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Coffers Empty, Yet Basket-Full of Promises

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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Having inherited empty coffers and a huge outstanding debt of over Rs 2 lakh crore from the previous Akali Dal-BJP government, by its own admission, the Capt Amarinder Singh led Congress Government in Punjab, presented its maiden budget on Tuesday showing no signs of slowing down development or spending on public welfare schemes.

In his budget speech Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, in fact talked about allocation for agriculture to cross the Rs 10,000 crore mark for the first time. He also spelled out major incentives for employment generation and real estate.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

The proposals

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  • 66 per cent increase in agriculture sector spending, increasing the outlay from Rs.6,383.01 crore to Rs.10,580.99 crore.

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  • Initial outlay of Rs.1500 crore for waiving off farm loans of distressed farmers.

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  • Solarization of 2,000 agricultural pump sets with an 80% subsidy component and budgetary provision of Rs.100 crore.

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  • Rs. 20 crore to motivate, encourage and reward Gram Panchayats to stop burning of paddy straw.

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  • 3 lakh jobs to be created under the Shahed Bhagat Singh Rozgar Sirjan Yojna-Apni Gadi Apna Rozgar scheme alone, following a tie-up with two private sectors majors Ola and Uber.

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  • Social security pension hiked from Rs. 500 per month to Rs.750 per month for all categories of beneficiaries including old age persons, dependent children, disabled persons, widows and destitute women. 

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  • Rs.100 crore for Universal Health Insurance for underprivileged people.

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  • Financial assistance of Rs. 8,000 per month under "Financial Assistance to Acid Attack Female Victims".

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  • Rs. 500 crore for modified Atta Dal Scheme using Smart Ration Cards. Tea leaves and sugar to be additionally provided to BPL families.

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  • To boost real estate sector, fee on transfer of ownership of plots/houses reduced from 2.5% to 2%. Stamp duty on registration of property in urban areas cut from 9% to 6%.

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  • New residential and industrial estates to be established at Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana, among others cities. Rs. 2,020 crore to be spent on development works in construction sector alone.

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  • To boost diversification of agriculture, milk plants at Mohali, Jalandhar and Amritsar to be modernised, to increase the milk handling capacity by 25 per cent in one year. Two pig breeding farms to be set up in Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur, and Government piggery farm at Nabha to be upgraded.

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  • Computer education to be introduced in all primary schools.

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  • 5 new degree colleges, increase in grant for Panjab University, establishment of Central Institute for Promotion and Development of Punjabi Language at Talwandi Sabo, establishment of e-library of national standards, infrastructure development of historic colleges of Punjab (Government Mahindra College, Patiala, Government College Kapurthala, Government College Malerkotla, Government College Hoshiarpur, and Government College Amritsar), establishment of Vocational Training Institute for Girls, and Regional Directorate of Apprenticeship at village Saneta, District Mohali.

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  • Sum under Ashirwaad scheme hiked 40 per cent, from Rs 15,000 to Rs.21,000. Reservation for Scheduled Castes in all government schemes pertaining to the allotment of plots/houses increased from 15% to 30%.

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  • Institutes whose students qualify for NDA and IMA, to get 1 lakh for every student admitted. A Gen. Sham Singh Attariwala Armed Forces Preparatory Institute to be established at Amritsar. Sainik School, Kapurthala to be upgraded.

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  • Freedom fighters to get 300 units free residential electricity.

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  • 20 per cent hike in Health sector allocation. Rs 50 crore for setting up Primary Rural Rehabilitation and Drug De-addiction centres. New medical college at Mohali. Tertiary care centres at a cost of Rs. 50 crore at Fazilka and Hoshiarpur.

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  • To enhance ease of doing business, MSME Punjab Kendras to be set up in each district with powers to grant regulatory clearance across departments.

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  • Tax Ombudsman to address grievances of trade and industry and ensure smooth transition to GST regime.

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  • 16 Specific Industrial Parks, New industrial hubs to be set up in Sangrur and Ludhiana districts. Exhibition cum convention centre at Ludhiana under PPP mode. Punjab Corporate Social Responsibility Authority (PCSRA) to be established.

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  • Policy to incentivize use of electric vehicles.Free smart phones to youth at a cost of Rs.10 crore.

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  • Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala to be developed as smart cities. All Municipal Towns / areas to be open defecation free by March, 2019, and 117,645 individual household toilets would be built.

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  • 2000 houses for eligible houseless poor urban SC/BC families this year.

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  • NRI Property Safeguard Act to be formulated, and NRI ombudsman established.

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Rs 2 Lakh Relief For All Small & Marginal Farmers

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

Under pressure to act quickly on his poll promise of waiving off farm loans to distressed farmers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Monday announced total waiver of entire crop loans of up to Rs. 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (those who own up to 5 acres), and a flat Rs. 2 lakh relief for all other marginal farmers, irrespective of their loan amount.

 Addressing the state legislative assembly, he said the move would benefit 10.25 lakh farmers, including 8.75 lakh farmers who own up to 5 acres. The initiative would provide double the relief announced by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, he claimed.

              

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Photo By: Life In Chandigarh
 
The state government decision is based on the interim report of the Expert Group, headed by eminent economist Dr. T. Haque, tasked with suggesting ways and means to help the state’s distressed farming community.
 
Capt. Amarinder said his government had also additionally decided to take over the outstanding crop loans from institutional sources of families of all farmers who committed suicides in the state. The ex-gratia amount for suicide affected families has been raised from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, he added.
 
For debt relief to farmers who had raised loans from non-institutional sources, the government has decided to review the Punjab Settlement of Agriculture Indebtedness Act to provide the desired relief to the farmers through mutually acceptable debt reconciliation and settlement, statutorily binding on both the parties, the lender and the borrower. The government has already constituted a Cabinet Sub Committee to review this Act, he said.
 
The Chief Minister requested the Speaker to constitute a 5-member committee of Vidhan Sabha to visit the families of the suicide victims, ascertain the reasons for the suicides and suggest further steps to be taken to check such tragedies.
 
Appeal : Big farmers give up power subsidy 
 
Capt. Amarinder Singh promised that free power to farmers will continue. But on lines of PM’s appeal to haves to give up LPG subsidy, he appealed to all big and well-to-do farmers of the state to give up power subsidy voluntarily in the interest of the state. He announced giving up the subsidy at his own farms to set a personal example.
 

Thank God!! But Need to Rein in The Hotheads

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

After months of jostling for parking space, some relief came our way on Monday as the new paid parking contractor took baby steps towards converting all the 25 parking lots put under his command into smart parkings.

As the more than 300 odd parking attendants and supervisors, majority of them girls for a change (by design, for women empowerment, we are told), started taking positions at the designated paid parking lots across the city, things appeared to have moved for the better, but only marginally. For a first day, there was understandable confusion with the parking personnel raw and rusty, supervisors dazed and the hotheads among us refusing to be reined in.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

As we drove around in various paid parkings in Sector 17 we came across young boys and girls unable to cope up with the speed required for dispensing tickets and retuning change. The supervisors appeared to be registering their cosmetic presence, not knowing exactly how the movement of vehicles was to be allowed – whether one-day or both ways. The ushers, posted at every short distance, did not know how they could insist on the vehicle owners or drivers not to park outside designated slots. They preferred to just back off in the face of hotheads either ignoring or threatening them.

The result was that the vehicles at many places were found parked in undesignated areas, hindering the passage of traffic. Seeing the parking attendants manning the parking lots, several vehicle owners and drivers chose to park on the roads, with the traffic police or tow away trucks nowhere in sight.

Which brings us to the conclusion that the entire effort at paid parking cannot be successful without initially the traffic police chipping in with their support. Till smart parking plugs in three-four months from now, vehicle owners and drivers need to get the message loud and clear that their illegally parked automobiles will be towed away for sure. The parking ushers also need to be sensitised how the parking outside of the designated slots, if at all, is to be managed without inconveniencing those who park in designated slots, and how people who do not fall in line are to be dealt. Ideally this exercise ought to have been undertaken as part of the contract the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh signed with the parking contractor.

Another issue is that while the contractor is under obligation to man the showcase new multi-level parking lot of the Corporation, apart from the 25 other paid parking sites, the previous underground parkings in Sector 17 and 8, now in a poor state of maintenance, need also to be put to optimum use. With the Monsoons season round the corner, the Corporation needs to urgently improve drainage in the basements and carry out routine maintenance works to ensure that the investment and prime space locked up in the underground parkings are not wasted any more. Right now these parkings do not appear to be anybody’s baby and are not even on the radar of the Corporation engineers.

The new multi-level parking and the old basement parkings have to be put to optimum use to justify the investment, and it has to be rubbed in on all who park their vehicles in the sector. For this, zero tolerance approach to illegal parking has to be followed both in letter and spirit.

Happy Parking !!

Urban Richy Rich on the Mend, Not So in Chandigarh

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

Having had their fill of a sedentary lifestyle, resulting from the economic boom following liberalisation, the urban rich appear to be on the mend, surprisingly not in richy rich Chandigarh. The lifestyle virus is now afflicting the rural rich.

This shows in the latest near-countrywide study on prevalence of diabetes published recently in the prestigious journal The Lancet. Dr Anil Bhansali, Professor and Head of Department of Endocrinology, PGI alongwith fellow doctors who were part of the team which supervised the survey in Chandigarh and Punjab, took journalists through the salient features, unusual observations, conclusions and implications of the survey during a briefing at the PGI on Saturday.

The first structured survey carried out in 14 states and Union Territory of Chandigarh between November 2008 and July 2015 involved a community-based sample of 57,117 individuals aged 20 years or older.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

Dr Bhansali informed that though several others states were yet to be covered under the ongoing survey, the conclusions drawn are reasonably representative of the entire country.

The most important conclusion from the survey is that the prevalence of diabetes in the country is much lower (7.3 percent of the total population) than previously thought (10 to 13 percent). The inclusion of 6 of the North-Eastern states for the first time in any survey is decidedly one of the major factors for the decline. As against 8.3 percent prevalence of diabetes in mainland states, it is 5.9 percent in N-E states.

States with higher per-capita GDP seemed to have a high prevalence of diabetes. Here’s where Chandigarh, which has the highest GDP of US $ 3433, continues to carry the dubious distinction of having the highest prevalence of 13.6 percent.  As against the general trend, where the urban rich population afflicted with diabetes appears to have stabilised and the diabetes graph is on an upswing among rural rich and urban poor, in Chandigarh the urban rich are on an even keel with the rural rich and urban poor population.

Giving reasons for the possible stabilisation of diabetes figures among the urban rich, Dr Bhansali said the general awareness about following a healthy lifestyle may have turned the tide. But surprisingly in Chandigarh, the young population doesn’t appear to have leant a lesson from the ill effect of a sedentary lifestyle.  Recollecting a 2009-10 survey conducted by PGI in limited urban sectors in the city, Dr Bansali said 66 percent of the people in the age group of 20 to 40 years in the survey had admitted to little or no physical activity.

He attributed the shift of diabetes prevalence towards the rural rich to the fruits of economic liberalisation arriving late in the rural areas. The urban poor, especially those living in cities with high cost of living, were being forced to live on high-carbohydrate less-protein diet, leading to higher prevalence of diabetes among them.

He wanted the rich Chandigarh population, especially the young among them, to mend their ways, restrict their intake of fast foods and walk and exercise more. For rural rich and urban poor, he said the administration must up its awareness drives and improve health facilities.

No Surgery, No Anesthesia; Walk Away in 2 Hours

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

Varicose Veins, which largely affects the legs, is an oft misunderstood disease. Blueness of the veins visible through the skin may just be a cosmetic problem, especially among those who are elderly or those who are extremely fair. Suspicion of Varicose Veins disease should be raised with symptoms like aching and heavy legs, ankle swelling, dilated bluish bulge under the skin, redness, dryness and itchiness of skin. In some people, the skin above ankle may shrink because fat underneath it becomes hard. The symptoms also include whitened, irregular scar-like patches that can appear at the ankles or patient can have chronic non-healing ulcers. The recommended investigation is a simple ultra sound.

Introducing media persons in a city hotel to a relatively new and simple, less painful, non invasive, non thermal treatment of the disease, Dr Ravul Jindal, Director, Vascular Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, who is also President of the Venous Association of India, said there are no structured studies to show the extent of the disease in India, but it is reliably estimated to afflict 7 to 8 percent of the population, which is a huge number.

Dr Ravul Jindal showing a patented Flebogrif catheter

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

He claimed that the new technique Mechanico Chemical Ablation of the Varicose Veins (MOCA) has been prevalent in the world for the past 3-4 years, and a couple of cases were tried out in India too, but because of the devise not being available in India it could not be put to commercial use. Now Fortis has become the first hospital to procure the patented Flebogrif catheter and make available the relatively new endovascular technique to cure venous reflux disease for the first time in the country. He said 32 patients had already been treated with the procedure and six months of results are available for 30 of them, which are extremely good.

Spelling out the advantages of the new technique, Dr Ravul said not only is it less painful, it does not require anesthesia or surgery or multiple needle pricks, as in earlier surgical method by which the varicose vein was removed from the body, or thermal techniques, like laser and radiofrequency, in which the varicose vein is burnt. Using the new procedure, one leg can be treated in 20 minutes and the patient can be out of the hospital in less than two hours. No hospitalization is required. It can even be done in a specially designed OPD, provision for which is being made, and will be available in Fortis Mohali in the next few months, he said.

Dr Ravul informed that the procedure entails a special catheter being introduced in the affected vein of the patient and it is ablated (destroyed) with foam sclerotherapy. The catheter is inserted in the vein through a thin needle pipe. Blades attached to the catheter open up in the affected vein and scrape its inner lining leading to the vein narrowing down. Then the medicinal foam is inserted in the narrowed down vein to close it permanently.

The procedure currently costs the same as laser treatment, but since there is no hospitalization and anesthesia involved, we are in talks with the suppliers of the imported catheters to bring down the price of the devices, Dr Ravul said.

The doctor said through there are several causes of the varicose veins disease, it is largely considered to be genetic in nature. It has been observed that obese people, those who are tall and those who do heavy gyming are more prone to the disease. The chances increase with number of pregnancies among women. Those whose parent or parents have it are at greater risk, he added

 He said varicose veins can occur in any part of the body but it is largely seen in the legs. Beyond being a cosmetic concern, this painful condition results in enlarged and gnarled veins and it should be treated at the earliest to avoid any further complexity. Some of the most common symptoms include veins that are purple or blue in color along with twisted veins. The situation becomes painful when there is a heavy feeling in the leg or burning, throbbing, muscle cramping and swelling in lower legs. One can experience worsened pain after sitting or standing for a long time.

Suspect early symptoms, contact a vascular surgeon, Now !!

Be The First on Historic All-Indian Trip to Antarctica

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

Been to all six habitable continents, and still yearning for more. Here's an opportunity for the diehard adventurer in you to explore what you would have only dreamt of – the icy continent of enchanting glaciers, icebergs, penguins, seals, whales and exotic sea birds like albatrosses and terns – Antarctica. That too in the most memorable trip ever planned exclusively for Indians.

A first ever 200-member all-Indian cruise on the luxury yacht, the Marseilles, France registered ‘The Great Majestic Explorer’ has been curated for you by The Q Experiences, an Indian luxury travel company, during the Antarctica summer – December 9 to 19, 2017. Though the ticket pinches deep into your pockets, starting from Rs 6.9 lakh per head, the company is promising a once in a lifetime experience.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Anybody, from 5 years old to 55-65 years, and beyond, can undertake the voyage which begins from the southernmost city of the inhabited world –  Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, in Argentina (South America). One just needs an Argentina visa, getting which for you the company has included in the package. But one has to undertake the journey to Buenos Aires, the capital and most populous city of Argentina, on his or her own, with the company facilitating the journey, if required. Other add-on destinations like Brazil, before or after the “memorable” journey can also be considered.


 

Describing the uniqueness of the expedition, Vasim Shaikh, Founder of The Q Experiences, who himself undertook the voyage this January, during a media interaction at Hyatt Regency in Chandigarh on Thursday, said, “The travelers will be cruising through some of the most breathtaking glaciers of Neko Bay and Paradise Bay, anchoring at Port Lockroy, finally sailing to the largest colony of Chinstrap Penguins at Deception Island and visit the quietest place on earth – the majestic Weddell Sea. At every step of the way, there would be experts to guide the travelers and show the sights one had only dreamt of.”

From Ushuaia to the Antarctica, the voyage takes you through Drake Passage, which marks the convergence of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans, and experiences one of the roughest seas on this planet.

Vasim informed that under an international agreement, besides researchers, only 40,000 visitors from all over the world are allowed to set foot on the Antarctica every year. “Till a decade ago, out of these 40,000, Indian visitors were a meager 100 and so were the Chinese. Today, the Indians remain static at 100 and the Chinese have touched 4,000,” he added.

Vasim Shaikh in Antarctica

“After undertaking the memorable voyage myself, I wanted other countrymen also to get a feel of this exotic land, hence the idea to undertake an exclusive voyage for Indians and hold aloft the Indian flag on the White continent. Any ship anchoring in the Antarctica cannot have more than 200 passengers on board, hence the cap,” he shared.

Interiors of the luxury yacht

Chef Arun Kochhar

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  • The travelers would be on board “The Great Majestic Explorer” – a sleek, gorgeous yacht flying the Flag of India, 460 feet of utter luxury, which would have 132 elegant staterooms and suites, complete with French interiors designed by the French interior designer Jean Philippe Nuel.  

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  • To ensure a superior gastronomic experience to the travelers, Atul Kochhar, Indian Michelin-starred chef, will be on board curating the finest of Indian regional cuisine. In addition, the team of a catering centre of excellence run by Alain Ducasse Enterprise will also be on board to enhance the global cuisine. Buffets each day will be of a different theme.

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  • There are no time zones in Antarctica, hence it’s always zero o’clock.

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  • During the summer months, experience 24 hours of daylight.

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  • Travelers can expect zero degrees Celsius in the Antarctica peninsula on their voyage.

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Watch the mysterious stories unfold at www.thewhitecontinent.com

Ludhiana, Pathankot, Adampur to Join Bathinda

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

Four towns in Punjab – Bathinda, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Adampur – will soon start operating flights under the affordable air travel policy of the Government of India. For this, the Punjab Government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of India (GoI) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the country's flagship programme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik).

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said the tripartite agreement was signed by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, on behalf of GoI and Tejveer Singh, Secretary Civil Aviation, Punjab Government, and G.K Chaukiyal, Executive Director, AAI, in the presence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh.

Lauding the Captain initiative, the Chief Minister said it would give a major boost to local trade and industry, especially in Ludhiana. It would also help the state explore untapped commercial potential in the border areas to create job opportunities for the youth.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Under the scheme, the four airports are being connected through five proposals. While Delhi-Bathinda-Delhi flight by Alliance Air is already operational, Delhi-Pathankot-Delhi and Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi, also by Alliance Air, would be made operational by July 2017. Delhi-Adampur-Delhi by Spicejet will be operationalized by August 2017 and Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi by Deccan would become operational by September 2017, the spokesperson informed.

UDAN will make available one lakh seats of which 50 percent (50,000 seats) would be under fare cap (which is concessional fares). Viability Gap Funding (VGF) will be shared by Central Government and State Government in 80:20 ratio. The state’s share would work out to an estimated Rs. 3 crore per annum.

Sharing details of the scheme with the Chief Minister, Padhee informed that UDAN, an innovative GoI regional connectivity scheme in collaboration with the state governments, enables air operations on routes not served connecting regional areas, and promotes balanced growth, besides making flying affordable for masses.

Routes under UDAN are selected through a transparent bidding process. During first round of bidding, 27 proposals have so far been awarded, 128 routes involving 33 unserved and 12 underserved airports. The scheme has large outreach and all regions have been connected (Northern region 17, Southern 11, North Eastern 6, Western 24 and Eastern 12), she added.

Local Module of Hackers, Cheats in Chandigarh Police Net

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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The Chandigarh Police claim to have smashed an indigenous module of an international gang of hackers and cheats with the arrest of three youths “in the act of hacking” from a city hotel on Wednesday. A laptop and four mobiles were recovered from them.

A case under section 66, 66C, 66D IT Act & 420, 379, 120-B IPC was registered against all three accused – Ankur Sharma, a resident of Badarpur, New Delhi, Rajesh Sharma, who hails from Zirakpur, near Chandigarh, and Pawan Singh, a resident of Ghaziabad and the youngest of the lot at 23 – and were remanded to police custody for 10 days for interrogation.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Deputy Inspector General of Police Alok Kumar told a news conference that the modus operandi of the module, which appears to have been active for the past 4-5 years, was that they used to approach commercial undertakings, most of them in foreign lands, through their websites promising to boost their business for a commission and then get payments forwarded to them from hacked credit and debit cards from across the country and abroad.

The Cyber Cell of the Chandigarh Police is claimed to have been working on creditable information on the module for the last two months. On getting a tip off that the gang was in Chandigarh,  Cyber Cell incharge, Inspector Harinder Singh along with his team and an IT expert,  Rajesh Rana, raided a hotel in Sector-35, where all three accused were caught red-handed executing live transactions. A laptop and four mobile phones were seized. “Very important data has been procured from these devices, which can lead to some more arrests and can unearth big nexus.  Further investigation is in progress,” said a press release circulated at the news conference.

The police officials while claiming that at this stage it would be difficult to ascertain the extent of cheating, the very fact that the module had been operating with the help of possible mentors and guides in foreign lands for the past four to five years, could be indication enough that the extent could be limitless. There was also reasonable suspicion to believe that the network could be linked to hawala trade and that the money could have been used for funding anti-national activities, the officials added, saying further investigations would help unravel the deep roots.

The officials cautioned the credit and debit card users to ascertain the authenticity of the websites they visit before making any online payments to prevent chances of these being hacked and misused.

Half of PRI & ULB Seats For Women In Punjab

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

In an apparent effort to promote Punjab as one of the more progressive states in the country, the Capt Amarinder Singh led Congress Government in Punjab has decided to go ahead with its plan to increase reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) from 33 percent to 50 percent.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday with the aim to table the draft Bill to amend the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 and the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, in the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha, commencing on Wednesday.

PHOTO BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) informed that the decision is in line with a key election promise of the Congress to help empower women in rural and urban areas by enhancing their reservation quota in the direct elections to Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads, besides Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats.

The representation of women in the offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats, Chairmen Panchayats Samitis/Zila Parishads besides Mayors of Municipal Corporations and Presidents of Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats will also be enhanced accordingly, he added.

Exemption for Mega Food Parks

In another step, aimed at boosting the prospects of setting up Mega Food Parks in the state, the Council of Ministers decided to exempt all such parks from the requirement of seeing a license under the provisions of Section 44(2) of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995 (PAPRA) in the future.

Swapping High Cost Market Loans

With the state facing a tight fiscal position, the Council of Ministers decided to seek Government of India's approval to swap high cost market loans taken by the state government with new low cost market loans. This decision would go a long way in improving the financial position, besides providing better opportunities to incur expenditure on development works in the state, the spokesman said.

Do it Swayam

By
Sanjeev Kochhar
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0

The City Police is encouraging minor and young girls and women to take their security in their own hands. Taking its Self Defence Training Programme, launched in 2012, forward, the Women & Child Support Unit of the Police on Monday launched ‘Swayam’, under which besides teaching self defence techniques to school and college going girls, 35 Activa scooters with twin women cops in the saddle were launched to strengthen

At the function organized in Gymnasium Hall of Panjab University Campus, Punjab Governor and UT Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher were feasted to an impressive display of self defence techniques by 300 odd children, largely from Government schools, trained by the Chandigarh Police. Earlier, a play on the theme ‘Beti Padhao Beti Bachaoo’, presented by Naina Group of Delhi, set the mood for the programme.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

In her address, high on wit, Kirron Kher said barring the conce of security, it was the women who enjoyed life to the hilt. Unlike men, women had a lot to look up to, like wearing dresses, cosmetics and make-up of their liking. Making out a case for all families to have girls, she said, after marriage men should be living with their in-laws rather than the women – it will solve the problem of ‘bahu-saas’ for good.

Vice Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover and the entire top brass of the police, besides some municipal councilors were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Director General of Police Tajender Singh Luthra informed that Women and Child Support Unit of Chandigarh Police had been conducting Self Defence Training Programme for school and college girls since 2012. As many as 5,000 girls have been trained till date, he added.

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