; withdrawl of sin tax on cigarettes and slashing VAT on iron and steel goods, scrap and finished goods. All these decisions are aimed at wooing the urban voters. The SAD-BJP Government feels that these people have weaned away from them because of imposition of property tax and advance tax. Sources said there was a proposal to waive one-time tax on buses operating in cities, amounting to Rs 500 per bus. This tax is paid to the Transport Department before the buses are commissioned. These buses have been commissioned under the Centre's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the government proposes to waive this tax so as to make travel cheaper. The Cabinet ministers will also discus the withdrawal of enhanced sin tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products. Faced with a fall in cigarette consumption and its rising smuggling, the government has decided to withdraw sin tax on cigarettes. It is proposed to withdraw the sin tax on cigarettes and revert to the old system of imposing 20 per cent VAT (plus 10 per cent surcharge). The government had increased VAT to 55 per cent in the Budget proposals for this fiscal. Besides other agenda items, the Cabinet is likely to give a go ahead to slash VAT on iron and steel goods (except the CENVAT paid scrap) from 4.5 per cent (plus 10 per cent surcharge) to 2.5 per cent (plus 10 per cent surcharge). It will also consider reducing advance tax on scrap brought to Punjab from other states from 4.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent in case of scrap on which CENVAT has been paid and to just 1 per cent (with 10 percent surcharge) on scrap brought from outside the state (including scrap bought from junk dealers) on which CENVAT has not been paid. On agenda
|
|
|
Finally, govt sets up fund for VAT refund claims
Chandigarh, January 17 Till November last year, VAT refunds worth Rs 407 crore were pending with the state government. An RTI query by Jasdeepak Singh had revealed that till December 31, 2013, VAT refunds worth Rs 380.78 crore were pending with the government. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Partap Singh Bajwa had lambasted the government on the issue, blaming the state government for investors shunning the state as it was "making announcements without taking the necesary action." Excise and Taxation officials said now that a dedicated fund had been created, they had begun the process for VAT refunds. "Almost Rs 40 crore has been disbursed so far. In the next three months, we will clear the entire backlog and also make payments online. Whosoever has applied for a refund till March 31, 2014, will be issued dues during this financial year and no pendency will be carried forward," assured Excise and Taxation Commissioner Anurag Verma. He said the department had already tied up with banks to issue these refunds expeditiously. The traders concerned would be notified through an SMS. Verma said once the pending VAT refunds were cleared, the new refunds would be made online, based on the tax compliance by each dealer. The dealers would be given a format to categorise themselves on the basis of the age of the company, its export market, turnover and tax compliance record. Those categorised under the 5-star rating would get VAT refunds within 15 days. The maximum time for receiving a refund would be 60 days. In case of any fraud, the companies would have to pay a heavy penalty (up to 500%). Salient features
|
|
|
RTE norms not met, 1,170 schools shut
Faridkot, January 17 The action follows an inspection of these schools that brought out sorry state of affairs. The schools lacked toilets, separate toilets for girls and drinking water facility and electricity connection. Several schools were operating from rented buildings and old houses. The maximum number of closures are in Bathinda district (136), followed by Hoshiarpur (126), Patiala (78), Sangrur (76), Barnala (72), Amritsar (71), Gurdaspur (65), Tarn Taran (63), Muktsar (53) and Nawanshahr (51). In Ferozepur and Fathegarh Sahib, 14 schools each were closed. Mohali has the least closures at 13. Under the Punjab School Education Board Regulations for Affiliation of Institutions, every education institution in urban areas up to middle classes should have a minimum area of 1,000 square yards and every school up to Class 10 should have 2,000 square yards. In rural areas, the area should be 1,500 and 3,000 square yards for middle class and secondary level, respectively. The Department had given the school authorities three years to conform to the RTE Act but, during the inspection, several schools were found wanting on infrastructure, said a letter issued by the office of the Director General, School Education (DGSE), to all district Education Department authorities. Under the RTE criteria, the schools should have all-weather buildings, one-classroom-one-teacher, Head Teacher-cum-office room, library with a specific number of books, toilets of specific dimensions, drinking water facility, a playground, fencing and boundary walls. As there was no scope for improvement at the 1,170 schools, they were closed, the authorities in the DGSE’s office said. The Department would ensure that the students don’t suffer, the authorities said, adding that They would be admitted to nearby government schools after consulting their parents.
|
|
|
Druglord Dev’s aides arrested
Chandigarh, January 17 The police have arrested Dr Sanjay Goel from Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi and Basant Srivastav from Mumbai. Dinkar Gupta, Additional DGP, said the police had started a two-tier interrogation of drug smugglers, with the smugglers being first questioned by the district police and then by officials of the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) at Amritsar. This two-tier interrogation was being supervised by the counter-Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, he said. So far, more than 100 smugglers had been interrogated. Networks operating in other parts of the country were being detected and action taken. Gupta said investigations into the synthetic drug racket led by Dev had revealed that precursor chemicals katamine, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were being procured from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delh and smuggled into Canada. Precursor chemicals were processed into synthetic drugs by Chinese and Vietnamese residing in Canada. He said acting on leads, police parties were sent to New Delhi and Mumbai to nab suspects. A team headed by Inspector Bikramjit Singh Brar, SHO, Banur, reached Mumbai on January 13, 2014 even as liaison was established with the Mumbai police for assistance. A police party headed by Jaskiranjit Singh, SP, and Arshdeep Singh, DSP, and Drug Inspector Jai Jaikar Singh reached Mumbai yesterday and contacted Niket Kaushik, Additional Commissioner, Crime Branch, Mumbai. He said Dr Sanjay Goel was arrested from Hotel Taj Palace on Sardar Patel Road, New Delhi. Basant Srivastav was nabbed from his New Mumbai residence. Goel is the owner of the Sanvin Group of Companies that deal with pharmaceuticals. Investigations had revealed that the Mumbai module had provided 4,500 kg of precursor chemical katamine to Dev, the Additional DGP said.
|
|
SGPC: No heavy vehicles near Golden Temple
Chandigarh, January 17 As a petition in public interest on preservation of Golden Temple came up for hearing, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was informed that the electric four-wheelers had been deployed to ferry the “sangat” from Fawara Chowk to the Golden Temple. The High Court was also informed that the district transport officer had issued a notification banning the plying of more than 15-year-old vehicles in the vicinity. Plying of heavy vehicles, too, has been restricted. Their entry to the vicinity has been banned from 8am to 8pm. The SGPC had earlier suggested that the area around the Golden Temple should be declared a no-vehicle zone. It also told the High Court that the entry of heavy vehicles should be banned inside the walled city. The suggestion came during the hearing of a petition to ensure the Golden Temple did not lose its sheen to pollution. In its reply, the SGPC also made it clear that it proposed to give subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas for gurdwara “langar” to reduce the use of wood. The SGPC, in fact, recommended a ban on diesel, kerosene and petrol-operated autorickshaws in the area. As an alternative, it suggested the use of CNG or battery-operated rickshaws. It also recommended installation of smoke-control devices at the cremation grounds and factories in the city. It also suggested that a multi-storeyed parking should be constructed for heavy vehicles. The case will now come up for hearing on September 10. The effects of pollution on the Golden Temple had come under the judicial scanner about two years ago, with the Court calling for putting in place some mechanism to check pollution in the vicinity. Eco measures
|
|||||
|
Akal Takht to honour Sikh historian
Chandigarh, January 17 "I have got a communication that a function in this regard will be held on January 21 at the Golden Temple," said Prof Kirpal Singh, who turned 90 recently. Even at this age, Prof Kirpal Singh spends six to eight hours daily to supervise the editing of Gurpartap Suraj Granth, 13 volumes of which have already been published and two are under print. The granth is one of the major sources of historical events during the period of the Sikh Gurus. Born in 1924 in Gujrawalan district, now in Pakistan, Dr Kirpal Singh, who was a founder of Oral History Department in Punjabi University, Patiala, has made a seminal contribution to the modern and medieval history of India.
|
|||||
|
4 of family feared dead as car falls into canal
Muktsar, January 17 Gurbhej Singh (27), his wife Gagandeep Kaur (26), son Manraj Singh (5) and mother Gurvinder Kaur (52) were on their way to Muktsar. Manraj studied in a school in Muktsar. Eyewitnesses said the car went off the road as it tried to avoid a pothole. A pall of gloom descended on Kauni village as it received news of the tragedy. Angry residents blamed the district administration for the poor state of roads that had apparently caused the accident. A search operation has been launched, said sources.
|
|||||
|
Motorists using loud horns to face music
Patiala, January 17 With the misuse of such vehicles increasing, the number of accidents has risen. The police have further ordered that strict compliance of the Central Motor Vehicles Act be ensured. It states that “no motor vehicle, including agricultural tractor, will be fitted with any multi-toned horn or with any other device producing an unduly harsh shrill, loud or alarming sound” will be allowed. Dinkar Gupta, Additional Director General of Police (DGP), Traffic, said he had issued directions to all district Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and Commissioners that those illegally using multi-toned horns would be penalised severely. A couple of months ago, a young girl had died in an accident in Patiala. She had lost control of her two-wheeler after a fire brigade vehicle blew a multi-toned horn.
|
|||||
|
CPM to contest four LS seats in state
Ludhiana, January 17 At a news conference, the CPM state secretary Charan Singh Virdi and secretariat member Vijay Mishra said the party would field its candidates from Ludhiana, Sangrur, Anandpur Sahib and Jalandhar Lok Sabha seats. It also announced three of its candidates while stating the nominee from Jalandhar would be named later. They said Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon would contest from Ludhiana, Balbir Singh Jadla (Anandpur Sahib) and Joginder Singh Aulakh (Sangrur).
|
|||||
|
Tributes paid to Kuka martyrs
Malerkotla, January 17 Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Rajya Sabha MP, said the Kukas had played a significant role in the freedom movement. The Badal Government had set up martyrs’ memorials in various parts of the state so that the coming generations could know about their glorious past. Dhindsa gave Rs 10 lakh to the Namdhari Darbar for a meditation hall. Among those at the function were Satguru Uday Singh, SS Namdhari, Amargarh MLA Iqbal Singh Jhundan and HS Gabria.
|
|||||
|
Travel agents told to pay licence fee
Jalandhar, January 17 The officials, who were here to clarify agents’ doubts, got a counter put up with officials from a private bank for accepting cheques under a yet-to-be notified amendment (of allowing the licence fee of Rs 1 lakh to be deposited in a staggered five-year plan) of the Act. The agents also raised the issue that their petition against certain provisions was still pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sameer Kumar kept asking the agents to get registered, but to no avail. On being asked as to how many agents had paid the installment, only one person responded in positive. Bains, who tried to convince representatives of travel companies by quoting the need for the enactment of law, said: “All travel agents need to pay up today as goodwill gesture. If you think that the January 31 deadline would be extended, you are mistaken. The court has declared that the operational enactment has not been stayed.” There are nearly 15,000 travel agents in Punjab and the government is planning to collect Rs 150 crore, Rs 1 lakh each, from those working for more than five years. Those into air ticketing business or working for less than five years, however, have been asked to pay Rs 25,000 (Rs 10,000 in the first installment and the remaining amount in subsequent four years). The agents said they would deposit the amount between January 20, the day when the Cabinet would meet, and January 31, the last date to deposit the first installment. At this, Bains said the additional deputy commissioners would hold camps from January 26 to 31 in their respective districts to collect fee.
|
|||||
|
token money
Patiala, January 17 Deputy MS Dr Harshinder Kaur said Urmila, ward attendant in the nursery ward; Gurjit Kaur, ward attendant in the labour room; Sonu, sweeper in the labour room; Rampal, ward attendant in the anesthesia ward; and Rani, Sulabh worker, confessed to have taken money from patient Gurmeet Kaur. The money was returned, she said. The Principal Secretary, Medical Education had ordered an inquiry, Dr Kaur added.
|
|||||
|
PU nod to research centres at colleges
Chandigarh, January 17 With the setting up of these centres, research fellows, who get enrolled for an M.Phil or a PhD, could complete their course work at one of the research centres. They can even opt for supervisors appointed at these research centers. Sources said out of 188 affiliated colleges of Panjab University, 30 have already applied to set up research centers in humanities, social sciences and medical fields. A team from the university has already inspected some of these colleges. After the inclusion of fresh norms, the university team will again examine these colleges before giving their approval to set up the centres. In a recent syndicate meeting, a panel was constituted under the supervision of Professor Karamjeet Singh and syndics Dilip Kumar and Dinesh Talwar to discuss the details of the project. Kumar said the colleges had been demanding that such centres be set up on their premises for a while now. As per the norms, eight students can enrol with one guide. However, several fellows could not do research due to shortage of guides/ supervisors.
|
|||||
|
Three lakh youth yet to get registered as voters in state
Chandigarh, January 17 However, political leaders believe that NRIs wield lot of influence in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. One of the reasons behind the SAD-BJP government employing all means to win the support of NRIs, who influence elections mainly in the Doaba region, is said to be the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Only 4.85 lakh youth aging between 18 and 19 years make it to the registered voters’ list against the projected population of 11.25 lakh. Election Commission officials have inferred that there are nearly 3 lakh more youngsters yet to be registered as voters in Punjab. The projected population in the 50-59 age group is 22.32 lakh, but the registered voters are 27.19 lakh and in the 60-69 age group, against the project population of 14.40 lakh, the registered voters’ number stands at 16.58 lakh. “There is a mismatch in the projected population in census of certain age groups and the number of registered voters,” an official said. However, on the basis of an analysis of all age groups, it has been estimated that nearly 3 lakh eligible voters of young age group are yet to get enrolled as voters, the official said. The number of voters, as compared to the last elections, has gone up by 7.81 lakh. All voter lists carry photographs of the voter concerned, but of 1.92 crore voters, names of 34 voters do not carry a photograph on the voter list, it is learnt. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer is busy in preparing for the Lok Sabha elections for which a notification is likely to be issued in the last week of February or in the beginning of March. Efforts are being made to stack the adequate number of EVMs before the election dates are announced. Sources said about 10,000 EVMs were locked in various court cases and efforts were being made to get them released. Around 35,000 EVMs are required for polling in the state. Sources said the state government had been asked to keep ready a list of senior officials who had served at one station for more than three years. Usually, such officials are transferred to other stations before elections. Besides, civil and police officials posted in their home districts are normally shifted to other places. Chief Electoral Officer Raminder Singh said the voters’ lists had been put on the website and had also been given to various civil officials for display at the public notice boards in front of their offices. The 'mismatch'
|
|||||
|
Traffic education to be part of school syllabus: Maluka
Hoshiarpur, January 17 He hoped that this would curb road accidents. He was speaking at a traffic awareness workshop organised by the Hoshiarpur police here today. The minister said: “Traffic rules cannot be imposed on the people. So the best way to make them abide by the rules is to introduce traffic education in schools,” he told The Tribune. The Education Minister blamed the “VIP culture” in the state for the violation of traffic rules. “Politicians and children of influential persons are much to blame. They think that they can get away with any violation and if any policeman dares to stop them, they can get him transferred. This attitude is an impediment to implementing traffic rules,” Maluka said. The district police, he said, had initiated a novel campaign by involving students of more than 500 schools and members of 1,250 panchayats to sensitise the people on traffic rules. Taking a cue from the police, the department now planned to introduce traffic education and safety in the school curriculum, the minister said. “We have involved all sections of society, but the focus is on students who can be catalysts of change,” said Hoshiarpur Senior Superintendent of police (SSP) Dr Narinder Bhargav. Deputy Commissioner Tanu Kashyap exhorted parents not to allow their under-aged wards to drive any vehicle. The minister flagged off a students’ rally organised at the Zila Parishad Grounds by the Transport Department.
|
|||||
|
Booth to be set up to check polio from Pak
Fazilka, January 17 A three-day state-level pulse polio campaign will be launched from Fazilka on January 19. Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani said here today that during the campaign, 37.69 lakh children between the age of 0 and 5 years would be administered polio drops. Nearly 15,000 booths will be set up. In all, 30,000 teams of the Department in association with schoolchildren and NGOs have been constituted. A follow-up round would be held on February 23.
|
|||||
|
School principals resent move to shift male staff
Muktsar, January 16 The teachers told the chief minister that the decision had put the school principals in a tight spot. Principals said it would become difficult for them to run the schools smoothly as there were certain tasks that were assigned to male staff only. The Chief Minister said he would ask for a reply from higher officials in this regard. The department decided to shift male teacher from the girls’ schools, citing “safety of girl students” as the reason. “The construction in schools is managed with the help of schools teachers and management committees. It does not sound nice if I ask a female teacher to deal with masons and labourers,” said Neelam Bala, Principal, Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Muktsar. Another Principal Baljeet Kaur said, “Last year, a girl of my school came in contact with an electricity wire. Had there not been male teachers, the girl would not have survived. She was rushed to hospital, 18 km away from the school, in a few minutes by male teachers.”
|
|||||
|
Monkeys cause havoc in Pathankot
Pathankot, January 17 Blame it on unchecked deforestation in the neighbouring forest areas of Bungal Badhani and Dhar block coupled with encroachment on forest land —habitat for animals. With the setting up of educational institutions and hotels in Bungal Badhani and Dhar, simians have ventured into the city, causing inconvenience to residents, officers in the Punjab Forest Department said on the condition of anonymity. Monkeys and ‘langoors’ enter houses and whisk away with eatables. “We keep rooms and kitchens locked in our absence. Monkeys attack us when we try to shoe them away. They snatch polythene bags of pedestrians,” said Naval Kishore of Shahpur chowk, one of the worst affected areas. Vinay Mohan Sharma, lecturer, said monkeys could be spotted in areas such as Shahpur Chowk, Shimla Pahari park and Saili Kulian, besides on the Pathankot-Jalandhar national highway. To compound problems, devotees visiting a temple in the Saili Kulian area often feed monkeys with eatables following which these animals have made a permanent abode there. Residents want the authorities to take measures to check the menace. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Siben C said he had not received any complaint regarding simians intruding into human habitat. “The solution is to stop deforestation. I have instructed officials of the Forest Department to be strict on people indulging in deforestation,” he said. Anil Vij, former president of the Pathankot Municipal Committee, said physically catching monkeys was not a solution. “Checking deforestation in Dhar will mean that monkeys will stop intruding into human habitat,” he said.
|
|
acid attack
Moga, January 17 But Harinder Singh's father Paramjit Singh, mother Karamjit Kaur, uncle Sukhwinder Singh and aunt Sukhmandar Kaur were given a clean chit. Counsel Chamkaur Singh Brar and Amit Ghai moved separate applications accusing the police of shielding them. Shamsher Singh said his daughter had suffered 70 per cent burn injuries and lost an eye. “The government gave us Rs 3 lakh each as relief on the directions of the High Court but has not reimbursed our medical bills. Not having money to keep my daughter in hospital, I have brought her home,” he said.
|
|
|
Proclaimed offender from Ropar held
Ropar, January 17 The police said Balbir Singh was a native of Behrampur Bet near Chamkaur Sahib. In August 2001, he allegedly collected Rs 53 lakh from 10 youths on the pretext of sending them to USA. He, however, abandoned them in Malaysia after snatching their passports. Gill had allegedly once again taken Rs 80 lakh from 17 people on the promise that he would help them settle in USA and Finland. While senior politician Balwant Singh Ramoowalia helped bring back the 10 people stranded in Malaysia, Gill fled with the money of all the 27 complainants. A case was registered in July 2002 at Chamkaur Sahib.
|
|
| 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 | |
Chandigarh, January 17
Four members of a family from Kauni village are feared to have been killed with their car falling into the Rajasthan feeder canal near Bhullar village this afternoon.
Jalandhar, January 17
To preserve the Golden Temple’s sheen, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the authorities concerned have adopted a slew of measures, including the deployment of electricity-operated four-wheelers.
