Bathinda, August 28
Arrangements for the rally being organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) on September 2, to mark the commencement of the construction work for the 1980 megawatt super critical thermal power plant, is going on full throttle.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal will be among those present at the rally, which is being held at village Banawali, near Talwandi Sabo, and is being billed as a show of strength to counter the Lambi rally that Captain Amarinder Singh is scheduled to address a day earlier.

To make the rally a success saga, the official machinery of Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot districts have been deployed in full strength. The venue for the rally has been cordoned off and a heavy posse of policemen is present to prevent any untoward incident.

During a visit to the site, policemen were seen supervising the cleaning of the road sides and making arrangements for parking and barricading.

"It would be a historic rally," was the refrain one heard from the cops, SAD (B) workers and the PSEB employees.

As per the details procured from senior police officials, B&R and the PSEB officials, there would be three stages-- one for the VVIPs, which would accommodate 75-80 persons, a second one for the VIPs, where arrangements would be made to seat around 500 persons and a third one for the singers including Dhadhi Jathas and well-known Punjabi folk singer Harbhajan Mann.

The stage for the singers would be set up by Harbhajan Mann's group. The three stages would be covered with a steel structure. To cordon off the rally venue, 20,000 feet of barricading has been ordered.

The contract for the tent (pandal) has been given to Sethi Tent House of Amritsar, which would cover an area 800x400 feet in size, where one lakh chairs would be arranged for seating people. The contractor and the officials spoke about the difficulty in procuring the required infrastructure of this scale. As per the plan, 1000 pedestal fans and 500 others are required, but it has not been arranged so far.

Giving details, Paramjeet Singh Sidhwan, political secretary of SAD (B) chief Sukhbir Badal said, "As per the expectations and the response, we are hoping for one lakh people to be present at the rally."

Speaking about the arrangements made for providing eatables, he said that 50 trucks of fruits, one lakh bottles of mineral water, five lakh glasses, and lakhs of samosas have been ordered. Sidhwan made it clear that nothing would be taken from the SGPC account.

Bathinda, August 28
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has set up a make-shift camp office at village Banawali, where the construction of the super critical thermal power plant would begin on September 2.

The PSEB camp office keeps bustling with activity with senior officials including member distribution, H.S. Brar, secretary Husn Lal and chief engineers present there along with other officials to work out the details.

Brar told TNS that it would be the first plant with such a huge capacity for power generation. "In this plant, three units would be installed with a capacity of 660 MW each," he pointed out.

Dispelling the worries of residents in the surroundings areas, he clarified that the plant has taken a no-objection certificate (NOC) from various departments concerned and it would have electronic respirators for minimum pollution.

When asked about the details, he said that the special purpose vehicle (SPV), that would manage the project like an intermediate agency, was yet to come. After that, more details would be available, he said.

"The commencement of the construction of the project would be like a family function and it would be a moment of happiness for all," Brar added.

When asked about the rally being organized on the day, he said, "It is just to celebrate one of the major events in the state."

The super critical power plant would be unique in character and would be run by a private company, Sterlite Energy Limited.

Sukhbir Badal, the SAD chief, had recently made it clear that as per the MoU between the state and the company, the power given to the state would cost less than Rs 3 per unit, which would be cheaper than buying power from other states.

To pull out the state from the power crisis, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has already said that he is "committed to transforming Punjab into a power surplus state during his government's tenure."

Mansa, August 28
People of Punjab and Mansa have great hopes from the thermal plant, which would be set up near Talwandi Sabo in this district. On September 2, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would lay the foundation stone of the 1980-MW thermal plant to be set up by the Sterlite Energy Limited.

According to information available, it would be the state’s biggest power project. As many as 2113 acres of land has been acquired from four Mansa villages for the purpose.

ADC Sukhwinder Singh informed that 1453 acre of land had been acquired from Banawala, 526 acre from Pairon, 107 acre from Raipur and 25 acre land from Talwandi Akalian village and Rs 281 crore had been given as compensation to the farmers who gave up their land for the project.

H.S. Brar, member, distribution, Punjab State Electricity Board, informed that in the next three to four years, the thermal plant would help in meeting the energy needs of the state. He added that two more thermal plants — 1320-MW at Rajpura and 540-MW at Goindwal Sahib — would be set up to cater to the state’s energy requirements. Brar also stressed on saving the energy saying that the energy saved was equal to energy generated.

Meanwhile, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, general secretary of the SAD, informed that the SAD-BJP government was implementing several development plans in the state.

Ruldu Singh, state president of the Punjab Kisan Union, and Ram Singh Bhainibagha, district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, were of the opinion that the youth of Mansa, particularly of those villages whose land had been acquired, should get job preference in the project.

State secretary of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha Bhagwant Singh Sammaon and district secretary of the CPI Buta Singh while echoing the similar views demanded 80 per cent reservation for Mansa youth.

They also demanded that the thermal plant should be christened after district.

The project would be completed within three years.

It is notable that the district lacks industries for which unemployment and drug-addiction are widespread here. So, apart from the people of Punjab the residents of this district too have great hopes from the project.

Bathinda, August 28
Taking a serious note of adulterated milk, ghee, khoya and paneer being sold, the health department has launched a state-level campaign to check the menace.

Bathinda civil surgeon Dr Neelam Bajaj confirmed this here today. She said the district health officers have been instructed to launch campaigns to provide pure sweets to the people during the coming festival season.

Regarding district Bathinda, Charanjeet Garg, SMO, said special teams of food inspectors have been formed to check the sale of adulterated sweets, milk and milk products.

The milk products being brought from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan would be checked at railway stations. Besides, trucks transporting these products would also be checked.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the health minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla has written to the health ministers of the states concerned to launch a campaign in their respective states to check milk products before sending them to Punjab.

According to the instructions, all civil surgeons have been asked to issue written directions to all sweet shop owners making it mandatory for them to inform about the consignment of milk products being brought from other states.

Moreover, these consignments should be used only after getting a clean chit from the health department.

Meanwhile, the Milkmen and Dairy Union, Punjab, urged the state government to bring transparency in Food Safety and Standard Act 2006, and to review the Food Adulteration Act 1954.

Union state president P.S. Sohal and general secretary Joginder Paul have announced to start a series of district level conferences throughout the state in support of their demands.

Bathinda, August 28
Two persons were killed and 30 others injured when a bus belonging to a private transport company dashed against a tree near village Sudana in the district today.

The bus was playing between Salabatpura and Rampura. The mishap took place when the front tyre of the bus burst, throwing it off-balance and the driver, Harnek Singh, lost control over the vehicle.

The two deceased have been identified as Jagseer Singh of village Siriyewala and Harpreet Singh of village Koloke in Bathinda district.

The injured were admitted to the government hospital at Rampura Phul while two of the seriously injured were shifted to the Adesh institute of medical sciences.

The driver has been arrested and a case has been registered at the Phul police station in this regard, SHO Sukhdev Singh informed.

Moga, August 28
The officiating district magistrate-cum-election officer V.K. Meena has appealed to all the political parties to follow and abide by the model code of conduct for the ensuing election of Moga and Badhni Kalan Municipal Councils and cautioned that any violation would attract action against the respective political party or its candidate.

He was addressing a meeting of the officers and representatives of the political parties at the mini-secretariat here today evening. The meeting was convened to apprise the political parties of the provisions of the model code of conduct and various other directions issued by the State Election Commission (SEC).

He said that nomination papers for these elections would be accepted between September 1 and 4, scrutiny would be held on September 5 and on September 6 nominations could be withdrawn. Voting for the 31 wards of Moga and 11 wards of Badni Kalan would be held on September 14 and the campaigning period would end 48 hours before it, he said.

Meena has appointed the local Sub-Divisional Magistrate and District Transport Officer as returning officers for 16 and 15 wards of Moga, respectively, while the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Nihalsinghwala has been appointed as the returning officer for all the 11 wards of Badhni Kalan.

Explaining the directions of the model code of conduct and 34 guidelines issued by the SEC, he asked the political parties and candidates not to indulge in any activity which might spark off hatred or tension among people of different castes, communities, religions or regions. Adding that personal attacks should be avoided, he said that there should be no appeal on the basis of castes, communities and religion by any party to secure votes and there would be no use of places of worship for election campaign.

The political parties were also asked to refrain from other corrupt practices like offering bribe, threats or intimidation of the voters, impersonation at the time of polling, canvassing within 100m of polling booths and offering transportation facilities to the voters to and from the polling stations.

Directing the enforcement authorities and the RO's to keep a strict vigil, he cautioned the political parties against making use of any private or government property for putting up posters or banners, erecting flag staffs or writing election slogans without obtaining written permission from the owners of the property.

The political parties were told that they would be liable for penal action under the Defacement of Property Act if charged with using private or government buildings to put up election propaganda material.

He also asked the political parties to ensure that their supporters did not disturb or break up election meetings and processions, organized by other parties. He made it clear that nobody would be allowed to create disturbance of any kind during the campaigning period.

He further asked the political parties that it would be mandatory for them to submit prior information to the local police authorities regarding the venue and time of the election meetings and processions, well in time, so that proper security arrangements could be made. The independent candidates would also have to inform about the time, date and route of the proposed procession in advance for security and traffic management purposes.

All printed material related to the election must bear the name of publisher and printer and a copy of each material would have to be submitted with the returning officer concerned, he added.

Barnala, August 28
A munshi with the Truck Union, Bhadaur, Jagsir Singh, was killed in a road mishap on Wednesday night.

According to sources, the incident took place when Jagsir was on his way to Bhadaur from Nainewal on his motor cycle which collided with a scooter. He died on the spot and his body was brought to civil hospital, Barnala for post mortem examination.

Although the body was brought to the hospital on Wednesday night, the post mortem could not be conducted till 3 pm today.

Protesting against the delay in the post mortem, the family members of the victim raised anti-doctors slogans.

Former MLA Malkeet Singh Keetu reached at the hospital and had a talk with the doctors.

The hospital staff alleged that the post mortem was delayed as police did not give them the papers for conducting the post mortem.

Later the post mortem was conducted and body was handed over to the kin of the deceased.

Bathinda, August 28
In an attempt to shift the onus from synthetic pesticides to the non-synthetic ones for farming in Punjab, the wonder plant ‘neem’ (Azadirachta Indica) would have a new definition in the days to come as the biotechnology department in Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) is all set to use the plant for the manufacturing of organic pesticides.

Yuvraj Singh Pandha, an entomologist with the PSCST, while talking to The Tribune at the Forest Department premises here today, said that the council is working out the modalities for setting up a bio-processing unit for the promotion and production of such pesticides at Patiala.

Focusing on the production of neem-based bio-pesticides; the project would be completed in three years in a phased manner at a cost of Rs 66 lakh. After setting up the plant at Patiala, two more plants would be set up in other parts of Punjab, including Bathinda, he added.

PSCST is one of the ten agencies across India that is coordinating for the promotion and production of neem-based bio-pesticides.

According to an estimate, there are 12 lakh neem trees in Punjab and Bathinda alone has more than 1.20 lakh of them in the district. Constituting 10 per cent of the total neem trees in the state, Bathinda has a crucial role in the production of the bio-pesticide as far as raw material is concerned.

PSCST officials have even started holding meetings with the rural folks of the district to collect neem fruits. “We are having meetings with people in the villages of Bathinda. We are ready to pay them on per kilogram basis for the neem fruit they collect and generate employment opportunities for them,” Pandha said.

Jatinder Kaur Arora, additional director, PSCST, informed that this part of Punjab bore the maximum brunt of excessive pesticides that also manifested itself in deadly diseases like the cancer. Therefore, we will put this region on top priority to sensitise farmers about the use of bio-pesticides, she added.

“Besides being eco-friendly, neem-based pesticides affect the life cycle of pests instead of killing them. Neem-based pesticides have anti-feedant and pest repellent properties, where pests do not like to feed on the plant and even if does, its life cycle gets affected seriously,” she informed. 

Accordingly to Pandha, neem has 11 different types of active ingredients and makes it very tough for a pest to develop resistance against it. Due to its fast breakdown, it leaves no residue on the plant. It is non-toxic in nature and nourishes and conditions the soil.

Even a marginal farmer can manufacture neem-based pesticides as only a simple procedure is involved in which definite quantities of neem fruit and water are mixed and kept for around 12 hours till an aqueous solution is formed, which is used as a spray, he claimed.

Moga, August 28
The local police averted a bank robbery in the district by arresting five persons. Two pistols, one revolver and few sharp-edged weapons were recovered from their possession.

Rajesh Hasteer, in charge of the local CIA staff, revealed to TNS that they were arrested from the outskirts of Raoke Kalan village near Nihalsinghwala while they were planning a bank robbery.

Those arrested had been identified as Pappu Singh, son of Jeet Singh, Baljit Singh, son of Jagga Singh, Kulwinder Singh, son of Joginder Singh, Sukhchain Singh, son of Malkit Singh, and Gurmail Singh, son of Bant Singh, he said.

A .315 bore pistol along with five cartridges were recovered from the possession of Pappu Singh, a .315 bore pistol and four cartridges were recovered from Kulwinder Singh while a .32 bore revolver was recovered from Sukhchain Singh.

Hasteer informed that an FIR under sections 399, 402 of the IPC and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act had been registered at the Badhni Kalan police station.

During preliminary investigations, gang leader Pappu Singh had revealed that he and his associates were also involved in several other crimes committed in the area. Further investigations were in progress, Hasteer added.

Those arrested would be produced before a local court on Friday.

Barnala, August 28
Taking serious note of alleged unauthorised selling of government forms by the private typists and stamp vendors in the Barnala court complex, the district administration office conducted a raid at the court campus and seized about 15 typewriters and government forms which the typists were selling without prior permission.

Captain (retd) Udhay Singh, a typist at local court said that he had been selling forms for last 10 years but the administration never asked them to seek any sort of license or permission for selling the forms. If the administration says that the unauthorised practice of selling forms was not allowed then he must have issue notice in this regard.

However, deputy commissioner R.L. Mehta said that he had received a complaint regarding unauthorised selling of government forms.

He said that 15 typewriters and some government forms which were sold without license had been seized.

The DC added that the typist union had approached him and he has asked them to meet him on Friday.

Ferozepur, August 28
In a close contest, the 22 Infantry Division of the Army won the Western Command Cross Country Championship held here under the aegis of the Golden Arrow Division. Twelve teams comprising of 112 runners participated in the two categories of 12 km and 4 km at the sports competition.

Rifleman Jaiveer Singh stood first in the 4-km category by clocking 11.37 minutes whereas Lance Naik Shiv Kumar picked up the 12-km event by covering the distance in 40 minutes.

Major-Gen T.S. Gill, GOC, Golden Arrow Division, was the chief guest. He gave away the prizes to the winners and said the event was a step towards selecting runners from the Army under its programme ‘Mission Olympics’. “Selected runners from this event will participate in the Army championship to be held in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.”

Abohar, August 28
Girls of Amrit Model School swept the district-level soft ball tournament by winning the under-14, under-17 and under-19 categories, an official release said on Thursday.

The school won in boys’ under-17 and under-19 categories also.

However, under-14 category event was won by the team from LRS DAV Senior Secondary School.

Boys from Amrit Model School also emerged victorious in Yoga finals of under-14, under-17 and under-19 categories.

In the girls’ under-14 category, players from Maya Devi Memorial Adarsh School, village Kerakhera, had won while in the under-17 category, the team from Amrit Model School stood first.

The team from Singh Sabha Kanya Pathshala won the under-19 category event.

Archery finals for girls were held at the Government Senior Secondary School where Noor Rupinder scored maximum points to reach the top slot of the under-19 category.