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Higher prices attract Mansa paddy farmers to Haryana mandis
Testing times for SAD-BJP alliance
Left parties begin protest march
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CM launches scheme to combat waterlogging
Newly built Patiala bypass declared unsafe
DSGMC plans printing facility in Canada
VHP, Christian Front fail to agree on satsang venue
Power tariff up by 2 paise
Relief for owners of illegal houses
Faridkot arms licensing
authorities in the dock
Former Army man held for smuggling bid
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Higher prices attract Mansa paddy farmers to Haryana mandis
Mansa, October 25 Last year too, farmers had to sell their paddy produce in Haryana after around 50 rice mills out of the 127 in the district defaulted on payments. Though only two rice mills have defaulted on their payments this year, farmers are opting to sell their produce in Haryana as they are getting up to Rs 1,450 per quintal in cash. Darshan Singh Gurnekala, finance secretary, BKU (Dkaunda), Budhlada, said, “Even after taking the transportation cost into account, farmers are saving Rs 15 per quintal of paddy.” The data collected from the office of the District Mandi Board reveals around 1,35,984 MT of paddy arrived in grain markets of the district till October 24, 2013, whereas only 92,541 MT of paddy arrived till Friday. Of the 92,541 MT of paddy that arrived, around 84,257 MT of paddy was procured while only 56,981 MT was lifted. The state government has paid around Rs 46.16 crore to farmers so far, but is yet to pay them Rs 94.5 crore. With farmers selling their paddy in Haryana, the state government is incurring a loss of 2 per cent market committee fees and another 2 per cent PVF (Pendu Vikas Fund). Mansa Deputy Commissioner Parveen Kumar Thind said, “Earlier during elections in Haryana, farmers sold their paddy produce in Haryana, but now we have installed police barriers. Only about ten farmers in the district are selling their produce in Haryana.”
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Testing times for SAD-BJP alliance
Chandigarh, October 25 All Akali MPs — Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sher Singh Ghubaya (all members of the Lok Sabha), Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral (Rajya Sabha members) — are expected to attend the deliberation on ushering development in the country being initiated by the Prime Minister for all MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The party’s MPs are reportedly going to give their point of view on how Punjab has been a “victim of lopsided development” after its neighbouring hill states got tax concessions and became preferred investment destinations, and how domestic industry continued to flee the state. The Akali leaders are hopeful of getting a patient hearing and formulation of an action plan for development in the state. “We are not going with any fixed agenda. But we are hopeful that whatever policy on ushering in development is formulated, it will see Punjab being a beneficiary,” said an Akali MP. Katheria is expected to meet Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma and other state party leaders In Delhi on October 30. The meeting is scheduled during a one-day workshop of the BJP to initiate a recruitment drive for the party. Sharma has told The Tribune that he will meet the new in charge of party affairs for Punjab and apprise him of the current political situation in the state. Katheria is expected to visit Punjab at the end of the week and meet senior party leaders, BJP ministers as also leaders of the Akali Dal. Reduce bus fares, BJP tells state govt Sangrur: Jatinder Kalra, secretary of the state unit of the BJP, on Saturday asked the state government to reduce bus fares immediately as the Central Government had slashed diesel prices by Rs 3.37 per litre. He said the fares should be decreased as the state government earlier hiked bus fares when diesel prices shot up. — TNS Sukbhir not to attend swearing-in of Khattar Chandigarh: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Panchkula on Sunday. However, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal won't attend the event as he is on a family trip to Rajasthan. — TNS
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Left parties begin protest march
Sangrur, October 25 The march today entered Mansa district. It will reach Bathinda tomorrow, Barnala on October 27, Sangrur on October 28 and Patiala on October 29 before culminating at Mohali on October 30. Their demands include scrapping of the Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2014, withdrawal of property tax, Rs 15,000 as minimum wages to unskilled workers, control over rising prices, strengthening of public distribution system and Rs 3,000 monthly pension to elderly persons and widows. Activists of all four parties participated in the march on motorcycles and four-wheelers. The protesters visited the birthplace of Shaheed Udham Singh and paid tributes to the martyr before heading towards Mansa. The march was led by former MLA Hardev Arshi (CPI), Bhup Chand Channo and Bant Singh Namol (CPM), Bhim Singh Alampur (CPM Punjab), and Harbhagwan Bhikhi and Gobind Chhajli (CPI ML Liberation). Withdraw ‘black law’, demand organisations
Barnala: CPI ML (New Democracy), Inqulabi Kendra and Lok Sangram Manch protested the Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act today. In a meeting, they called upon the people to compel the state government to withdraw the Act. Kulwinder Singh Waraich of the party said the government with this “black law” wanted to encroach upon the democratic rights of the people.
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CM launches scheme to combat waterlogging
Rattakhera (Muktsar), October 25 Addressing a gathering after initiating the project here today, the Chief Minister said the scheme had been launched as a pilot project in these two villages. It would be replicated in other affected villages once the desired results are achieved here. The Tribune had reported it first on August 30 that the state government would develop these villages as model villages. Both these villages fall in Badal’s home constituency Lambi. The Chief Minister accompanied by a large number of department heads from Chandigarh today spent more than three hours in these villages and listened to people’s problems. They took various decisions on the spot before the public. Badal said the scheme had been planned by the Planning Department in consultation with other departments. "Under this project, Rs 23 crore will be spent on various development works in these villages, including construction of toilets, schools, community sheds, anganwari centres, new houses and repair of old houses," Badal said. Badal also asked officials of the Fisheries Department to assist farmers in creating fish ponds. He assured the farmers that the state government would assist them in installing solar pumps for fish ponds. Chief Engineer, Drainage, Gurdev Singh said, "The sub-surface drainage system will be laid over 232-acre land in the villages at the cost of Rs 3.52 crore. Earlier, 654 acres of land was covered and farmers are happy with the results."
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Newly built Patiala bypass declared unsafe
Patiala, October 25 It took the BRO over seven years to build the 18.25-km-long at a cost of Rs 110
crore. The project, which is of strategic importance to the Army --- is meant to solve traffic woes of
Patiala. Patiala Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam said, “I have been apprised by NHAI officials that they have sought Rs 4.5 crore from the Union Government to strengthen the bypass and ensure that it is not dangerous anymore.” The land for the project was acquired by the state government in 2006 but the BRO missed six deadlines to complete the bypass. It was initially supposed to be built at a cost of Rs 83
crore, but due to the delay, the cost escalated to Rs 110 crore. The flyover was handed over to the government earlier this year only to be closed after a few days of its opening. Once the bypass is
motorable, commuters going from Zirakpur to Sangrur, Bathinda and other parts of Haryana and Rajasthan will not need to enter Patiala city. Army personnel can use this road to travel straight to the Army Cantonment Area. “I am hopeful that the work on the bypass would start soon and once completed, it would help ease the traffic flow. As of now, we have temporarily closed it for commuters,” Roojam said.
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DSGMC plans printing facility in Canada
Amritsar, October 25 It committee would have its first-ever printing facility of the holy book in a foreign country. At present, transporting
"birs" abroad is not easy as maintaining "maryada" during the transit is a major issue. Talking to The Tribune after his recent visit to Canada, DSGMC president Manjeet Singh GK said he had taken stock of the property being offered to them at Vancouver for setting up a printing facility. He said they had sent a proposal in this regard to the Sikh high priests and once cleared, the work on establishing the facility would be initiated. He said they were primarily eyeing Canada and the UK, but the SGPC was also evincing a keen interest in setting up a similar facility in the US. "There are a large number of people who want to install Guru Granth Sahib in their homes. But it is difficult to maintain
'maryada' when the 'birs' are sent abroad via sea or aerial route," he
said. DSGMC general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said their aim was to ensure that the holy book could reach the maximum destinations abroad through road route. He said they often find themselves in a tight spot when they received the demand for
"birs" from foreign countries. "If we decline anybody's plea, we face their wrath and if we accept it we have to face a tough time in transporting it as it involves serious concerns," he said. SGPC team meets Omar Amritsar: A team of SGPC officials met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, urging him to initiate measures for rehabilitation of Sikh families hit by floods in the state. In a press statement issued here on Saturday, SGPC spokesperson Diljeet Singh Bedi said they had appealed to the state government to speed up the rehabilitation work as the cold wave was all set to tighten its grip in the state. The CM thanked SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar for the relief work being carried out by them in the state.
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VHP, Christian Front fail to agree on satsang venue
Hoshiarpur, October 25 Five representatives each from both sides, in the presence of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Anand Prakash Sharma, had a marathon meeting today. Two Deputy Superintendents of Police and three Station House Officers were also present. VHP leaders demanded venue be shifted from Roshan Ground to the local church, but christian leaders refused to agree to their demand. — OC
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Power tariff up by 2 paise
Patiala, October 25 The surcharge has been levied at the rate of 2 paise per kilowatt hour (kWh) for metered category, including domestic and industrial segments, and 0.06 paise per kWh for unmetered category (farming sector) to recover Rs 13.24 crore on account of increase in coal and power purchase cost. KD Chaudhri. Chairman and Managing Director, PSPCL, said: "The revision is justifiable as the fuel cost surcharge has increased which we have to pass on to the consumers." The FCA surcharge pertains to the first quarter of 2014-15. "This is done as per the orders of the PSERC", said PSPCL officials.
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Relief for owners of illegal houses
Chandigarh, October 25 Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today asked the Housing and Urban Development Department to issue a fresh notification for plot holders and colonisers who could not get their plots and colonies regularised. He said the government had come out with a “public-friendly” policy to allow colonisers to get colonies regularised for a nominal fee. — TNS
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Faridkot arms licensing
authorities in the dock
Faridkot, October 25 As importing foreign-made firearms is a cumbersome process, a strict procedure is followed in its sale-purchase and registration. The police are thus suspecting the role of arms licensing authorities in allowing the sale and registration of these illegally procured weapons. The police investigations revealed the involvement of some politically connected and influential persons. One of the arrested accused, Anantdeep Singh, is an alleged close aide of two senior political leaders of the area. As per rules, gun dealers are required to submit a list of all weapons in stock, including the details of new arrivals and sale, to the police and the district arms licensing authorities every week. Despite this, the gun dealers managed to get the smuggled weapons registered with the help of forged papers. The investigations reveal while influential persons bought these costly weapons to flaunt their status, many gangsters and criminals too managed to get their hands on these high-tech firearms. Sources said despite the online process of issuing arms
licences, the accused had been dealing in the sale and purchase of foreign-made smuggled weapons using forged papers. The district police today got two-day police remand of Ranjit Singh, owner of a gun house in
Mansa, and Param Pal Singh alias Pala, two of the four accused arrested in the scandal so far. Under scanner *
A strict procedure is followed in the sale-purchase and registration of imported weapons *
Police sources say despite the online process of issuing arms
licences, the accused dealt in smuggled weapons using forged papers *
The police are thus suspecting the role of arms licensing authorities in allowing the registration of such weapons Fake arms licence: DC orders probe Tarn
Taran: Deputy Commissioner Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal on Saturday ordered a probe into the case of issuing a fake arms licence by his office. He said Additional Deputy Commissioner Bakhtawar Singh would probe the matter. The ADC recorded the statement of Jaspal Singh of Bhikhiwind who was allegedly issued a fake arms licence by a clerk in the DC's office by charging Rs 30,000. Jaspal had alleged when he went to buy a weapon after getting the
licence, the dealer told him that the permit was fake. — TNS
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Former Army man held for smuggling bid
Amritsar, October 25 The BSF seized a mobile phone, a Pakistani mobile SIM card, a battery and a knife from his possession. He was handed over to the police. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered. — TNS
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Irked over the slow pace of paddy procurement in the state, the farmers of Mansa district are selling their produce in Ratia, Haryana. Though farmers have to bear the transportation cost, ranging from Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 per quintal, they benefit from getting paid instantly in Haryana.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced to develop Rattakhera and Rattakhera Chhota — the "worst-affected" villages from waterlogging — as “model villages” at a cost of about Rs 23 crore to combat the problem.
The National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) will have to spend an additional Rs 4.5 crore on the Patiala bypass flyover, recently built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), to make it safe. The inspecting authorities have declared the project “dangerous and unfit”.
To provide
"birs" of Guru Granth Sahib to the Sikh diaspora while following the
"maryada", the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has initiated efforts to print Guru Granth Sahib abroad.