PUNJAB BILL ALLOWS HOTELS NEAR HIGHWAYS TO SERVE LIQUOR
While Chandigarh administration and the Rajasthan government have changed the definition of state highways (to district roads) to dodge the Supreme Court ban on liquor within 500 metres of state and national highways, the Punjab assembly on Friday passed the Punjab Excise Amendment Bill, 2017 changing the definition of “sale of liquor”.
The amendment has inserted two clauses -- 18-a and 19-a -- to differentiate sale of liquor from supply of liquor. Clause 18-a reads, “Sale of liquor means transfer of consideration by a liquor vend for consumption by a purchaser at a place other than the premises of the liquor vend”. Clause 19-a of the amendment defines supply of liquor as, “Provision of liquor for consideration at clubs, restaurants, hotels and other places on the basis of licence that is issued on the condition that such liquor shall be consumed within the premises of such hotel, club, restaurant or notified place.”
Punjab health and parliamentary affairs minister Brahm Mohindra, while tabling the bill, said the SC had ordered the ban in view of drunken driving. “But hotels, clubs and restaurants are part of the hospitality industry and generate thousands of jobs. Even their partial closure may create substantial unemployment in the state. It is possible to shift liquor vends but not hotels and clubs. Their closure can also impact state’s excise revenue. The amendment is in view of the implications the ban can have on state revenue and jobs,” he said.
The twin cities of Jammu and Kashmir – Jammu and Srinagar – have also been chosen.
Many cities in the list have inadequate civic amenities such as access to treated water, sanitation and drainage facilities. Literacy level in cities such as Aligarh is low as 68.5% as against the national average of 74%.
Access to tap water is an abysmal 23.4% in Muzaffarpur, a little over 41% in Aligarh and 46.7 % in Satna, according to Census 2011 data. Urban poverty ratio is very high in cities like Satna.
The process of selecting smart cities involves two stages. The first occurs at the level of states, which select their own candidates following a competition. The nominated cities then compete with each other nationally.
The distribution of smart cities across India is determined by a formula worked out by the urban development ministry, which weighs equally a state’s population and its number of cities.
The Centre will provide Rs 48,000 crore over the five years for the smart cities mission. A matching fund will be contributed by a combination of states and the private sector. Each city will get Rs 100 crore per year.
Work on new projects has already started in 20 cities that were selected in January 2016, but the 40 cities that were selected in July and September haven’t started yet.
Archit and Manish left their homes to live in a hostel so that they could concentrate on their studies and motivate each other.
They attended the same coaching institute in the Madhya Pradesh city.
“Archit and I always compete with each other, but it is a healthy competition and it helped us both in scoring well,” said Manish, who will represent India in the Bio Olympiad in London on July 23.
Both were also placed among the top 10 of successful candidates in an entrance exam to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Others in the top ten were Karnataka’s Sankeerth Sadananda (4), Maharashtra’s Dogra Abhishek Veerendra (5), Kerala Deric Joseph (6), Haryana’s Kanishh Tayal (7) and Uttar Pradesh’s Aryan Raj Singh (9).
ARCHIT AND MANISH LEFT THEIR HOMES TO LIVE IN A HOSTEL SO THAT THEY COULD CONCENTRATE ON THEIR STUDIES AND MOTIVATE EACH OTHER
Reports said Pandith’s security guards ran away after they found the mob too large to be handled. The policeman was allegedly stripped before killing him. Locals also destroyed police pickets in the area later.
Pandith, who belonged to Nowpora area, had been posted there for quite some time and many locals who regularly visited knew him. Policemen posted in the security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir police do not wear a uniform as a matter of service regulation.
Pandith started his career as a sub-inspector in the 1990s. He was working as a DSP in the security wing of Jammu and Kashmir police and had been at the mosque post for quite some time. Many locals who frequent the area knew him. Policemen posted in the security wing do not wear uniform as a matter of service regulation.