Bathinda, July 6
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today faced a piquant situation when municipal councillors of the ruling coalition — SAD and BJP — wanted him to immediately remove from their posts the commissioner and assistant commissioner of the local Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Sukhbir had this evening convened a meeting of the councillors of the ruling alliance here to discuss the strategy for the coming Assembly elections.

He held separate meetings with the councillors belonging to the two parties. He first held a closed-door meeting with the BJP councillors.

Councillors belonging particularly to the BJP wanted that the BMC commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta and assistant commissioner Kamal Kant should be transferred out as the recommendations of the elected representatives were not entertained by them.

Sukhbir is learnt to have asked Mayor Baljeet Singh Birbehman, who was present in the meeting, to be strict with BMC officials and ensure that all genuine suggestions of the councillors were met.

Councillors pointed out that the sewerage system in the town was poor and rain water accumulates on the streets. The BJP councillors complained that the quality of development works being carried was not up to the mark because of corruption at various levels in the BMC. They alleged that the senior officials had instigated the junior staff against the elected representatives.

Senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal, who belongs to the BJP, told Sukhbir that there was coordination among the councillors belonging to the two parties.

1. The antiqe railing in the Circuit House at Faridkot was intact about seven months ago. 2.The British era railing is damaged with a portion missing now.  3. The historic Nehru Gate at Faridkot in shambles. 4. A damaged aircraft parked in the worn out hangar of the erstwhile ruler of Faridkot. Tribune photos

The local chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is struggling hard to protect these monuments. The cast iron railing with decorative insignias of the British rule that was intact about seven months ago at the entry of the heritage building housing the circuit house, is now damaged with a portion missing from there. The railing bears insignias with the British Crown at the top.

The Circuit House during the princely period known as the Darbargarh was built by Raja Balbir Singh for his sister Balwant Kaur’s marriage that took place in June 1898. After the marriage ceremony, it was earmarked as a guest-house for the visiting rulers and British officers. Instead of preserving building with unique architecture, the office of the Divisional Commissioner was shifted in it a few months ago. The top of the building is also in the shape of a crown. The Nehru Gate believed to have been built in 1914 is also in a state of neglect and requires immediate repairs. After independence, the gate was named after Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, who visited the town in May 1946. His name was also inscribed on the gateway that is just near the office of the DC. The Investiture Gate built in 1916 to commemorate the installation of Raja Brij Inder Singh has over the years undergone alterations. Several other gates, including Ferozepur Gate, Kot Kapura Gate, Balbir Basti Gate and Mori Gate have disappeared. Prof.Baltej Singh, convener of INTACH here, said the Trust was taking care of restoration of the building housing the courts at a cost of about Rs 7 crores and the original architecture will be restored.

A project report of Rs 5.45 crores has been sent to the Ministry of Culture at the Centre for restoration of the historical gates and buildings, he said. The airfield built by the last ruler of Faridkot, Harjinder Singh Brar, near the cantonment in 1939 is not visible as wild growth of elephant grass has come up on the entire 176.4 acres of its run way. The tin roof hangar is damaged and the two aircrafts locked in it are also worn out. Brar had passion for aircrafts and he purchased a Gemini M65 for his personal flights, but the aircraft has now turned into junk in the hangar. As per the records of civil aviation, the aircraft, bearing serial number 6531, was brought to India in April, 1948, and the last certificate of airworthiness was issued on November 27, 1991. It was de-registered from Indian civil aircraft register on December 1, 2005. Another aircraft, Fairchild 23, also owned by the Maharaja, is among the 325 listed vintage military and civilian aircraft. Records indicate that the Maharaja also owned a Percival Proctor-VT and a Stinson L-5 Sentinel VT.

Bathinda, July 6
The Rural Medical Services Association (RMSA), Punjab, today asked the state government to formulate service rules and draw up service conditions for rural medical officers (RMOs) at par with medical officers (doctors) working in government hospitals and health centres, and implement the same at the earliest.

About 1,100 RMOs work under Zila Parishads in rural dispensaries of the state. Their services were regularised with effect from May 1, 2011.

Talking to TNS today, president of the RMSA Dr Aslam Parvez said the service rules and service conditions included time-bound scale after four, nine and 14 years of service, and promotional avenues for RMOs to the post of senior medical officer, district-level officer and state-level officer.

Dr Parvez said RMOs were still awaiting their pay for the months of May and June due to non-fixation of salaries. He said the government had already been informed that the RMOs would not accept salaries if they were paid Rs 15,600 per month in the light of regularisation of their services and appointment under the provisions of the Punjab Civil Services (Rationalisation of Certain Conditions of service) Act 2011.

He claimed that when they recently met the Chief Minister, he assured them that the said Act would be repealed and subsequently a notification would be issued in a week. He added that the CM had also told them that after the notification, they would be paid salaries and allowances at par with that of a PCMS (Punjab Civil Medical Service) doctor.

Bathinda, July 6
A high-level team of the state technical education and industrial training department today landed at the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology (GZSCET) and questioned the staff in connection with the mass copying during the recently conducted Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for the IITs.

The team included the director and additional director of the department— Vivek Partap and Mohan Deep Singh. Highly-placed sources informed that the centre in-charge of the JEE Balwinder Singh was also grilled by the team.

Speaking over the phone, director, technical education and industrial training department¸ Vivek Partap refused to divulge details. He claimed it was confidential and said the report would be submitted to the state government.

However, he mentioned that there were some other issues besides the allegations of mass copying and cheating in the JEE-IIT, which they were looking into.

Barnala, July 6
In a tragic incident, two pilgrims were killed on the spot while two others died on way to the hospital as a rashly driven truck crushed them when they were coming out of the temple last night on the Baja Khaana road in Barnala.

As per the reports, the driver of the truck lost control and crushed four pilgrims, who were coming out of the Shri Mankameshwar Bala Ji temple in Dhillon Nagar after offering prayers. Besides, the truck smashed into some dwellings. However, no casualty was reported.

Those died in the accident were identified as Khushdeep Kaur, daughter of Jagdev Singh and her brother Rajandeep Singh of Grain market area in Barnala, Ashok Kumar (48) and his son Deepu (18) of Shakti Nagar of Barnala.

DSP Barnala, Rupinder Bhardwaj said the accused truck driver Ranjeet Singh was arrested. He added that the police have registered a case into the incident and further investigation is on in the matter.

Moga, July 6
Senior vice-president of the youth wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and president of the Moga Municipal Council Barjinder Singh Brar, who is son of former minister Tota Singh, has begun to reach out to the people in the town and surrounding villages. He is among several aspirants for the party ticket for the Moga assembly seat.

Punjab DGP Paramdip Singh Gill is also eying the SAD ticket from Moga. But he has several disadvantages - his father was a Congress MLA, he has hardly stayed in Moga in the past 20 years and he is an officer of the J&K cadre with plans to establish business at Sambha near Jammu post-retirement.

Nevertheless, a cousin of the DGP, Dr Micky Gill, has organised hundreds of mass contact functions for the DGP in the area. The police officer claims he has been assured of a ticket by Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister and president of the SAD.

Tarsem Singh Rattian, chairman of the district planning board, is also an aspirant for the party ticket. Nidharak Singh Brar, a former youth leader, has joined hands with former Finance Minister and PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal and hopes to get the party ticket for Moga.

Fazilka, July 6
Former CBI Director Joginder Singh released self-help book ‘Let’s Write Our Destiny’ authored by the local senior lecturer and a columnist Ashwani Ahuja in a programme organised by the Press Council, Fazilka, today in the evening.

While highlighting excerpts from the newly released book, Joginder Singh said the book is intended to motivate the youth for a successful career not only in the corporate sector but in all the spheres of life.

Sharing his experience of success in life, Joginder Singh, an eminent writer of 53 books, said only those are successful in life who manage their time in daily routine and utilise it in achieving the set target successfully.