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State govt brings back Bill to check 'violent' stirs, rights groups furious
TRACKING RAILWAY BUDGET-2014
Will usher in achhe din, claims SAD govt
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State govt unlikely to impose fresh taxes
Union Budget 2014: People’s Expectations
Catch main suppliers to root out drug menace, police told
Umranangal, IG, appears before ED
Refund scam: Excise dept going slow on probe
Kisan Sabha protests poor power supply
Rehabilitate drug addicts, govt tells cops
Girl dies, 27 hurt as bus overturns
Akali leader shot at in Moga
Fish farming: Govt seeks AP expertise
6 months after fraud; bank yet to file police complaint
Tax officials harassing industrialists: Jakhar
Sangrur hospital sans physiotherapist for 19 months
Operationalise forensic labs by year-end:
HC
DSP booked for bid to grab land
JE held taking Rs
13,000 bribe
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State govt brings back Bill to check 'violent' stirs, rights groups furious
Chandigarh, July 8 The Punjab Cabinet decided to include “blockade of rail or road traffic” in Part 2 (C) of the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Bill-2014. The Bill provides for punishment of up to a year and a fine of Rs 100,000 on those who damage public or private property during an agitation, strike, bandh or blockade. If the damage is caused by explosives, the punishment will be up to two years and the guilty will be fined Rs 100,000. The government feels there have been several demonstrations and agitations in the recent past when public and private property has been damaged to public and private property. But civil rights activists have condemned the move to bring in a “draconian law." They say by denying the people the right to protest against the government or its policies, it will turn Punjab into a police state. This Act was conceived in the wake of violent protests in Punjab after the killing of a religious leader in Vienna. Punjab saw heavy damage to public property during the violence. Step towards e-stamping Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet, that met here this evening, approved the draft of Punjab e-stamp rules-2014 to introduce e-stamping that will ensure greater efficiency and transparency in revenue collection. The new system will eliminate the purchase of stamp papers and will ensure faster collection of the registration fee. It would also help guard against embezzlement. It will put an end to the practice of stamp vendors forcing people to buy stamp papers of a higher denomination. Ahead of the Budget, the Cabinet also gave the green signal to amending the Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1924, to increase the rate of the one-time motor vehicle tax levied at the time of issuing a stage carriage permit. The Cabinet also approved the "Right of Way" to the BSNL for connecting all government offices to SWAN (state-wide area network) established by Department of Governance Reforms. As many as 47 citizen-centric services, including pension services, ration card services, marriage, caste and residence certificates, RTI and grievances will be covered under the
project. Thirtytwo services would be offered online to citizens under the state service delivery gateway. This e-district project has been successfully implemented in Kapurthala and SBS Nagar districts as pilot project and will now be implemented in the remaining 20 districts within six months. — TNS ‘It’s an attack on democratic rights’ It is an attack on our democratic rights. If the government wants to scuttle an agitation, this law can be misused. It means that the people will have no right to hold peaceful
agitations It is perhaps to prevent popular uprising that such a draconian law has been proposed. We will join hands with all those who oppose this move to curb the people’s right to
protest
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TRACKING RAILWAY BUDGET-2014
A long pending demand of the border area residents has been fulfilled with the introduction of the Ferozepur-Chandigarh Express train. Three more express trains have been introduced in this division. These are Indore-Jammu Tawi Express (weekly), Kamakhya-Katra Express via Darbhanga, Kanpur-Jammu Tawi (biweekly), besides New Delhi-Bathinda Shatabdi Express. A Jansadharan train between Saharsa and Amritsar and an AC Express train between Amritsar and Nagpur (weekly) have also been introduced. Bringing cheer to the residents of Pathankot, the Railway Minister announced a high-speed train between Pathankot and Delhi, besides a new line between Hoshiapur, Ambala and Andaura. During the last budget also, four new express trains, Ferozepur-Sriganganagar Express, Amritsar-Hazur Sahib Nanded Express, Guru Parikarma Express and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur AC Express were introduced. The fate of the Ferozepur-Amritsar line for which an additional 30 km of rail track had to be laid between Ferozepur and Patti is uncertain. In the last budget, this project was sent to the Planning Commission for an approval but there has been no word on the same this time. The demand for few other trains, including rail connectivity to Haridwar, extension of Moga-New Delhi Shatabdi train to Ferozepur have not been fulfilled, which has disappointed the local traders. There is also no word on the project for the construction of multipurpose complexes at Ludhiana and Udhampur stations. Parminder Singh, MLA, said the demand of the people of this border region had finally been fulfilled although the ruling SAD was “not keen on this train as it would adversely affect their bus transport business”. Some disappointment
Bereft of new thinking: Bajwa It will propel development: CM Food court will boost tourism: Sukhbir It lacks imagination, says Manpreet No steps to check accidents: Captn
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Will usher in achhe din, claims SAD govt
Chandigarh, July 8 The Congress says that no new rail line has been announced for Punjab and that the Budget has “failed to reflect any new thinking.” Targeting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Partap Singh Bajwa alleged: "Badal's control over private road transport is complete. And better rail connectivity would have badly hit his transport business." The Chief Minister said the Budget that was “growth-oriented and passenger-friendly" would propel the country's development. He said the proposed 58 new trains would put the Indian Railways firmly on the development track. “The Prime Minister's idea to introduce bullet trains in the country will put India on the global map,” he said. The Chief Minister also welcomed the announcement of new trains for Punjab. These are the Saharasa–Amritsar Jansadharan Express, the Nagpur–Amritsar (weekly), the Ferozepur–Chandigarh Express (six days a week) and the New Delhi-Bathinda Shatabdi Express (biweekly) besides. The Ludhiana–Hisar passenger train has been extended till Sadulpur. “These trains will boost trade and commerce in the state,” said Badal. He was all praise for the proposed train covering the five Sikh Takhts across the country. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said: “The announcement of public–private partnership to strengthen the railway infrastructure is a step towards modernisation,” he said. He said the five new trains would help provide better rail connectivity to other parts of the country,which was necessary for the growth of any state. He said the proposed world-class food court at the Amritsar railway station would give a fillip to tourism in the border belt. Bajwa pointed out that the UPA government had included the Amritsar-Chandigarh-Delhi circuit under the bullet trains project but the Modi givernment had opted for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector for reasons best known to him. Punjab has also been ignored as far as high-speed trains were concerned, he said. He said if Chandigarh was connected with Rajpura, a distance of about 40 km, it would have provided direct rail access to the Malwa region, which comprised half of the state. “There was no mention of the Beas-Qadian rail link announced by the UPA government,” he said.
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State govt unlikely to impose fresh taxes
Chandigarh, July 8 The size of the Budget is expected to be around Rs 61,000 crore, almost 10 per cent higher than the last year’s Budget. Even the plan size of the state is expected to show an increase of 12 per cent—from Rs 16,125 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 18,000 crore this fiscal. Performance on the fiscal consolidation front is, however, expected to remain a cause for concern. The state’s fiscal deficit is expected to increase from 9,395 crore in 2012-13 to more than Rs 9,500 crore in 2013-14. This will be more than 3 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP). Even the revenue deficit, which the state was targeting to bring down to Rs 1,746 crore this year, will be close to Rs 4,632 crore. Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa says the revenue receipts witnessed the lowest growth over the past seven years. “Despite that, we have managed to bring down the revenue deficit by almost Rs 1,000 crore. The revenue growth in 2013-14 has been just 9 per cent, as against a target of 17 per cent. Hit by economic slowdown and realty market tumble, value-added tax saw a growth of just 13.5 per cent while stamp duty collections dipped by over 15 per cent last year,” he said. The state had set a target of increasing the revenue receipts to Rs 42,666 crore, but the total revenue receipts stood at Rs 33,051.63 crore in 2013-14. Clearly, there was a revenue shortfall of Rs 9,614 crore. Because of the slower than anticipated revenue growth and payment of 30 per cent arrears of the Fifth Pay Commission to its employees, the revenue deficit remained high this year, Dhindsa said. “We have realised that measures to increase tax revenues by imposing new taxes only lead to diversion of taxes. My emphasis will be on ensuring compliance,” he said. Budget figures
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Union Budget 2014: People’s Expectations
Bathinda, July 8 The farmers also want the MSP for wheat and paddy revised. Agricultural universities have recommended an MSP of Rs 1,700-Rs 1,800 per quintal for rice and Rs 2,200 -Rs 2,300 per quintal for wheat. The MSP for paddy now is Rs 1,400 per quintal and for wheat Rs 1,450. The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU), in a representation to the Union Finance Minister, after factoring in the cost of various components such as fertilisers, labour, harvesting and marketing irrigation, has worked out the MSP for paddy at Rs 3,094 per quintal. It is almost the same for wheat. The farmers are seeking a minimum support price for alternative crops because they got abysmally low prices for vegetables and pulses this year as compared to 2013. Sangrur farmer Jagdeep Singh, a national awardee, said: “My meeting with the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) on June 4 on behalf of the farmers was not encouraging. But farmers across the country are seeking assured markets for their produce and that is a good sign." He pointed out that the price of potatoes since January this year had not been more than Rs 650 per 50 kg whereas it was Rs 900 per 50 kg last year. Tirath Singh, another national awardee, said though the government kept insisting that the farmers should grow crops other than wheat and rice, the ground reality was that capsicum which fetched Rs 25-Rs 30 per kg last year was now being sold for only Rs 5-Rs 7 per kg while pumpkin was priced at a mere Rs 2-Rs 3 per kg. It was sold for Rs 10 per kg last year, he said. President of the Bharti Kisan Union Balbir Singh Rajewal, in a representation to the Union Minister, has said that the CACP be made an autonomous body and that it should be binding on the government to implement its recommendations. Rajewal has demanded that the farmers' outstanding loans be waived just as the industry's bad loans, amounting to Rs 2.29 lakh crore, had been converted into non-performing assets (NPA) by banks. Jhanda Singh of the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) said: “The farmers should not expect much from the government. The government needs to explain why agriculture finds an insignificant mention in the Union Budget despite the fact that our's is an agrarian economy." BKU plea to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
what progressive farmers say Though the government keeps insisting that the farmers should grow crops other than wheat and rice, the ground reality is that capsicum, which last year fetched Rs 25-Rs 30 per kg, is now being sold for Rs 5-Rs 7 per
kg. Foodchain technology, particularly for storing and packaging vegetables, is a must. Only then can the farmers hope to get handsome returns. The government must put money into creating the necessary
infrastructure. The farmers should not expect much from the government. Agriculture finds an insignificant mention in the Union Budget despite the fact that our's is an agrarian
economy.
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Catch main suppliers to root out drug menace, police told
Bathinda, July 8 The direction came as part of a judgment pertaining to a case of February 2011 under the Sadar Police Station in which three accused Raj Kumar, Karan Mehta and Raja, all local residents, have been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh each. Pronouncing the judgment under Section 22 on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Special Court Judge said, “Till the time, the person, who sells narcotics to the carrier is arrested, the menace of drugs cannot end in any part of the state.” He said the police never tried to go deep into the case in tracing the source, from whom the peddlers purchased the narcotics they supplied in the market. In a sharp comment, the order read that for reasons best known to the investigator, it is difficult to ascertain as to why the Investigating Officer (IO), in the present case, never tried to find out the source, from whom these narcotic medicines were purchased. Ordering that a copy of the judgment be sent to the SSP, the order read that “sincere efforts made by the state government will not bear any fruit till the main persons involved in providing the supply are arrested. There is no chance this menace will end till all IOs are given clear directions to investigate the origin of every narcotic substance and make the person from whom the drug was purchased as the main accused”.
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Umranangal, IG, appears before ED
Jalandhar, July 8 The ED officials refused to divulge details. Umranangal too remained incommunicado. Kandola was arrested by the Delhi Police in a drug smuggling case worth Rs 200 crore in August 2012. During his questioning, Kandola had claimed that Umranangal was his friend who used to visit his farmhouse frequently. Umranangal had denied having any relations with Kandola. Earlier, the ED authorities had said Kandola had acted as a "conduit for some politicians and police officials engaged in the drug trade". 5 kg heroin seized, 1 held
Amritsar: The State Special Operations Cell has seized 5 kg of heroin worth Rs 25 crore in the international market and arrested one person from Kohali canal bridge on the Lopoke-Chogawan road here. The accused has been identified as Palwinder Singh alias Bhinda, a resident of Manjh village in Amritsar. His accomplice Gurjit Singh of Kakkar village managed to escape. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused was in touch with a Pakistan-based heroin smuggler, Abad Ali. Manmohan Singh, SSP, Narcotic Cell, said they would seek his police remand to question him further. “The spot from where the consignment was pushed into the Indian territory has been identified,” he said.
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Refund scam: Excise dept going slow on probe
Patiala, July 8 “These bicycle manufacturers claimed bogus refunds of 6 per cent that is given to companies to help increase international trade but in reality, these cycles were sold in some Indian states,” claims a senior taxation official. Sources inside the Taxation Department confirmed that over 100 companies in the state, a majority of them in Ludhiana, have shown export of cycle parts to Nepal. “However, these cycle parts were sold in Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh, while the traders sought refunds, causing a loss worth crores to the three states, including Punjab,” they said. A senior taxation department official, claimed that certain firms showed exports to have risen by over 3,500 times in less than a year. “The traders connived with taxation officials in Punjab, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to claim bogus tax refunds,” he said. Certain officials, seeking anonymity, said the scam took place in 2012-13, when these firms showed that they had sent cycle parts to Nepal, but sold these in Bihar. “This caused a loss of over Rs 2 crore to Punjab and Rs 5 crore to Bihar in a single deal, as at both places the requisite taxes were not paid,” they claimed. In 2013, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided to order a CBI probe into a Value Added Tax refunds scam worth almost Rs 500 crore. The said firms took the money in Punjab for interstate trade and export of goods. Hundreds of firms were floated falsely to claim VAT refunds and later closed down, but these kept on claiming VAT refunds. However, the court had later withheld its decision for a CBI probe and had ordered the department to proceed with the probe. An FIR registered in the 2013 case stated that a consignment was allegedly dispatched from Ludhiana on January 5 and the receipt of these goods was shown to be on the Bangladesh border in West Bengal on the same day. The distance between the two stations is approximately 1,800 km. The racket
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Kisan Sabha protests poor power supply
Sangrur, July 8 Khandewad said during paddy season, farmers were being given power supply for just five to six hours daily against the state government promise of providing uninterrupted power supply for eight hours. He demanded uninterrupted power supply to tube well motors for 12 hours daily. He said if power supply was not improved immediately the PKS would launch an agitation.
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Rehabilitate drug addicts, govt tells cops
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 8 While addressing a gathering at Jhinjhar village today, Sohan Singh Thandal, Minister for Jails, said no drug seller would be spared, whosoever he may be. He said the government had put up sign boards depicting the cell numbers of officials, who could be contacted to treat the drug addicts. He called upon social organisations to come forward to make the state drug free. Vikramjit Singh, Jhinjhar Vice President, Youth Akali Dal, and Amrit Pal Singh Raju also addressed the gathering. — TNS
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Girl dies, 27 hurt as bus overturns
Hoshiarpur, July 8 The deceased is Chanchal (11), daughter of Amar Singh of Vikas Nagar in UP. Some of the injured are Onkar Singh of Bharowal village (Hoshiarpur), Kulwant Singh and Ajit Singh of Mukerian (Hoshiarpur), Parwinder Kumar of Saroya, Bharat Singh of Malkowal (Hoshiarpur), Amar Singh of Vikas Nagar UP. — OC
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Akali leader shot at in Moga
He was taken to the district hospital in a critical condition from where he was referred to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. His condition continues to be critical. He received a bullet injury on the right side of his chest. A surgery was performed on him. A confidant of local legislator Joginder Pal Jain, Gill was an influential local leader of his times. He remained the Chairman of the Moga Market Committee and the Moga Improvement Trust during the Congress governments. The leader was attacked around 5 am while he was going towards Guru Nanak College grounds from his residence. Two motorcycle-borne youths reportedly shot at him. He fell down. A local youth, who was also on a morning walk, took him to his residence from where he was rushed to the district hospital. The police were yet to find clues about the attackers. The statement of the victim could not be recorded as the leader was admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) after the surgery. Sources said there was a CCTV camera installed by the college authorities near the spot. The police would go through the footage of that camera to get some clue to the assailants. Gurdeep Gill reportedly has a couple of property disputes with some of his relatives and outsiders and that could be one of the reasons behind the attack, sources said. The incident occurred a few yards away from the SSP’s residence. How it happened
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Fish farming: Govt seeks AP expertise
Chandigarh, July 8 In its bid to promote and modernise fish farming, the Punjab Government has decided to follow the Andhra Pradesh model. While, Punjab was one of the foremost states in fisheries with highest per hectare production, Andhra Pradesh has scripted a success story by developing and modernising fish farming and enabling its farmers to draw maximum commercial benefits from it. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has sought to impress upon his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu to depute a team of experts to visit Punjab and extend advice to the Punjab Government on fish hatcheries, fish rearing and post-harvest technology. "We envisage wholehearted support and cooperation of the Andhra Pradesh Government in ushering in an era of blue revolution in the state (Punjab)," Badal said in a letter to
Naidu.
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6 months after fraud; bank yet to file police complaint
Muktsar, July 8 The bank authorities only suspended the accused — Sukhdev Singh Brar, the then branch manager of Thandewala Cooperative Bank — in May for the alleged embezzlement. Later, they attached the residence of Sukhdev to recover the misappropriated money but neither initiated any legal action nor reported the matter to the police. Official documents procured from the bank revealed that it was mandatory for the inquiry officers to report the matter to the police while attaching the property of any accused in an embezzlement case. Officials of the bank told The Tribune that the accused had so far re-deposited nearly Rs 1.75 crore in the bank accounts. The rest of the money is yet to be recovered. However, sources said bank officials were working under political pressure. “Besides some bank employees who did audit in the past few years, the bank’s board of directors mostly includes politicians and a politician has also been named in this scam. Sukhdev was posted at Thandewala for the past few years and committed the crime in a gradual process,” said a source. Records of about a dozen agricultural loan accounts were not found in the bank, which made the audit team suspicious. During the scrutiny, some accounts were even found overdraft. Gurdeep Singh Dhillon, District Manager, Muktsar Cooperative Bank Limited, said, “An amount of Rs 1.75 crore has been recovered and the process is on to recover the rest of the amount from Sukhdev. He has been even chargesheeted by the bank for sanctioning agricultural loan on name of some fictitious persons/firms, which he operated himself.” When asked whether the matter was reported to the police, he replied in the negative. Officials dealing with this case at the bank’s main office in Chandigarh, Ramesh Kumar Assistant Registrar, Vigilance Wing of the bank, and Jagpal, Establishment Officer, said they were taking “appropriate” action. Notably, earlier too, Sukhdev was allegedly found involved in embezzlement worth Rs 25,000 when he was posted at Jalalabad during 2005-06, but no action was taken against him. Sukhdev’s wife is also an employee of the cooperative bank, who was immediately transferred as manager at the Thandewala bank branch after his suspension. She was later transferred to Malout. Repeated attempts to contact bank’s Managing Director KS Sangha proved futile as he was “busy in a meeting”. Hushing up the matter?
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Tax officials harassing industrialists: Jakhar
Abohar, July 8 He said the dictatorial attitude of the state’s taxation officials had forced dozens of rolling and furnace units in Gobindgarh to shut down in the past. He said the Congress legislators had decided to take the government to task in the coming Vidhan Sabha session. Jakhar said the government had wasted crores of rupees on organising extravagant functions to attract investors but till date, no big industry had come up. He said the corporate sector was aware of the fate of existing industries in the state due to “anti-businessmen” policies of the SAD-BJP alliance. The government had “backtracked” on the promises made during the election campaign, he said. The CLP Leader said there were complaints that taxation officials were adopting “unethical” tactics to recover dues from Gobindgarh-based industries, which were already on the verge of winding up operations. “The CLP demands that the process of rehabilitation of such sick units should be initiated to save industries in the state. “We are not going to allow inspector raj and might launch a stir against the highhandedness of the bureaucracy,” he said.
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Sangrur hospital sans physiotherapist for 19 months
Sangrur, July 8 Local patients have been suffering as they have to visit private physiotherapists in the city for treatment. A number of poor patients leave the treatment midway as the charges of private physiotherapists are high. In November 2012, the then physiotherapist, Pankajpreet Singh, was transferred to Fatehgarh Sahib reportedly to be attached with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Locals said the authorities had adopted an indifferent attitude towards the city hospital. When the unit was functional, 10 to 20 patients used to come to the physiotherapy unit for treatment every day. Sources said the posting of a physiotherapist in the hospital was a must for mobilisation of joints of the patients after major orthopaedic surgeries. Senior medical officer (SMO) of the Civil Hospital Dr Prabhat Kumar said the demand for posting a physiotherapist by outsourcing had been sent to Deputy Medical Commissioner (DMC) of Punjab Health System Corporation who had forwarded the same to the Managing Director (MD) of the PHSC. He said they were waiting for the sanction from the MD,
PHSC. Patients at a loss
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Operationalise forensic labs by year-end:
HC
Chandigarh, July 8 Taking up the issue of delay in reports due to inadequate number of laboratories, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Ajay Tewari made it clear to the state that the work of setting up the labs in Bathinda and Jalandhar was required to be completed this year. The assertion came after Punjab sought about a year’s time for the purpose. The Bench also gave the Chandigarh Administration three days to file reply on the issue. The Bench, on a previous date of hearing, had asserted that the issue raised in the petition arose due to absence of adequate number of forensic science laboratories in Punjab. — TNS
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DSP booked for bid to grab land
Faridkot, July 8 The land is situated near Green Avenue, a posh residential area in the town. It is alleged that the DSP, who is posted in Moga, and his supporters armed with firearms reached the spot this morning and forcibly tried to take possession of a passageway leading to the site. In their complaint, Sarbjit Singh and Ginderjeet Singh, owners of the land, alleged the DSP had been trying to grab their property in connivance with the land mafia active in the area. They alleged the official had made several attempts to take forcible possession of the sole passage leading to their land. “After grabbing that part of the land, the DSP would force us to sell our land at a throwaway price,” alleged Ginderjeet Singh. The DSP has refuted the allegations. He said: “I have nothing to do with the dispute. The complainants against me were in illegal possession of land of a farmer, Natha Singh. Even the revenue record shows that Natha Singh owns the land which is being used as a passage by the complainants to their site. I have nothing to do with this land dispute.” Accusing an IG-rank police officer and a former minister of implicating him in a false case, the DSP alleged: “By implicating me a criminal case, there is a conspiracy to grab Natha Singh’s land”. The Faridkot police have registered a case under Sections 447, 427 and 511 of the IPC (mischief, causing damage to property, criminal trespass) and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act against the DSP, a realtor, Parnam Singh Maur, and 23 others. Officer cries foul I have been implicated in a false case by a senior police officer and a former minister. By doing so, there is a conspiracy to grab Natha Singh's
land.
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JE held taking Rs
13,000 bribe
Muktsar, July 8 Jagdish Singh, DSP, Vigilance, Muktsar, said: "A trap was laid on the complaint from a farmer of Ballamgarh village, Mehnga Singh. JE Parvinder Singh had demanded Rs 15,000. He was caught accepting Rs 13,000 bribe from the farmer in his car."
The Trap
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Bathinda, July 8
Jalandhar, July 8
Ferozepur, July 8
Badal's control over private road transport is complete. And better rail connectivity would have badly hit his transport business. The UPA government had included the Amritsar-Chandigarh-Delhi circuit under the bullet trains project, but the Modi government had opted for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector. Punjab has also been ignored as far as high-speed trains are concerned. If Chandigarh was connected with Rajpura, a distance of about 40 km, it would have provided direct rail access to the Malwa region.”
The Budget is growth-oriented and passenger-friendly. It will propel development. The proposed 58 new trains will put the Indian Railways firmly on the development track. The Prime Minister's idea to introduce bullet trains will put India on the global map. We welcome the announcement of five new trains for Punjab. This will help boost trade and commerce in the state. We apptreciate the proposed train covering the five Sikh Takhts across the country.
The announcement of public–private partnership (PPP) model to strengthen infrastructure is a step towards modernisation. The new trains will help provide better rail connectivity to other parts of the country, which is necessary for the growth of any state. The proposed world-class food court at the Amritsar railway station will give a fillip to tourism in the border belt. It will be a boon for pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple and other shrine in the
region
The Railway Budget not only lacks in imagination but is also discriminatory. No new railway line has been proposed for Punjab despite a demand for the same. a Chandigarh-Rajpura rail link could have directly connected the entire Malwa region with Chandigarh. Of course, new trains have been announced but Punjab has not been given any new high-speed train. The only new railway line laid in the past is the Chandigarh-Ludhiana. Buut Punjab needs more rail links and more trains.
There is nothing to cheer about. It is the harshest Rail Budget in the recent times as the government had hiked rail fares and freight charges a few days ahead of the budget. The government has only tried to cover up the recurring losses. It has circumvented the budgetary process by hiking the fares in advance. The Railway Minister has not come out with any substantial proposal for preventing accidents which are taking place quite frequently.
Moga, July 8