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adarsh schools
Flesh trade racket busted, 5 nabbed in city hotel
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Shopkeepers move HC, challenge eviction by PRTC
BSNL cable snapped inadvertently while laying water pipe
State divided into 10 zones for drug licensing
City residents stage unique protest
Training camp held for cooperative officials
Teachers’ union opposes Panchayati Directorate
Dist school games conclude; Kulwinder bags wushu title
DC reviews progress of development works
Book exhibition held at Maur campus
BFGI teachers get award
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Central funds embezzled: Teachers
Teachers stage state-level agitation in city deploring the managements of schools in Punjab Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, September 1 The teachers from Bathinda, Nawanshahr, Moga and several other places staged a protest against their school managements accusing them of embezzling funds. The state head of Adarsh Schools Teaching & Non-teaching Staff Association, Amrinder Pal, told Bathinda Tribune, “Ever since Adarsh Schools came into being in 2011, the school managements have been running the schools at their whims and fancies. All this while, the staff was being threatened that if it raised its voice, it would be promptly shunted out.” He pointed out that the staff that decided to protest against the DIS Adarsh School in Moga was thrown out and the police was posted outside the school to stop the teachers from entering the premises. He said, “Under the scheme, the Central Government pays Rs 1,680 per month per student to these schools. Despite this, the school managements have been charging hefty fee from the students. Where is all the money going?” He argued that while according to the CBSE slabs, the TGT-grade teacher should be paid salary of around Rs 32,000 per month, Rs 16,500 was being credited to their accounts. “On top of that, the school managements used to take back half of our salaries. We kept quiet for long fearing loss of jobs as the school managements had not given us any appointment letters at the time of our joining,” he added. The association also accused the managements of maintaining fake records of number of teachers and students in the schools. “Since 70 per cent of the expense of these schools is borne by the Central Government, the managements show records of more number of teachers working in their schools. Similarly, to claim more funds, they show a higher number of admissions,” Pal said. “We had brought all these issues to the notice of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka. We were assured that the state government would tackle the issue and will take over the schools from private parties. But that is yet to happen. We wonder what is delaying the process,” he added. Elaborating on the association’s demands, he said, “The association demands that the government must expedite the process of taking over these schools from private managements. In case of further delay, we will stage more protests across the state.” Under the scheme, the Central Government pays ~1,680 per month per student to Adarsh Schools. Despite this, the school managements have been charging hefty fee from the students. Where is all the money going? The government should take over the schools from private
parties.
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Flesh trade racket busted, 5 nabbed in city hotel
Bathinda, September 1 Those booked for immoral activity included the hotel owner Amritpal, Harpreet, Jeet Kumar, both residents of Gidderbaha, a 24-year-old girl of Malout and a female resident of Ajit road. Sanjay Kumar and Raj Pal have been booked under the Gambling Act. A police team under the supervision of Bhucho DSP Harmeek Deol raided the hotel and arrested the accused. Cash to the tune of Rs 1.10 lakh was recovered from the gamblers. The police said the raid was conducted following a tip-off that gambling takes place at the hotel. However, the team discovered there was a flesh trade racket operating too. Deol got the additional charge of Bathinda as ASP Alka Meena was away for a four-day training course. The DSP said two separate cases of gambling and immoral activity were registered at the Civil Line police station. He said the arrested females included the owner of a PG accommodation on the Ajit road and a 24-year-old girl working in a private finance company. The girl is said to have two master degrees and the woman is a widow. Earlier, the woman used to offer PG accommodation to girls but for the past few months, young boys were putting up there. Preliminary investigations revealed that the girl was earlier staying at the PG. The girl reportedly pocketed Rs 30,000 from two Gidderbaha residents, including the owner of a cloth shop. The DSP said one of the arrested persons was a NFL employee. A hotel owner, pleading anonymity, said such rackets were not new to the city residents and there were a few more hotels where similar activities were carried out allegedly in connivance with some influential people. Sources said Bathinda MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla was contacted by some people known to Amritpal but the MLA refused to extend help to a person involved in such a case. Local politicians were seen queuing up outside the Civil Line police station to help out the accused. |
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Shopkeepers move HC, challenge eviction by PRTC
Bathinda, September 1 They alleged that despite paying the monthly rent 'regularly' since they took the shops in 1985, they were evicted without prior notice. They rued that now, they have nowhere to go. The shopkeepers moved a petition in the Punjab & Haryana High Court wherein they claimed that they were not given one month notice after the rejection of their plea by the District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner. "Moreover, the vacated shops are now auctioned without inserting advertisement in print media allegedly for some vested interests," said Manjit Singh, one of the evicted shopkeepers. "The PRTC officials refused to accept the rent ranging between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 after there was a sudden increase in rent of shops located in the vicinity," Manjit said. The shopkeepers said the prevailing rent ranged between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 per month in the centrally located shops surrounding the bus stand. "We wrote to the PRTC managing director in 2009 to increase the rent by 10 per cent every three years, as per the guidelines followed by the Municipal Corporation. But our plea fell on deaf ears. The PRTC officials were bent on getting the shops vacated," Manjit said. The evicted shopkeepers said they all were now in the middle age and would find it difficult to survive as they had no other source of livelihood except for the shops. They lament that during a conflict in 2006, the shopkeepers had to pay house tax to the tune of Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 in instalments to the PRTC. The shop owners said during the days of militancy in early 90s, PRTC officials had given relaxation in rent as the shopkeepers hardly earned anything then. Refuting the allegation of shopkeepers, PRTC general manager Vinod Jindal, when contacted, claimed that the requisite procedure was followed to get the shops vacated. "The shopkeepers were not paying the rent for the past many months and have won and lost the legal battle a number of times in the past. Finally, the PRTC had its way," Jindal said. He also rubbished the claims that advertisements were not inserted in newspapers for the fresh auctioning of shops. Jindal stated that pamphlets announcing the auction were distributed among shopkeepers in and around the bus stand. The auction took place at Patiala a few days ago. "We will follow the due procedure to rent out the shops in a day or two," the GM said.
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BSNL cable snapped inadvertently while laying water pipe
Bathinda, September 1 Residents of the area said earlier, it would have taken just a couple of hours to complete the work, which has now been extended to the next few days. A former municipal councillor of the area, Master Harmandar Singh, said earlier, the Street number 2 was facing scarcity of water. "Since there was no dedicated pipeline for the street, it was decided to lay a separate pipeline connecting it with the main line. However, while work was in progress some BSNL cables got snapped. Restoration of the BSNL line is under way," he said. — TNS Since there was no dedicated pipeline for the street, it was decided to lay a separate pipeline connecting it with the main line. However, while work was in progress, some BSNL cables got snapped. Restoration of the BSNL line is under
way.
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State divided into 10 zones for drug licensing
Bathinda, September 1
The Amritsar zonal officer will be the in charge for Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts while the Mohali zonal officer will look after Mohali and Ropar. Similarly, the Bathinda officer will be in charge of Bathinda, Muktsar and Faridkot; the zonal officer at Patiala will look after Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib; Sangrur, Barnala and Mansa will be covered under Sangrur zone; the zonal officer at Hoshiarpur will be look after Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr; the Ferozepur zonal officer will be in charge of Ferozepur, Fazilka and Moga; and the Gurdaspur zone will cover Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts. Though the government has issued a list of the designated zonal officers, they have not been given their designated stations. The officers declared as zonal licensing authorities (drugs) are Amit Duggal, Kulwinder Singh, Karun Sachdev, Neha Shourie, Navjot Kaur and Lakhwant Singh. The president of Punjab Chemists Association, Surjit Mehta, said formation of zones had been a long-pending demand of the association. With roughly 30,000 registered chemists spread across the length and breadth of the state, those having their establishments far away from Chandigarh, such as Ferozepur and Meanwhile, assistant drug controller, Punjab, Pradeep Mattu said the move was meant to lighten the burden at headquarters as well as streamline the entire procedure of issuing and renewing licences. “Only the retail licensing has been handed over to the zonal officers. For wholesale licensing, people will have to approach Chandigarh headquarters only,” he said. Mattu added that though the list of zonal officers had been issued, they were not allotted zones that they would look after. “The designated zonal officers include drug inspectors whose functions will be re-distributed among the remaining drug inspectors,” he added.
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City residents stage unique protest
Bathinda, August 1 Headed by the former municipal councillor Vijay Kumar, people protested against the growing problem of stray cattle and the fatal accidents these animals were causing on the roads. Residents herded together the stray cattle from the city at around 11 am at the Paras Ram Nagar Chowk and came all the way walking to the MC office. On seeing a large number of cattle heading for the MC office, the employees shut the gates. Vijay Kumar and others forced the gate open using a baton to beat it.
Yielding to pressure, MC employees opened the gate and around 60 cattle heads were driven inside. Once inside, the protestors raised slogans against the corporation officials demanding that city residents should be given respite from the stray cattle menace that is assuming an alarming proportion. As soon as the cattle entered the MC office premises, people ran helter-skelter looking for a safe place. DSP City Gurmeet Kingra, Kotwali SHO Karamjit Singh and a posse of policemen reached the spot. Heated arguments were exchanged between the protesters and the municipal corporation officials. Not pleased with the episode, the MC officials tried to threaten the protestors saying that a police case will be registered against them for trespassing into the MC office and bringing in the animals. However, the protestors refused to budge and said they were not protesting due to any vested interests, but were only highlighting the plight of the common man. At around 1:15 pm, municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta convened a meeting with the protestors who were led by Vijay Kumar. Gupta expressed displeasure over the turn of events. However, Vijay Kumar said this was the only way left for them to highlight the problem that the people were facing due to stray animals moving on the city roads. "I had given an application to the MCB requesting that concrete action be taken to check the problem of stray cattle menace. Despite repeated requests, nothing was done. We had already warned the MC authorities about taking this step if our demands were not met," he said. A former municipal councillor, Vijay Kumar proposed to give two acres of land for setting up a cattle pound. However, Gupta told the protestors that a cattle pound was being constructed in an area of five acres and the project will be worth Rs 8 crore. He added that in yet another measure, a contractor is being appointed, who will be responsible for not allowing any stray cattle to enter into the municipal limits. The municipal commissioner asked for a time-frame of six months to execute the entire project.
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Training camp held for cooperative officials
Bathinda, August 1 Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Bathinda, Harbant Singh Jatana was the chief guest during cam. Senior area in-charge of IFFCO, Jaswinder Singh laid stress upon the need to rope in more people to popularise various people-friendly schemes. Agriculture scientists Dr Jatinder Brar and Amarjit Sandhu from Krishi Vigyan Kendra was among those who spoke on the occasion and informed the participants about the soil examination, balanced use of fertilisers, choosing the right pesticides besides disseminating other information. Shamsher Singh of PUNFED shared his ideas about increasing the income of the society and distributed literature on agriculture. Girl dies under mysterious circumstances
A teenage girl died under mysterious circumstances near the railway tracks adjoining the Bathinda Chemicals factory. The body of the girl, identified as 15- year-old Komal, a resident of Udham Singh Nagar, was found lying near the railway tracks. She was apparently hit by a speeding train last night. Sonu, the brother of the girl, said that the elders in the family had gone to work last night and her parents too had gone to meet some relatives. Sonu said he was on the first floor of the house while his sister was downstairs. The family members of the girl said they have no idea how the girl reached the railway tracks. The Government Railway Police (GRP) has registered a case in this connection. Shopkeeper beaten up for faulty mobile phone
Irate over not properly repairing a cell phone, four unidentified youths beat up a mobile shop owner in Hardev Nagar near Kheta Singh Basti. Volunteers of the NGO Naujawan Welfare Society were contacted by the local residents who shifted the injured to the Civil Hospital in their ambulance. The injured shopkeeper Som Singh said the youngsters gave him the mobile phone for repair and he tried his best to set it right. The youngsters, however, came again and told him to repair the mobile set again as it had developed another snag. The customers were upset and after arguing with the shopkeeper, returned with iron rods and sticks. The youths damaged the shop and assaulted and injured the shopkeeper before fleeing. Police said a case in this connection would be registered after recording the statements of the injured and the witnesses. |
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Teachers’ union opposes Panchayati Directorate
Bathinda, August 1 "While the schools under the Panchayati Raj have been trying their best to come under the jurisdiction of the Education Department, the government is taking a regressive step and introducing the Panchayati Directorate. It shows that the government is not ready to shoulder the responsibility of the schools and wants to transfer the burden onto the shoulders of panchayats," said the district head. He added that the way in which the government was acting in the matter, it seemed that it was just a matter of time before all the schools would be shifted under the Panchayati Directorate. The union also argued that instead of spending money on setting up and strengthening the Panchayati Directorate, the government could save money by shifting all the schools to the Education Department. The union said the Panchayati Directorate would not only result in the deterioration of the education system in the schools under the Zila Parishad but also affect the careers of teachers.
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Dist school games conclude; Kulwinder bags wushu title
Bathinda, August 1 The competitions were held at various schools across the district under the jurisdiction of the District Education Officers (secondary and elementary), Harkanwaljit Kaur and Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta. Assistant Education Officer Pavittar Kaur also coordinated the competitions. Results: Wushu Under-19 boys: Minus 48 kg category: 1st: Pardeep Singh Bathinda zone 1; 2nd: Jaspreet Singh Bathinda Zone 1 Minus 60 kg category: 1st: Balwainder Singh, Talwandi Sabo; 2nd: Jashanpreet Singh, Talwandi Sabo Minus 70 kg category: 1st: Jugraj Singh, Talwandi Sabo; 2nd: Akshadeep Singh, Bathinda Zone 1 Minus 75 kg category: 1st: Amrinder Singh, Talwandi Sabo; 2nd: Gurpreet Singh, Bathinda Zone 1 Plus 75 kg category: 1st: Kulwinder Singh, Bathinda Zone 1; 2nd: Kulwinder Singh, Talwandi Sabo Throwball Under-19 boys 1st: Bathinda Zone 1; 2nd: Mandi Phul Zone Throwball Under 19 girls 1st: Bathinda Zone 1; 2nd: Goniana Mandi Baseball Under-14 boys 1st: Talwandi Sabo; 2nd: Sangat; Baseball Under-17 boys: 1st: Sangat Zone; 2nd: Talwandi Sabo Cricket Under-17 boys 1st: Maur Mandi; 2nd: Talwandi Sabo; Cricket Under-14 boys: 1st: Bathinda Zone 2; 2nd: Goniana Mandi Badminton Under-17 boys: 1st: Mandi Phgul; 2nd: Mandi Kalan; Badminton Under-17 Girls: 1st: Mandi Phul; 2nd: Bathinda 2; Badminton Under-14 girls: 1st: Bathinda Zone 2; 2nd: Bathinda Zone 1 Wrestling Under-19 Boys: 1st: Goniana Mandi; 2nd: Sangat Zone; Wrestling Under-17 boys: 1st: Goniana Mandi; 2nd: Talwandi Sabo; Wrestling Under-14 boys: 1st: Talwandi Sabo; 2nd: Goniana
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DC reviews progress of development works
Bathinda, August 1 He reviewed the works that are in progress, those that have already been done and those works that remain to be done. Officials of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB), municipal committees from Raman, Maur and Bhucho Mandi and municipal council, Kotfatta, were present at the review meeting. Yadav directed the officials to redress the complaints of sewerage, drinking water, streetlights, power and roads and complete the projects related to it. Mayor Baljit Singh Birbehman, municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta and others were also present at the review meeting.
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Book exhibition held at Maur campus
Bathinda, August 1 The pleasure of reading a book and the mental exercise it generates has no parallel, he stated During his lecture, he also stressed upon the importance of education for girls. He said an educated girl can educate the whole society. He said books were man's real friends as by imparting knowledge, they helped the readers in connecting with their culture and values. Dr DK Madaan, principal of the campus, said the exhibition aimed at promoting reading habits among students and teachers. He thanked Labh Singh Sandhu for delivering the lecture.
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Bathinda, August 1 Members of the faculty, Harsimran Singh, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Kovid Sharma of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received the award. The awards were given away by Dr R Murugsan, president of the ISTE, New Delhi. — TNS
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Bathinda, September 1
The 10 zones govern 22 districts of the state and have been divided on the basis of number of chemists in each district. Ludhiana being the district to have the largest number of chemists has an exclusive zonal officer who will look after Ludhiana district only. All other districts have been clubbed in groups of two or three and would be looked after by one zonal inspector.