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The huge phalanx of protesting farmers has won over Mumbaikars with their self-discipline and compassion. Incredulous urbanites have watched a spectacle of exemplary fortitude as the salt of the earth — the tribal, the landless and the marginal farmer — braved the scorching sun and roofless nights as they silently walked hundreds of kilometres from their farmsteads to the state’s political and financial capital to seek their due. Social media has posted amazing pictures of a sea of farmers walking past populated areas at the break of dawn so as not to inconvenience children during exam time. CM Fadnavis was “technically” correct but  came off looking insensitive and extremely condescending when he said the sea of agitating rural India was “technically” not farmers. Many of the feet are bare, calloused and bruised. This was not merely the tractor-crowd whose sole focus is personal aggrandisement in the form of debt waivers and high crop purchase prices. These sons of the soil seek not just immediate respite from farm distress, but also devolution of the rights-based promises made to rural India by successive ruling arrangements, especially the Forests Act and land rights to the tiller. Another principal communitarian demand relates to the apprehensions triggered by river interlinking projects. Rural India is not asking for the unattainable. It simply seeks an assurance against being left out or being made the victims of the New Delhi’s model of vikas. The massive “Long March” is not the only manifestation of rural India’s resentment over the short shrift given to its fears, suspicions and aspirations. From Tamil Nadu to Madhya Pradesh, people in villages are up in arms against a non-existent public delivery system and denial of a rights-based existence. The discipline displayed by the marchers exemplifies the legendary forbearance of the Indian peasantry. But it is being tested. Successive protests are gathering more and more adherents; the previous edition pales in comparison to the numbers who participated in the current march. The governments at the Centre and the states can ignore these storm clouds only at their peril.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW MEETING OF GOG WAS ORGANISED AT PATHANKOT BY BRIG PRAHALAD SINGH ON 08 MARCH 2018.

ALL THE GOD OF DISTT  WERE BRIEFED BY LT GEN TS SHERGILL,PVSM ,SENIOR VICE CHAIRMAN GOG CUM Sr ADVISOR OF CM ,PUNJAB

AND

MAJ GEN SPS GREWAL VICE-CHAIRMAN OF GOG CUM CMD PESCO ALSO BRIEFED THE CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE ROLE THE GOG HAS TO PLAY FOR PUNJAB ADMINISTRATION.

Security personnel take position around the army family quarters at Sunjuwan Military Station during the terrorist attack, in Jammu on Sunday. PTI

Bakrah (Kathua), February 11

He faced a group of heavily-armed desperate terrorists with bare hands, took scores of bullets on his chest and arms, yet ensured that the assailants could not inflict much harm on his family.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Subedar Madan Lal Choudhary, 50, eventually fell to the AK 47 bullets fired by the terrorists, who attacked his quarter at Sunjuwan Army station in Jammu, but still foiled their plan to cause maximum damage.A pall of gloom descended on this non-descript hamlet after the news of Madan Lal Choudhary’s death reached here.Yet, the people of the border belt of Hiranagar in Kathua district are proud of the brave son of soil who took on armed intruders with bare hands and saved his family and kin.Madan Lal Choudhary’s family had come to his quarter in the Military Station, Sunjuwan, as they need to shop for the wedding of a relative.”He mustered a lot of courage and saved the life of other family members very tactically by not allowing the terrorists to enter his quarter,” his brother Surinder Choudhary said.Surinder Choudhary said his his brother managed to facilitate the exit of family members from the back as he blocked the entry of terrorists.However, Madan Lal Choudhary’s 20-year-old daughter Neha received a bullet injury in the leg while his sister-in-law Paramjeet also received minor injuries. But all of them managed to survive.”I am proud of my younger brother who braved bullets, fought heavily-armed militants with bare hands to save family members and kin. Had he failed to save them, the entire family would have been wiped out. He foiled the militants’ plan to cause maximum causalities,” Surinder Choudhary said.Madan Lal Choudhary, who rose to the post of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) — a Subedar — belonged to a family of defence force personnel.His elder brother Shamsher Singh is an ex-serviceman, his son Ankush a Captain in the Indian Army, and his nephew Sandeep is in the Indian Air Force.He is survived by father Inder Chand and mother Banti Devi besides three brothers.The elderly parents father and mother were unaware about their loss till last evening even as the people and relatives thronged their residence.It was only when Madan Lal Choudhary’s wife Karamjeet and his elder brother Shamsher reached home, that they were told the news of his death.People of the village, who witnessed the terror of partition in 1947 and are refugees from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), were proud of Madan Lal Choudhary’s sacrifice.”We are proud of him. He has fought armed terrorists with bare hands and save all of the family members and some kin. He should be awarded,” Dhyan Chand, a villager, said.Family members, however, lament that at a time they were preparing for the marriage of his nephew Sandeep in April, they are forced to come to grips with this painful reality.Five Army men, including two JCOs, and a father of another personnel died and 11 injured in a attack by JeM terrorists on the Army camp in Sunjwan in Jammu city. — PTI 

The father of Army Major Aditya Kumar had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the FIR against his son.

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 12

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed all proceedings in connection with an FIR registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police naming Major Aditya Kumar as an accused with regard to Shopian firing incident.

A three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India — which had on February 9 agreed to hear the matter — also directed that no coercive measures shall be taken against Major Aditya Kumar.

The Bench issued notice to the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir Government and asked the petitioner — Major Aditya Kumar’s father Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh to serve a copy of his petition to the office of the Attorney General to enable him represent the Union of India.

The order came on a petition filed by Major Aditya Kumar’s father seeking quashing of the January 27 FIR against his son.

The petitioner was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi while Attorney General appeared for the Centre.

Besides quashing of the FIR, Petitioner Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh has sought guidelines to protect soldiers’ rights and adequate compensation for them. Two civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganovpora village in Shopian, prompting the chief minister to order an inquiry into the incident.

The FIR was registered against the personnel of 10, Garhwal unit of the Army, including Major Kumar, under the Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

The Army had on February 1 presented its version of events contradicting the police FIR. It reiterated that soldiers opened fire on protesters in “self-defence” to prevent imminent lynching of an officer, snatching of weapons by villagers and burning of the Army vehicles.

The petitioner contended that FIR had been illegally filed against Major Aditya Kumar.

In his petition, Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh has contended his son had been “wrongly and arbitrarily” named in the FIR as the February 27 incident related to an Army convoy on bona fide military duty in an area under the AFSPA, which was isolated by an “unruly and deranged” mob pelting stones causing damage to military vehicles.

“The petitioner is constrained to file the present writ petition for quashing of FIR, directly before this court in view of the extremely hostile situation on the ground, whereby an FIR has been registered by local police against the son of the petitioner, who is a service Army officer and was performing bona fide duties as directed by the Union of India,” read his petition. He urged the top court to lay down guidelines to protect rights of soldiers and adequate compensation so that no Army personnel is harassed by initiation of criminal proceedings for bonafide actions in exercise of their duties. He also demanded registration of FIR against those involved in terrorist activities which caused damage to government property.

The petitioner said the intention of his son — a Major in the 10 Garhwal Rifles — was to save Army personnel and property and the fire was inflicted “only to impair and provide a safe escape from a savage and violent mob engaged in terrorist activity”.

The unruly mob was asked to disperse and not to obstruct military in performing their duties and not to damage government property but when the situation reached beyond control, a warning was issued to disperse, the plea said.

As the unruly behaviour of the “unlawful assembly” reached peak and when they got hold of a Junior Commissioned Officer and were in the process of lynching him to death, warning shots were fired fire to disperse the violent mob and protect public property, the petitioner submitted.

 

Singh also referred to last year’s incident of a mob lynching of DSP Mohd Ayub Pandith to highlight the situation in the troubled state and the condition in which Army officials were working to control violent mobs in Kashmir.

Tribune News Service

Kartarpur (Jalandhar), February 10

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will dedicate the second phase of the Jang-e-Azadi memorial to the nation on March 6.A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister at a meeting held at the memorial with Barjinder Singh Hamdard, chairman of the Jang-e-Azadi Foundation and Managing Editor, Ajit Group of Newspapers, along with other officials.The meeting came a day after the Punjab Government released Rs 5 crore for the project, with the remaining sum of Rs 9 crore set to be released soon. The Chief Minister had sanctioned the final instalment of Rs 15 crore for the completion of the second phase of the memorial last year.The first phase of the project was completed in June 2017. The Chief Minister was updated about the work on the second phase of the memorial during the meeting.He said once inaugurated, the state-of-the-art memorial would give a major fillip to the tourism sector in the state and lead to Kartarpur’s emergence on the world tourist map. Earlier, Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, president of the executive committee of the Jang-E-Azaadi Foundation, welcomed the Chief Minister to the memorial and apprised him of the progress of the project being managed by Jang-e-Azadi Foundation.The project, spread across 25 acres, was sanctioned in July 2012 at a cost of Rs 315 crore.Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Media Advisor to Chief Minister Raveen Thukral, OSD to Chief Minister Gurpreet Singh Sonu Dhesi, Lok Sabha Chaudhary Santokh Singh, MLAs Pargat Singh, Sushil Kumar Rinku, Chaudhary Surinder Singh and Bawa Henry, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, Inspector General of Police Arpit Shukla, Commissioner of Police Praveen Kumar Sinha, Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Congress leader Tejinder Singh Bittu, Director Land Records Vinay Bublani and Deputy Mayor Jalandhar Harsimranjit Singh Bunty were present during the meeting.

New Delhi, February 5

The Delhi High Court today asked how the Army could object to the recruitment of married women in its legal branch JAG after the display by women fighter pilots and the BSF all-women bikers’ contingent on Republic Day.A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said the Army should take a “legal stand” against the objections instead of filing a response to the affidavit.“After the Republic Day display by the women (the fighter pilots and the BSF bikers), how can you (Army) still maintain these objections (to recruitment of married women in the Judge Advocate General),” it said and listed the matter for further hearing on March 19.The observation by the court came during the hearing of a PIL by a lawyer claiming that there was “institutionalised discrimination” against married women by not inducting them in the JAG service, the legal branch of the Army.Advocate Charu Wali Khanna, appearing for petitioner Kush Kalra, told the Bench that earlier there was a bar on recruitment of married women, but this prohibition was extended to married men after filing of the PIL. — PTI

Punjab is possibly the only state to follow the system of government paying taxes for all ministers and MLAs.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 5

In view of the severe financial constraints faced by the government, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday suggested that all elected representatives in the state, including ministers and MLAs, should pay their own income taxes.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Currently being paid by the government, these taxes are draining the exchequer of the much needed funds, the Chief Minister pointed out, mooting the proposal for self-payment of taxes by all elected representatives, including himself.Punjab was possibly the only state in the country to follow the system of the government paying taxes for all ministers and MLAs, Captain Amarinder pointed out, adding that the income tax being paid by the Punjab government on this account stood at Rs 11.08 crore.While the bulk of Rs 10.72 crore was for payment of income tax of MLAs, the remaining was for the ministers, disclosed an official spokesperson after a meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Fiscal Management, where the proposal was mooted by the Chief Minister.The suggestion, if implemented, would lead to a saving of this entire amount, which the state could then use for various important development works and implementation of welfare schemes, many of which are facing serious hurdles due to paucity of funds.In a bid to boost savings for the state government, the Chief Minister also reiterated his appeal to party colleagues and rich farmers to give up free power subsidy. Captain Amarinder had first made this appeal during the Vidhan Sabha session in June last year, when he personally set an example by giving up his own subsidy. 

The Union Budget 2018-19 evoked a mixed response. Tribune reporter Ramkrishan Upadhyay speaks to a cross section of people

Kirron Kher, MP

The city has got sufficient funds for development. The Centre already gave additional fund in the revised Budget for the current year. The city will not face shortage of funds in future. Kirron Kher, MP

The Centre has meted out rough treatment to Chandigarh in making budgetary allocations for the year 2018-19. The total Capital Budget proposed is only of Rs 345 crore. As a result, no new development project will be taken up and ongoing ones will also suffer. 

Pawan Kumar Bansal, former MP

The Central Government has enhanced the budget for Chandigarh despite all odds, which shows the concern of the government for the city. The city will witness overall development. Satya Pal Jain, former MP 

The Budget is disappointing for the residents of Chandigarh. The city residents have been giving more as tax to the government, but not receiving their dues from the Centre.

 Harmohan Dhawan, former MP 

The city has never faced shortage of funds during the BJP government’s rule. This year also, the city has got enhanced budget for which I express my thanks to the Finance Minister.

 Sanjay Tandon, City BJP chief

This Budget is highly disappointing for residents of Chandigarh. No new project can be started with the Budget the Central Government has released for the city. Under the Congress rule, the city witnessed a huge increase in the budget every year. 

Pardeep Chhabra, City Congress president

Though the Centre has increased the budget for the city, which is a welcome step, the amount received for the Municipal Corporation is not as they expected. The government should increase the budget for the MC in future. 

Charanjeev Singh, traderThe Budget has disappointed the Municipal Corporation and residents. The government failed to fulfil its promise to give assistance when the MC is facing its worst financial crisis. 

Devinder Singh Babla, Congress councillor

There is no reduction in the budget for the Municipal Corporation. The MC has got extra Rs 50 crore for the Smart City project. The MC already has around Rs 300 crore for the Smart City project.

 Davesh Moudgil, Mayor

New Delhi, February 1

Announcing a series of benefits for senior citizens, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the exemption limit on income from interest for them has been raised five times to Rs 50,000 per year.At the same time, the Finance Minister raised limit of deduction for health insurance premium and medical expenditure to Rs 50,000 from Rs 30,000 under section 80D.“All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of deduction up to Rs 50,000 per annum in respect of any health insurance premium and/or any general medical expenditure incurred,” he said while presenting the Budget for 2018-19.Besides, the Budget has increased the limit of deduction for medical expenditure in respect of certain critical illness to Rs 1 lakh in respect of all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.“In addition to tax concessions, I propose to extend the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March, 2020 under which an assured return of 8 per cent is given by Life Insurance Corporation of India,” he said.The existing limit on investment of Rs 7.5 lakh per senior citizen under this scheme is also being doubled to Rs 15 lakh, he added.Noting that a life with dignity is a right of every individual in general, more so for the senior citizens, he said, “to care of those who cared for us is one of the highest honours…these concessions will give extra tax benefit of Rs 4,000 crore to senior citizens.” — PTI