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Lehra Mohabbat
Dalit woman threatens ‘nude march’
Chaos on last day of nomination filing
‘Admn hand-in-glove with SAD’
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Panchayat poll aspirants allege partisan behaviour by officials
Candidates crowd the panchayat office to file their nomination papers for the May 26 elections in Bathinda
on Friday. Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera
Orbit plan to run mini-bus raises hackles of transporters
Exploring new avenues? A file photograph
Akhand path for Santa Singh begins
Ferozepur shooter guns for Olympic glory
Pvt teachers resent poll duty
80-year-old among victims
WHAT A PITY: Commuters are facing inconvenience due to sewage problem at Shakti Nagar in Bathinda on Friday. Tribune
photo by Kulbir Beera
BJP men thrashed
again
Two brothers electrocuted
‘Donating blood need of the hour’
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Unit III trips again
Puneet Pal Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 16 According to senior officials at the GHTP, such a problem in a new boiler is unheard of. “This clearly indicates the poor construction by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The boilers of unit I and II are over ten years old but have not faced such a problem till date.” Today, the 250 MW unit III was running at a load of 150 MW and had produced around 3 million units (it has a capacity of producing 6 million units), when the problem occurred. This is the third breakdown, ever since Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal dedicated it to the state on April 14 this year. On April 15, the unit had stopped generating power in the wee hours following a major fault in its boiler part. Then, what surprised the GHTP officials was the leak in a tube of the boiler, which was unusual in a new boiler. Again on April 26, the unit had to be shut down as its coal bunkers got empty. The unit was restarted around May 7. It was highlighted on April 14 in the presence of the CM that besides many other incomplete functions at the unit, its coal feeding system was not ready and that the generation from this would not be regular. G.S. Chhabra, General Manager (O&M), GHTP, confirmed that the problem had occurred in unit III. “It has been closed down due to the breakdown of air pre-heater and will start by Monday.” On the condition of anonymity, a senior official lamented that the PSEB management’s idea to feed coal to the unit III from the existing units of stage I endangered the generation from the otherwise well-performing units. Another senior official at the GHTP rued that no one was taking the unit III seriously. “Our politicians are playing their own ‘dirty gimmicks’ and the officials concerned are also not taking the unit sincerely. I really don’t know why the BHEL officials constructed it with such irregularities.”
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Dalit woman threatens ‘nude march’
Moga, May 16 Now, she is running from pillar to post to get an FIR registered against the accused even as the police has already recorded the statement of both the woman and her daughter.
Talking to The Tribune, this evening, the woman, Paramjit Kaur, a resident of village Ghal Kalan, said that two youths including, one of her brother-in-law, came to her house on May 7 and tried to rape her daughter. “I resisted and saved my daughter from their clutches,” she said. Saying that she was beaten up ruthlessly by them, Paramjit said that she got severe injuries on her right leg. “I was rushed to the civil hospital at Moga and remained there for many days,” she said. Paramjit said that when she was admitted to the hospital, an assistant sub-inspector of the Ghal Kalan police station recorded her statement to register a case, but still the FIR had not yet been registered against the guilty. She said that the statement of her daughter was also recorded by the police but no further action was taken.She alleged that the local police was trying to protect the alleged culprits under the pressure of an influential Akali leader of the area. She said that a complaint was also given to the SSP by her, but no action had been taken so far. When contacted, Balwinder Singh Bhullar, SHO of the Ghal Kalan police station, said that the woman was lying and had concocted the whole story for reasons best known to her. “The whole village is against her,” he added. However, he said that the matter was still under investigation and action would be taken accordingly. Meanwhile, the poor Dalit woman has threatened that if an FIR on the basis of her complaint, supported by the medico-legal report, was not lodged against the accused, she
would remove her clothes at the main roundabout of the town tomorrow in the morning, and would carry out a ‘nude march’ to the SSP’s office to seek justice. |
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Chaos on last day of nomination filing
Abohar, May 16 As there was no
separate queue for women, scores of would-be panches and sarpanches were found
waiting on the dusty ground or share a cemented bench under the shadow of
trees. Some even carried their minor children with them. The authorities
didn’t erect any tent and no arrangement for serving potable water was made.
The security arrangements were not up to the mark even, as hundreds of
two-wheelers and other vehicles were parked in both the complexes. Some of the
candidates said they felt suffocated inside the classrooms which were used for
accepting the nominations. The process went at a snail’s pace. Some of the
aspirants, who were either illiterate or educated only up to the primary level,
revealed that they had to pay Rs 400 each to private persons, who had put up
stalls on the footpath on civil hospital road, for getting their files
prepared. Most of them regretted that the government had not so far
categorised reservations for the Gram Panchayats. The authorities gave some
relief by extending the time for submitting nomination papers by two hours,
sources said. At least 14 Congressmen, a former sarpanch, three SAD (B) and a
BJP aspirant for the panchayat elections, alleged that their rivals had
snatched and torn their nomination papers which they were to file at the
Government Senior Secondary School here for the Khuyiansarwar block on the last
day today. They were, however, given extra time by the authorities to file
fresh papers. Some persons ransacked a shop on civil hospital road to protest
against “overcharging” for preparing the files for nomination papers. They
reportedly had manhandled a person and tried to damage plastic chairs, but
timely intervention by the others averted a mishap, witnesses said in the
evening. The officials, however, said no complaint had been received
from any party so far. |
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‘Admn hand-in-glove with SAD’
Bathinda, May 16 “The Congress workers, who went to file their nominations for the gram panchayat elections were not entertained by the district administration officials after 12 noon although the scheduled time for filing nominations was 11 am to 3 pm. But the nominations of SAD workers were received till late night,” alleged Gurpreet Singh
Kangar, MLA Rampura Phul. He added, “Not only this, we were not given the list of reservations of various villages. It was only after I personally intervened that we were able to get the list from the office of the ADC (Development).” Informing about some persons whose nominations were rejected due to time constraint, Kangar said, “Gurdeep Singh of Hakam Singh Wala village, former Sarpanch of Kangar village Swaranjeet Singh, who went to file the nomination of his wife, and Harjinder Singh, another former panchayat member of Kangar village were not allowed to file their
nominations.” Kangar asked, “If the SAD were to do all this, they would have just nominated the sarpanches. What is the need of
election?” MLA Nathana Ajaib Singh Bhatti alleged that the nomination papers of SAD workers were taken at the BDO offices in Nathana and Bathinda even till late night. But that of Congress candidates were rejected. “I have myself been an ADC for many years but never did such a thing.” “At Nathana, Shiromani Akali Dal workers from Lehra Bega village filed their nomination papers till late night. But Congress workers from villages Kothe Kor Singh Wale, Kothe Chet Singh Wale, Jeeda and Har Rai Pur were sent back,” Bhatti informed. “Even the reservation of Gobindpura village has been changed today. In a list issued on Thursday, the Gobindpura sarpanch seat was reserved for a Scheduled Caste. But today, once again it has been changed to a general one.” |
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Panchayat poll aspirants allege partisan behaviour by officials
Barnala, May 16 Amidst the alleged high-handedness by Akalis, many aspirants, believed to be enjoying the support of the Congress had to return without submitting their papers. Several candidates along with their supporters blocked road at the municipal committee office, Barnala, to protest against the alleged refusal of nominations. The aspirants of
Thullewal, Thikriwal, Hameede, Mangewal and Karmgarh village levelled serious charges at Akalis. Many candidates, believed to be having Congress back-up and other parties alleged that the returning officer had refused to accept their nominations papers under the pressure of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Though their candidates were waiting since morning to get their papers admitted yet they were refused to accept their papers on one pretext or the other. At the Barnala municipal committee office, the candidates having Congress affiliation and BSP along with their supporters raised anti-government slogans Congress leader Gurdarshan Singh Brar alleged that for Gram Panchayat
Gurma, the nominations of the candidates having affiliation to the Akalis were accepted even after the scheduled time whereas their party’s candidates had to face the wrath of the returning officers. Similar scenes were noticed at village
Shaina. Nasib Kaur, Ujjgar Singh and Shamsher Singh alleged that they entered Government Girls School,
Shaina, at around 2:30 pm to file their nominations but the cooperative society officer Dalvinder Sharma refused to accept their nominations. Their files were returned after two hours saying there were shortcomings in their papers. When DC R.L. Mehta was contacted, he said that after receiving the complaints of some candidates from
Jhallor, Ramgarh and Baba Ajit Singh Nagar, he held a dialogue with the returning officers, who said the aspirants came for filing the nomination papers at 3:30 pm after the stipulated time. So, the charges were false, he added. |
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Orbit plan to run mini-bus raises hackles of transporters
Bathinda, May 16 Sources in the transport department said the company received the first permit to run a mini-bus service on May 7 at a meeting held in Ferozepur. The matter was placed at number 23 on the agenda and the permit was given under the head of 872/2003/RTA/F. This permit allows the Orbit mini-bus to ply on the Killianwali-Malout route while passing through various villages. According to information available, earlier, the permit for the route was with Chamandeep Singh of village Mehna in Muktsar district. When contacted, Chamandeep Singh said he had got the permit on the orders of the State Transport Tribunal and it yielded an income of Rs 2,500 per day. But he pointed out that the transfer of permit had not taken place under pressure. On the other hand, secretary, RTA, Ferozepur, Bhupinder Singh, said, “The agenda
was placed at a meeting of the Joint State Transport Commission. It was proposed to be a joint venture of Orbit with some other party. But a final decision is yet to be taken and it is likely after May 31.” A number of private bus operators here, however, said that earlier, the company plied its buses on long routes that had affected them economically. On the route from Abohar to Patiala, Orbit buses can be seen plying with increased frequency, they pointed out. Now, it is the turn is of the mini-bus operators to feel the heat, they alleged. But Punjab State Mini-Bus Operators Association area president Harinder Singh said the measure would only benefit mini-bus operators if the company joins this segment of public transport. |
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Akhand path for Santa Singh begins
Kotkapura (Faridkot), May 16 Revealing this, the officiating jathedar of the Budha Dal, Baba Joginder Singh, said that his group of Nihangs had decided to hold this separate ceremony so as to avoid any confrontation with their rival group backed by some leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the state government. Keeping in view the growing tension between the two groups of
Nihangs, the district police of Faridkot today provided security to Baba Joginder Singh and ensured that security arrangements would be made at the time of bhog ceremony. A police team led by the local DSP visited the site of the bhog and reviewed the security arrangements. Besides, Baba Joginder Singh, the police officer also met Surinder Singh Babbar, nephew of the deceased saint, who was declared the legal heir by this group of
Nihangs. Baba Joginder Singh claimed Balbir Singh had forcibly captured some of their deras with the help of senior leaders of the SAD. “I am the real jathedar of the Budha Dal,” he further claimed. Adding that there was a great resentment prevailing among the Nihang community against Balbir Singh, he alleged that some political leaders of the ruling party were backing him to capture the Nihang deras for their vested political interests. The jathedar said that he was a peace loving man but warned that nobody would be allowed to disrupt their function at any cost. Meanwhile, there are reports that since both these groups of the Nihangs are at loggerheads, there is a possibility of clash between them. Earlier, Baba Joginder Singh held a meeting of the saints of various deras here and discussed this controversial issue with them. However, the details of this meeting were not available. |
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Ferozepur shooter guns for Olympic glory
Ferozepur, May 16 With this performance, Ronjan broke the previous national record held by Lt Col Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, who had scored 144/150, during a shooting championship in Bangkok in 2005. Now, Ronjan’s entry into the Olympics to be held in Beijing later this year through a wild card seems certain. Ronjab first won a silver medal in the junior world cup held in New Delhi in 2000. Since then, he has not looked back and till date, he has already created ripples in the shooting arena by bagging 16 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze medals in various international championships so far. Ronjan’s father, Malwinder Sodhi, himself remained an ace national shooter and his uncle, Rana Gurmit Sodhi, also represented India in shooting. Ronjan’s younger brother, Birendeep, who shoots trap, is also a member of the Indian shooting team. A product of St. Stephen’s and Amity Business School, New Delhi, Ronjan has been a recipient of many coveted awards including Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, which was bestowed on him by the government of Punjab. Ronjan’s dream run began in 2004, when he won the Gold at Asian Clay Shooting in Bangkok. He later went on to win gold during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2005. His extraordinary sprint continues till date, and his world ranking has improved to 11th place now. While talking to The Tribune, Ronjan said that his ambition is to win a gold at the Olympics for which he was practising hard. Ronjan gave all credit to his parents, Malwinder and Geetanjali, who he said were the spirit and motivation behind the success which he had achieved till date. |
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Pvt teachers resent poll duty
Bathinda, May 16 The staff members alleged that their institution is being targeted while the staff and teachers of government and government-aided institutions are spared from frequent poll duties. “Violence in elections has become a normal feature but we are forced to handle poll duties without proper security arrangements and who will be responsible in case of any mishap,” asked a senior staff member. Class IV employees rued that they were
not paid any TA or DA for poll duties last time and had to pay the fare from their own
pocket. The principal of the college, Amarjit Singh Dhillon, admitted that he had requested the State Election Commission and the Deputy Commissioner not to deploy a large number of staff members on poll duty but they said that it was mandatory. Vikas Garg, Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar, when contacted, denied any discrimination in deployment of staff on poll duty and said that the duties have been assigned after going through the past records. The security measures and norms are the same for government as well as private teachers who are being deployed on election duty, he added.
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Youth throws acid on women
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 16 According to police, Jaswant Singh (in his late twenties) threw acid on the face of his neighbours, Mahinder Kaur (45) and her mother-in- law Chhoto Kaur (80). Mahinder Kaur sustained severe burn injuries on her back, chest, face, head and her one eye reportedly was affected, while Chhoto Kaur sustained burn injuries on legs and arms. Doctors in Civil Hospital, Nathana, referred them to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, where they have been admitted in the Burn Care Centre. Sukhmander Singh, son of Mahinder, in a complaint to the police, alleged that the accused had a grudge with his family as they arranged his elder brother Kulwant Singh’s marriage with one of their relatives. Jaswant wanted to marry the girl himself. Today, he came to their house and threw acid on the two women when they were having tea at around 2 pm. While running away from the place of incident, Sukhmander recognised him and reported the incident to the police. Nathana police registered a case under sections 326, 452 and 307 of the IPC. However, the accused managed to escape and could not be arrested till the filing of the report.
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Overflowing sewage spells misery
Bathinda, May 16 Suman Garg, in whose house the sewage water has entered, said that the residents of the locality had brought the matter to the notice of the MC authorities repeatedly but to no avail. The stink in the area is intolerable, she added. Another resident, Ashok Gupta, said not only the residents of Shakti Nagar, but adjacent localities were also suffering as they had to cross the sewage water to reach their destinations. Worst affected were the school students who had to reach the school every day, he added. He expressed the fear of an epidemic breaking out in the locality if nothing was done to solve the problem. Residents said that accidents were common there because of skidding. Stagnated sewage water had created craters and potholes on the road. “Commuters cannot see the potholes because of sewage water. Many a time, accidents take place,” said a shopkeeper in the locality. When contacted, Kamal Kant Goyal, executive officer of municipal corporation, denied having received any complaint in this regard and assured that he will depute the workers to clear the pipes to ensure the proper flow of sewage water. |
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BJP men thrashed
again
Ferozepur, May 16 The BJP workers including, Inderjit Singh, Piara Singh, Tarsem Singh and Nacchatar Singh, said that they were going to fill the registration form for Sarpanch elections. However, on the way, some Akali workers stopped them and tried to prevent them from doing so. When the BJP members did not budge, the Akali members, Mohinder Singh, Rudh Singh, Harbeer Singh, Sawroop Singh, Jaspinder Singh and some others, allegedly thrashed them. DSP Jasbir Singh recorded the statement of all the BJP members. — OC |
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Two brothers electrocuted
Abohar, May 16 According to the information gathered from the South Avenue locality behind the DAV campus here, the iron rods, being placed by the victims for erecting the roof of a house, which was under construction, accidentally touched a 11,000 KV electricity line that was passing in the neighbourhood. One of the labourers was badly burnt while the other suffered a shock and fell at a distance before he died. |
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‘Donating blood need of the hour’
Bathinda, May 16 Ajit Jaitly, circle head of the Punjab National Bank, Bathinda, while inaugurating the camp, said that rather than getting involved in fights over petty issues and shedding someone else’s blood, the youth should come forward for this humble cause. Eleven units of blood were collected on the occasion.
— TNS |
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Today, on the last day of filing nomination papers for the village Panchayat polls, hustle-bustle was noticed in the city and other blocks where hundreds of applicants kept waiting to get their nominations papers submitted.
Bathinda,
May 16
After Gaganjit Singh, the captain of the Indian hockey team (Under-19), who brought laurels to this town by winning the junior world cup, another Ferozepur lad, Ronjan Sodhi, has done this border town proud with his amazing performance in double trap shooting event during the recently held ISSF World Cup, held at Kerrville (USA), in which he equalled the world record with his score of 145/150.
