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Mob tries to set PSEB records afire
Rain showers a pleasant surprise
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Milling process not yet over in rice mills
One year of BMC
City schools in a bind over extending summer holidays
Arhtiyas resort to stir over govt decision on payment to farmers
Members of the Arhtiya Association staging protest in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma
Teachers, rural docs plan to stage protest in Jalalabad
RO water scheme yet to overcome hiccups
An RO plant in Bathinda. There is no display board at these plants to show the TDS and PH level. Further, the attendants at the plants do not bother to empty the storage tanks to clean and fill it with fresh water.
Photo by writer
Cops seize truck ferrying opium
Patwari gets jail term after demanding bribe for land mutation
Special train to run for Haridwar from July 10-22
10 dowry cases registered in twin districts
Drugs seized
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Mob tries to set PSEB records afire
Bathinda, July 9 It is the second such incident in Bathinda district during this week. Two days back, a mob, irked over the poor power supply, went on the rampage at Bhai Rupa power grid, where property was damaged and the staff was
terrorised. As per the details available, for the past two days, there was no supply to the Ganga feeder line from the Daan Singh Wala grid. Informed about the resentment among the consumers, PSEB officials promised them power supply from 6 am to noon for today. Finding the promise unfulfilled, when people went to enquire this morning, Teja Singh, an employee deputed there, did not give a clear reply, which led to an outbreak of public anger. Returning to village
Ganga, the irate mob announced from the loudspeakers of the gurudwara that a dharna would be staged outside the power grid. Soon after, people assembled at the village grain market and moved towards the Daan Singh Wala power grid. Lodging a protest there, the protesters took the records in their possession and tried to set it ablaze. The timely intervention by the PSEB officials defused the situation. Sensing popular resentment, officials immediately recommended the transfer of Teja Singh, whose attitude had sparked the anger. Sub-divisional Officer Surjeet Singh said there was some technical snag due to which the power supply could not be made available. He added that the employee deputed there had added fuel to the fire. He assured early removal of snag and restoration of power. |
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Booked for power theft
Bathinda: The Punjab State Electricity Board officials detected four cases of power theft at Mallewala village in Faridkot district and penalised the defaulters with a fine amounting to Rs 1.39 lakh. A case under the Electricity Act, 2003, has been registered against Ram Singh, Malkit Singh, Sukhjinder Singh and Kaur Singh at the PSEB police station, Bathinda, on Wednesday. No arrest has been made in any of the cases.
— TNS
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Rain showers a pleasant surprise
Bathinda, July 9 The dawn was hot and humid as the weather was apparently continuing its characters of the last two days; and the mercury also recorded 30 degrees Celsius at 7.30 am at the Agro-met advisory services PAU regional station, Bathinda. The only exception was the slightly high wind speed in comparison to other days. But just before noon, all of a sudden, quick atmospheric activities were seen, clouds carrying rains appeared from nowhere and covered the sky; dust storms also hit the region. Rains reappeared after eight days and lashed the area making everyone believe that it’s actually the monsoon. The conditions turned pleasant in no time as mercury in fact took a nosedive falling by 15 degrees Celsius, perhaps the biggest in recent past, and touched 26 degrees Celsius at 2.30 pm. The behaviour of mercury surprised all, even the weatherman, who normally records low temperature in morning in comparison to afternoon. Today, the rain has made thing upside down. The intensity of downpour, however, varies from place to place and the spell was also brief, but it was enough to provide the needed moisture in the air for making the breeze pleasant and giving respite to the parched fields. Besides, call it an offshoot of rain or whatever, even the PSEB did not snap power supply in some areas bringing much relief to the residents who had been reeling under frequent and long spells of power cuts. But after some time, the sun re-emerged in the sky and things again took a twist in such a way as if nothing had happened in the noon. |
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Milling process not yet over in rice mills
Moga, July 9 The officials of the Food and Civil Supplies department said that the progress of few rice mills in the Zira sub-division of Ferozepur district with regard to milling was slow as compared to other parts of the state. As a result of which, many truck-loads of paddy have been transferred to rice mills in Nihalsinghwala area of the Moga district during the past couple of weeks for milling. On June 24, as many as 30 trucks of paddy were 'illegally' transferred from Mahavir Rice Mill (Zira), Friends Rice Mill (Zira) and another rice mill to Vivek Trading Company Nihalsinghwala by manipulation with senior authorities of the Punjab Agro Corporation, Food Corporation of India and the Directorate of Food and Civil Supplies department. Bhushan Garg, owner of the Vivek Trading Company, while speaking to The Tribune, admitted that he had brought few trucks of paddy from the rice-mills of the Ferozepur district and said that there was nothing wrong in it as the concerned agencies had given him the permission to do so after getting the approval from the Food and Civil Supplies department. Similarly, hundreds of truck-loads of paddy had also been transferred to many other rice mills of the Nihalsinghwala and its adjoining areas in the last week of June. Interestingly, in most of the cases of transfer of paddy Punjab Agro Corporation was the purchase agency of paddy in the last procurement season. When contacted, Ranbir Singh DM of Punjab Agro Corporation of Moga district, said that the paddy was transferred with the mutual understanding of the rice-mills of Zira and Nihalsinghwala areas. "The rice mills have paid the transportation charges on their own behalf," he said. There were reports that in some cases the paddy had actually not been transferred and it has been shown only in the papers, which required to be probed by the independent agencies. In the past few years, hundreds of cases had come to light, in which poor quality rice was being smuggled from other states, which was given to the FCI for getting the fresh stock of paddy for milling. As per the practice, the FCI first receives rice in advance and then allots the fresh stock of paddy for milling, which has practically created many problems for the rice mills. If a rice-mill fails to give advance rice to the FCI, it means that the rice-mill would not get stock of paddy for milling. Therefore, in order to get the stock of paddy for milling the rice mills normally purchase paddy from outside market from the nearby districts or states to meet the requirements of the FCI agency. The Tribune repeatedly tried to contact BK Yadav, DM of the FCI of the Moga district on his mobile phone for comments but he was not available. |
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Infighting clouds good intentions
Rajay Deep Tribune News Service
Bathinda, July 9 The Rs 40-crore city beautification project had been started prior to the formation of the house. But it courted controversy with councillors saying poor material had been used. The BMC bureaucracy was accused of encouraging corruption in connivance with the contractors. The matter generated heat and in protest engineers went on pen down strike. The multilevel parking, the dream project of the BMC, could not be approved. The BMC got approval for setting up 50 RO plants in all the 50 wards but it had to wade through controversy over the names engraved on the foundation stones. Some councillors did not want the names of deputy and senior deputy mayor to be engraved on the foundation stones. As of now, a total of 17 RO plants have been functioning, while construction work for 12 is on. But there are 21 wards where the BMC could not find a site. Most councillors complained of poor state of water supply. During one meeting, a SAD affiliated councillor had even warned of his resignation if his locality was not provided with adequate water supply. The extension of lease to Public Library created a rift between BJP councillors. Some roads and roundabouts were planned to be named after Satguru Ram Singh Ji and other Kuka martyrs, but till date, no intimation has been forthcoming. Indicating the ‘poor’ performance of the councillors, a solid waste management plant despite reaching final stage of negotiation, went to Sangrur. Further due to shortage of funds, streetlight renovation scheme and city bus project, failed to fructify. The general house could achieve only 50 per cent of the targeted amount through collection of building fee. Income from water supply and sewerage remained one-fifth of the target. In many colonies, the BMC regularised hundreds of illegal water supply connections. About 54 illegal colonies were also regularised for one time fee from the colonizers. It may be mentioned that after the transfer of BMC Joint Commissioner Amit Dhaka, his office is still lying vacant. And, to cap it all, there was a demand for the Mayor’s resignation from some of his own party (SAD) councilors.
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City schools in a bind over extending summer holidays
Bathinda, July 9 The principals of various schools, however, said they did not receive formal orders from the district administration. Meanwhile, the rain brought down the temperature from 41 degrees Celsius to 26 degrees, which also confused various schools authorities whether or not they should follow the order. While naming the schools that were found open today, the DEO said private schools fail to listen. “We visited the Krishna Vatika and it was open. Its principal said the school is closing from tomorrow. Similarly, the Delhi Public School was also working and its principal stated that he was not aware of any instruction given by the education minister in this regard. We visited Balluana also and found the Sarv Hitkari School and PK International School working. Some primary schools were also found to be working. A report in this regard has been submitted to the deputy commissioner of Bathinda, the director of the CBSE and the DPI (schools),” the DEO said. Arun Jee, principal of the Delhi Public School, said, “No formal order was sent by the administration on which we could act. The rain today made the weather conditions better. Our school closes at 11:30 am while nursery and prep wing are not working.” Neelam Verma, principal of the Silver Oaks School, said her school would be re-opening on July 13. A similar incident had happened in January when administration had asked the schools to close down following extreme cold weather but the day the schools were ordered for closure the weather had improved considerably, she added. St Xavier’s School, which re-opened on July 3, closed today following the news appearing in newspapers about the education minister’s order. Despite repeated attempts, DC Rahul Tewari could not be contacted for his version on the action the administration would be taking against the schools found flouting the state orders.
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Arhtiyas resort to stir over govt decision on payment to farmers
Fazilka, July 9 A meeting of Artiya Association was held here on the shop of Fazilka unit president Om Parkash Setia under the chairmanship of Vijay Kalra, president Artiya Association Punjab unit, in which, the office bearers and members of Punjab and the local unit participated. The Artiyas staged a dharna before the office of the Market Committee, Fazilka. They raised slogans against the Punjab government. They also took out protest march in the grain market. It was highlighted in the meeting that on April 18, the Punjab government had issued a notification that from July 1, 2009, farmers were to be made direct payment of their sold crops by any purchaser through payees account cheques. He revealed that in Punjab, there are 45,000 establishments of commission agents, who finance around rupees 26,000 crore annually to the farmers. Their relationship is traditional and generations old. Kalra alleged that with the issuance of the notification, the government is hell-bent to destroy the old relationships between the commission agents and the farmers. Besides, the economy of the state would be disturbed. The business of the commission agents would be ruined. The farmers would also face problems in getting easy finance on demand. He said that as a mark of protest, the commission agents market will remain closed for five days in the first phase of their protest. While addressing a meeting, he said on July 13, the commission agents throughout Punjab will submit memorandums to the deputy commissioners at all the district headquarters to demand withdrawl of the notification of April 18. He further said that if their demands were not accepted, the commission agents will surrender keys of their establishments to CM Parkash Singh Badal in the constituencies visited by him during the ensuing by-elections. |
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Teachers, rural docs plan to stage protest in Jalalabad
Bathinda, July 9 The list includes the BEd Teachers' Front, Rural Medical Services Association and the ETT Teachers' Union. The grouse of the former relates to neglect in the state pay commission report and for the latter, it is being made to work under the Zila Parishad. Devinder Singh from the BEd Teachers' Front said that the Front plans a flag march at Jalalabad on July 19. "The state government had assured that the basic pay of contract teachers, called education service providers and teaching fellows (master cadre), recruited in October 2008, would be increased from Rs 4,550 to Rs 11, 400 and from Rs 5,400 to Rs 14,400, respectively, but the pay scales have remained unchanged. Around 600 seats still remain vacant out of the 4000 seats of education service providers for which a waiting list was issued immediately after the recruitment of teachers in October 2008 but the waiting list is not being followed and no fresh appointments have been made to fill the posts," he added. The Front had conducted a rally at Kapurthala on June 23 after which a committee was formed to look into the revised pay scales to be made applicable to the above teachers on June 24. The committee said the scales would be enforced after the budget session and now they say that pay scales would be implemented once the government has money, Devinder Singh said. Rural Medical Services Association state president Aslam Pervez also said they would be going to Jalalabad next week to meet Sukhbir Singh Badal and remind him of his promise which he had made when rural doctors were on a 72-day dharna at Bathinda. Sukhbir had promised that their jobs would be regularized. "The government had issued a letter in 2006 when rural doctors under contract were appointed which stated that they would be given pay at par with the regular cadre Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) doctors. We have demanded that we should be given salaries at par with regular doctors and arrears of three years should also be given including the revised salaries. The Union Ministry of Health issued a statement recently that Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is in favour of more salary for rural doctors to motivate them to work in rural areas." "We have taken up the matter with the department of rural development and panchayat which said the matter would be taken up by the cabinet soon. Due to this, the rural doctors whose contract had expired were given an extension of two months from July 1 to August 31, 2009. The governmenmt also stated that rural doctors working for a consolidated fund for three years would be regularized," Dr Aslam said. The ETT Teachers' Union would hold a meeting next week to discuss going to Jalalabad and organising mass rallies soon, Jagseer Sahota from the union, informed. |
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RO water scheme yet to overcome hiccups
Bathinda, July 9 Though the companies maintaining the plants have been claiming success as far as the purity of water is concerned but in the absence of regular water testing reports, people are skeptical about it. There is no display board at the water plants to show the TDS and PH level of this 'paid' drinking water. Further, the attendants at the plants do not bother to empty the 5000 litre storage tanks to clean and fill it with fresh 'purified' water. An employee working at one of the 17 RO plants, seeking anonymity, said, "Around 1000 litres of water is consumed per day but the capacity of the tank is five times more than the requirement. Once it used to be filled up but now I fill just the quantity that is required." At another plant, when checked, the tank was found half filled. The caretaker said, "It has been two days and I have been waiting to empty the tank to run the plant again." Expressing shock, a retired scientist said that in such weather, if the tank is not emptied everyday, the level of TDS gets raised. Moreover, the plants have brought back memories of the days when people used to carry pitchers to fetch water from distant places. This is another reason why people are reluctant to get enrolled for this 10 paisa per liter RO filtered water project in many localities. In ward number 49 of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC), till date, only 49 consumers are enrolled with the community water plant. Whosoever comes to fetch the water, terms it to be a tough errand. It may be one of the key reasons why the BMC authorities have been struggling to find sites for the installation of such plants in 21 wards. BMC sources disclosed that all officials and MCs of the wards concerned failed to find common sites and now a sub-committee has been formed to solve the problem. When contacted, BMC executive engineer Kamal Kant said, "We are ready to address the public grievances. The matter would be taken up with the companies running the plants." As per the details available, the initial cost of installation is being borne by the BMC ranging between Rs 10.5 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh. The two companies, Nandi Foundation with 10 plants and CXL Titon, have tender allotted for 40 plants to run and maintain it for seven years and then transfer it to the BMC. |
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Cops seize truck ferrying opium
Ferozepur, July 9 While addressing a media conference here today, Surinderpal Singh Parmar, SSP, said the consignment of opium was brought from the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan hidden in an onion-laden truck. Giving details, the SSP said that the police was keeping a close watch along all routes on the Rajasthan border and special checking nakas had also been set up along entry points from Rajasthan. He said SHO (Sadar) Abohar had laid special barrier near HP petrol pump close to the village Alamgarh Nizad when he signalled a truck no. (RJ 19 GA 6494) coming from Ganganagar side to stop. The SHO checked the truck, which was loaded with onions brought from Jodhpur, and was to be taken to Amritsar. After a thorough check, the SHO recovered 13 kg opium hidden in it. The driver, identified as Mekha Ram, son of Dhanna Ram, a resident of Jodhpur and his accomplice Ashok Kumar, son of Hoppan Ram, were taken into custody, who said that they had been given the opium consignment by some unidentified person in Jodhpur, who was supposed to inform them about the agent in Amritsar to whom the consignment was supposed to be given. The SSP said that a case has been registered against the duo, who were being sent to the joint interrogation centre, Amritsar, for further interrogation.
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Patwari gets jail term after demanding bribe for land mutation
Moga, July 9 SK
Aggarwal, Additional Sessions' Judge of Moga, while pronouncing the judgement had also imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on the
patwari. In case the accused fails to pay the fine, imprisonment would be extended for another 45 days. As per the case file, the
patwari, Joginder Singh posted at Bilaspur, had demanded a sum of Rs 3,000 as bribe from Rajinder Singh, a resident of the same village, to forward his case of mutation of a piece of land that was transferred in his name from his father's name. However, Rajinder Singh approached the local officials of the state Vigilance Bureau, who caught the patwari red-handed, while taking the bribe on August 24, 2004. An FIR under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against the patwari by the bureau. |
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Special train to run for Haridwar from July 10-22
Bathinda, July 9 The unreserved special train will make eight trips during the period. Railway sources said the train will depart from Sriganganagar on July 10 at 5.10 pm and reach Haridwar at 3.35 am on July 11 after passing through Bathinda at 8.05 pm and Ambala at 12.05 am. The train will start its return journey on July 11 at 4 am and reach Sriganganagar at 3 pm on July 12 after touching Ambala at 7.30 am and Bathinda at 12.15 pm. The train will halt at almost all major stations, including Abohar, Malout, Gidderbaha, Bhuccho, Rampura, Tapa, Barnala, Dhuri and others, during its journey. There would be 14 coaches, including two SLR, in the train. Sources in the railways said the train will make eight trips from Sriganganagar between July 10 and July 22, precisely on July 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 and July 22. |
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10 dowry cases registered in twin districts
Hanumangarh/Abohar, July 9 As per the information, the complainants included Sunita of village Gadhda under the Bhirani police station, Manju Khan of village Chidava
(Bhadra), Santosh Nayak and her sister Gautami of Naurangsar Desar (Pallu) and Veerpal Kaur of village Haripura (Sangria) in Hanumangarh district. In Sriganganagar district, the women, who had allegedly been expelled from the houses of their respective in-laws reportedly for failing in managing sufficient dowry included Kamal of Ravi Dass
Nagar, Dhudi Devi of village 2DD, Sharda Odh of Bareki Khedi, Sarvjeet Kaur of Bhambu Colony and Manjit Kaur of Ashok
Nagar. All the FIRs were registered under section 498A and 406 of the IPC. The facts given in the complaints were being probed, the district police said.
— OC |
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Bathinda, July 9 As per the details available, the team raided the Deep Medical Hall on the Bhatti road here and seized 5020 tablets and 62 bottles of cough syrups, of which the shopkeeper Anu Deep had failed in providing relevant bills. The PJ Pharma located on the Santpura road was also raided where the team confiscated 61,100 tablets, 1,400 capsules, 50 injections and 83 bottles of cough syrups having no record. Drug inspector Vinay Jindal has initiated the further departmental proceedings against the accused shopkeepers. He said, “We have been conducting regular surprise checks in order to identify the black sheep in the profession.” — TNS
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The transactions of lakhs of rupees daily between the commission agents
(Artiyas) and farmers in the local grain market have come to a standstill from Thursday with the decision of Artiya Association of Fazilka to close down their establishments from July 9 to July 13 against the decision of the Punjab government to pay the amount of sold crops direct to the farmers instead of paying it through the commission agents.
Bathinda, July 9
