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Sukhbir inaugurates Joga sub-tehsil
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at a function near Goniana on Wednesday Bathinda/Mansa, December 21
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today inaugurated a sub-tehsil complex at Joga. The Punjab cabinet has given the approval to declare Joga as sub-tehsil. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal too accompanied him during the inauguration. The new sub-tehsil will have 10 patwar circles and 37,000 acres land of 16 villages.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at a function near Goniana on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Fog, power cuts affect normal life
Abohar, December 21
Fog, overflowing sewage and power cuts badly affected life in this remote area on Wednesday.

EARLIER STORIES

	Urea shortage: Pvt dealers ‘blackmailing’ farmers December 21, 2011
	Work to prepare ‘Cancer Atlas’ in Punjab begins December 20, 2011
	Centre to spend Rs 2-cr on facelift of hospital December 19, 2011
	Cops gear up for traffic management on highways December 18, 2011
	Stone laid for Rs 1,500-cr mega textile park December 17, 2011
	PPP to announce its list of candidates soon December 16, 2011
	Congress has no agenda, says Sukhbir December 15, 2011
	Work to widen Abulkhurana drain commences December 14, 2011
	CPI gives clean chit to Manpreet's Dera visit December 13, 2011
	Gill intensifies mass contact campaign to get SAD ticket December 12, 2011

	Sukhbir inaugurates Joga sub-tehsil Gurdeep Singh Mann/TNS Bathinda/Mansa, December 21 Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today inaugurated a sub-tehsil complex at Joga. The Punjab cabinet has given the approval to declare Joga as sub-tehsil. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal too accompanied him during the inauguration. The new sub-tehsil will have 10 patwar circles and 37,000 acres land of 16 villages. The Deputy CM said that the issue of withdrawing earlier notification of High Court which debars Sehajdharis from voting during the SGPC elections would be discussed during the next core committee meeting on December 22. Sukhbir addressed a gathering of party workers from 16 villages wherein he reiterated that the next chief minister of Punjab would be Parkash Singh Badal. He eulogised the ‘development’ works initiated by the Punjab Government. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, addressing the gathering, urged the people to vote for the SAD in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. She also distributed cheques worth Rs 45,000 each to 1,600 family members for repair of their houses. She also handed over cheques to 16 people suffering from cancer and other ailments. Chief parliamentary secretary Jagdip Singh Nakai, deputy commissioner Ravinder Singh, SSP Sukhdev Singh Chahal, SGPC member Baba Sukhchain Singh Dharampura and other party workers were also present. Meanwhile, the deputy chief minister also visited Harraipur village near Goniana Mandi in Bathinda and addressed a gathering of villagers and party workers. The deputy CM also got the work of Dhelwan distributory started near Goniana. He expressed his satisfaction over getting the ownership of shamlat (common land) by farmers of six villages on 8,100 acres of agricultural land near Goniana. Deputy commissioner KK Yadav, area in-charge of the SAD for Bathinda rural assembly constituency, Darshan Singh Kotfatta, Lakhwinder Singh Lakhi and others were also present on the occasion.
	Fog, power cuts affect normal life Our Correspondent Abohar, December 21 Fog, overflowing sewage and power cuts badly affected life in this remote area on Wednesday. Not only the dense fog coupled with chill but the inundating of the streets also kept most of the citizens confined to their houses till afternoon. The room heaters or air-conditioners failed to work since the Powercom keep on enforcing cuts in electricity supply till 3 pm. The change in weather affected supplies of fresh milk, bread, newspapers and vegetable as well. A brick kiln owner Vipan Nagpal said tractor-trolleys loaded with bricks had reduced their number of trips by fifty per cent. While blaming the ruling alliance for deterioration in the sewerage system, Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar said that he along with hundreds of citizens had requested the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during Sangat Darshan on April 22 to release Rs 22 crore to carry out renovation of sewerage and water works but nothing came up. Intriguingly, the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board chairperson Dr Baldev Raj Chawla had confirmed that funds were awaited despite of floating the tenders. The local municipal council run by the BJP earned Rs 8 crore by sale of immovable property and received Rs 3 crore grant from the Chief Minister but the authorities did not utilise even a minor part of the money to improve sewerage and system, he regretted. The MLA hoped fresh assurance from the CM for releasing Rs 3.5 crore as first installment for extending sewage channel would not prove to be a pre-poll gimmick.
	Chief Minister agrees to release fund Raj Sadosh Abohar, December 21 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has agreed to release funds worth Rs 3.5 crore to facilitate the extension of the sewerage channel here. District BJP president Arun Narang said here today that about three dozen workers apprised the Urban Development Minister Tikshan Sood of the grim situation that had emerged following frequent breaches in the open sewage channel and water reservoir in the recent past. The minister fixed up a meeting with the CM last evening. The deputation told Badal that breaches in the three km length of the open sewage channel constructed using funds worth Rs 2.5 crore sanctioned by his predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh in 2006 had damaged crops repeatedly. The deputation explained to the Chief Minister that the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) had prepared a project to link the main disposal works with the Sayeedwala drain by underground pipeline covering 9 km of length with budgeted cost of Rs 13-crore. The PWSSB had also floated tenders for the first phase but the work-order to the contractors was yet to be issued as no funds were released by the state government. Narang said the CM spoke over the phone to the PWSSB managing director directing to issue work order within next 48 hours and assured that the first installment amounting Rs 3.5-crore would be released by the state immediately. The CM also agreed to release the second installment of Rs 3.45 crore for miscellaneous urban development works subject to submitting of utilisation certificate by the municipal council.
	Traffic comes to halt as tempo hits rly crossing Our Correspondent Abohar, December 21 Hundreds of vehicles suffered an ordeal as the railway level crossing on the Abohar-Sriganganagar road (NH-15) near the Powercom complex remained closed for several hours here today. Information gathered from the concerned staff and neighbouring shopkeepers indicated that a speeding three-wheeler hit the outlived and poorly designed crossing as the gateman was trying to close it in the afternoon to facilitate safe arrival of a passenger train. The erring vehicle escaped after the crash. The railway authorities took their own time to substitute the crossing pipe by laying the iron-chain. This left the commuters with no option other than to violate the rail traffic rules with impunity. Heavy vehicles were found stranded till the filing of the news.
	EROs asked to implement ‘ethical voting campaign’ Our Correspondent Fazilka, December 21 The district administration has asked the electoral registration officers to implement ‘ethical voting campaign’ in letter and spirit, as directed by the Chief Electorate Officer, Punjab, for generating voter awareness to strengthen democracy. The district administration convened a meeting of the electoral registration officers (EROs) and other senior functionaries, including heads of the schools and colleges of Fazilka, held under the chairmanship of the Additional Deputy Commissioner Charandev Singh Maan. He directed the special block level officers (BLOs) to motivate the eligible young voters of colleges and schools in the age-group of 18-25 years to register them as voters by adopting ‘ethical means’. Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu has, through a letter dated December 3, directed the district heads to generate voter awareness amongst the students of this age-group by organising voter theme-based competitions like poster making and slogan writing.