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Section 13 (1) of VAT Act
Mayor denies charges levelled by contractors
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Residents give rousing welcome to CWG champs
MC engineers threaten mass leave
Burglary in village
Roadways staff hold rally
Traders’ concerns raised in Parliament, says MP
Teachers urged to unite on common platform
campus notes
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Traders relieved as amendment widhdrawn
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 29 The implementation of Section 13 (1) of the VAT Act was deferred by Deputy CM when it was taken up by Manoranjan Kalia at a meeting held a few days ago at Chandigarh in which FCT Financial Commissioner Taxation & ETC Excise & Taxation Commissioner were present, the release added. Meanwhile, a series of protests were held today in Jalandhar. Annoyed over the recent controversial amendment in Section 13 (1) of the Punjab VAT Act, the protesting traders continued their stir today. Yesterday, a delegation of the Industrial Joint Action Committee had also met all four local MLAs and handed over the invitation letter with the request to show their solidarity with the Trade and Industry by joining their dharna, scheduled to be held on July 30 in front of office of Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC). They met them to register their protest against the amendments in the VAT Act which have put them and their businesses in a critical situation. Ravinder Dhir, Gursharan Singh, Raj Kumar Sharma, Vicky Kalia, Ashwani Kumar and Rajinder Chatrath were part of the delegation which visited the MLAs. Now with the official confirmation of the withdrawal of the amendment, traders had decided to cancel the protest, scheduled to be held in front of AETC office tomorrow, Ravinder Dhir of traders’ committee said. Today, traders held protests at five places in the city where they burnt the copies of Punjab VAT Act. In the morning, a protest was held by the Whole Sale Electronic Goods Market Association, the Sports and Surgical Goods Association, the Industrial Estate Association, the Wholesale Paper Merchant Association and the Wholesale Electrical Goods Association.
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Mayor denies charges levelled by contractors
Jalandhar, July 29 He said contractor Prem Malhotra had been after him for making payment ever since there had been a complaint against him by the residents of Gurmarg Colony that the quality of the road laid was very bad. He said that while the road thickness should have been at least 4 inch, he showed a sample saying that it was 2.5 inch to 3 inch in most of the stretch. The mayor said since his payment could not be made, Malhotra had been pestering him for payment against the road work which was not up to the mark. “While the work order had been issued for an amount of Rs 53.3 lakh, he had been paid up Rs 16.86 lakh as running bill. Realising that I had failed to budge, he ganged up with the fellow contractors and started levelling allegations against me to exert pressure for clearing of work and releasing of payment. But I will not succumb to such tactics”, said the mayor. Asked as to why a part payment had been made to the contractor when the work was not satisfactory, the mayor said, “There was no complaint at that time. But now the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Local Bodies Department would be asked to look into the matter”. Fact file
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Commercial site in Defence Colony mired in controversy
Jalandhar, July 29 After the matter was highlighted in response to an RTI application filed by Sanjeev Dham and Jalandhar Tribune highlighted the matter in a report published on May 6, the bank immediately vacated the site. However, recently, Manpreet Singh Chatwal, Municipal Commissioner, gave the permission to run the site commercially without changing the land change pattern. “A group of prominent ex-servicemen from the colony visited and requested me to allow an ATM machine installed on the site for their convenience. I have given them the necessary permission,” confirmed Chatwal. He also confirmed that permission had been granted without changing the land use for the same. “There is no need at present. If I feel, I will get it done later,” said Chatwal. He even did not disclose the facts on the basis of which, he gave the necessary approval. PK Mohla, the owner of the site, refused to have got any such intimation by the MC. “I have still not received the approval till date by the MC. Some officials visited the site, inspected the area and might have decided to grant permission to use it as a commercial entity,” said Mohla. When asked, he avoided reply as to whether he, along with some residents, visited the Municipal Commissioner in his office to get the approval for the same. Mohla had also accused Dham, the RTI activist, of blackmailing and harassing him. On the contrary, Dham, alleged connivance between MC officials and the owner. “How can the MC announce the site as commercial? The MC, in response to my RTI query in February this year, had confirmed that the ATM was located inside the house line and was on a non-commercial site. On what basis has it now given the approval?” asked Dham. He also said that although the power connection No. CK 28/ 651, installed at the site, was in the name of Veena Mohla, it was her husband PK Mohla who signed the earlier ATM agreement with the bank. He also accused Chatwal of favoring the owner who, according to him, was an “influential” man. |
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Residents give rousing welcome to CWG champs
Jalandhar, July 29 Although looking a bit tired, the winners expressed satisfaction at their performance at the championship. “It was a great experience at the games where judo was included after 12 years. Although I tried hard to win the gold, I had to satisfy myself with silver only. Nevertheless, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has hired a Korean coach to hone our skills and I am confident to win the championships scheduled in near future,” said the confident player who has now set his eyes on winning the World
Judo Championship, slated to be held in Russia in August. Meanwhile, Rajwinder Kaur, the confident judoka, got emotional on seeing his two-year-old boy Gurvansh after so many months. “Now, I have experienced the complete thrill of my win when I am united with my
family. I dedicate this medal to my son, as it was he who suffered the most during my preparation for the Commonwealth Games,” said the elated champ. When asked to comment about her performance in the games, she said this being her first international exposure, she was satisfied with it, but if provided more such opportunities by her department, she could do better. Both winners were given a warm welcome by the Punjab Armed Police (PAP), which took out a shobha yatra from
the railway station to the PAP grounds. City residents could be seen cheering the heroes and throwing petals on the winners’ route. |
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MC engineers threaten mass leave
Jalandhar, July 29 The engineers have said that it will be extremely difficult for them to work under such circumstances. They have taken up the matter with the MC Commissioner who, too, has expressed his helplessness in the matter. Even as the issue between the contractors and the mayor is not getting settled, now the engineers have threatened to go on mass casual leave from Thursday in case the complaints are not withdrawn and their demand of providing adequate staff strength is not conceded. Ashwini Chaudhary, president of the MC Engineers Association, said there was much discontentment in the staff as the posts of JEs and SDOs had been lying vacant and it was not possible to supervise all works properly without adequate staff strength. |
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Burglary in village
Jalandhar, July 29 When my son returned home, he noticed the locks of the main door lying broken. After he went inside, he found the whole house ransacked. The burglars, after breaking open the locks of an almirah, decamped with cash and valuables worth over Rs 1 lakh, he added. The victim said the police was informed about the incident. — TNS |
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Roadways staff hold rally
Jalandhar, July 29 The representatives of the committee alleged that a new time-table was prepared on June 9 in which nearly 20 timings were provided to certain private buses belonging to politicians and the influential people. As per the rule and regulations of Punjab Roadways, the given timings were not supposed to be allotted to the private buses. The employees of six Punjab Roadways depots participated in the rally. Convener of the committee, Amrik Singh Gill, said the state government is going to shut down 4 out of 18 Punjab Roadways depots in the state to benefit the private transporters. Under the same alleged plan, the depots including Jalandhar II, Amritsar II, Patti and Jagraon will be merged with Jalandhar I, Amritsar I, Tarn Taran and Moga, respectively. Speaking about their long-pending demands, Gill said it includes 571 debt-free Punbus merging with the mainstream Punjab Roadways, providing jobs to the kin of the deceased Punjab Roadways employees, regularization of services of Punbus employees, terminating recruitments made on contract basis and promotion of Roadways staff. The committee alleged that these demands were accepted at the meeting but they have not been fulfilled. All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Jagdish Singh Chahal said there are only 18 Punjab Roadways depots that are working, whereas in neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, there 23 and 25 state transport depots that are functioning. The allegations
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Auto-rickshaw union protests over issuing of challans
Jalandhar, July 29 Members of the union gheraoed buses near Narinder Cinema, causing inconvenience to passengers. The union members alleged that the traffic police was targetting them intentionally. They said the city buses always usually got overloaded but never challaned. Dalbir Singh Buttar, ACP, Traffic Police, said 25 to 30 overloaded auto-rickshaws were challaned every day. Following the arrest of a member of the union in the evening, they again organised a dharna at Patel Chowk, resulting in a traffic jam. The police had to restore to a mild lathi charge to disperse the protesters. ADCP Naresh Dogra said it was not a lathi charge and the police just dispersed the crowd at Patel
Chowk. |
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Traders’ concerns raised in Parliament, says MP
Jalandhar, July 29 Chaudhary said he had come to the city for a day and would be going back to New Delhi again tomorrow morning. He said that the SAD-BJP leaders had forced many industrial units to close down, but the recent series of protests by the traders had forced the BJP leaders to make amendments in the levy of the VAT. First, it was the Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi who raised the concern. He was then backed by Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari on the matter. Forest Minister and the leader of the BJP legislative party Bhagat Chunni Lal came next in the league. Today, former minister Manoranjan Kalia announced amendment in clause 13(1) of the VAT
Act. — TNS |
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Teachers urged to unite on common platform
Jalandhar, July 29 Apart from DTF, the other bodies taking part in the convention were the Adhyapak Ekta Manch, 7654 Teacher's Union and the SSA Teachers' Union. Addressing the convention, DTF Punjab president, Bhupinder Singh Waraich said the state government has been targeting employees, teachers in particular, by evolving anti-employee policies and all the teachers' bodies in the state must unite under a single union to raise their voice. Waraich said the strength of the teacher unions has been diluted as they are divided into various smaller organizations. To suppress their struggle, the state government has introduced the Prevention of Public Property Damage Bill, Waraich said. According to Waraich, the situation being created by the state government can only be faced by a strong organization of teachers. |
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Free medical camp
Innocent Hearts Group of Institutions, Loharan, in collaboration with the Bowry Memorial Educational and Medical Trust organised a free medical check-up camp at Sammipur village on July 27. Dr Rustam examined the patients and distributed medicines among more than 60 patients. Prof Amrinder Singh of Innocent Hearts Group of Institutions was also present on the occasion for the counselling and guidance of the students. Dr Anup Bowry, secretary, Bowry Memorial Educational and Medical Trust, ensured that the trust would organise such camps in future as a part of the social responsibility. Students excel in exams
Sarbjot Singh of Lyallpur Khalsa College has bagged the first position in the MSc university examination (network and protocol design), semester II, after getting 834 marks out of 1200. Harvinder Singh of the same class secured the second positions by getting 803 marks. Balbir Kaur, president of the college governing council, congratulated the students and encouraged them to do well in future. Kanya Maha Vidyalaya
BSc home science students (second semester) of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya secured a place in the university merit list. Sukhjeet Kaur bagged the third position with 411/500 marks while Gagandeep Kaur and Nidhi got fourth and sixth with 393/500 and 352/500 marks, respectively. Principal Atima Sharma congratulated the students. She also lauded the efforts of the teachers and the
students. — TNS |
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