IT Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: Now, it is time for the cooperative societies to go the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) way.

In view of the farm crisis and to improve the condition of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS), the state government is planning to market consumer goods available on CSD pattern for cooperative members. Further, the cooperatives will also be entering service sector by taking up distribution and collection of electricity bills in villages from next month.

In another significant decision, the department also decided to extend the rain insurance scheme to the entire state after it was reportedly received with enthusiasm in Patiala in a pilot project.

Revealing this here on Monday, cooperation minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh after concluding a workshop on ‘Strengthening of Cooperatives in Punjab’ said it was only the cooperative movement, which would be able to bail out the crisis-ridden farmers.

As per the new plan, PACS would purchase consumer goods like televisions and refrigerators directly from the manufacturers and offer them for sale to its members. Arrangements for purchase would be made at state level but PACS would collect the goods from their nearest dealers. He said through this method, cooperatives would not only be able to mobilize more funds for refinancing for their members but the consumers would also get goods at cheaper rates at their doorsteps.
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CHANDIGARH: In the first instance of its kind the salary of an IAS officer, the secretary health and family welfare, Punjab, KBS Sidhu, has been cut as a penalty for providing inadequate information to a complainant under the Right to Information Act. While Rs 12,500 has been cut from his January’s salary another Rs 10,000 is scheduled to be deducted from the next month’s salary.

Sidhu is unhappy with the development. Talking to The Times of India, he said, “This is high-handedness on part of the commission. I will appeal against it in the high court.” Sidhu is claiming that he has been wrongly penalized as the matter does not pertain to his department at all but relates to the secretary research and medical education. The development has underlined one thing boldly that babus must clear the air over applications filed under the Right to Information Act if they have been made a party and summoned by the State Information Commission.

Sidhu was told to pay about Rs 22,000 for holding back information sought by a Ludhiana resident regarding electro-homoeopathy. A former electro-homeopathy practitioner, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, had approached the health department in a bid to know answers to questions which changed the course of his professional life.

Source: The Times of India News Service

Chandigarh: Opposition’s charge notwithstanding that the government was putting undue pressure on the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), Power Minister Randeep Surjewala is very hopeful that the commission would change its earlier order to not to allow the 300 MW power sales agreement (PSA) entered into by the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) and the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) for 300 MW Lanco Amarkantak Thermal Power Project, Phase II.

Talking to The Indian Express today, Randeep Surjewala denied any pressure being put on HERC to clear the project. “HERC is an independent statutory body. How can anybody put any kind of pressure on it,?’’ asked Surjewala. “We have given our argument on January 4 and tried to clear all objections raised by HERC in the previous order. We are quite sure of getting a decision in favour of the HPGCL,’’ said the Power Minister.

The HPGCL had filed a review petition to the commission after its earlier report for power was rejected by HERC. Representatives of HPGCL, Power Trading Corporation and Lanco group appeared before the three-member commission headed by its chairman Bhaskar Chatterjee to present their case for a change in the HERC order given on November 2. HERC will give its views soon after going through the merits and demerits of the case, according to sources.
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Chandigarh: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced a number of incentives and facilities for the mediapersons of the state. These include giving press accreditation to mediapersons at the sub-division and block level, increase in rates of advertisement for the small newspapers, setting up of a welfare fund of Rs 1 lakh at district level, a reserved fund of Rs 5 lakh for providing facilities like vehicles etc. at state level, setting up a separate journalists’ cell and disposal of the cases relating to press accreditation within a period of two weeks.

He was addressing a felicitation function orgainsed jointly by ‘Haryana Patarkar Sangh’ and ‘Chandigarh Press Club’ in Panipat yesterday. Giving details of the incentives, the CM said press accreditation had already been given to print and electronic mediapersons at the state and district level and now on their persistent demand, it would also be given to them at sub-division and block level.

Hooda said the rate of advertisements for the small newspapers would be increased from Rs 1.75 to Rs 4.50 per column per cm. Sunder Pal Singh, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister and K.K. Khandelwal, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the Director, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Department, were also honoured.
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Chandigarh: In yet another move which could cause acute embarrassment to former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, a closed-door first meeting of the 11-member all-party Haryana Vidhan Sabha Committee, constituted to go into the details of the circumstances that led to the signing of the 1994 Yamuna-Water Accord which reportedly led to loss of water to Haryana, was held here today under the chairmanship of Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian.

Incidentally Bhajan Lal was the chief minister of Haryana when the controversial agreement was signed between Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. With fingers being pointed towards Bhajan Lal for the water accord, the former CM had faced the ire of the fellow Congressmen when the issue came up for discussion in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha last year

The meeting, held at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, lasted for one and half hours. Among those present were Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, Finance Minister Birender Singh, Irrigation Minister and Member Secretary of the Committee, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, BJP leader of the House, Ram Kumar Gautam, Sukhbir Singh of NCP, Arjun Singh of BSP and Radhe Shyam Sharma, an Independent member. The committee is also seeking legal opinion on the issue. It was decided to hold the next meeting of the committee on January 28, said Phool Chand Mullana, Haryana Congress president, while talking to The Indian Express.
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Chandigarh: Religious jathas, representing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), will be involved in propagating religious preaching of the Sikh Gurus abroad.

This was stated by president of the SGPC Avtar Singh Makkar.

NRI representatives met Makkar and raised the need of propagating religious preaching to families staying overseas. Talking to newspersons, Makkar said an NRI religious advisory committee has been set up to look into all such issues.

He also said the SGPC would make all efforts to ensure that the publication of the sacred Guru Granth Sahib was done by it in other states also.

Punjab has already passed an Act in the state assembly which disallows all publishers except the SGPC to print the sacred book.

Makkar said the SGPC was concerned over the controversies related to the wearing of turban in foreign countries. “We have already apprised the Prime Minister of these concerns. We are also pursuing the matter with the French authorities,” he said.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: First it was Emergency in Pakistan in November and now it’s the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto that has cast a shadow on the cross-border trade.

Talking to The Indian Express, Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal admitted, “Yes trade with Pakistan has been affected.”

Three months ago, on October 1 last year, Badal had flagged-off first truckload of tomatoes from Attari to Pakistan, signalling “opening of motorised trade”, which saved time and money, as goods from Punjab were earlier routed via Kandla-Dubai-Karachi.

A cross-section of exporters from Punjab said the turn of events in Pakistan has affected trade so much that no consignment has crossed from this side for more than a month. They said the suspension of Samjhauta Express and bus service also had an impact and it was bound to hit the peace process.

They said this would have a bearing on exports from Punjab, which had recently started import of cement and dry fruits.

Pakistan now allows import of 700-odd items on the ‘positive list’ from India. Exporters from Punjab were expecting a big business as Pakistan had suffered a damage of around $260 million to standing crops of Basmati due to strong winds coupled with rains and fog.
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Chandigarh: The Punjab Government will post the proposed Punjab Prevention of Human Trafficking Act for comments and feedback on its website tomorrow. The Act proposes to tackle fraud and trafficking at all levels with the concept of variable punishment for travel agents. Even holding back the passport of the person without justification would invite fine and a prison term.

This was stated by DIG (Intelligence) Gaurav Yadav while speaking at a seminar, ‘Indian Diaspora Migration and Development with Focus on Punjab’. He said there were 25 million Indian NRIs, out of which nine million were from Punjab, besides there were 28 million Indian passport-holders.

“As per a UN report, every year, two million illegal immigrants cross international borders, of which 20 per cent are Indians and mostly Punjabis. Immigration per se is not bad but illegal immigration is. Some countries welcome migrants,” said Yadav.

He added, “There is a need to strengthen the laws to check illegal migration, as at present only Protector General of Immigrants is authorised to take action. The police and local authorities are helpless. Seeing the gravity of the problem in the state, the Punjab government is coming out with a law that will empower the state government to issue licences to travel agents and also take action against fly-by-night operators.” Advocate Anil Malhotra said, “Registration of marriages must be made compulsory and family courts should be set up.”
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Chandigarh: Impressing upon the Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to strengthen their investment partnerships on equal terms in their country of origin, Punjab Governor Gen (retd) S F Rodrigues today appealed them to help Punjab with their expertise and knowledge.

India is on the fast track and its further advancement is attracting favourable attention from all the quarters. Your active involvement with zeal and commitment, your professional expertise and broad vision can give a major boost to our endeavours, he said.

Inaugurating the conference on ‘Indian Diaspora : Migration and Development with the focus on the state of Punjab’ at the CRRID, Sector 19, Rodrigues said the century belongs to India and it has emerged as one of the major global players with a vast pool of knowledge workers.

He said we have the potential, technology relevant to our needs, manufacturing capacity and marketing infrastructure and 300 million workforce people as a potential source for meeting the global needs. The world is looking towards India for meeting the needs of skilled and unskilled workforce. He complimented the NRIs who despite hostile environments in other countries made their mark and and achieved excellence in different fields of activity.

He emphasised that the NRIs must come forward with partnerships for rejuvenating the system and restructuring our strategies suiting international requirements.
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