Connect with us
Saturday,27-July-2024
Breaking News

National News

After Delhi, excise policy of Punjab’s AAP govt under judicial scanner

Published

on

 Aiming to boost revenue by reducing the price of alcohol and making the booze lovers kings, the new excise policy of the AAP government in Punjab which became operational from July 1, has come under the judicial scanner with those in the trade accusing the government of monopolising the liquor industry in favour of a “handful of entities”.

However, the government claims the policy is aimed at keeping a stringent check on the smuggling of liquor from neighbouring states and is expecting revenue generation of Rs 9,647.85 crore, a spike of about Rs 2,600 crore from the previous fiscal year.

The new policy, approved by the cabinet last month, is applicable for nine months till March 31, 2023.

The petition filed by Akash Enterprises and other wholesale and retail vendors challenged the policy in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the plea that it is an attempt to monopolise the liquor trade. It is pending before the court.

The petitioners pleaded that the government had issued a corrigendum whereby the maximum number of retail groups that can be allotted to an entity has been increased to five from three, which furthers the intent of monopolising the liquor industry into the hands of a few ‘resourceful’ bidders.

Contrary to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office told IANS that the new excise policy aims to break the mafia nexus in the liquor trade.

Joining issue, rebel AAP leader and now Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira said since Arvind Kejriwal has replicated the Delhi excise policy in Punjab by putting the liquor trade into the hands of the mafia and has robbed small contractors of their livelihood, there should be a similar CBI probe ordered against this policy in Punjab to bring out the truth.

“It is an irony that while Kejriwal is crying wolf in Delhi and issuing clean chits to his ministers accused of corruption with irrefutable evidence, his government in Punjab is orchestrating a malicious and vengeful vendetta campaign in the state against political opponents on baseless allegations of corruption,” he said.

For consumers it has brought cheers with the reduction in the price.

The duties levied on liquor in the wholesale trade have been slashed by 25-60 per cent.

Also in the new policy no quota has been fixed for the sale of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer, which means vend owners can sell as much liquor as they can.

Trade insiders told IANS the policy has reduced the number of groups or clusters of liquor vends from about 750 in the last financial year to 177, with the aim to increase control over the liquor trade and tap optimum revenue.

Als, the government gave its nod to allot two special battalions of police to the excise department, in addition to the existing force, for keeping an effective vigil over the excise duty pilferage.

To encourage investment, a provision for a new distillery and brewery licence has been made in the policy for the production of malt spirit which has been done to encourage crop diversification and provide better remuneration to the farmers.

A government official familiar with the matter told IANS earlier that it was the liberal liquor policy of Chandigarh that was hitting neighbouring states the most, including Punjab.

The chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on several occasions had requested the Chandigarh administration to fix a quota for licensees and increase levies as these have been causing an annual revenue loss of Rs 200-Rs 300 crore to them owing to liquor smuggling.

They had argued that allocation of unlimited quota to a licencee in Chandigarh was promoting smuggling of liquor to nearby states.

“Now it is the liberal liquor policy of Punjab that is going to hit neighbouring states the most,” added the official.

In Punjab, alcohol is the maximally abused substance by more than two million people, followed by tobacco which is consumed by more than 1.5 million people, finds the latest study by the Chandigarh-based Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

The abuse of opioids is by 1.7 lakh individuals, followed by cannabinoids as well as sedative-inhalant stimulants. The latter are largely a class of pharmacological or prescription drugs being used illicitly.

As per the State of Punjab Household Survey and statewide NCD STEPs Survey by the PGIMER, the projected number of overall substance use in Punjab is 15.4 per cent.

Coming out in support of the new liquor policy, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the government has targeted to generate Rs 9,600 crore as against Rs 6,200 crore in the last fiscal.

He said earlier liquor purchased from Haryana used to be sold in Punjab. “The days of the liquor mafia are over now,” he added.

Responding to Delhi’s lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inquire into the Delhi government’s excise policy, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said the AAP government’s links with the liquor cartel would soon be exposed in Punjab too.

In Punjab also Kejriwal has tried to replicate the Delhi model which would soon be exposed, he added.

National News

‘Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar’: LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

Published

on

'Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar': LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

New Delhi, July 26: The Parliament’s Monsoon Session has seen its share of confrontations between the members of the ruling government and the Opposition. Even Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has not been immune to getting into an argument or chiding a member for inappropriate behaviour. A similar incident was witnessed in the lower house on Thursday when speaker Birla scolded a member of the ruling government in the house and a minister for putting “hands in pocket”.

A video that has now gone viral shows Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla telling the minister, “Mantriji haath jeb se bahar (Minister, hands out of the pocket please)”. After this, Birla requested all the members not to put their hands in pocket while being inside the house.

He also went on to instruct that if a member is speaking, the member sitting in front should not get up and in fact try to sit somewhere back so that the member speaking is not obstructed.

The video also caught the voice of a person trying to clarify after Birla’s remarks. However, the video did not show which minister was scolded by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

This is the second time in two days when the usually unflappable Lok Sabha speaker was seen trying to correct an MP inside the house. On June 24, the exchange between Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had gone viral.

The video shows Om Birla asking TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to not talk about past events while speaking on the budget and focus only on the current budget in his speech. Abhishek Banerjee retorted saying, “Then why do you have no problem when someone speaks on Nehru ji and talks about 60 years old things.” Banerjee then went on to say that if he speaks on demonetisation (which took place in 2016), then the speaker has problem.

The Union Budget and the first one of Modi 3.0 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. The Opposition criticised the budget calling it an exercise by the government to ensure that it keeps its alliance partners happy and alleged that the budget favoured several states and deliberately left out the other regions.

Continue Reading

National News

Farah Khan’s Mother Menka Irani Passes Away At 79, Days After Undergoing Multiple Surgeries

Published

on

Menka Irani, the mother of filmmakers Farah Khan and Sajid Khan, passed away on July 26, Friday. The news was shared by Kamaal R Khan on his social media handle.

Farah’s mother was 79 when she breathed her last.

The heartbreaking news comes days after Farah had revealed in an Instagram post that her mother had undergone multiple surgeries. On her birthday on July 12, Farah had penned a heartfelt note for her mother and had lauded her strength.

“We all take our mothers for granted. especially me! This last month has been a revelation on how much I love my mom Menka.. she’s been the strongest, bravest person iv ever seen.. sense of humour intact even after multiple surgeries,” she wrote.

“Happy birthday mom! Today’s a good day to come back home. Can’t wait for you to get strong enough to start fighting with me again.. I love you,” she wrote.

Friends of Farah and Sajid were seen reaching their residence to extend their support and condolences.

Menka was the sister of former child actors Honey Irani, who later married Javed Akhtar, and Daisy Irani. She is survived by her two children — Farah and Sajid.

Not many know but Menka also acted in the film Bachpan in 1963, which starred Salman Khan’s father Salim Khan.

In an earlier interview, Farah had revealed how their mother brought Sajid and her up after their father lost all money and died due to alcohol addiction. “We’d lost all our money, dad’s film had flopped. We had a riches to rags story,” she had said.

Continue Reading

National News

‘Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History’: PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

Published

on

'Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History': PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

As the country commemorates the 25th anniversary of the victory in the Kargil War, PM Modi on Friday paid tribute to the brave soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the country in the 1999 conflict.

On this occasion, PM Modi also warned the neighboring country, stating that Pakistan has not learned any lessons from history.

Speaking at the Kargil Vijay Diwas Shradhanjali Samaroh in Kargil, PM Modi said, “India was trying to establish peace at that time, in return, Pakistan once again showed its untrustworthy face. However, lies and terror were defeated by the truth. Every time Pakistan attempted something nefarious, it has received a befitting reply in the past. However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war.”

“Today, I am speaking from the very place where the masters of terrorism can hear me clearly! I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their sinister plans will never succeed,” added PM Modi.

“However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war,”

Paying tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in the war, PM Modi added, “Today, the majestic land of Ladakh marks a significant milestone – 25 years since the triumphant victory of Kargil. Kargil Vijay Diwas reminds us that the sacrifices made for our nation are eternal and forever remembered. As time passes, days turn into months, months into years, and years into centuries – the names of those who laid down their lives for the sake of national security remain etched in our collective memory, forever immortalised!”

Earlier today, PM laid a wreath at the Kargil War Memoria in Drass, Ladakh, on the occasion of the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan and all ranks of the armed forces also joined in remembering the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers during the Kargil war.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending