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Ensure safety of deras, BJP tells CM
Bid to revive Panthic agenda
Revive Nanakshahi calendar: Sikh bodies
Dal Khalsa criticises Akal Takht Jathedar
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Paramjit Gill, Inspector General, Patiala zone, in Mohali on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu
Officials of the Punjab Small Industries Export Corporation at the opening of a state-run sand quarry at Burj Tehal Dass village in Nawanshahr on Wednesday. Tribune photograph
Growth story only half truth: Experts
Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab, Suresh Kumar (L) and IDC Director Pramod Kumar in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune Photo: Manoj Mahajan
local
body poll
BJP leaders skip YAD roadshow
Turn straw into manure, experts to farmers
Work on PGI centre gets underway
Govt slashes budget for Kabaddi Cup ceremony
Finally, NRI gets land back
Steps to check pollution of Kali Bein
State to get centre of excellence for citrus fruits today
Pipe network to save canal water in Barnala
Cheaper treatment for street vendors
Rs 149 crore for scholarships to SC students
Commuters bypass Gurdaspur towns, hotel industry hit
Road vacuum cleaner gathers dust in Fazilka
Protest after cops beat up mechanic
Rs 45 cr released for firefighting equipment, state tells court
‘Bahi khata’ not enough to prove loan given to farmers, rules High Court
Scorpion smuggling racket busted, 5 held
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Ensure safety of deras, BJP tells CM
Chandigarh, November 19 Beginning a new chapter of conflict with the Akalis, who along with the SGPC have been traditionally against the mushrooming of deras, Tarun Chugh, national general secretary of the BJP, today shot off a letter to the Chief Minister urging him to direct DGP Sumedh Saini to take action against those attacking dera followers. SAD spokesman and Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema said the Chief Minister would respond to the letter in an apt manner. "The government has never played a partisan role in any law and order problem. That is why there is no communal tension in the state. Badal will respond aptly, if he wants to. But no one will be allowed to disturb the peace and tranquility in the state," he said. Chugh called the recent clash between followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and Sikh groups in Ferozepur disturbing. In his letter to the CM, he said: "We are living in a free country and followers of every dera or sect have the liberty to hold peaceful religious functions. But it has been seen that some radical elements are resorting to violence to stress their point of view. Such attacks on people who propose to gather for a religious programme need to be condemned in the strongest possible words." He said in the state, hundreds of deras, including Dera Sacha Sauda and Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan, had followers at almost all places and such deras had been under constant threat. He signed off the letter hoping the CM would let the residents know that there was absolute freedom for everyone to worship according to their belief. The BJP had reportedly got support from most deras, including the controversial Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Haryana. The party has never earlier openly shown concern for a dera or its followers in Punjab although RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior BJP leader LK Advani have recently met heads of several deras. Political analysts have been predicting a sharp divide in the state with followers of different deras aligning with the BJP while the hardliners backing Akalis, if the latter pursue the "panthic" agenda.
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Bid to revive Panthic agenda
Chandigarh, November 19 Prem Singh Chandumajra, Akali MP, said the party had written to the Prime Minister in this regard. He said a delegation of Akali MPs, led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, would meet the Prime Minister. Among the issues to be raised were re-opening riot cases mentioned in the Nanavati Commission report, compensation for the riot victims announced by the Union Home Ministry, fair allocation of river waters, transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab, revocation of the Sikh blacklist and citizenship rights for Sikhs and Sindhis uprooted from Afghanistan. Annulment of service tax levied on NRI remittances, a special package for Punjab, being a border state, and compensation for drought-hit farmers were some other issues that would be taken up with the Prime Minister, Chandumajra said. It is obvious that the SAD is trying to revive its Panthic agenda. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the SAD had suffered major defeats in the Malwa belt, considered to be an Akali stronghold. The SAD lost the Sangrur, Faridkot and Fatehgarh Sahib Lok
Sabha seats known to have a strong rural base. With the BJP taking potshots at the SAD leadership post-Lok Sabha elections, the SAD seems to have decided to go back to its Panthic agenda to keep its vote bank in tact. Pushed to the wall, the SAD core committee had last week decided to take up important pending issues concerning Punjab. Seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister is clearly a step in this
direction. If the Prime Minister refuses to make any commitment, it would provide an opportunity to the SAD to launch a counter-attack against the BJP, accusing the latter of not being sincere to Punjab’s cause. The SAD leadership is giving the final touches to its political agenda, say
highly placed sources.
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Revive Nanakshahi calendar: Sikh bodies
Amritsar, November 19 Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, SGPC member, said it was time that the controversy was resolved once and for all. “The community must decide whether it wants to follow the Bikrami calendar or the original Nanakshahi calendar. You cannot hold deliberations every year to decide Gurpurb dates,” she said. Bibi Kiranjot said the two-member panel comprising SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar and Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa had ignored technical aspects while amending the original Nanakshahi calendar. Former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti said the matter should be reconsidered. He said if there were any shortcomings in the original Nanakshahi calendar, these should be removed with the help of Sikh intellectuals. Harvinder Singh Sarna, SAD (Delhi) general secretary, said the Nanakshahi calendar came into being after intense deliberations and there was no clash of Gurpurb dates. He accused the Sikh clergy of double speak. “ When my brother Paramjit Singh Sarna used to celebrate Gurpurbs as per the original calendar, he was dubbed anti-Panthic. Where does the clergy stand now,” he asked. American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC) coordinator Pritpal Singh said the implementation of the original calendar could end the confusion. He said Akal Takht must convene a meeting of Sikh organisations to resolve the issue.
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Dal Khalsa criticises Akal Takht Jathedar
Hoshiarpur, November 19 According to the Nanakshahi calendar introduced on March 14, 2003, Guru Gobind Singh's Gurpurb falls on January 5. They appealed to the Jathedar to revert to the original calendar to end divisions within the Panth and not become a part of SAD's "divisive" politics. On BJP leaders criticising Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, they said: “The Badals don’t deserve any sympathy. They ditched the Sikhs to capture power, that too at the cost of Sikh interests and aspirations”. Urging the Sikhs not to associate themselves with the RSS and its offshoots, the Dal Khalsa leaders said on assuming power at the Centre, "they have changed their strategy, surcharged the atmosphere with their fanatic ideology and adopted power politics to fulfil their agenda of making India a Hindu nation. They said the RSS-BJP were hell-bent on making inroads into Sikh-dominated areas.
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Neighbour held for killing Mohali boy
Mohali, November 19 “Ganju (26), who is a drunkard, kidnapped and killed Mehram for ransom,” claimed Paramjit Singh Gill, Inspector General of Patiala zone. IG Gill said Ganju, who was a driver-on-call (without any regular job), allegedly strangulated the child with a piece of cloth within two hours after kidnapping him. The boy was allegedly abducted from a park located near his house in Phase IX on October 28. After allegedly murdering the child at the garbage dump, he returned to the locality at 7.45 pm and started looking for him with others. The police said he had even visited the victim’s house. Mehram was friendly with the accused and called him ‘mamu’ (maternal uncle). Ganju’s nephew Anmol, who
was also of Mehram’s age, was a good friend of the victim. Earlier, the police had booked the victim’s father, Varinderpal Singh, who is based in Australia,
grandfather Nirmal Singh, aunt Parminder Kaur and uncle Prabhjeet Singh for kidnapping and murdering
Mehram. The police said the FIR against them might be quashed.
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Cheaper sand on cards, state govt begins mining at another quarry
Nawanshahr, November 19 The move aimed at providing sand and gravel to residents at controlled rates. The government had earlier started mining at a site in Hoshiarpur. Shakti Kumar Sharma, Chairman, Punjab Small Industries Export Corporation (PSIEC), flagged off sand tippers from the quarry. He said the state had handed over 40 sand quarries to the PSIEC in the first phase for supplying sand at cheaper rates to the public. "Of these mines, the Central Government has given environment clearance for five quarries. Mining at more quarries is likely to begin soon after getting Centre's nod," he said. Mining sites in Moga and Ludhiana would be made operational in the next few days, he said. Yashvir Mahajan, MD, PSIEC, said the state had fixed a rate of Rs 800 per cubic ft and 40 paisa per quintal per km as transportation charges if transportation was done by the state. All sites would also be equipped with electronic weighing machines, he said. It would not be binding on the buyers to use the state transportation, he added. The officials said advance booking for mining minerals could be done at telephone numbers of market committees of Nawanshahr, Banga and Balachaur. The consumers could also lodge a complaint, if any, at 98720-02122 and 98151-20984. Mahajan said the government had decided to hand over the remaining quarries to the corporation after the completion of their contract period.
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Growth story only half truth: Experts
Chandigarh, November 19 While Punjab’s economy has shown a more inclusive pattern than in several developed states like Gujarat and Kerala, the above-mentioned three sections have seen a massive “casualisation” of jobs. This is mainly because Punjab's public debt is becoming unsustainable and the widening gap in revenue receipts and expenditure has reduced finances for social sector spending to a trickle. These were the views expressed by experts during the inauguration of a two-day round table on "Punjab economy: Economy of tomorrow" organised by the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) here today. They dwelled on neglect of poor people's rights. Experts were also of the opinion that the gross state domestic product (GSDP) figures did not represent the real picture relating to well-being of the people. Atul Sood of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, said the states having slower growth rate than Punjab had done much better in bringing equal development for all sections of society. He said there was a huge gap between Dalits and non-Dalits; and women employment, especially in rural areas. "The social schemes in Punjab are not well integrated, which leads to social inequality. Social sector expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure is falling and even the health care sector in the state is highly privatised. All this leads to high indebtedness among marginalised sections," he said. Dr Pramod Kumar, director of the IDC, said the state policies regarding utilisation of whatever little money was going towards social sector spending were flawed. "The per capita expenditure on education in Punjab is the highest among states, but the quality of education is bad. The state gives subsidy to private sector health care institutions, but the common man is left to manage for his own healthcare needs," he said. HS Shergill presented a comparative picture of Punjab with states like Kerala and Gujarat. Discussions were also held on the need for crop diversification and the unwillingness of the farmers to break out of wheat-paddy cycle. Experts said agriculture was losing its importance due to sharp slowdown and its decreasing contribution to the overall growth. Suresh Kumar, Financial Commissioner Development, Punjab, said the state had negligible autonomy to shape its policies as these were directed by the federal government and neo-liberal development. "Hence, Punjab does not have its own agriculture policy, water policy and even health and education policies," he said.
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Bajwa’s remarks on Bhattal’s niece triggers protest
Jalandhar, November 19 Bajwa, who is on a two-day tour to the city as part of his "jan samparak" programme with an agenda to counter the BJP's membership drive, had yesterday termed Rosy Bhattal as "mara samaan" (poor stuff). He was reacting to the BJP's attempt to woo a family member of the former Chief Minister. Bajwa had later clarified that he meant that Rosy had no political standing. District Mahila Morcha president Sukhraj Kaur and vice-president and councillor Suman Sehgal have demanded an apology from Bajwa. They said Bajwa must learn to respect women. He had been "disgraceful" earlier too when singer Miss Pooja had joined the BJP. Such comments from a party president were uncalled for, they said. Bajwa, however, said: "I have high regards for women. The phrase that I used was not against Rosy Bhattal. It was on general choice of the BJP for not being able to pick any important personality." Bajwa had gone to Adampur this morning where he addressed a rally organised by party leader Satnam Kainth. Kainth targeted former Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu saying that his attack against SAD would serve no purpose as he and his wife had been part of the same alliance for long. Bajwa talked about his anti-drug campaign started in five constituencies, Qadian, Majitha, Ludhiana West, Chabbewal and Sanour. He held three rallies in the city this evening. The PPCC chief said during his tour, he would highlight "poor governance" of the SAD-BJP, high taxation and poor development of cities and towns. He also lambasted the state government for increasing VAT on diesel.
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Abohar, November 19 He further said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a good economist, but he was not allowed to work independently. In a hard hitting 45-minute speech, Kataria told the gathering to rise above party politics and act against the corrupt. Advocating austerity, Kataria said the Congress and BJP candidates should have addressed the electorate on a common platform instead of spending lavishly on campaigning. He advised saffron party leaders to work honestly in public interest. Later, while interacting with media persons, Kataria evaded questions over the presence of BJP rebels in each of 50 wards in Sriganganagar corporation election. But he said the Disciplinary Committee would take action if necessary. Union Minister of State Nihal Chand, state labour minister Surinderpal Singh, district president Ashok Nagpal and former MLA Radhey Shyam also addressed the gathering.
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BJP leaders skip YAD roadshow
Muktsar, November 19 No local or district BJP leader participated in the roadshow that started from Sarainaga village and concluded in Muktsar town. Ravinder Kataria, BJP president, Muktsar-urban, said: “We were invited to the roadshow, but it was a Youth Akali Dal programme and the BJP had no role in it.” He, however, maintained that there were no differences between the local SAD and BJP leaders. Surprisingly, SAD’s Muktsar district president Dyal Singh Kolianwali and former Muktsar legislator Sukhdarshan Singh Marar too did not participate in the
roadshow.
SAD councillors target Sidhus Amritsar: Akali councillors, led by Deputy Mayor Avtar Singh, today criticised former MP Navjot Sidhu and his wife, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, for being ungrateful to the SAD leadership “Sidhu must remember that he won his first election as MP by more than one lakh votes only with SAD’s help. But the margin declined to 6,700 votes within five years," said the Deputy Mayor. He said Sidhu himself had credited the SAD for his narrow win in 2009. “Once the Sidhu couple would address the Deputy CM as their elder brother. Today, they are using objectionable language for the CM. This shows their mindset,” he said.
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Turn straw into manure, experts to farmers
Moga, November 19 The burning of straw is going on unabated in various districts of the Malwa belt. The Moga administration recently organised a seminar at the Government Seed Farm at Raonta village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division to educate farmers on the ill effects of stubble burning. Dr Sukhdev Singh Brar and Dr Rachpal Singh Khosa, Chief Agriculture Officers of Moga and Barnala districts, respectively, said every year about 12 million tonnes of paddy straw was burned in the state, which not only led to nutrient loss from soil but also affected the health of residents. Agro-scientists Paramjit Singh, Navdip Singh Jaura, Jarnail Singh, Kuldip Singh and others say Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has developed a simple and rapid composting technique to convert huge piles of paddy straw into organic manure. It takes about 45 days to prepare this compost that helps conserve nitrogen and other nutrients contained in straw, they say. The organic compost contains 1.7 to 2.1 per cent of nitrogen, 1.5 per cent phosphorous and 1.4 to 1.6 per cent potassium. It helps improve crop yield by 4 to 9 per cent, they claim. The farmers found this practice labour-intensive and sought an easy solution A farmer said it was hard for them to adopt the composting technique because mechanised farming had changed their lifestyle. Gurvinder Singh, a farmer, said wheat and paddy were long-duration crops. With a short period available between paddy harvesting and wheat plantation, burning was the easiest and quickest way to get rid of paddy straw. The increasing labour cost was another reason for farmers to opt this method. Scientist Jaswinder Singh Brar asked farmers to burn only loose straw without using reaper, which would reduce air pollution by 80 per cent.
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Work on PGI centre gets underway
Sangrur, November 19 A tender worth Rs 112.50 crore has been issued on behalf on the PGIMER, Chandigarh, by HSCC India Limited, Noida. Stating this here today, BJP state secretary Jatinder Kalra said the project was cleared by the previous UPA government, but the Modi-led NDA government had taken the initiative to start work on it without further delay to fulfill the needs of patients, especially those suffering from cancer, of the Malwa region. Kalra said the project would be completed in 22 months. He expressed hope that the construction work would start in January. Kalra urged Union Health Minister JP Nadda to approve setting up of a medical college at the centre. —
TNS
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Govt slashes budget for Kabaddi Cup ceremony
Muktsar, November 19 Sources said the government had decided to decrease the expenses on both these ceremonies. "This year an amount of Rs 4.5 crore is being spent on the inaugural ceremony in Jalandhar against Rs 6.5 crore spent last year in Bathinda," said a senior Sports Department official. Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, District Sports Officer, Muktsar, said: "The final match and the closing ceremony of the tournament will be held at newly built state-of-the-art multipurpose sports stadium in Badal village." On invitation to any foreign dignitary or a Bollywood star for the event, he said: "It has not been decided as yet. A private company from Mumbai has been hired for the event." The district administration today held a meeting to discuss security and other arrangements for the event. Deputy Commissioner Jaskiran Singh and Additional Deputy Commissioner Karnail Singh said they were preparing for the event as this for the first time that the district was organising the closing ceremony of the World Kabaddi Cup.
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Finally, NRI gets land back
Chandigarh, November 19 “I am overjoyed,” an elated Nirmal Singh told The Tribune. He was in Mohali today to collect some documents. “I have tilled the land and sown wheat seed,” he said. Nirmal Singh and a number of other NRIs had held a press conference in Chandigarh a few days ago, alleging that minister Tota Singh was helping land grabbers. The minister vehemently denied the charge. An inquiry was ordered by Inspector General of Police Gurpreet Deo. The SSP, Moga, Jatinder Khaira, investigated the matter and found that the NRI had been cheated. The inquiry report said Mohinder Singh and patwari Sukhjinder Singh had obtained a false power of attorney and got the land mutation in Mohinder Singh’s name registered with the revenue records. Another party, who too claimed ownership, had sold the land. It was stated that for both sale and purchase, someone had posed as Nirmal Singh. Mohinder Singh has been arrested while the patwari is at large. Another FIR has been lodged against Ludhiana-based Swaran Singh and his wife Surjit Kaur for selling the land to Mohammad Akbar of Ludhiana. Nirmal Singh said that Surjit Singh, one of the caretakers of his land, was involved in the crime.
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Steps to check pollution of Kali Bein
Chandigarh, November 19 At a meeting here last evening, the Chief Minister reviewed the construction of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Bholath, Dasuya, Begowal, Sham Chaurasi, Tanda, Sultanpur Lodhi and Kapurthala towns through which the Kali Bein passes. He asked power corporation officials to speed up the process for issuing connections to pumping sets to remove wastewater from village ponds. The Chief Minister asked the deputy commissioners of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala to regularly submit reports on the ongoing works. He lauded the efforts being made by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal to clean the Kali Bein. He gave his approval to declaring the Jalandhar-Kala Sangian road as a “planned” road.
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State to get centre of excellence for citrus fruits today
Chandigarh, November 19 He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and he would inaugurate a centre of excellence for citrus fruits at Khanaura (Hoshiapur) tomorrow. He held a meeting with Badal in that connection today. The inaugural function of the centre of excellence for citrus fruits will also be attended Agriculture Minister Tota Singh and others. This is the second Indo-Israel centre of excellence to be established in the state in less than a year. Earlier a centre for vegetables was set up at Kartarpur, Jalandhar. The new centre will serve as yet another focal point for Indo-Israeli agricultural research and development and will showcase some of the most advanced Israeli nursery and fruit cultivating technologies adapted for Indian conditions by local experts. An Israeli expert will also hold a vegetable seminar later this month. Talking about the optimal usage of water, Daniel said Israel was a world leader in recycling water for agriculture purposes. "We use recycled water to the extent of 90 per cent, whereas the figure is 19 per cent in case of Spain, which is number two in the world in this regard," he said. "We have adopted best techniques to make the best possible use of water," he said.
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Pipe network to save canal water in Barnala
Barnala, November 19 Sidhu said under the National Krishi Vikas Yojna, the Union Government was paying for 90 per cent of the total cost, whereas farmers paid for 10 per cent of the cost. He said under the scheme during financial year 2013-14, the district administration had been able to complete the installation of 8,850 meter-long underground piping system at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore. He said at present, pipes were being laid in Kattu and Ghunas villages. Sidhu said due to the dilapidated condition of the concrete canals, the demand for underground pipe network had risen.
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Cheaper treatment for street vendors
Nawanshahr, November 19 The DC said the society with the consent of the local chapter of the Indian Medical Association was giving 30 per cent discount on OPD charges, 10 per cent discount on in-patient facility and five per cent discount on medicines purchased. Apart from that, the local Bar Association has assured free legal aid to the poor. To avail these benefits, vendors and rickshaw pullers in the district would be provided identity cards on getting themselves registered with the respective municipal councils, she said. A survey conducted by the local bodies found there were 349 vendors and 147 rickshaw pullers in the district. She said all of them would be covered under the scheme. Moreover, any rickshaw puller, who wanted to own a rickshaw, would be provided advance under DRI loans from banks at a repay rate of Rs 8 per day, she said. She further said the NMT society provided four Green Cabs for ferrying rickshaw pullers from New District Hospital to Nawanshahr town free of cost yesterday.
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Rs 149 crore for scholarships to SC students
Chandigarh, November 19 A controversy has been going on for the past several months in the state that money advanced by the Centre has not been paid to its beneficiaries. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to SC students to help them complete their education for medical, engineering, three-year degree courses, post-graduation, research, diploma, certificate, agriculture study and veterinary courses etc.
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Commuters bypass Gurdaspur towns, hotel industry hit
Gurdaspur, November 19 Since commuters don’t have to travel through the congested streets of Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, Dhariwal and Batala towns to reach
their respective destinations, most dhabas and hotels are on the verge of closure. Many traders have downed shutters. Tourists on their way to Amritsar or Pathankot now bypass the towns. Several petrol stations on the Pathankot-Amritsar stretch are recording just 50 per cent of sales as compared to earlier.
Fruit and vegetable vendors have disappeared from the area. The worst-hit are the hotels located in the vicinity of Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, Dhariwal and Batala. On the one hand, hotel owners have to grapple with a high VAT of 14.4 per cent and on the other hand, they are being charged commercial rates for electricity. They are yet to be charged industrial rates even though the state government had notified hotels as ‘industrial units.’ Now with a steep drop in number of tourists, hoteliers near bypasses demand that land be
allotted to them at reduced rates. Romesh Mahajan, president of the Gurdaspur District Hotel Association, claimed, “The number of tourists has sharply declined with occupancy rates down to just 10-15 per cent. Moreover, taxes here are higher than in Haryana. We have to pay 14.3 per cent VAT, 5 per cent service tax, 8 per cent luxury tax and 7.42 per cent service tax.” A Batala-based hotelier Gurpreet Singh Raju said, “Earlier, tourists from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana going to Amritsar or the Wagah border would pass through Batala. But with no tourists trickling in, it has become difficult to survive.”
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Road vacuum cleaner gathers dust in Fazilka
Fazilka, November 19 “We use the machine occasionally to clean the main roads,” claimed Naresh Khera, Sanitary Inspector, MC, Fazilka.
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Protest after cops beat up mechanic
Faridkot, November 19 The police officers, who were earlier reluctant to act against the ‘erring’ policemen, agreed to accept the victim’s complaint and investigate
the incident when the union protested. Faridkot Station House Officer (SHO) Narinder Singh said an investigation had been started and the erring persons would face action. — TNS
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Rs 45 cr released for firefighting equipment, state tells court
Chandigarh, November 19 The development was brought to the court's notice during the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed by Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar. As the case came up for resumed hearing, an affidavit by Financial Commissioner, Revenue, was placed before Justice Augustine George Masih. It said the amount was sanctioned on November 4; and the Department of Local Government would submit the bills to ensure compliance of the orders passed by the high court. The state counsel said the department would submit the bills to the treasury and immediately disburse the amounts to the beneficiaries within four weeks. Counsel for the Abohar MC said the appointment of the supporting staff, such as drivers and firemen, would be made within two months. "In view of the statement made by the counsel for the respondents, the present contempt petition is rendered infructuous and is disposed of as such," Justice Masih added. In his petition for initiating contempt proceedings against Punjab Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, Ashok Gupta, and six other official respondents, Jakhar's counsel Surinder Pal Singh Tinna had alleged: "In spite of the orders passed by the high court, the authorities have not moved further to provide the necessary infrastructure to the Fire Brigade Department." He added: “The authorities have, thus, wilfully disobeyed the court orders and thereby the authorities are endangering human lives.”
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‘Bahi khata’ not enough to prove loan given to farmers, rules High Court
The loaner, in fact, is debarred from filing a complaint for bounced cheque under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act on basis of such entries as these are not negotiable instruments or documents for advancing loan. Commission agents have often been accused of obtaining blank and undated cheques from farmers as security before suing them for non-payment of loan on the basis of entries made in the “bahi khata”. The ruling came on a petition filed by Narsi Dass against Surender. The petitioner claimed that the respondent was a farmer who had borrowed money from him for agricultural purposes on the understanding that he would repay the loan with a yearly interest of 24 per cent. He had also promised to sell his agricultural produce at the complainant’s shop but had stopped doing so in 2010. The loan allegedly given to the respondent was stated to have been entered in the “bahi khata” Narsi Dass instituted a criminal complaint and Surender was summoned to face trial, but was acquitted, leading to the filing of the petition. Taking up the issue, Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar made it clear that an entry into the “bahi khata” was “merely an admission by its maker in his own favour and it is only admissible in evidence if it is accepted by the opposite side, the loanee, and not otherwise. Such entries shall alone be not sufficient to charge any person with liability”. Justice Sullar asserted: “What cannot be disputed is bahi entries are not the instruments (documents) of advancement of loan like pro-note, bonds or bill of exchange, which can legally be enforced, as recognised in the Negotiable Instruments Act. “These entries are only relevant under Section 34 of The Indian Evidence Act, 1872, that too in case the same were kept regularly in the course of business. At the same time, such entries must be kept in conformity with some known system of accountancy, either in the official language or customary language well known to the parties and not otherwise. “Where the books produced in a case are merely ledgers, are not supported by any daybook or roznama, do not contain entries of transactions and there is no daily opening or closing balance, the same are meaningless. Therefore, such entries cannot and indeed should not be taken to be an account book regularly kept in the course of business… “It is common knowledge that commission agents would obtain such blank/undated cheques from the farmers as security in good faith, not in lieu of any legal liability…”
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Scorpion smuggling racket busted, 5 held
Ferozepur, November 19 The police detected the racket while interrogating five accused arrested
last week. Two of the identified persons, Arjun (30) and Shiv Narayan (38), were in touch with a Pakistan-based paediatrician called Dr Jiya Mishra of Lahore. The woman had got in touch with Shiv Narayan through social networking sites and had promised to marry him. Vibhor Sharma, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), City, said, “The two accused stayed in a guest house in the cantonment area for 10 days. They made at least 20 phone calls on a particular Pakistani number. They had also received money from Pakistan, he said. “The accused had conducted a reconnaissance of the border area and also visited India-Pakistan Joint Check Post at Hussaniwala twice in the last week,” the DSP said. The police said as per the plan, the accused were supposed to hand over the scorpions to a border resident identified as Raj Singh, alias Raju, who has also been arrested. A three-member team of the Madhya Pradesh Police also joined the investigation in Ferozepur. Sharma said the five accused, including Raj Singh of Habib Ke village had been remanded in judicial custody. He added the scorpions were released in a forest area in
Harike.
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Chandigarh, November 19
Muktsar, November 19
Fazilka, November 19
DSGMC to celebrate Gurpurb on Dec 28
The community must decide whether it wants to follow the Bikrami calendar or the original Nanakshahi calendar.
if there are any shortcomings in the original Nanakshahi calendar, these should be removed in consultation with Sikh
intellectuals.
Chandigarh, November 19