 |
|
|
Eye on kabaddi cup, cops get firm with protesters
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reporters’ diary
12-day drama fest to regale audience
Cancer Menace
Foundation stone of 66 KV sub-station laid at Jeond
Dengue patients
|
|
Eye on kabaddi cup, cops get firm with protesters
Bathinda, October 30 To keep the protesters at bay during the opening ceremony of the Kabaddi World Cup, the police have been sending protesters in jails after thrashing them up. While 57 unemployed linemen are already cooling their heels in the jail, the police today arrested 32 ETT teachers and put them behind the bar. The linemen will not be able to come out of the jail before September 8 and now the ETT teachers too may spend a similar fate. The members of the unemployed linemen union and ETT teachers alleged that though the state government is spending money in crores on the Kabaddi World Cup by making the opening and closing ceremonies a gala event, they do not have the time or the money for the unemployed youth. "There are 6000 linemen in the state and 5000 of them are seeking appointment letters for the over a year. All were promised jobs but despite repeated reminders and protests, nothing has been done so far," said Joginder Singh, a candidate seeking appointment letter for the post of a lineman. He said all the formalities including the scrutiny of certificates, exams and other formalities are over and now they are just waiting for the appointment letters. Press secretary of the Unemployed Linemen Union of Punjab, Satwinder Singh said that the members of their union were arrested by the police for raising slogans and disrupting the speech of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal two days ago in Bathinda. He said that the court has fixed the next hearing on November 8 and after that, they might get released from the jail. He pointed out that the Punjab government is dealing with the matter with an iron hand but they would not relent till they get the jobs. "We will continue our protests and if our leadership announces that the opening or closing ceremony should be disrupted, we will not stop short of doing that as well," he said. Meanwhile, the Bathinda police today rained lathis on protesting ETT teachers and put them behind the bars after slapping cases against them as preventive action. An ETT teacher from Bathinda, Gurmukh Singh said they would soon intensify their agitation in view of the adamant attitude of the Punjab government. He said that around 70 teachers from all districts of Punjab were rounded up today and 32 of them are arrested. Bathinda Tehsildar Avatar Singh Makkar said the teachers had been arrested as they disrupted the flow of traffic on the flyover which connects Mansa-Bathinda and Dabwali-Bathinda roads. He said that the administration and the police are contemplating slapping more sections of the IPC on the teachers for blocking traffic and putting commuters to inconvenience. When asked why no action was initiated against the protesters who blocked roads umpteen times a few days ago in front of the bus stand, he replied "There is a difference between the bus stand and flyover. There are alternate routes around the bus stand but there is none at the flyover".
|
|
Traffic routes diverted for opening ceremony
Bathinda, October 30 With Bollywood heart-throb Shah Rukh Khan adding to the glamour quotient of the inaugural ceremony, more than 25,000 spectators are expected to throng the venue. To ensure the smooth flow of traffic, the district police have diverted routes and earmarked open spaces for parking. The entry of heavy vehicles in the city would be banned from 12 noon onwards on November 1. The vehicles bound for the stadium entering from the Goniana side will drop spectators at the T-point near the Zila Parishad and would be parked opposite the three cinemas situated on the Goniana road. Similarly, vehicles moving from the Barnala side to the Bibiwala Chowk would be diverted towards the 80-feet wide road from near the temple and halted at Kishori Lal Road. These vehicles would be parked in areas like North Estate, Bharat Nagar and Nehru Colony. Traffic from the Mansa road would take the Bhagu road route and move towards the 100-feet road. Sports lovers would be dropped at Dr Maheshwari Chowk and the vehicles would be parked in open spaces in the Model Town phase-III, while the truck union area has been designated for VIP parking. For smaller vehicles, parking spaces have been designated in the cloth market, Nihang market, Mahavir Hospital, Government Girls' Senior Secondary School, Mall Road and the DAV College grounds. Similarly, parking slots for two-wheelers have been designated at the MSD School. The spectators would enter the stadium from the sides of the heritage village, Minocha Colony, wooden gate and the Peerkhana side. IG, Bathinda zone, Nirmal Singh Dhillon said that the usual traffic would not be disrupted. "No passenger would be brought to any inconvenience. Our aim is to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and ensure a hassle-free drive for the daily commuters," he said. Meanwhile, control rooms have been set up for the convenience of the visitors to the city. The authorities could be reached at the numbers 0164-2213226, 75894-48875 and 92163-17275 of the multipurpose stadium, while the control room at the Deputy Commissioner's office could be reached at 0164-2862100, 0164-2862101, 75894-48874 and 92163-17135. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav said that any kind of information pertaining to the event could be taken from these control rooms.
|
|
Reporters’ diary
During a recent visit, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal played down the dengue fever by joking that it would be arrested by the SSP soon. The Deputy CM said this in the presence of the media when the scribes raised queries about a large number of dengue patients in the city. The comments of the Deputy CM did not go down well with the local residents. Now, the Station House Officer (SHO) of a police station in the city is down with dengue fever for the last many days and people are taking it in a lighter vein by saying that the SHO might have gone to arrest dengue. Fountains remind of VVIP visits to city
The residents of Bathinda can feel the presence of the VVIPs with the fountains near the Rose Garden Chowk and the canal near the thermal plant. This is how the district administration welcomes the leaders. After being dry for many days, the fountains were on with power and surroundings of the Chowk were also spruced up to welcome the Badal family. The roads were also cleaned, water was sprinkled, traffic policemen and heavy security was also deployed on the route. Next time you see the fountains, remember that some VVIP is visiting the city. Top cop needs sympathy after sympathising
A top cop expressed sympathy with a young boy who was behind the bars after being arrested with poppy husk. The boy repeatedly asked the top cop to allow him to talk to his family members. The cop ordered his subordinate to hand over a mobile phone to the accused to enable him to talk to his family members. Taking precautionary measure for security reasons, the cop instructed to switch on the speaker of the mobile. While everyone was around the accused and the speaker phone was on, the boy’s family members were unaware. The family members abused the boy for his failure to come out of the clutches of the cops. The cops snatched the mobile phone after the family members started cursing and abusing the cops, who arrested their boy. From next time onwards, no sympathy, no talking over the mobile phone with its speaker on, the top cop said. Double standards
Adoption of double standards in public life by the politicians is a common thing. Such type of an incident recently surfaced when a high-profile politician along with some vehicles in tow visited the civil hospital to check its functioning in the wake of the admission of a large number of suspected or confirmed dengue patients to the hospital. The vehicles even reached the gate of the emergency wing of the hospital. When the politician was returning, the agitating members of a union gheraoed the vehicles on the hospital premises and continued sloganeering against the state government till the politician alighted from the vehicle. After that, the politician reminded the agitators that they should not make a hue and cry (sloganeering) on the premises of the hospital and later heard their demands outside the main gate of the hospital. After the departure of the politician, a protester commented, “If our slogans break the silence on the premises of the hospital, the politician should also not forget that the arrival of several vehicles in the form of a motorcade on the hospital campus also breaks the silence in a big way." "Is it not an example of double standards,” he asked and dare we say that quite rightly so. Injured girl feels hurt
A minor girl, a rag-picker, met with an accident near the overbridge at the Mansa road. The injured girl was referred to the other institute for plastic surgery at the Civil Hospital. However, her family could not afford even the transportation charges. In protest, her father lifted the injured girl. Nobody heard their grievances. Moreover, the commuters scolded the family for blocking the traffic. |
|
12-day drama fest to regale audience
Bathinda, October 30 Addressing the media here today, director, Natyam group, Kirti Kirpal said the torch-bearing march would start from the Teachers’ Home. Passing through the Mall Road, Railway road, Dhobi Bazar, Meha Chowk and bus stand and it would culminate at the Teachers’ Home. Almost all the NGOs in the city would be a part of the march. The inaugural show of the street plays would be held at the Baba Farid Group of Institutes in Deon. From November 3-11, the street plays would be held in the various markets, streets, mohallas and educational institutes. On November 6, a seminar would be held on the great artist Bhai Gursharan Singh, who gave new dimensions to the rural entertainment and Punjabiyat. The seminar would be held at the Teachers’ Home. From November 8-13, plays would be presented daily at 6 pm at the Balwant Gargi Open Air Theatre in the Rose Garden. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav and Gurmeet Singh from Faridkot would inaugurate the drama fest. On November 6, a research paper would be presented. Navnindra Behl from Patiala, Dr Pali Bhupinder Singh from Moga and Dr Sahib Singh from Mohali would present the papers. The book of Dr Ravel Singh, secretary, Punjabi Akademi, Delhi, would be released on November 13. Prof Ajmer Singh Aulakh from Mansa would hold a discussion on the drama written in the book. Prominent among others who would be present include Dr Atamjit from Chandigarh, Waryam Mast from Delhi, Kewal Dhaliwal from Amritsar, Dr Nirmal Jaura from Ludhiana, Gurmeet Singh from Faridkot, Amarjit Singh Bhurji from Ludhiana, Santokh Singh Sukhana from Ludhiana, Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal from Bathinda, Sukhchain Singh Brar, Ravinder Mann, Ranjeet Kaur, Umesh Bhatia and others.
|
|
Cancer Menace
Bathinda October 30 In his statement, he said, “There is no cancer trouble due to uranium in the Bathinda area as in Finland, water containing uranium is 100 times more than the Bathinda region and there is no issue regarding cancer disease. Hence, a lot of propaganda is being done in Bathinda about the uranium risk, which is unwanted.” JAC convener MM Behal said his statement hurt the sentiments of the residents of Bathinda area as they are facing the critical problem of cancer here. Notably, there are a number of cancer patients in all the localities and the adjoining villages of Bathinda. Even the Parliamentary Standing Committee recently highlighted the risk of uranium contamination of groundwater in the area and also allocated funds amounting to crores for remedial measures to save the masses from the dangerous disease. “We strongly demand that the Panjab University (Chandigarh) verify the data being highlighted by Dr Mehta because it is causing dejection in the minds of the people of the area, who are facing serious trouble due to uranium resulting in deaths due to cancer,” he said.
|
|
Foundation stone of 66 KV sub-station laid at Jeond
Bathinda, October 30 The Bathinda MP further added that with the commissioning of the sub-station, power supply of six villages would get the power relief directly and around 15 villages wouldbe benefited indirectly by way of improvement in the voltage supply.
|
|
Dengue patients
Bathinda October 30 He also said the patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, would be helped by the organisation. He had also made an appeal to the public to ignore rumours about the disease. The Civil Surgeon, District Health Officer (DHO) and the Civil Hospital’s Senior Medical Officer have also decided to support the Sahara workers. The residents can call the helpline numbers of Sahara at 98148-74074, 98147-53532, 98721-72072, 96462-00101.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Bathinda, October 30
