|
|
|
|
|
Sutlej floods 16 villages in Nangal, Anandpur Sahib
Weak monsoon, slow melting of snow ease situation at Bhakra
|
|
|
HC quashes govt order extending tenure of Ferozepur civic body
Teachers in a fix over contrary ACR format
Faridkot jail staff supplied drugs to inmates: Probe
Amarinder seeks industrial package, writes to Centre
Regularising colonies: Bajwa flays govt for hefty charges
Area under maize up by 1,400 hectares in Sangrur
Release tubewell connections within three
months: Badal
|
Sutlej floods 16 villages in Nangal, Anandpur Sahib
Ropar, July 20 The local administration has attributed the floods to the sudden rise in the water level in the Swan, a tributary of the Sutlej that originates in Una, Himachal Pradesh. The river merges into the Sutlej at Algran village near Anandpur Sahib and its level had risen alarmingly after yesterday’'s heavy rain in the hill state. An official said an alarming 84,000 cusecs of water was recorded in the Swan at 2 pm today, as compared to 15,000 cusecs in the Sutlej. The normal flow of the Swan during the monsoon is 10,000 cusecs. It enters Punjab from Himachal near Mehendpur village in Nangal. The official said an alert was sounded in villages on the Sutlej banks after the unusual increase in the water level at 11 am. While Burj village in Anandpur Sahib has been converted into an island, fields in Lodhipur, Ballowal, Mataur, Mehendli Kalan, Gajpur, Chandpur, Shahpur Bela, Hariwal, Bela Dhiani, Harsa Bela, Bela Ramgarh, Patti Tek Singh, Jindwari, Khanpur and Dasgrian villages have been submerged under two to three feet of water. Several ‘kutcha’ houses have been washed away. It was around 2.30 pm that the heavy current of the Swan water, after merging with Sutlej, started overflowing the banks and spread all over the area, he said. Eyewitnesses said water had already entered houses in Burj, Mehendli Kalan, Hariwal and Ballowal villages and the level of water in other villages was also rising alarmingly. Last year, the Directorate of Irrigation and Power Research, Amritsar, had conducted a survey on the flow of the rivers and its impact in the area. On the recommendation of the survey, a proposal to construct a new ‘bundh’ at Lodhipur (costing Rs 13.43 crore) was submitted to the government, but nothing has been done so far. Deputy Commissioner PK Agrawal said the flow of water in the Swan had started receding and the situation would be normal soon.
|
|
Weak monsoon, slow melting of snow ease situation at Bhakra
Ropar, July 20 The slow increase in the level, therefore, has put the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMS) authorities in a comfortable position. Had the level risen alarmingly, the authorities would have been forced to open the floodgates, an exercise that would have caused havoc in villages of Ropar district. The level, as per BBMB projection, should not breach the 1,650-feet mark before July 31. Currently, the level has been rising by less than a foot daily. While it was recorded at 1638.17 feet yesterday, the level rose to 1639.03 feet today. BBMB director VK Sharma said the water level in the dam had been registering an increase of less than a foot daily for the last few days. After the onset of the monsoon, the water level in the dam had risen alarmingly, breaching the 40-year record. It had touched 1,602.19 feet on June 26, a first in the past four decades. On Saturday, the inflow of water in the Bhakra dam was 50,745 cusecs whereas the outflow was recorded at 36,883 cusecs.
|
|||
|
HC quashes govt order extending tenure of Ferozepur civic body
Chandigarh, July 20 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the letter dated July 20, 2012, vide which the municipal committee’s term was extended by a couple of years “against law and facts”. The orders came on a petition filed through counsel KB Raheja by Buta Singh and five other residents of Ferozepur City. They had alleged that the municipal committee, realising the chances of its re-election were bleak, managed to get the term extended by a couple of years. The committee, in fact, got its term extended on the ground that the first meeting to elect the president and other office bearers was held two years after the elections. Going into the background of the controversy, Raheja claimed the election to constitute the municipal committee was held in June, 2008. As per Section 13 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, the term of the municipal committee is five years from the date fixed for the first meeting for the election of the office bearers. He added the president and other office-bearers of the municipal committee “are the men of ruling party”. “By their act and conduct, they have lost the support, confidence and mandate of the people of the area and it is well within their knowledge that they will not be able to get themselves elected again in the events of elections. So, they tried to delay the elections and continue in office…” Raheja said the office-bearers “related to the ruling parties” managed to get the extension on the ground that the first meeting of the municipal committee was held on April 4, 2010. As such, the term of five years would begin from that day. Raheja said as per the information obtained under RTI the first meeting for the election of president was held on July 22, 2008.
|
|||
|
Teachers in a fix over contrary ACR format
Chandigarh, July 20 Schools in Faridkot circle have been directed to continue with the old pattern of ACRs for teachers while the non-teaching staff has been told to shift to a new format. On the other hand, the Patiala circle has asked the schools that have already sent their ACRs to collect these from the Block Education Office and re-sought them in the new format. In a letter to schools on July 18, the Faridkot Block Education Officer had said: “Schools are abuzz with apprehensions about the format of the ACRs. It is clarified that the ACRs of the teachers will be prepared on the old pattern while the non-teaching employees will follow the new format.” At the same time, a letter from the Patiala Block Education Officer, dated July 19, stated: “The master/mistress cadre ACRs for 2012-13 will be prepared according to the new pattern, released on September 15, 2010.” The note has also asked those who had sent it according to the old pattern to collect it from the record section. The Ludhiana District Education Officer has also sought the ACRs on the new format. Director, Public Instruction, Kamal Garg, said, “My office yesterday forwarded a communication to all the sections concerned that the ACRs will be prepared as per the new format. The latest version will also have a column for self-assessment by the teachers and the non-teaching staff.” Garg said the department will communicate the latest orders to the schools in due course. The new format will be called Actual Performance Assessment Report (APAR). All the reports will be reviewed by seniors, who will have to give reasons for their opinion about the employee.
|
|||
|
Faridkot jail staff supplied drugs to inmates: Probe
Faridkot, July 20 The report of the investigation, done by Kotkapura Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Darshan Singh Grewal, mentions that the inmates have an easy access to drugs and mobile phones, something that can not be possible without the support of the jail officials. The report expresses surprise at the fact that no one was held responsible for the April 22 clash. "How is it possible when there was arson and brick-battling for over two hours in the fortified jail, no wrongdoer could be identified by the staff," questions the SDM in his report. It says 1,784 inmates (about 80%) in the jail were drug addicts. The report mentions that despite the high prevalence of the drug menace in the jail, there was an acute shortage of medical staff. This often led to tension between the inmates and the jail staff for want of medical care. Only 21 of the 47 sanctioned posts of medical staff were filled. There was only one specialist and one medical officer. Four out of the total eight posts of nursing staff are also vacant. As such, the drug de-addiction centre was not of much use as no psychiatrist or medical specialist was available. The report notes that a mix of inmate ingenuity, complicit visitors and some corrupt jail staff is to be blamed for the high drug abuse. Grewal has recommended a detailed investigation into the involvement of the jail staff in the supply of drugs. In the last two years, 47 mobile phones, 10,000 sedative tablets, capsules and injections were recovered from the inmates. Fifteen inmates were booked for carrying smack while three jail warders and a pharmacist in the jail hospital were suspended for supplying drugs to the inmates. The report recommends that the jail can become a true reformation centre only if it has a well-equipped de-addiction centre and a strong surveillance system, which is needed to keep a check on drug smuggling. Rajpal Meena, Additional Director General of Police, Prisons, said, "We have already installed CCTV cameras in many jails in the state. We are getting stricter by the day to curb smuggling of drugs and phones. We have taken stern action against seven employees for smuggling. We have even started a pat-down search of the jail staff. However, we are severely under-staffed as there is a 24 per cent growth in the number of inmates every year. We hope with the construction of new jails, the problem of overcrowding will be solved." He called for more cooperation from the relatives of the inmates. "They are the ones who bring drugs and phones. They have to realise that they are just prolonging their own misery this way. We have disallowed supply of fruits and vegetables to the inmates by family members," he said.
|
|||
Amarinder seeks industrial package, writes to Centre
Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa had also recently raised the same demand with the Centre. Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had warned the Centre that the consequences of ignoring Punjab while announcing an industrial package to hill states could be “grave as it would lead to a serious rise in unemployment”. Amarinder Singh said during his tenure as the Chief Minister from 2002 to 2007, he had vigorously pursued the case for a special package for the industries of the state. “This is the only remedy to strengthen industry, revive economy and generate employment for over 40 lakh unemployed people of the state,” he said in a statement. The former Chief Minister asserted that he had been consistently maintaining that the industry in Punjab was suffering due to the alleged discriminatory tax concessions provided to the neighbouring states. “As a result, the industrial growth here is stifled and the industry has either moved out of the state or has stopped to expand and has preferred other states where it gets a tax holiday.”
|
|||
|
Regularising colonies: Bajwa flays govt for hefty charges
Chandigarh, July 20 The irrational tax structure was a desperate bid to bridge the revenue deficit to cover up their failures, he said in a statement here. Bajwa asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to improve governance, eradicate corruption, stop evasion of taxes and adopt austerity measures to bridge the revenue deficit. He said policies of the SAD-BJP government were responsible for the revenue deficit of about Rs 13,000 crore. The PPCC chief said the government’s decision of charging fee of Rs 400 per sq feet from owners of plots in about 5,340 colonies across the state would hit nearly 2 lakh families.
Rs 5 lakh sought for Moga
acid attack victim
The Congress has demanded that the Punjab Government provides an immediate relief of Rs 5 lakh to the Moga acid attack victim. They also demanded that the government bears all her medical expenses and provides her a regular job of a staff nurse.
|
|
New counters may end long queues for ‘parshad’ at Golden Temple
Amritsar, July 20 At present, there are only three counters for the 'karah parshad' and two for the 'pinni parshad', which witness long queues of devotees, particularly during the peak tourist season. Darbar Sahib manager Jawahar Singh said they intended to open 15 counters of ‘karah parshad’ and four of ‘pinni parshad’ to facilitate the devotees. Apart from this, they would be opening four more counters of ‘pinni parshad’ near Ber Baba Budha Sahib, which would help the devotees take it along while making an exit from the holy shrine. He said the ‘kar sewa’ was already underway on full swing and the work would be completed within a month. On an average, the ‘karah parshad’ counters record a sale of Rs 3 lakh daily while the ‘pinni parshad’ counters register a sale of Rs 1 lakh daily. He said the sale of ‘pinni parshad’ was increasing day by day. The ‘pinni parshad’ is fast gaining popularity among the pilgrims after being launched on October 8 last year on the occasion of Guru Ram Das birth anniversary. The facility (‘pinni parshad’) was started as the pilgrims from far-off places used to complain that they could not take ‘parshad’ from the holy shrine for their near and dear ones. Meanwhile, the SGPC’s move to renovate the ‘parshad’ counter area seems to have added to the pollution which is visible on roof and walls of the verandah alongside the ‘parikarma’, as the hearths on which the ‘parshad’ is prepared have been shifted a little from their original position. The roofs and walls in the verandah have started turning black which is a clear indicator of the effect of shifting hearths. On the other hand, the manager said they would ensure proper restoration of the area damaged due to shifting of hearths
|
||
|
Area under maize up by 1,400 hectares in Sangrur
The area under basmati has also increased from 20,000 hectares last year to 24,000 hectares this year. Moreover, area under sugarcane has increased by 1,000 hectares to 3,000 hectares this year. Farmers have also directly sown paddy on 3,000 hectares this year compared to 500 hectares last year. The government is promoting crop diversification and direct sowing as it helps save a lot of water. Other crops compared to paddy require less water. When contacted, Dr Rajinder Singh Sohi, Chief Agriculture Officer, Sangrur, said they had achieved their target of directly sowing paddy on 3,000 hectares with ease. He said farmers in Sunam block directly sowed paddy on the maximum 800 hectares. Over 600 hectares each were covered in Sangrur and Lehra blocks while 500 hectares were covered in Bhawanigarh block. Dr Sohi said 75 per cent subsidy on 300 quintals of maize seed had encouraged farmers to sow maize instead of paddy on 1,500 hectares in the district. Other farmers sowed maize on around 100 to 200 hectares by buying its seed from the market. Dr Sohi said farmers had sown basmati on 23,000 hectares till now and will cover the remaining 1,000 hectares in the next two to three days. He said basmati had been sown on 5,500 hectares in Sunam block, 4,430 hectares in Andana block, 3,340 hectares in Lehra block and 2,100 hectares each in Malerkotla andAhmed
garh blocks.
|
||
|
Release tubewell connections within three
months: Badal
Chandigarh, July 20 A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister in a meeting with a delegation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), led by its president Balbir Singh Rajewal, here this evening. On Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) to slash the rate from Rs 4,500 to Rs 1,000 per BHP for enhancing the load capacity of the motors, the Chief Minister said the PSPCL chairman had already taken up the issue with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission so
that the matter could be resolved amicably at the earliest. Badal also asked the Chief Engineer, Canals, to revert back to the old system of levying “abiana” so that water charges on canal water used by the farmers could be
rationalised to their advantage.
|
|
| 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 | |
Chandigarh, July 20
Sangrur, July 20