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Hike in toll tax and fuel price
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Sukhbir authorised to anoint mayor
Congress admits defeat in
Abohar, BJP eyes top post
Water woes add to weather blues in Moga
OYT scam
Cause for concern
Mid-day meal
Akali workers meet to elect panchayat samiti chief
Chemist shops, fruit stalls raided
Snatching case: Cops still clueless
Yoga, medical assistance camp held
Man shackled for 5 yrs, respite far from sight
Kudos for PMT topper
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Hike in toll tax and fuel price
Bathinda, July 2 Although the movement of essential commodities had been allowed in the larger public interest, the transporters were not ready to ferry perishable goods since they were apprehensive that these could be delayed en route in other parts of the country, he pointed out. A meeting of the truckers was held here today where the members took stock of the strike. All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) had announced to observe indefinite nationwide strike from July 2 unless the Union Government agreed to its various demands, including abolition of toll tax, excluding sub-contractors of transport companies from the preview of service tax. "We are in touch with the AIMTC and the president of the body informed us that they had been called for parleys with the Union Transport Secretary but the invitation was turned down since the truckers felt that no worthwhile outcome would be possible unless they talked to the Union Transport Minister, Goyal added. Truck operators of Punjab had earlier stopped booking of dispatching goods to other states from Tuesday itself, a move that would adversely affect the movement of industrial goods as well as essential items such as vegetables and fruits. "We are paying Rs 5,000 per truck per year as national permit fee besides Rs 1.50 per litre of diesel as road development and also the road tax. The government is using toll tax as a source of additional revenue," said Sarabjit Singh, general secretary, Punjab State Goods Transporters' Association. Truckers have even claimed to have got the support of tempos, booking agents for the strike call. "We have even got the support of tempo operators who ply their vehicles within and around the city for transporting vegetables and fruits," added Goyal. Meanwhile, Bathinda Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Raman Vats said, "The transporters' strike would badly hit the domestic as well as export trade as truck operators play a vital role in the transportation of goods across the country." However, Bathinda railway station witnessed heavy rush for transportation of goods to other states. |
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United front to combat SAD
Bathinda, July 2 The front comprised the Bhartiya Communist Party, Lok Jan Shakti Party, Shiromani Akali Dal (A), SAD (1920), SAD (Panch Pardhani), CPI (M), Lok Bhalai Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Janata Party and Nationalist Congress Party. In the first stage of its phase-wise strategy, the front would hold a march through the city markets on July 11. The leaders of the front have invited every defeated candidate in the recently-held BMC elections to join the Morcha. The Congress candidates too have been urged to join but on the condition that they have to leave behind their party name and symbol. It may be mentioned that during the BMC polls, the CPI had supported the Congress in 48 wards and contested only in two wards under its own banner. But after losing 44 seats, differences cropped up between the two parties. The CPI leaders alleged the Congress leaders of being silent and for not lodging strong protests, adding that the leader of the opposition, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, was hand-in-glove with SAD (B). Accusing Sukhbir Badal, the SAD chief, of creating terror and spreading violence in the state, the leaders said if the parliamentary elections were to be held in a free and fair manner, no member of the Badal family would win. Criticising the Students Organisation of India (SOI), the students wing of the SAD (B), the leaders said it was only the name that related to students, otherwise it was a brigade formed by the SAD (B) to threaten people and create violence. The leaders sought that those involved in the poll violence should be booked in criminal cases. Stating lack of faith in the State Election Commission, the leaders of the Morcha also sought re-polling in the presence of observers from the Election Commission of India and central security forces. |
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Sukhbir authorised to anoint mayor
Bathinda, July 2 The decision was taken during a meeting held with the SAD general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder at field hostel of PSEB here today. The members further added the decision would be accepted by all. Member of Parliament Paramjeet Kaur Gulshan, district SAD president Sikandar Singh Maluka, junior vice-president of SAD Sarup Chand Singla were present at the meeting. It may be mentioned that Sukhbir Badal, during his recent visit to the city, had declared that the mayor would be announced in the first week of July. Confirming the facts, Balwinder Singh Bhunder said, "All candidates have expressed their willingness and assured of respecting the decision of the party high command." Putting an end to the speculations that arose after CM Parkash Singh Badal visited Rajan Garg that he would be projected as mayor, Bhunder said that there was no such thing. All are alike for the party, which is focused on the development and any one who can work for it would be the mayor, he held. As per speculations, Baljeet Singh Bir Behman is expected to be the strongest contender for the post. Advocate Bhupinder Singh Bhullar, former president of municipal council, Master Harmander Singh, a staunch ally of Sarup Chand Singla are also in the race. On the other hand, the name of a Hindu candidate, Rajan Garg has also come to light as his father
Chiranji Lal Garg, senior vice-president of SAD and a former minister, is said to be backing him. |
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Congress admits defeat in Abohar, BJP eyes top post
Abohar, July 2 Former BJP MLA Ram Kumar Goyal met two SAD (B) rebels who had won the election as Independents and sought their support for the party. Both the sides confirmed the development today in the evening.
Goyal's son Shiv Raj Goyal, a law student, is considered a front-runner for the post of president of the council. The BJP had won 16 seats in the 31-member council. Meanwhile, the 12-member Congress group set aside all speculations about disturbing the BJP's efforts by making it categorically clear that the party would play a constructive role as a seasoned opposition. Legislator Sunil Jakhar said, "The Congress accepts the people's verdict with an open mind. The alliance had won only four seats in 2003 elections and had been predicting a clean sweep this time but the electorate voted for the Congress candidates and elected 12 of them, endorsing our development oriented policies and
programmes. We will mount genuine pressure on the BJP-led council to resume pending projects and arrange grants from their government as the department of local bodies is also headed by their man," Jakhar added. Meanwhile, none of the office-bearers of the SAD (B), who had remained glued to their respective posts for the last many years, were ready to comment on the gloomy picture that has emerged after the declaration of results. The party had initially staked claim to 15 wards and collected applications for 16 wards claiming that the SAD (B) had broadened its base in the urban areas. But the party got five seats finally after involving CM and minister for jails, Hira Singh
Gabria, who is in-charge of the district. However, two senior workers, Buta Singh and Gurmeet
Kaur, who had been denied party tickets, defeated the official nominees. Now the SAD (B) was in a state of shock as only one of its candidates, Vijay
Nagpal, could win. Nagpal has made a hat- trick. In 1998, he was elected as a Congress candidate. In 2003, he won as an Independent and this time, he used the SAD (B) symbol. |
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Water woes add to weather blues in Moga
Moga, July 2 Residents complain that they were facing shortage for the last many months. The repeated complaints to local body and district administration had not yielded any results. There were reports that some illegal colonies were being supplied water under political pressure, cutting the quota of other residential colonies. Rajinder Singh, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, said that the situation of water supply in this areas was very poor and some people had to virtually carry buckets of water from their neighbours who have ‘tullu pumps’ to pull out water from supply lines in which water pressure remains low during most of the hours of the supply. It may be mentioned here that more than 50 per cent of the residents of this town had ‘tullu pumps’ in their houses and business establishments to pull out water, which too had added to the water woes of the town, said an official of the local municipal council. But if going by official records of the council, it is revealed that the minimum public requirement of water in the town is 32 million litres per day but the existing 32 water pumps have the maximum capacity to pump out only 28.24 million litres of water that too if they work continuously for 24 hours. The present timings of water supply have been fixed between 4 am and 12 noon in the morning hours and between 4 pm and 10 pm in the evening hours but one hardly finds water coming on time. An official of the council revealed that the erratic power supply was also responsible for the irregular supply of water to the residents. “The public water pumps need to get continuous power during the fixed hours of water supply,” he said. Dwarka Bansal, chairman of the citizens’ welfare council, has advocated for installation of at least seven more water pumps in the town to meet the actual demand of the people. He said the municipal limits of the town had already been increased by the state government and if the situation goes on like this the local residents would have to further face more shortage of water in the days to come. “The district administration needs to wake up in time to install more water pumps and ensure reasonable supply of water as per the requirements of the people,” he added. |
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OYT scam
Bathinda, July 2 The CIFA leaders demanded the suspension of officials involved in the scam and blacklisting of the manufacturing units in question. They also accused CM Parkash Singh Badal of pursuing ‘anti-farmer’ policy, as he has kept the power portfolio with himself. Producing documents in support of the allegations levelled against the PSEB and government officials, CIFA president Satnam Singh Behru said, “Under the OYT scheme, around 85,000 farmers of the state had submitted their applications along with Rs 25,000 as security money for the tubewells. Then, some PSEB officials passed on the matter to private companies on a contract basis, who started looting farmers by delivering fake and cheap quality equipment.” As per the scheme, the cost of transformer, poles and wires was to be borne by the farmers for which they had taken loans. But a month back, the PSEB suspended the scheme and decided to accept demand notices, which were issued prior to June 6. The testing of equipment was also deferred as the government had suspended the scheme till October 31. The CIFA leaders lamented that the demand notices were served only to around 22,000 farmers and they would start a stir to secure the rights of farmers. They added that a memorandum had been submitted to Sumedh Saini, the Vigilance Bureau DGP, to expedite the investigations. It may be mentioned that the OYT scheme was launched around seven months back to give free of cost power connections to farmers, who set up their own transformers. Thousands of farmers had applied for the same, most of them being from the Bathinda and Sangrur areas. |
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Cause for concern
Mansa, July 2 According to information available, nearly 40 per cent schools have no science teachers while 70 per cent are running without science laboratories. An official of the Science Teachers’ Union said that without adequate material in these laboratories, students could not acquire practical knowledge about the science subjects. Convener of the Save Education Committee, Darshan Singh Dhillon, informed that for want of grants, the government schools were finding it difficult to provide science education to the students. The science kits that were given to schools in 1987-88 had not been replaced till date. A science teacher said that due to government neglect towards science subject, students of the state could not qualify for the international science olympiad. Harbansh Singh Sandhu, District Education Officer (Secondary), Mansa, confirmed the lack of science teachers besides shortage of scientific equipment and related material in laboratories. Jagtar Singh Kathra, DPI, Secondary, Punjab, admitted that there was a lack of science teachers in the schools of the state but added that efforts were on to improve the condition at the earliest. Science education in state faced a setback after the science education improvement programme was discontinued in schools. In Mansa district, out of 250, nearly 130 posts of science teachers are lying vacant. It speaks volumes about the government’s concern for science subject. |
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Mid-day meal
Bathinda, June 2 Several schools complained about not receiving the supplies and faced a difficult situation. The Jhandawala elementary school with 160 students was closed after half day as the school authorities were not in a position to serve the mid-day meal. Headmaster Resham singh admitted that a half day holiday was declared as there was no meal to serve to the students. Another branch school with 130 students also faced a similar situation and the students were not served the meal. In Harraipur elementary school with a strength of 250 students, the situation was no different but some self-help group took the initiative to serve the meal to the students and came to the rescue of the authorities. District Education Officer (Primary) Gurminder Pal Dhillon, when contacted, said she has not received any complaint from any school. She said all arrangements were in place days in advance, but did not rule out the possibility of a goof-up at some places due to communication gap as the schools were closed for vacation. Everything would be set right by tomorrow and there would be no complaints, she assured. Mid-day meal scheme offeres meals to the students in schools so as to motivate kids from the economically weaker sections to attend school. |
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Akali workers meet to elect panchayat samiti chief
Barnala, July 2 The ministers invited the opinions of the party workers for the coveted post. The election of chairman and the vice-chairman of the 25-member samiti, that falls under two assembly segments, Barnala and Dhanaula, is slated for July 4. As many as 15 members of the samiti belong to former chief minister Surjeet Singh Barnala’s group while Congress and Independents have two members each. Three members enjoy the patronage of former minister Gobind Singh Longowal and the remaining ones have sworn allegiance to MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. Tejwinder Kaur of Barnala group, Harchand Singh Bhathal from Dhindsa camp and Harpal Singh Pandher having allegiance to Longowal are in fray for the post of the chairman. Earlier, the election to the post had been postponed twice, on June 22 and 25. Agitated over the continuous delay, many members belonging to the Barnala group met SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal at Budhlada complaining about the unnecessary postponing of the elections. Then, Badal had asked Sewa Singh Sekhwa to personally look into the matter. Former minister Gobind Singh Longowal, ex-MLA Malkeet Singh Keetu, SGPC member Karnail Singh and former vice-chairman of the MC, Barnala, Ravinder Singh Dhillon, besides others participated in the meeting. |
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Chemist shops, fruit stalls raided
Bathinda, July 2 Giving this information here today, civil surgeon Dr Maninderjit Singh said a team comprising district drug inspectors and food inspectors inspected several fruit and vegetable shops, stalls and vendors. They got a huge quantity of rotten and unripe items destroyed. The drug authorities conducted a raid on a chemist shop and seized 1,800 tablets, 1,000 capsules, 55 injections and four bottles of cough syrup. These drugs were being stocked without proper license and were allegedly intended to be sold as intoxicants. The drug inspectors later visited another chemist shop in the Model Town locality and took two samples of medicines, which were sent to the government laboratory for analysis. Dr Singh maintained that the drive to check the unregulated sale of intoxicating substances, adulterated food stuff as also rotten or unripe fruits and vegetables would continue relentlessly in the district to check drug addiction and the outbreak of diseases in the wake of continuing hot weather conditions. Offenders would be punished, he maintained. |
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Snatching case: Cops still clueless
Bathinda, July 2 A Tribune staffer yesterday lodged a complaint with the Kotwali police that some youths snatched his motorcycle Bajaj Pulsar (PB-03M-0995) and mobile phone at gunpoint while he was on his way back home in Thermal Colony with his brother. After receiving the complaint, DSP (D) Surinder Pal Singh and SHO Kotwali Davinder Pal Singh along with a number of police staff inspected the site. A case was registered under section 382 of the IPC. SHO Kotwal, Davinder Pal Singh said, "We have suspicion over the involvement of some miscreants. To verify this, CIA staff in civil dress have been deputed." |
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Yoga, medical assistance camp held
Waryamkhera (Abohar), July 2 A team of teachers from the Haridwar-based Dev Sanskriti Vishawvidylaya, comprising Jyoti Upadhyaya, Pragya Devi, Pushpa Sharma, Sudha Patel and Monu Bala, during their stay in the village for the last eight days, preached brotherhood among the residents and imparted them training in yoga. Sant Sumer Giri and sarpanch Lal Chand Bhadoo jointly performed the opening ceremony by lighting the lamp today. Hosts for the yagya Inderjit Bhadoo, Roop Ram, Rajiv Bhadoo, Jagdish Saharan, Surinder Bhadoo and Het Ram performed the "pujan" along with their respective spouses before the yagya. N.K. Bhatia, Daya Ram and Om Parkash organised an exhibition of spiritual literature on the occasion. |
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Man shackled for 5 yrs, respite far from sight
Mansa, July 2 When this correspondent visited his place, his mother Pisto said that Kalu worked in a shop for some time. He was married nearly six years ago but his wife divorced him when he became mentally upset. Now, he has been put in a room lacking in facilities like a fan or toilet. When Kalu was asked some questions, he answered correctly most of them which raises the hope that if he is provided proper treatment, then he may well recover. His mother said that she had two sons and two daughters. The younger son works at a shop. Her husband died 12 years back. Pisto said that no government official or a doctor visited their house. However, Mansa Sabhyacharak Chetna Manch, a social organisation, provided them with financial help and was trying to draw the attention of administration towards Kalu’s pathetic condition. President of the Manch, Kamaljeet Singh Malwa, said they had given food and financial help to the family. G.S. Nagi, civil
surgeon, Mansa, when contacted, said he had no information about Kalu’s condition. However, he added that he would check up the case at the earliest. |
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Kudos for PMT topper
Bathinda, July 2 |
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