24072024-LT-01.qxd 7/24/2024 12:03 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune AUTOS DISRUPTING TRAFFIC NEAR RAILWAY STATION BJP MP KANGANA RANAUT HAILS THE UNION BUDGET BJP MP Kangana Ranaut hailed Union Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister & called it ‘wholesome’. P4 GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 28°C FM’S SAREES ON BUDGET DAY DEPICT CULTURAL TALE Residents have expressed frustration over persisting traffic congestion on road outside railway station. P2 FORECAST Bomkai, Kantha, Mangalagiri — FM’s sarees on Budget day also send across subtle messages. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.21 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:38 AM » WEDNESDAY | 24 JULY 2024 | LUDHIANA I-T breather, focus on jobs, skilling, MSMEs; nothing for common man Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 23 Changes in personal income tax rates to reduce the tax outgo of the masses, increase in standard deduction for salaried employees from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 under the new income tax regime, identifying nine priorities for generating ample opportunities in productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment and skilling, inclusive human resource development and social justice, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation, research and development and next-generation reforms, abolition of angel tax for all classes of investors in startups, have got thumbs up from taxpayers and the business community in Ludhiana. Industrialists, selfemployed, employees and lower, medium to high class sections in the state’s industrial capital have hailed the five schemes announced to focus on 4.1 crore youth over five years with an outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore, internship scheme for one crore youth in top companies over five years, employment-linked incentives, including one month’s wage support for first-time employees, credit guarantee scheme, term loans for machinery purchase, technology support package for MSMEs, 24 new SIDBI branches to serve MSME clusters and doubling the Mudra loan limit from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. However, the common man on the street found nothing lucrative or on offer for ones People watch Budget speech by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Ludhiana on Tuesday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN WHAT THEY SAY ❝❞ “Disheartened to hear Budget proposals. Punjabis had high hopes from Modi 3.0 but the FM chose not to mention Punjab even once throughout her speech. The country’s food bowl deserves special grants for our infrastructural needs but the BJP continues to ignore the state.” “Budget is inclusive and focuses on infrastructure development, education, healthcare and MSMEs. It will create jobs, stimulate growth and improve lives. The emphasis on green energy will drive innovation and transparency. Natural farming initiatives, climate-resilient crops and digital agriculture infrastructure will revolutionise farming.” — Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, LUDHIANA MP. — Ravneet Singh Bittu, UNION MINISTER AND FORMER LUDHIANA MP “Budget has continued the streak of ignoring the health sector that too just in two years of dealing with the pandemic, as no significant rise in budgetary allocation for the Health Ministry can be noticed. Last year’s budgetary allocation stands underutilised. The textile industry was expecting duty reduction on imported raw cotton, which has not been done.”— Sanjeev Arora, RS MP looking for some relief from the rising inflation in the Union Budget for 2024-25, tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a Waiting for mishap to happen? “It will go down as a “Sarkar bachao” Budget, which was tailor-made for two NDA allies in Bihar and AP even as farmers, poor and youth across the country were ignored. There is nothing for Punjab in the sixth continuous Budget since SAD exited the NDA government. Why Punjab is being discriminated against at Centre’s hands.” record seventh consecutive time in Parliament on Tuesday. A cross-section of local residents, to whom The Tribune INDERJEET VERMA A broken streetlight pole near Jalandhar by-pass poses threat to commuters and pedestrians. — Harsimrat Kaur Badal, SAD MP spoke to elicit the Budget reaction, also welcomed financial support for higher education loans up to Rs 10 lakh, provision for rural development at Rs 2.66 lakh crore and over Rs 3 lakh crore allocation for schemes benefiting women and girls but lamented that the Modi 3.0 government has again ignored the ‘aam aadmi’, who was finding it difficult to make both ends meet due to skyrocketing prices of essentials in the present times. An auto-rickshaw driver, Raju, said: “With no relief offered to the poor and marginalised sections of society, the Budget means nothing for us as we are again left to fend for ourselves.” “Salaried employees can save up to Rs 17,500 in income tax under new tax slabs with the increase in standard deduction and revised tax rates,” said Sushmita Rana, a tax consultant. An infrastructure developer, Ravish Khandelwal, said: “Capex spend at Rs 11.1 lakh crore, unchanged from the Interim Budget and infrastructure spend at 3.4 per cent of the GDP will boost development.” “Women in the workforce will get a major boost with the FM’s assurance that creches will be set up to help them,” felt banker Anupriya, who is a mother of two toddlers. A progressive farmer, SS Bains, welcomed the initiative to introduce 1 crore farmers to natural farming over two years and transformation of agricultural research to focus on productivity and climate-resilient crop varieties. “Rental housing in the PPP mode for industrial workers, focus on job creation and boosting consumption, potentially benefiting consumer goods, real estate and auto sectors will help boost regional development,” said an industrial worker, Ajay Srivastava. A social worker, Surabhi continued on page 2 Directionless, anti-industry, says business community Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 23 Budget announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today has failed to evoke positive response from the industry. Except for a few announcements, the Budget has not gone down well with the industry and the business community has termed it as ‘directionless’ and ‘anti-industry’. India is slowly moving on the path of Sri Lanka with a huge fiscal deficit, said industry leaders. The biggest disappointment for the Ludhiana industry came after no review of 45-day payment rule for micro small and medium enterprises was done while the custom duty on spandex yarn, which was reduced from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, has been welcomed by the local industry. “The disparity among states in a federal nation is unacceptable and the government has done the same by providing grant to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Not a single word was spoken on Section 43B, which Sitharaman promised during her election campaign in Ludhiana, said Badish Jindal, national president of the All Industries and Trade Forum. “It’s evident from the Budget that the government is concerned about corporates and has given major relief to them. The government has no soft corner for MSMEs or the common man. To sum up, we can say the Budget has nothing for the MSMEs or common man and it has disappointed us,” said Narinder Bhamra, president of the Fasteners Manufacturer Association of India. Tax slabs have been revised to give some relief under the new tax regime. The Finance Minister admitted that direct tax collection was more than A worker at a cycle unit in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN KEY AGRI ISSUES REMAINED UNADDRESED Though many announcements to focus on agri research for productivity such as government move to promote farmer producer organisations, setting up of 10,000 bio research centres for farmers, 32 new high-yielding varieties, increase in productivity and income of farmers, strengthening of oilseed and pulses’ cultivation to achieve Atamnirbharta and cut imports, etc, were made, many key issues remained unaddressed. doubled, GST collections gone up but in spite of that no relief given to MSMEs, he said. “The Ludhiana industry could have got a big boost had the FM adhered to our request by including bicycle, sewing machines, tractors, hand tools, etc, in the ambit of Production Linked Incentive scheme. “Overall, the budget has neither provided any major tax benefit nor given any help to the MSME sector, which is still reeling under stress postCovid,” said Pankaj Sharma, president of the Association of Trade and industrial Undertakings. Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO), said there was not much for the MSME sector in the Budget. Especially, relief from the 43B(H) was sought, but nothing on that front has been done. Harpal Singh Bhamber from the cycle industry said no special package for the bicycle industry had been introduced, though India is the 2nd largest bicycle manufacturer in Fire breaks out in scrap godown at Payal Ludhiana, July 23 A massive fire broke out at a scrap godown in the Payal area of Khanna late on Monday night. Fire tenders were initially called from Doraha and later seeing the intensity of the blaze, fire personnel from Khanna were also called to douse the flames. They took over eight hours to control the fire. A fireman, Sukhdeep Singh, said scrap was being loaded in trucks and two vehicles were loaded. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in the godown. Initially, the godown owner and workers tried to control the blaze but they Firemen douse the flames at the scrap godown in Payal. failed to control the situation. Later, they informed the fire brigade. Fire officials said eight to nine vehicles were used to douse the flames. They faced difficulty in refilling water in fire tenders as no source of water was available in nearby areas, due to which firemen took over eight hours to control the blaze. Fortunately, the fire was controlled before it could spread to residential areas. — TNS Deceased’s girlfriend, her mother booked Boy electrocuted after coming in SUICIDE CASE Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 23 In the suicide case of a youth at Hotel Maple near Clock Tower, the Police Division 5 yesterday registered a case against the girlfriend of the deceased and her mother. The suspects have been identified as Kavita and her mother Suman, both residents of Nurpura vil- lage in Raikot. On July 22, the youth died by suicide by hanging himself in a hotel room near the bus stand here. The incident had come to the fore when hotel staff knocked at the door of the room and no one opened the door. Turning suspicious, they broke the door and were surprised to see the hanging body of the youth. The deceased was identified as Amritpal Singh. Complainant Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Raikot, told the police that his son Amritpal had an affair with a girl, Kavita, but her mother was against their relationship and she used to force his son to leave her daughter. On July 21, his son, along with his girlfriend and her mother, had gone to pay obeisance at a gurdwara in the district where the suspects had insulted the victim, his father said, adding that upset over the insult, his son went into a hotel room and ended his life. The complainant demanded that the police should arrest the suspects and put them behind the bars so that justice could be delivered in the case. Investigating officer assistant sub-inspector Jasvir Singh said after registering a case on the charge of abetment to suicide, further investigation was launched in the matter. c m y b contact with high-tension wire Ludhiana, July 23 A boy came in contact with a high-tension wire on the Rahon road. He got badly burnt due to the electric shock and local residents took him to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The deceased was identified as Aman. He was a student of Class VIII. Aman’s uncle Johnny said he was a resident of Rawat village, located on the Rahon road. The lintel of a under-construction house in the village was to be laid. Hightension wires were passing near its roof. PSPCL employees had come to cut the wires on the request of the house owner. However, they cut the cables without switching off the power supply. Aman was standing under a high-tension wire outside the house and it touched his chest due to which he got electrocuted. Residents of the village took him to a hos- pital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Johnny said employees cut the wires without switching off the electricity, which caused the incident. Victim’s family has demanded from the police that an FIR should be registered in the matter. SHO, Meharban police station, Harjinder Singh, assured the victim’s kin that action would be taken against the guilty in the incident. — TNS the world, after China. “The bicycle sector needs special attention from the government to flourish, so that it can upgrade itself to compete with the world and to become largest manufacturer of bicycles in the world,” he added. “There has been no major announcement for the state. PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0 will be good with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore as needs of one crore urban poor and middle class families will be addressed. Hope Punjab will get a few industrial parks as these will be developed in 100 cities,” adds architect Sanjay Goel, Technical Expert of Ludhiana Smart City Limited. Effective implementation of the Budget will be crucial to benefit all stakeholders, including small businesses and the common man. However, it is disappointing that Punjab’s farmers, traders and the industry have not received significant attention. Unlike Bihar, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, Punjab remains deprived of any continued on page 2 Man booked for sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl Ludhiana, July 23 The Ladhowal police yesterday registered a case against a man who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl at Ladhowal here. The suspect had barged into the house of the victim and commited the act. He has been identified as Kundan Kumar, a native of Bihar and resident of Hambran village here. The complainant, the mother of the victim, told the police that Kundan was once her colleague and he would frequently visited her house. On July 19, when she returned from factory for having lunch, her daughter revealed about the sexual assault on her by Kundan. “As per my daughter, on July 14, when she was present at home, Kundan came and forcibly took her to the room where he put off her clothes and sodomised her. Her daughter could not reveal about the assault due to threats issued by him. Later, she garnered courage and revealed about his act,” she said. ASI Gurcharjit Singh said after registering a case, further investigation was launched and a raid was being conducted to nab the man. — TNS
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