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Rate of interest up from 7 to 9 pc
Chandigarh, July 7 The other shocking treatment that is being given by NABARD to Punjab is the unofficial ban since January this year on providing funds for advancing long-term loans to the agriculture sector. “Naturally, the funds made available to us at 9 per cent will have to be further advanced to farmers at the interest rate of 11.5 per cent”, said a senior officer of the Punjab cooperation department. Not only Punjab, the two other agricultural states will also be affected by the decision. “We have a pending sum of Rs 187
crore, which was to be advanced by NABARD before the decision to enhance the interest rate was announced. Now the NABARD authorities say that we will have to pay the enhanced interest of 9 per cent on that pending sum”, added the officer. The NABARD decision to raise the rate of interest is contrary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assertions and claims that credit to the agriculture sector will be advanced at affordable rates by public sector banks to save farmers from private money lenders and sahukars who charge an exorbitant rate of interest from farmers. A senior officer of the cooperation department told The Tribune on condition of anonymity that NABARD had not given a single penny to Punjab since January this year. Till December last, Rs 237 crore were advanced by
NABARD. Punjab was expecting a total of Rs 400 crore from the bank till the end of March 31 this year. Punjab is a state where farmers had committed suicides in hundreds during the past few years because of indebtedness. During the recent visit to Chandigarh of NABARD chairman Dr YSP
Thorat, cooperation minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh had taken up the matter of funding the agriculture sector with him. Dr Thorat had asked Capt Kanwaljit to visit Mumbai on July 16 to sort out all matters regarding funding of Punjab Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank. However, now the cooperation department had got the message that the July 16 meeting had been postponed till further orders. No new date for a meeting had been given. Postponing of the meeting has given a jolt to Punjab which needed funds desperately to advance loans to farmers on long-term basis to purchase tractors and other equipment. Contrary to the claims made at the Union Government level, NABARD had been continuously squeezing the funds to be provided for extending long-term loans. The officer said in 2004-05, NABARD had kept Rs 2,800 crore for advancing to the agricultural development banks but the sum was reduced to Rs 1,800 crore next year and Rs 1,200 crore in 2006-07. The decision was against the national policy to increase the advancing of loans to farmers through public institutions. “We had planned to advance Rs 600 crore to farmers during the current financial year but as the NABARD was not cooperative, we are facing problems in this regard”, said the officer. Punjab is being treated in such a shabby manner despite its past record in repaying the NABARD loans, said the officer. Durign the 11th Five Year Plan, we are to get Rs 4,000 crore from
NABARD. “Obviously, keeping in view the existing situation, we are not hopeful to get that much money from
NABARD”, added the officer.
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Punjab to have NRI police stns
Patiala, July 7 The SAD working president, Sukhbir Badal, gave this information while taking to newspersons here today. He was here to flag off a cavalcade of buses carrying pilgrims for Amarnath yatra. He said the proposal to set up women police stations in all districts of the state had also been cleared. These police stations would cater exclusively to the problems and complaints of women. While responding to a query, he further said the SAD had sent a proposal to the present government for giving special incentive to that industry which employed at least 70 per cent Punjabi staff. It had also been proposed that the industry that employed Punjabis would be given 24-hour power on priority basis. He further said the government in January next year would organise a three-day “Parvasi Punjabi” program in Chandigarh. Sukhbir added that a 4,000-crore rrigation project had been mooted by the Punjab government. He said he had recently met the Governor to extend the mono-rail project proposed for Chandigarh to Mohali and Zirakpur.
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Contaminated underground water
Mal Singh Wala (Mansa), July 7 These facts came to light during an intensive study made jointly by the Janhit Foundation,
Meerut, and Rural Development Association, Punjab (both NGOs), while staying there for six months. The study was carried out after these organisations came to know that the panchayat had put the entire village on sale after passing a resolution due to the failure of agriculture. Though both organisations are yet to make their report public, M.S. Kang, president, Rural Development Association, Punjab, said though the villagers owned 1,500 acres, their condition was far from good. He said the study had found that the underground water was not fit for even washing hands, leave aside using it for agriculture and drinking purposes. He added that the water was contaminated with heavy metals. Situated at the tail-end of a canal, farming is confined only to 10-12 per cent of the area as most of the farmers have been earning their livelihood by adopting other means. Farmers have turned to industrial labour to make both ends meet. Moreover, the soil had also started losing fertility. Kang stated that most of the farmers were under heavy debt due to spending thousands of rupees every year on medical treatment because of the underground water. He said now the villagers had started hiding their diseases for fear of harming matrimonial prospects of their wards. Interestingly, Surjeet Singh
Dhillon, deputy commissioner, said he was not aware of the problem as no resident had approached him.
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Govt to sell power to states in 5 years: CM
Machhiwara , July 7
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made this announcement after inaugurating a 66-KV sub-station at Hedon Bet, about 10 km from here, today. He also announced to rename Machhiwara town as “Machhiwara Sahib”, keeping in view its religious and historical importance.
Talking to reporters, Badal said the state government would find an alternative way for recruiting PCS and PPS officers in the wake of the Union Public Service Commission’s refusal to conduct the same. Badal said the SAD-BJP regime was committed to adding 5000 MW power within next five years to the present power generation of 6200 MW in the state. He said within five years we would be in a state to sell power to other states, after providing 24-hour power supply to every house. The government had finalised a blue print to pump in Rs 7,200 crore to strengthen the existing transmission network, besides setting up new grid stations and laying lines. Appealing to the public to help the state in curbing the power theft, the Chief Minister said a study of Patti block had shown that for every 1,000 legal power connections, there were 1,000 illegal connections. Underlining the need for improving the education standard, the Chief Minister announced that high schools located at Hambowal, Koom Kalan and Lubangarh villages would be upgraded to centres of excellence with six months. Similarly, three schools in each constituency would be shortlisted for upgrade under the scheme. Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, local MP Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Samrala MLA Jagjivan Singh Khirnia and former Koom Kalan MLA Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal also addressed the function. HOSHIARPUR: Commenting over the charges against UPA-Left presidential nominee Pratibha Patil, the Chief Minister said mudslinging against the nominees for the highest office should be stopped. Badal was talking to mediapersons at Jahan Khelan, 8 km from here, on Saturday. Replying to a question regarding empowerment of MLAs, Badal said the status of an MLA is above the chief secretary of the state. It was up to him how he could utilise his power for the benefit of the public. Earlier, Badal inaugurated world’s first mutli-juicing plant of Punjab Agro Juices Limited at Jahan Khelan. The Chief Minister also inaugurated a Vanamahotsava programme at Gautam Nagar here by planting a sapling. He announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for constructing an auditorium and a park at the site. Later, he presided over a state-level function of Vanamahotsava at Sherpur. Ministers Tiskhan Sud, Sucha Singh Langah, Master Mohan Lal were among prominent persons present at the function.
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Aided school staff may hit back against govt
Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 In Municipal Corporation cities like Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar, the aided schools have a big network and a good number of employees on their rolls. In Jalandhar, there are 24 aided schools, in Amritsar 22, in Ludhiana 23 and in Patiala 12. Obviously, employees of these schools are put off because of the non- implementation of their demands.The main demands of the employees are the resumption of pension, condoning of the agitation period and permission to fill vacant posts in the aided schools. “Even after four months of the formation of the SAD-BJP government, nothing has happened as far as our demands are concerned. Not a single decision has been taken by the state government yet”, said a senior leader of the Punjab government recognised aided school teachers and other employees union. “ We are disappointed at the way we have been treated by the SAD-BJP government during the past four months”, he said. “We have met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal twice during the sangat darshan programme. Badal himself sent a note to the education minister to settle the demands by taking up the matter with the finance minister. However, the note has been just reduced to a piece of paper”, said the leader. “What is the use of holding sangat darshan if there is no output to the satisfaction of the persons concered?” asked the leader. “In fact, president of the Punjab unit of BJP Rajinder Bhandari has met the Chief Minister and others concerned on our demands. Former education minister Tota Singh has also spoken to the Chief Minister in this regard. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has also spoken to the right quarters. And Capt Kanwaljit Singh has also taken up our cause”, said the leader. The BJP minister, Master Mohan Lal, who is one of the aided school teachers, had also met the education minister, the finance minister and the Chief minister a number of times on this issue, he added. “ Even our strike period from December 5 to 24 has not been condoned yet”, he said. Employees of the aided schools wanted the resumption of their pension scheme on the old pattern from June 1, 2003. While all employees who retired before June 1 are getting pension on the old pattern, there is no pension for those who retired after that date in 2003. As many as 1,500 sanctioned posts of teacher are vacant in the aided schools. However, the government has not given permission to fill these vacant posts.
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Amarinder may return to vote in Prez poll
Chandigarh, July 7 Amarinder Singh, who recently underwent kidney surgery, is also reportedly suffering from cardio-thoracic problems. Though he had a stent fitted in one of his arteries some years ago, reports suggest that two other arteries are also partially blocked and may need stents. In that case he may need another surgery. Amarinder Singh was permitted by the Punjab and Haryana high court to go abroad after he had joined investigations in the Ludhiana city centre scam case. Sources in the Punjab Congress legislature party (CLP) maintain that Amarinder Singh, who missed almost all sittings in the first two sessions of the 13th Punjab vidhan sabha, will be in Chandigarh for the July 19 election. Of late, the Punjab CLP has become active. Since the last session of the vidhan sabha, it already has had several lunch and dinner meetings. Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu hosted the last of such meetings. Earlier hosts included Nakodar MLA and former revenue minister A.S. Samra and industrialist-turned-politician Kewal Singh Dhillon. Last night, Punjab pradesh Congress committee chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, who was conspicuous by his absence at earlier such meetings, was present at Balbir Sidhu’s dinner. Among the special invitees was union minister of state for finance Pawan Bansal. Intriguingly, during the last term when the Congress was in power, party legislators used to rue that no meetings of the CLP were held.
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Pratibha seeks support of Punjab MLAs
Chandigarh, July 7 Patil in her brief address to the MLAs at Punjab Congress Bhawan here repeated what she had been saying elsewhere --- “the campaign should not have been as murky as it has become”. Patil was welcomed by central leader Ashwini Kumar, minister of state for industries, and Congress party in charge for Punjab Janardhan Dwivedi besides by leader of the opposition in Punjab Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and PPCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo. Patil, while addressing the MLAs, promised that she would do everything to uphold the high dignity of the office of President. A total of 39 MLAs were present at the meeting. Among those absent were former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Though Patil was three hours late, the MLAs kept waiting for her. The media was not allowed to listen to Patil or speak to her. Bhattal assured Patil of the total support of the MLAs. Later, Dwivedi told reporters that the allegations being levelled against Patil were baseless and unfortunate.
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Power banking saves PSEB Rs 600 cr
Patiala, July 7 Sources in the PSEB said, earlier, the state used to deposit its power during lean demand period with Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. However, this year the state had diverted its surplus power with southern states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh also. The sources said the record of supplying maximum power in the state had broken twice in the past 15 days. On June 25 the board supplied 1,575 lakh units in a day, the highest ever in the history of the state. The record was broken on July 6 once again with the board supplying 1,606 lakh units. Out of the 1606 lakh units, 455 lakh units were generated by the PSEB from its own resources, 90 lakh units were purchased from other states and 200 lakh units were overdrawn from other states, facing lean demand period, at a price of just Rs 2.20 per unit. The rest of the units came from the power deposited with other states. The sources, however, admitted that good pre-monsoon showers helped the PSEB to a great extent in tiding over the peak period demand.
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Minister’s assurance to health staff
Fazilka, July 7 This was stated by chairman of the committee Ravinder Luthra (Ferozepur) and president of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association Shashi Kant (Fazilka) in a press note here today. They said the minister discussed the demands of the employees threadbare for about two hours at the Mohali office. Later, Chawla said service rules of all 39 categories of employees in the health department had been framed.
— OC
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First de-addiction centre for women
Patiala, July 7 Officials of the Red Cross here said a large numbers of girls and women had started coming to the de-addiction centre. The drug addicts include school, college and university girls. Their parents used to hesitate from admitting them to the common drug de-addiction centre. To solve the problem, the local Red Cross authorities had proposed to set up the drug de-addiction centre dedicated to women. Only acute cases would be admitted to the centre. The rest would be given medicine and counselling free of cost, they said. They, however, said there was no clear data on increasing drug addiction cases in the area. Generally such ills were closely guarded secrets among families. However, many parents came to them for counselling and medicine for their drug addict daughters. The ill was more prevalent in the elite society. The Red Cross authorities here are also organising a workshop under the aegis of the International Red Cross on training volunteers for disaster management. The volunteers in workshop are being trained to deal with the outbreak of epidemics and natural or man-made disasters.
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Dera follower dies
Chak Attar Singh Wala (Bathinda), July 7 As the atmosphere was charged, the district police authorities deployed Punjab police personnel and men from the Rapid Action Force in and around this village. Jaswinder Singh, a local resident and a Punjab government employee, had attempted self-immolation on the premises of the mini-secretariat in Sirsa to lodge protest against the alleged harassment of followers of the sect by the state government. As the news of his death spread in this area, dera followers started pouring in this village since early morning. The body was brought to his native village from Delhi by road accompanied by a cavalcade of about 60 vehicles. Nau Nihal Singh, SSP, said traffic on the Bathinda-Badal road was stopped for some time when the cremation took place.
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Rights panel notice to DGP
Bathinda, July 7 General secretary of the Punjab Human Rights Committee Ved Parkash Gupta said here today that the commission had taken note of the report of a PHRC panel that investigated the incident. He said members of the family were first attacked by “goondas” of the town and when the victims went to the police station, they were harassed by the police.
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Hoshiarpur, July 7 There was hardly a gathering of over 2,000 people whom Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal addressed saying that the government had chalked out a plan to benefit the farmers. While answering a query over the alleged bungling of funds worth Rs 45 crore, released by the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC), the Chief Minister passed the buck to Tiksan Sud saying he was the minister of the department. Following this, the minister called off the press conference. — TNS
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Lyricist alleges being tricked by director, singer
Moga, July 7 Following the complaint from a Punjabi lyricist Karnail Singh of Badhani Kalan, a small town about 20 km from here, the police has registered a case under the 1999 Copyright Act against three persons. The accused named a Bathinda resident Himmat Singh, director of the music company, singer Charanjit Kaur and her father Kulwant Singh, residents of Ghalia Khurd village. Karnail Singh claimed that he had been deceived of Rs 2 lakh. He elaborated that he got into an agreement with Kulwant Singh to release an audio cassette and added that songs for which were recorded at a studio named Sur Taal located at Phagwara. However, he alleged, the accused, in connivance with ,another person, managed to acquire the master copy of the cassette and released the same from another music company based at Bathinda. He rued that his consonance was not taken prior to the release. Hence, he was not only defrauded of the profit, but also had to suffer mental trauma.
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KAC for unconditional apology
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 7
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PPSC scam Megha Mann Tribune News Service
Ropar, July 7 Two machines of a bank were used to count the amount in the presence of investigating officer DSP, vigilance, Zora Singh Brar, district attorney Pradeep Mehta and other bank officials. The accused present in court included Ravi Sidhu, his relatives Gurdeep Singh Manchanda, Surinder Kaur Manchanda, Paramjit Singh Pammi and Prem Sagar. Sixth accused Randhir Singh couldn’t make it to the court. The next date for hearing has been fixed for July 28.
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Scent of money lands cops in jail
Rampura (Bathinda), July 7 The greed to keep money seized from gamblers with themselves and attempts to hush up the matter landed them in trouble after a criminal case was registered against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the local police station today. They were remanded into judicial custody when they were presented before the judicial magistrate this afternoon. Interestingly, the police authorities are yet to take action against the gamblers from whom the two police officials seized money while they were gambling. Sources told TNS that some persons belonging to the Rampura subdivision area were gambling on the premises of a rice mill in Chuke a few days ago. Police officials led by Baldev Singh conducted a raid at the rice mill. The police party managed to catch six people, who were gambling on the premises of the mill. It also managed to recover currency notes used in gambling. Instead of arresting the suspects, Baldev Singh and Kuldeep Singh accepted the offer made by the accused to them that they should take the money recovered by them and hush up the matter. However, luck was not on their side as Babar Chand, a resident of Maur Mandi, who was watching the gambling game in the rice mill at that time, lodged a complaint supported by an affidavit with SSP Nau Nihal Singh. In his complaint, he alleged that Baldev Singh and Kuldeep Singh had hushed up the matter by accepting bribe from the accused. In an inquiry by Nau Nihal Singh, both Baldev Singh and Kuldeep Singh were found guilty of accepting bribe from the suspects and hushing up the matter. Police sources said the SSP ordered registration of a criminal case against them. Dinesh Kumar, SHO, local police station said so far no case had been registered the gamblers. He added that both Baldev Singh and Kuldeep Singh had been sent to Bathinda jail.
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IET Bhaddal student succumbs to injuries Ropar, July 7 The accused - Happy, Inderpal, Rahul Sharma, Parwinderjeet, Yadvinder and five unknown students - have now been booked for murder, attempt to murder, theft and other Sections of the IPC. SHO Sadar, Ropar, Preetam Singh said: “Ankit Chopra a resident of Hamirpur, Nitin Sharma, a resident of Mandi, and Siddhant, a resident of Sundernagar, were going from Santokhgarh Tappariyan village to Ropar to withdraw money from an ATM on June 20 when Happy and Inderpal tried to stop them on the way.” The three moved towards the college where the other accused allegedly attacked them with iron rods. Nitin and Ankit sustained serious injuries and a college ambulance later took them to the PGIMER, Chandigarh. Both were initially admitted to the PGI but later shifted by their parents to a private hospital in Mohali. “Two groups of students belonging to Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have been engaged in violence in the past. Rahul Sharma from Malerkotla and Parwinderjeet from Faridkot were arrested following the complaint of Siddhant,” the SHO added. An autopsy on the body of the Ankit was conducted at the Mohali Civil Hospital today.SMO of the hospital H.S. Sarang said a board of three doctors- Suman Bali, Manjeet Kaur And Gursharan Singh- was formed for the post-mortem. The victim had sustained multiple injuries, including the head and the neck. It was a case of accident and assault. Students gathered at the hospital said nobody from the college management had come to inquire about the two students being treated at a private hospital here. Meanwhile, college CEO Ravinder Singh said members of both groups had been causing trouble in the college for some time and had been disallowed from staying at the college hostel for the past 18 months. “We had informed the parents of the such students about the issue through letters. However, we recently learned that parents of most such students had been unaware of the fact that their wards had been staying in private accommodations,” he added.
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NRIs fuel business of used cars in Malwa
Moga, July 7 On Sundays one finds cars of different makes parked under tents on either side of the Moga-Ludhiana road. Educated unemployed youths with little investment have taken to this business in a big way. NRIs on returning home prefer to have a vehicle for easy mobility here and sell it before their return. It has generated good business. Titu, a commission agent, said following the success of business people from nearby towns and cities have started coming here to purchase cars. The demand of cars in the price range of Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh is the highest and buyers generally are from middle-income group who prefer to own vehicles for social status.The purchase of a car before the marriage of a ward is one of the strong reasons, he concedes and adds that business picks up with the arrival of NRIs who generally come between November and February. Due to its location midway Ludhiana and Ferozepur, this town has turned into a hub for the sale and purchase of used cars the success of which can be gauged from the fact that the business which began with just four shops some years ago now has 45 shops. Each shop is called "car bazaar" locally. Owners of "car bazaars" dealing in used cars get commission which is Rs 1,000 on every Rs 1 lakh. However, it is negotiable. Amarjit Singh, chairman, local chapter of the All- India Car Dealers Association, said of late the commission-based business was witnessing severe competition.With the easy availability of loans on lower interest from banks and finaciers people prefer to purchase new cars instead of old ones. Apart from this, the number of commission agents is much more compared to buyers, he added. Almost each "car bazaar" has three to four owners, who have pooled money for investment. He rued sometime people looked at the vocation with scepticism though they took great pains to check the antecedents of vehicles. They had requested the administration several times to make available to them the crime report of stolen cars here as they had to travel to Bathinda and Chandigarh for it, he quipped. He said it would take some more time to obtain societal acceptance.
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