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After power outage, The dark night rises
‘Only one fan worked in every class’
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Partial power supply restored to industries only by 7.30 pm
city’s Cinema choices
Ex-MLA flays govt for failing its people
Milk production down by 50 per cent
Dispute over jurisdiction delays murder probe
Dental fortnight concludes, 1900 patients examined by doctors
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After power outage, The dark night rises
Bathinda, July 30 At the Civil Hospital, doctors examined the patients in hot and humid conditions for some hours. Many patients were seen using newspapers to fan themselves to get relief from the hot weather. None of the ceiling fans was working in the OPDs. Besides, in the absence of electricity, no tests could be conducted at the biochemistry laboratory and the haematology laboratory for some time as the machines were not functioning. When contacted, senior medical officer (SMO) at the Civil Hospital, Dr Satish Goyal, said due to some fault in the generator, the power supply to the OPD remained suspended. Although the fault was corrected later, power supply to the entire OPD building could not be restored due to some fault in the internal wiring, he added. Dr Goyal said they were now writing to the engineering wing of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation to take the necessary measures so that such a situation could be handled in a better way in future. At the Mini-secretariat, none of the passenger lifts functioned till noon due to the power outage. Besides, employees at many offices, which did not have power back-up, had to brave the hot weather to work. A couple of ceiling fans were functioning in the offices where the invertors worked. Due to power shutdown, the functioning of computer systems in many of the offices was also affected adversely. However, thanks to a generator, those working at the Suwidha Centre, situated on the premises of the Mini-secretariat, did not face any problem as the fans, lights and computers worked till the power supply resumed early in the afternoon.
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‘Only one fan worked in every class’
Bathinda, July 30 The school authorities, however, deflected criticism by saying that the generators installed in the schools were not big enough to bear the load of all the fans and lights in the schools. When Bathinda Tribune spoke to school principals, they claimed that the attendance of students remained well above 60 per cent. Some of them also accepted that since the gensets couldn't bear the load, they had to be switched off a couple of times through the day. Sunil Kumar, head of the government senior secondary school in Kuttiwal Kalan said although the generator was pressed into use from 8 am till 2 pm, the load of the entire school proved to be too heavy for it a couple of times. “Usually, we are not required to run the generator for more than an hour. But on Monday, we ran it for more than six hours, that too continuously. The generator tripped a couple of times. Once, one of the wires got too hot and snapped,” Kumar said. “Since our school is located in a rural area, we are used to facing long power cuts. We are not allowed to make the students sit in the open, not even under the shade of trees. We somehow managed to spend the seven long hours on Monday, relying completely on the generator. The generator that we have in the school is a rather small one and is not sufficient for the entire school,” said Varinder Pal, principal of the government school in Maiserkhana. Claiming that the attendance in her school was more than 80 per cent on Monday, Meenu, in-charge of the senior secondary school in Mandi Kalan, said, “The students knew that they would be better off in the school since there is a power back-up. We had to switch off the generator a couple of times during the seven hours since the load of the entire school proved to be too much for the generator.” |
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Partial power supply restored to industries only by 7.30 pm
Bathinda, July 30 Powercom officials also claimed that it would take some time to restore power to all the sectors completely. While many from the working class failed to get ready for office on time, students of some private schools preferred to stay at home. Sukhi Singh Lalla, a resident of Housefed Colony, said he was initially planning not to send his
five-year-old kid to the playway school, but later decided otherwise. “Later, when I went to
see my child, I found that children, including my child, were huddled together under one fan. I decided to take him back home,” Lalla said. Shopkeepers and the bankers in the city too faced problems due to the power failure. Station engineer, Powercom, Inderjit Garg, said the Northern Grid had failed completely due to low frequency
following a rise in power demand. “It will take some time to restart the power units in the region that tripped due to the grid failure,” Garg said. He added that though the domestic power supply was resumed at around 12 noon in the city, supply to the agricultural and industrial sectors was yet to be restored. He said, after 7.30 pm, industries were allowed a load of 50 kilowatt. It will take some time to restore the entire power, he added. |
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Hollywood invasion: English films running to packed houses
Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, July 30 This is not a scene from a cinema hall located in a metropolitan city of the state, but a multiplex in Bathinda. If you are one of those who thought English films don’t really work here, you need to check your facts. With Hollywood films like ‘The Amazing Spiderman’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Men in Black 3’ running to packed houses in Bathinda, it is clear that Hollywood films have a wide audience base in the city. Vouching for the popularity of Hollywood films in the city, Gopal Singh of FUN Cinemas, said, “The multiplex has started registered a huge demand for Hollywood films. “ “The latest Hollywood film to get a superb response from the audience is ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Ever since its release in the city, there have been a number of times, especially over the weekends, when the film ran to a full house.” Singh also said there had been a paradigm shift in the film preferences of the city audience. “Earlier, Hollywood films never managed to pull in such crowds. But now, we are seeing a 60 per cent jump in the sale of tickets for English films,” he added. Rajkumar Gautam, unit head of the recently-opened Q Cinemas, agreed with Singh and said, “The demand for Hollywood films has definitely risen in the city. We got a good response for the film ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ and a great response for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. We are hopeful about the other upcoming Hollywood releases as well.” The popularity of the Hollywood films has risen so much that even the single screen theatres in the city have started buying the prints for these films. “The market for English films is widening in the city. However, the audience prefers these films in their Hindi dubbed versions. We have screened all the recent Hollywood releases at our theatre,” says the manager of a single-screen hall located on the Bathinda-Goniana road. The popularity of Hollywood may be attributed to the new generation, said Singh. “Many youngsters from the city go to other cities for studies and I think they form a large part of our audience. They bring along their family members and friends to watch these films. Also, the films that have prequels or sequels are more popular than the others.” While many may think that the Hindi-dubbed version of Hollywood films is more popular here, Gautam sayid the original does equally well. “In the first week, we ran the dubbed version of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ but switched to the English version from the second week. The latter did equally good business.” With the Box Office registers ringing, the cinema hall owners are all set to release ‘Ice Age 4: The Continental Drift’, ‘Total Recall’, ‘The Bourne Legacy’ and ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ in the coming months.
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Ex-MLA flays govt for failing its people
Bathinda, July 30 Jassi said the SAD-BJP government had been claiming that it was fulfilling all the basic needs of the common people, but the disruption in power supply for about ten hours since last night had exposed their claims. People were put to inconvenience due to the power crisis and many areas went without drinking water supply this morning. Jassi alleged that the SAD-led government had also failed in controlling criminal activities in the state and the mafia was flourishing.
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Milk production down by 50 per cent
Bathinda, July 30 Milkmen in the city said the extended dry spell coupled with the humidity or high moisture content in the air has adversely affected the production of milk. The milch cattle fail to eat properly and are not taken care due to lack of resources. "I failed to offer water properly to my animals due to power failure at 2.30 am. I had to take my buffaloes to an artificial pond in the city where water accumulates from a public tap," said Mohan Singh Mohni of Dhobiana Basti. He said out of ten buffaloes, only two give milk while five are about to give birth in the coming days. "We fail to get adequate milk from the cattle due to lack of fresh green grass and lack of proper diet due to the delayed monsoon," said Mohni. Dev Raj, an inspector in the Dairy Development Department, Bathinda, said milk production reaches 8 lakh litres in the district during the winter but at present, it has come down to a mere 4.5 lakh litres. Sixty per cent of the total milk supplied is utilised in the domestic market. "The milk production witnesses an increase after August 15. At present, milkmen are maintaining the supply by adopting various techniques to maintain the production," said the chief of the Milkmen Dairy Union, Punjab, Sohan Singh. Sohan Singh said there are 500 milkmen in Bathinda and on an average, they sell at least one quintal of milk everyday. The maximum production of milk is in the months of December, January and February. The breeding season of the milch cattle is from August onwards. "Not only does the production increase during the winter, its consumption too shoots up in view of the festive season with milkmen again adopting various techniques to maintain the balance of demand and supply," Sohan said. He added that the milkmen resort to mixing water in the milk while the manufacturers of milk products fall back on other He said the milkmen in Bathinda city sell at least 40,000 to 50,000 litres of milk everyday. The milch cattle require more attention and care as their desire to eat reduces during the summer and farmers have to feed them high energy cereals. Lack of green fodder and shortage of water too affect the milch cattle. They need water, sprinklers and effective fans to avoid mosquitoes and other insects to keep the various diseases afflicting the cattle at bay, said Sohan Singh, the president of the Milkmen Dairy Union.
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Dispute over jurisdiction delays murder probe
Bathinda, July 30 The body of the unidentified man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, was found near the railway tracks in the industrial area. The badly mutilated body with slit throat was found lying near the railway tracks and the matter was brought to the notice of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa. Before the police arrived, a team of media persons, Sahara workers, local residents and workers from nearby factories, reached the place. The dead man was in trousers and a shirt and his hands appeared to have been dipped in oil. "It appears that the deceased was a factory worker as his hands and the shirt were soggy like that of a factory worker," said Raju, a factory worker, gazing at the body. While the railway police reached quite late, the cops who arrived from the Cantonment police station first measured the distance from the railway tracks to ascertain whether the place where the body was lying, fell in their area or that of the railway police. The body of the unidentified person lay there for over two hours and black ants were seen entering the body through the slit throat. Cantonment SHO Kuldeep Singh said the railway police seemed to be reluctant to enquire into the case as their ASI said the area of the crime was not under their jurisdiction. "I had a word with senior police officials who ordered me to lodge a case despite the fact that up to 35 feet area from the railway tracks towards the city falls under the railway police. We do not want to delay the investigations and the senior officials assured that the jurisdiction issue could be resolved later," Kuldeep Singh said. He added that the senior police officials said the case may be handed over to the railway police if the murder had taken place in their area. The body has been kept in the mortuary of the Civil Hospital and announcements have been made at the gurudwara of Bhai Mati Das Nagar. Sahara workers too have been told to get in touch with the local residents to ascertain the identity of the man.
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Dental fortnight concludes, 1900 patients examined by doctors
Bathinda, July 30 According to official information, around 1900 patients, suffering from various dental diseases, were examined at the local Civil Hospital by Dr Shashi Jain and Dr Naresh Singla during the fortnight while around 475 patients were examined by Dr Meena at the CHC, Goniana. As many as 90 persons have been identified by the doctors for providing dentures free of cost at the local Civil Hospital whereas 30 needy persons have been identified at the CHC, Goniana, for providing dentures. Under the school health programme, about 1,100 students were also examined during the fortnight. Talking to this reporter here today, Dr Shashi Jain said the maximum number of patients had been identified from Phulo Mithi village (Sangat) for providing dentures. She said out of the total 90 identified persons, 17 had been identified from Phulo Mithi. Besides, seven patients from Shergarh village, six patients from Mehta village and four patients from Talwandi Sabo had also been identified for giving Other patients who had been identified for dentures were from Virk Kalan, Chughe Kalan, Gehri Bhagi, Naruana, Bathinda, Maisarkhana, Kotshamir, Sirianwala and Teona etc. Senior Medical Officer (SMO) of the local Civil Hospital, Dr Satish Goyal said the hospital authorities would organise a function here on August 3 to hand over the dentures to the 90 identified persons. He said the Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla would be the chief guest at the function. During the fortnight, the doctors informed the patients about ways to maintain oral hygiene. They were told about the number of times they should brush their teeth and also to consume nutritious diet and avoid junk food to have healthy teeth and gums. The doctors exhorted the parents that if they wanted to keep the teeth of their children healthy and disease-free, then they should not allow them to eat too many toffees. Besides, the children should also be asked to brush their teeth after eating the toffees and avoid junk food, said the doctors.
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As the failure of the Northern Grid hit power supply early on Monday across Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, the functioning at the local Mini-secretariat and in the OPD building of the local Civil Hospital was also affected adversely.
As the entire Northern India reeled under the 13-hour long power shutdown, schools across Bathinda district relied on the generators installed on their premises.
As a limping Christian Bale dresses up as Batman and zooms past the police personnel to get hold of the miscreants who had attacked the Gotham stock exchange, the cinema hall erupts into loud claps and whistles. The dialogues of the film are peppered with audience’s comments like, “Oye! Iss mein toh Anne Hathaway bhi hai” and “Robin kitthe
hai?”
The rise in temperature has not only affected the humans but also the cattle with the production of milk going down by more than 50 per cent. The reduction in the production of milk due to the excessive heat leads to an imbalance in demand and supply, thus creating possibilities of adulteration.
