Bathinda, July 26
On the orders of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Principal Secretary, Health, Punjab, Satish Chandra, today visited the local Civil Hospital to check the on-going renovation work of buildings and functioning of the hospital.

The order was given to the Principal Secretary by Deputy CM on July 17 when he along with his wife MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, conducted a surprise raid at the hospital and noticed its crumbling structure. Then, he had also ordered the Principal Secretary to prepare estimates of the expenditure for renovation of the building in a proper manner.

Satish Chandra today took a round of the hospital, including emergency ward, surgical ward, burns ward, and witnessed the crumbling structure of the building and renovation work in progress there. He also enquired from the Civil Surgeon and the senior medical officer (SMO) about the equipment required for the hospital. He gave instructions to executive engineer (XEN) of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation Bimal Kumar to prepare new estimates for proper renovation of the hospital building and completing the renovation work in the stipulated period.

Then, he moved to the women and children hospital and asked the doctors there about their requirements. He also visited the under-construction OPD wing where he was told by the XEN that the new OPD wing would be completed by the end of October. He also visited the “Jan Aushdhi” medicine shop where he asked the Civil Surgeon that if any doctor does not prescribe the generic medicines then he should write to him about it.

Satish Chandra said after his visit here, he would inform the Deputy CM about the status of the ongoing renovation work here. He said though the renovation work was expected to be completed by August 4, but due to delay in the work it would now be completed by the end of October. He said as per the original estimates, a sum of Rs 72 lakh was being spent on the renovation work.

Civil Surgeon Dr Inder Dayal Goyal, assistant civil surgeon Dr Charanjit Garg, SMO of Civil Hospital Dr Vinod Garg, SMO of women and children hospital Dr BS Gill, district health officer Dr RS Randhawa and district family welfare officer Dr Dharam Pal Singh Sekhon accompanied the Principal Secretary.

Bathinda, July 26
At the end of June, when many landline subscribers of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in Bathinda did not get telephone bills for the month of May, they were a bit surprised! But with the ‘normal’ time of receiving the bill for the month of June also about to lapse, they are now confused as well as anxious.

The BSNL officials, however, said on Monday that there was no need to get confused as all the landline subscribers here would soon get telephone bills for the month of May.

In its bid to make the billing process more subscriber-friendly by going high-tech, the BSNL started transforming the billing platform by replacing the existing one with a new software which promises more user-friendly features, including detailed report of calls.

"The process to install the software started nearly two months ago and had been completed," sources said, adding that bill preparation process in the entire Punjab had been centralised with the installation of new software and the customers would get all new bills with more features.

Sources in the BSNL, Bathinda, said that the telephone bills for the month of May had been printed and were in the dispatch. The subscribers would start getting the same in the next two to three days, sources added.

Talking to The Tribune on Monday, the DGM BSNL, Bathinda, Amit Garg said that with the installation of CDR billing platform that is Customers Detailed Record, the subscribers would be able to get detail call records, including of STD calls. He said subscribers would also be able to see their bills by creating IDs on BSNL site.

Bathinda, July 26
Bathinda DC Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said this evening that as per the inquiry conducted by SDM KPS Mahi, there was no foul play in the death of an undertrial Gursewak Singh (43) in the Central Jail here yesterday.

He said though the SDM had not submitted him the inquiry report in writing, but he had verbally told him that it was suspected to be a cardiac arrest case. The DC said however, the final cause of the death would be established only when the viscera report of the deceased was received by the authorities here.

Following the death of Gursewak, protests were held by the jail inmates yesterday. After that, the DC had ordered a magisterial enquiry into the death of Gursewak Singh.

Sriganganagar, July 26
A pall of gloom descended on village Hansalia as two youths were burnt alive on Monday due to a spark in the high tension 11,000 KV wire at village Hansalia of the border district Sriganganagar. Another youth got electrocuted after the rainfall in Srikaranpur area, official sources confirmed.

Goluwala SHO, Ranveer said Gulab Singh (30) and his friend Yasmeen alias Kale Khan (29) were asleep on the same bed in the open space of a house that was under construction at village Hansalia under the Goluwala police station area. They had put the bed under the high tension 11000 KV electricity wires that reportedly where a spark took place today.

They cried for help but were found awfully burnt. Revenue and police officials rushed to the village and shifted the bodies to the civil hospital at Goluwala. The bodies were handed over to the parents, a resident, Sonu Gumber informed.

As per a report received from Hindumalkot, Gagandeep Kaur (10) of village Chak 3E, who had sustained burn injuries while cooking meals using a stove on Sunday died today in the district hospital at Sriganganagar. At village Kauni, Surjit Singh (14) too succumbed to the burns that he sustained while preparing tea last night.

Ferozepur, July 26
After braving the flood-like situation for days together, the residents of the submerged villages of this border district have now started suffering from various disease including gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, skin problems, fever and other ailments. The fodder, paddy and vegetable crops, which have been damaged in thousands of acres of land in different pockets of the district, have started emanating a foul smell.

Civil surgeon, Kanwar Jit Singh, disclosed that the patients suffering from various health problems had started surfacing from Gajni Wala and other pockets of this district. In the past two days, over 240 patients had been medicated by the special teams of doctors deployed in that area.

Meanwhile, a five-year-old boy of this city died last night due to diarrhoea coupled with alleged negligence of a section of doctors of the local civil hospital. Resham Singh, father of the deceased, alleged that his son was not given a proper treatment. SMO, civil hospital, Baldev Raj Arora said he was checking the record and if it was found that boy was not given a proper treatment, an inquiry would be held.

Ferozepur, July 26
Nine labourers including four women suffered multiple injuries when the small tempo, by which, they were travelling, turned upside down and subsequently dashed against a tree near village Bodianwala on the Zira-Mallanwala road here this evening today.

Though the residents of the nearby village reached the spot and shifted the injured to Zira hospital. All of them had been referred to the Faridkot-based hospital due to their critical condition.

Information gathered by the TNS revealed that all the labourers, who were hired by a farmer of village Bhagu Ke for plucking chillies from his fields, had suffered head injuries.

Information revealed that the driver of tempo, who could not be identified so far, lost control over the vehicle as the same was carrying overweight. A case in this connection would be registered at the police station concerned, police sources said.

Ferozepur, July 26
The Dental Council of India (DCI) has launched a nationwide survey to ascertain the availability of dental manpower in the country, revealed Dr SPS Sodhi, the newly co-opted Executive Member, DCI, talking to The Tribune here.

He said besides the nationwide survey, the DCI has also made it mandatory for both the government and private dental colleges to introduce biometric attendance system in the institutes so that it can put check on the malpractices adopted by certain colleges regarding appointment of the visiting faculty.

“The situation was being misused by certain managements as well as so-called ‘Flying Dentists’ which is a matter of great concern for the DCI,” said Sodhi.

On being asked about the recent turmoil in the MCI following arrest of its top man and subsequent corruption charges levelled against the DCI also, Sodhi said the DCI was totally a professional body engaged in raising the bar of the dental education in India at par with the international standards.

Sriganganagar, July 26
The old-age, handicapped, and widow pensioners will not have to stand in the long queues to receive the pension as they would be able to get it at home through the ‘Smart Card’ scheme launched in the district during the past week. This is another initiative by the Sriganganagar district that had earlier launched the first Suwidha Center in the state.

District Collector Ashutosh AT Pednekar, who conceptualised the system along with the district lead bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce said, “We have tried to make use of the cutting-edge technology to benefit people. It only goes to show that high-end technology need not to be the exclusive domain of the urban areas alone.” The NREGS labourers in the district are already getting on-the-spot payment through smart cards.

Sriganganagar, July 26
Women are found assisting their husbands/parents in using plough manually in the fields. However, they might be noticed driving tractors soon. Girls and married women, who were confined to their homes, are now being trained to drive tractors and operate modern agricultural machinery. An initial batch of 50 women government employees that was trained to drive the tractors would now in turn impart training to the young women throughout the border district.

The women trained so far were given driving licences recently during a function by the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, at village 18 BB in the presence of the Central ministers, CP Joshi and Mukul Wasnik, who greatly appreciated the initiative. They said this would go a long way in improving the status of women and making them equal partners in the economy and society.

The district collector, Ashutosh AT Pednekar said, “Driving a tractor in the fields is seen as an exclusive male domain and when this barrier is breached, it gives an immense psychological boost and strength to the young women.” The DC has already made tractor driving a part of the curriculum for about 70 women patwaris undergoing training in the district.

Two young girl students, received the licences from the CM. Later, they gave a demonstration to the villagers. Interestingly, both the girls, invited to the dais to receive the driving licences hail from Punjabi families. 

Fazilka, July 26
Two unidentified youths reportedly snatched Rs 40,000 from a person in broad daylight from the thickly populated area near the ITI on the Malout road here today in the afternoon.

As per the information provided by Hari Chand (60), a resident of the nearby village Abhun, to the City Police (Fazilka), he had withdrawn Rs 40,000 from the Canara Bank.

City police, Fazilka, in-charge, Tirlok Singh told this correspondent that Hari Chand has informed the police after about two hours of occurrence of the incident.

He said the investigating official Gurmit Singh has inquired about the incident from the shopkeepers in the Malout Chowk but no one confirmed it. However, he said the police have been investigating from their own sources about the authenticity of the complaint of Hari Chand.