Bathinda, September 12
“The reverse osmosis (RO) plants, which are being installed statewide, are a major source of wastage of water. Due to the high percentage of wastage, this technique cannot be appreciated in any way,” said Baldev Raj Chawla, chairman, Punjab State Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PSWSSB), here today.

Expressing concern over the technique of RO systems, Chawla said, “On the one hand, we have been initiating moves to save water throughout the state and on the other, such RO plants are a hurdle in achieving this goal.”

“At present, the groundwater level has depleted by 60 feet. It is the need of the hour that scientists must invent new and better technique of water filtration. Meanwhile, the water being wasted should also be used for some purpose,” he added.

Naming an NGO—Save Water Organization— formed to save water, he said that under its banner, he had urged all councillors of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) to constitute a 21-member committee, which would take responsibility to achieve the task.

Talking about wastage of water at religious places, he said, “I will personally visit the religious and political leaders of the state to cooperate in the drive, which is for the good of the people.”

Replying to a query related to the installation of water meters, he termed it as beneficial in checking wastage of water. But he said it was not the right time to raise the issue.

Talking about the project aiming 100 per cent water supply and sewerage facility, Chawla said the project, Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), has been initiated for this.

“With an investment of Rs 4,400 crore, all 131 towns under the purview of our department would be covered in the tenure of the SAD-BJP government.”

Specifying five Municipal Corporations in the state in the budget, he said that under the scheme— Amritsar (Rs 660 crore), Jalandhar (Rs 371 crore), Ludhiana (Rs 292 crore), Bathinda (107.55 crore) and Patiala (Rs 109 crore)— all would be fully covered under the water supply and sewerage scheme.

When asked about the present status of the project, he said that in the past eight months, only 8-10 per cent work had been completed.

Ironically, during his meeting with official staff and elected representatives, only a few BJP leaders marked their presence.

When asked about the absence of SAD (B) leaders, he said, “I had invited them but due to reasons best known to them, they did not come.”

Bathinda, September 12
Union minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has been suggesting a slew of reforms in the education sector. Days back, he announced doing away with the Board exams for class X and introduction of grading system in its place.

He followed this up with the statement about a possible fee hike in Kendriya Vidyalyas (KVs) across the country. The hike might take place from next month.

However, the principals of these schools have refuted suggestions that the hike would put pressure on parents because students studying at KVs were mostly children of Central government employees and their fee up to Rs 1000 could be reimbursed.

Tripta Singh, principal of KV No. 4 at Bathinda, said the percentage of students coming from floating population—- locals in Bathinda- was hardly there. These were children who wanted good infrastructure in schools and the KV were providing it to them at a nominal cost. These students would not mind paying a little extra for getting quality education as KVs definitely provide better education than government schools here, she said.

According to sources, there has been no fee hike in KVs for the past 10 years. There were around 1000 KVs in India. The fee for Class XI and XII in Science stream was Rs 270 which would be Rs 800 if the fee is hiked. The fee for Arts students of Classes XI and XII would be Rs 411 from the current Rs 220.

T.D Garg, principal of KV No. 1, said the concept of fee in KV is that there is no school fee charged from Classes I to VIII. Only tuition fee of Rs 40 is charged from Classes I to VIII and Rs 50 from Classes IX to XII. In Classes IX to XII, no school fee is charged from girls and SC/ST students.

Sources in KVs said that only Vidyalya Vikas Nidhi (VVN) fund was charged. VVN from Classes I to X was Rs 160 and for Classes XI and XII it was Rs 200. There was no grant from the government for any infrastructure development. The VVN was taking care of all development taking place in the schools. The government was sending only teachers’ salary.

“We have children coming from railways, BSNL, NFL, defence, income tax department, All-India Radio, Doordarshan etc, all Central government organizations. Local populace studying here comprises only .001 per cent. The fee of children of Central government employees is to be reimbursed which means there will not be any pressure on students and their parents if the fee is hiked,” Garg added.

Sources in the KV said the infrastructure of schools would improve with the hike because hike in fee would mean more funds for development. 

Bathinda, September 12
Alert was sounded in the city after two motorcycle-borne unidentified youths stabbed a city businessman and snatched Rs 40,000 from him late this evening.

This was the second major incident of snatching which took place in the city today.

According to details, Naresh Kumar, dealer in sanitary ware on Amrik Singh road, lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police that two motorcycle-borne youths intercepted his scooter near Ganesha Basti, when he was returning home, carrying a bag containing cash worth Rs 40,000.

They asked him to hand over the bag but facing resistance, they assaulted him with knife. Inflicting deep wounds on various parts of his body, they snatched the bag and fled. Some passerby rushed the injured to the civil hospital.

Soon after receiving the information, SP (D) Ajay Maluja along with his team reached the spot but till filing of the news the police was yet to make any breakthrough. Meanwhile, alert was sounded in the city and search operations were being carried out in various localities. However, the case could not be registered yet.

In the earlier case, Vijay Kumar of Basant Vihar had lodged a complaint with the police that some unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched a bag containing cash Rs one lakh from him, when he was riding his scooter near DAV College, this morning. According to information available, the victim was manhandled before the snatchers decamped with the bag. Kotwali police registered a case under sections 382, 34 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, September 12
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) has engaged Markfed as the state-level agency to procure cotton on its behalf.

In anticipation of a bumper cotton yield, Nafed has written to Markfed for timely intervention to ensure farmers are not forced to sell their yield at rates lower than the MSP which has remained the same as last year.

Nafed has been working as an additional agency in addition to the Cotton Corporation of India to undertake the purchase of cotton during the cotton season 2009-10.

The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) has estimated cotton production during the current season would be around 310 lakh bales.

Ferozepur, September 12
In a landmark judgment, the district consumer disputes forum, Ferozepur, has ordered the Hindustan Unilever Limited, manufacturer of Surf Excel washing powder, to pay a penalty of Rs 10,30,000 as it purportedly withheld the prize money to the complainant.

According to the judgment announced by its president Sanjay Garg, out of the total penalty, an amount of Rs 5,00,000 would go to the complainant Havaldar Clerk Ramkrit Singh Yadav and the remaining amount is to be deposited in the consumer legal aid fund.

Giving details of the case, Garg said that Hindustan Unilever Limited had launched ‘Surf Excel 10/10 Contest’, and as per its terms, anyone who will find a swatch having 10/10 written on it, will be entitled to a prize money of Rs 5,00,000. He said that the complainant Yadav found a 10/10 written cloth from the packet of Surf Excel purchased by him from army canteen.

Thereafter, Yadav lodged a claim with the company, but the company failed to respond. Subsequently, the complainant filed a complaint before the consumer forum, which was contested by the company on the ground that the swatch submitted by the complainant was a forged one and did not tally with the specifications of the standard swatch of the company.

After hearing both the parties, Garg held that the company has taken a wrong stand in denying the claim of the consumer. In fact, the swatch sent by the complainant was never compared or analysed, he observed, adding that the analysis report submitted by the company belongs to one Jitender Singh and Ronki Ram, but not to the complainant Yadav.

Even the complainant was neither informed about such conditions nor was he invited or given an opportunity to be present at the time of any alleged analysis, stated Garg adding that a total of four prizes of Rs 5,00,000 each were to be awarded, but the company gave prize money to only two winners and wrongly withheld the prize money of the remaining two winners out of whom one was the complainant.

Finding the company guilty of unfair trade practices, Garg ordered the company to pay the complainant his due prize money of Rs 5,00,000 along with another Rs 30,000 as compensation for the harassment faced by him.

He also ordered the company to deposit Rs 5,00,000 in consumer aid fund as punitive damages keeping in view the fact that the company has played fraud with lakhs of consumers, who would have purchased the Surf Excel washing powder in the hope of winning 10/10 contest.

He instructed that the amount of penalty should be paid within 30 days, failing which, the said amounts will carry an interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum.

Fazilka, September 12
The para-medical employees of the health department held an election meeting in the premises of the civil surgeon’s offic. The long-pending demands were also discussed on the occasion.

About 250 delegates from nine primary health centres, five civil hospitals of the Ferozepur district and civil surgeon’s office participated in the conference.

Giving the details here, press secretary, co-ordination committee, Para-Medical and Health Employees Punjab, district Ferozepur unit, Shashi Kant said that their demands include checking the alleged high-handed and adamant attitude of the director, health services and family welfare, Dr JP Singh.

Thousands of employees working under 2211 head for several years should be paid salaries regularly. The employee leaders have demanded that seniority list of the employees be released immediately and the process of promotions and filling of vacant posts should be initiated without delay.

They further demanded that multi-purpose health workers (female), who were dismissed from their jobs in Ludhiana and Moga recently, should be reinstated. The class IV employees, who have cleared their respective courses, should be promoted.

Later, organisational election of the district Ferozepur unit were held unanimously, in which, Ravinder Luthra was elected chairman for second consecutive term. State convener of the union Lal Singh Dhanaulla participated as an observer in the election.

Ferozepur, September 12
The saga of bravery of 21 Sikh soldiers, who died fighting against heavy odds while defending the Saragarhi Post against an attack of nearly 10,000 Afridis and Pathans is one of the most daring and calculated feats of gallantry and devotion to duty that one reads in the history of mankind, stated KK Yadav, deputy commissioner (DC), while addressing an ‘Ex-servicemen’s rally’ on the occasion of Saragarhi Day, which was observed here at the historic Gurudwara Saragarhi on Saturday.

Yadav paid homage to the chivalrous soldiers of the 36 Sikh Regiment, who attained martyrdom, while defending the Saragarhi Post of the Fort Lockhart in Afghanistan on September 12, 1897. Each one of these 21 men were awarded the Indian Order of Merit (IOM) for their valour. Jaskiran Singh ADC, GS Pannu SDM, Brigadier (retd) Inderjit Singh Gakhal director Sainik Welfare besides heads of various government departments also participated in the rally and paid homage to the martyrs.

Yadav said Punjabis have always remained in forefront while sacrificing their lives for the sake of the motherland since times immemorial, and the saga of Sargarhi was a classic testimony to that fact. He said even the freedom struggle to oust the British was replete with instances when people from this border state kissed gallows and laid down their lives smilingly.

He mentioned that the state government has instructed all the officials to redress the grievance of the ex-servicemen and help them in every possible manner.

In his address, Brigadier (retd) Gakhal said that the Punjab government has embarked on several schemes for the welfare of jawans, ex-servicemen and their families under which special grants were being offered to all those valiant soldiers, who have shown exemplary courage for the defence of their motherland. Later, Yadav honoured the ‘Vir Naris’ and families of soldiers belonging to the state, who had attained martyrdom during insurgency operations.

Sriganganagar/Abohar, September 12
“It is a wrong assumption that only pigs are responsible for spreading swine flu, the fatal virus can pass on person to person,” said district collector (DC) Ashutosh AT Pednekar. So students need to be educated more on hygiene and health.

Releasing a poster that an NGO Meera Sansthan has brought out to bring awareness on swine flu, the DC said such posters should be pasted in each educational institution besides important public places that attracts maximum number of people.

NGO chairman Luxmikant Sharma said recent surveys had indicated that 45 per cent of Indian bathroom taps were found to be contaminated with germs. In the US, this figure was low by 5 per cent, while in the UK it was 10 per cent.

About 75 per cent of kitchen taps in India were heavily contaminated. Only Malaysia had a worse performance (at 95 per cent), while South Africa had only 10 per cent of its taps contaminated. Worldwide, 78 per cent of Kitchen cloths were found to be heavily contaminated. While 100 per cent of kitchen cloths in India and Malaysia were found to be contaminated, even in countries like the UK — 90 per cent of the kitchen cloth was contaminated, and in Saudi Arabia it was 80 per cent.

Globally, toys came out as relatively the most hygienic item (only 9 per cent contaminated) and in India this figures stands at 37per cent. The NGO plans to organise seminars and competitions in schools and colleges under its awareness campaign. 

Hanumangarh/Abohar, September 12
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is considering more proposals for the welfare of newspersons and their families, information and public relations minister Ashok Bairwa indicated today.

Speaking as the chief guest during the inaugural session of the National Media Conference organised by the Brahmakumaris organisation in its Shantivan complex at Abu Road on Saturday, Bairwa said the facilities offered to the journalists in Rajasthan included residential plots, medi-claim policies besides free bus travel. Bairwa during his maiden visit to the complex offered rose petals at Parkash Stambh, samadhi of Dadi Parkashmani, former chief of the organisation.

While joining the issue of Gujarat Urban Development and Housing, minister Nitin Bhai Patel said the media should not fall prey to commercialisation. Being an important pillar of the Indian democracy, the media need to work positively to promote spirituality for peace and development. He lauded the media for bringing awareness against terrorist-strikes recently. Public interest should be given priority in media reports, he advised.

Orissa MLA Ashok Panda said the media should shun negativism and play a healthy role in sorting inter-state water disputes besides other problems faced by the downtrodden.

Brahmakumaris general secretary Nirwair Bhai, media wing chairperson Om Parkash, vice-chairman Karuna Bhai, Dr CV Narasimha Reddy, former director, public relations, Andhra Pradesh also exhorted media persons to help in restoring glory of the Indian culture heritage. The dignitaries inaugurated the conference by lighting the lamps. More than 1,500 journalists from different states and Nepal are participating in the conference.

The proceedings conducted by BK Geeta included guided meditation by Rajyogini BK Sheilu, welcome song by the Madhurvaani group and classical group dance by artists from the Raj Institute of Dance and Natraja Nrutyalaya, Bangalore.