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TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Amogh Division celebrates Raising Day
Abohar, July 15
Amogh Division celebrated its 42nd Raising Day today. The General Officer Commanding, Major General NC Badhani, paid homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at "Shaurya Sthal" at the military station near Sriganganagar. All ranks pledged to rededicate themselves to the honour and glory of the motherland.
Saluting the heroes: Maj Gen NC Badhani, GOC, Amogh Division, at Shaurya Sthal on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Saluting the heroes: Maj Gen NC Badhani, GOC, Amogh Division, at Shaurya Sthal on Monday

Mobile phones recovered from Central Jail
Ferozepur, July 15
The Central Jail authorities today confiscated six mobile phones during a search of various barracks on the jail premises. Earlier, a report regarding the prisoners having access to mobile phones in the jail had appeared in these columns today following which a special search was launched.

Army holds cricket tourney for border villages
Ferozepur, July 15
On the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which seems to have become a rage in the villages along the Indo-Pakistan border, 12 villages in Mamdot block bordering Pakistan came together to participate in “Mamdot Premier League” which was organised here under the aegis of the Golden Arrow Division of the Indian Army.

Guru Kashi varsity
Dr Malhi is new VC
Bathinda, July 15
The former director of the extension education of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Dr Nachhattar Singh Malhi, has been appointed as the vice-chancellor of Guru Kashi University (GKU), Talwandi Sabo. A renowned maize breeder, Dr Malhi, has a rich experience as an administrator, research manager and an active research worker.

Now, pvt candidates can submit examination forms at PURCs
Muktsar, July 15
The Panjab University (PU) has allowed private candidates to submit their examination forms at its three regional centres located at Muktsar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur.

	Unpaid for four months, DIET staff hold dharna Balwant Garg/TNS Faridkot, July 15 The instructors who are on the job to equip prospective and in-service teachers with the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and skills so that the latter perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, are themselves sitting on a dharna in Faridkot these days as they have not received their salaries for the last four months. Thanks to the procedural bottlenecks, hundreds of instructors at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in Punjab have not received their salaries since February 2013. Though there has always been a delay in releasing salary to these DIET employees in Punjab since 1989 when the DIETs were established to educate the in-service and pre-service teachers, the delay in giving salaries is becoming longer. Some of the employees have even raised loans to keep their hearth burning, said Sukhbir Singh, a lecturer at DIET, Faridkot. While every government employee usually gets his salary at the end of the month, the case of DIET employees is different. "Usually we get our salary after every four months but this time the delay was inordinate," said Jaswant Singh, president, Faridkot DIET Employees’ Union. DIET, run under the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and the State Council of Education and Research Training (SCRET) is the governing body of DIETs at the state level. So, the salaries of DIET employees are routed through SCERT by the ministry. Employees alleged that the routing process of their salary was so cumbersome and plagued with bottlenecks that they get their salaries after a four month gap. For this, the Central Government funded a programme for the betterment of elementary education in government schools and the yawning gap of priorities between the state and central government could be gauged from the fact that most DIETs in Punjab are facing an acute shortage of teaching faculty. In Moga, Muktsar and Ferozepur districts, the strength of teachers is 2, 6 and 6, respectively, against the 20 sanctioned posts. The DIETs in Punjab have no new batch of Elementary Teachers' Training (ETT) for the last two years. Though the state government began the process to start the annual ETT batch for the year 2012-13 in July last year, there was no final list of the students for this course in the last one year. Instead of filling the vacant posts, the state government started the process to shift some science teachers from DIETs to the government schools six months back in the name of rationalisation of posts. MC Bhatt, state administration officer, SCERT, admits the delay in payment of salary to the DIET employees. "We have now released the salary and employees will get it in a day or two", he said.
	Phul lawyers protest transfer of villages to Maur sub-division Jupinderjit Singh/TNS Bathinda, July 15 The lawyers in Rampura Phul began their week-long strike today in protest against the transfer of nine villages of their division to the newly carved out Maur sub-division. The state government has recently issued a notification upgrading the Maur tehsil to the status of a sub-division. The government has provided 55 revenue villages to the new sub-division. Some villages from the Rampura Phul sub-division were transferred to the Maur sub-division. Though the state government wanted to transfer 20 villages from Rampura to Maur, owing to opposition by the Rampura Phul Bar Association and the panchayats of several villages, the government sought a report from the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav. He visited the villages and filed his report on the basis of the preference of the villagers and their panchayat. The government retained 11 villages in Rampura while nine were transferred to Maur. The Bar Association claimed that the residents of these villages also wanted to stay with Rampura Phul only. The lawyers suffered loss of business as the litigants would go to Maur sub-division now for legal and document related work. Rupinder Garg, a spokesman of the Bar Association, said the government should de-notify the nine villages immediately or the strike would continue. The villages that are the bone of contention include Gharela, Ghareli, Jaed, Badiala, Ballo, Khokhar, Dhade, Bhunder and Mandi Kalan. The Maur assembly seat is represented by Irrigiton Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon while Rampura Phul is represented by Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka. Sources said both ministers put pressure to get the villages and eventually the government had to placate both of them by retaining 11 villages in Rampura and by giving nine to Maur.
	BA-I aspirants, parents protest as PU reduces number of seats Fazilka, July 15 A large number of students and their parents staged a protest in front of the local MR Government College for seeking admission and against curtailing of seats for admission to the Bachelor of Art (BA) Part I course. Panjab University has permitted only 480 students to take admission for the current academic session which is less than half as compared to the previous years. For the session 2011-12, the university had granted permission to 1,150 students to take admission. It had also allowed 1000 admissions the previous year. The students are demanding an increase in the number of seats this year also. According to official sources, 1,550 eligible aspirants have applied for admission in BA Part I against the sanctioned number of 480 seats. “We have been visiting the college for the last one week seeking admission but have been left in the lurch as the number of seats is quite less,” said Buta Singh of village Sarian and Parmpal Singh of village Pindi, both students The admission is being granted on merit basis. “Where would the others would go for graduation as MR Government College is the only institution offering course in humanities in Fazilka district. The managements of private college demand hefty fees,” said a member of the Nihal Khera village panchayat, Kulbhushan, whose son has applied for admission. “We are supposed to abide by the instructions of the Panjab University. If the university authorities enhance the seats, we are ready to admit the students,” said officiating college principal, Tribhuvan Ram. — OC
	Amogh Division celebrates Raising Day Our Correspondent Abohar, July 15 Amogh Division celebrated its 42nd Raising Day today. The General Officer Commanding, Major General NC Badhani, paid homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at "Shaurya Sthal" at the military station near Sriganganagar. All ranks pledged to rededicate themselves to the honour and glory of the motherland. The division traces its glorious history to Foxtrot Sector which was raised on April 15, 1971 at Ambala Cantonment. The sector was re-christened as an Infantry Division on July 15, 1972. Over the decades, the division has endeared itself to the local populace and continues to work in harmony with the civil authorities. All ranks of the division are always ready to meet any threat posed to national security and ensure the sanctity of the international border. The division has worked for the welfare of veterans and Veer Naris by organizing ex-servicemen's rallies and medical camps on a regular basis. The Amogh Division, besides assisting civil authorities in terms of providing relief and rescue operations during the floods, is also performing a noble service by adopting a number of schools in the border areas view to provide computer education to the children. The raising day festivities included a Barakhana and a special Sainik Sammelan.
	Mobile phones recovered from Central Jail Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, July 15 The Central Jail authorities today confiscated six mobile phones during a search of various barracks on the jail premises. Earlier, a report regarding the prisoners having access to mobile phones in the jail had appeared in these columns today following which a special search was launched. Jail officials said five mobile phones were recovered from barrack 4 of block-2 in the jail regarding which an FIR was lodged against unidentified persons. Another mobile was recovered along with SIM from one Gurmej Singh against whom a separate FIR has been registered. Sources revealed that several high-profile prisoners have been reportedly managing their operations from within the jail with help of the mobile phones which are brought in a clandestine manner. Senior jail officials admitted that the connivance of the staff and people working in jail factories in helping prisoners get access to mobile phones cannot be ruled out. One Rajwinder Kaur, who had been arrested two years back on the charges of fleecing crores from the gullible after luring them into marriage, was also found allegedly running her network from within the jail through mobile phone. Sources said many prisoners with serious criminal charges ranging from spying, cross-border drug peddling besides other such cases were also lodged in the jail, and added that in this scenario, the accessibility to mobile phones on the jail premises can pose a serious security risk. Earlier, the jail authorities had also mooted a proposal to install high-frequency jammers inside the jail premises to prevent any unlawful usage of mobile phones. However, till date, the equipment could not be installed. DK Sidhu, jail superintendent, said as and when any such case comes to their notice, an FIR is lodged against the prisoner converned. “All such cases of recovery of mobile phone or other such illegal article attract a penalty of Rs 25,000 besides one additional year of imprisonment,” he said, adding that all possible efforts were being made to prevent the entry of mobile and other communication devices inside the jail.