Bathinda, May 19
The ninth unit out of 14 power units in Punjab closed down following a technical reason, adding to the woes of the farmers in the state.

The refusal of the engineers followed by their agitation to remove the fault and restart the generator resulted in around 20 minute power cut in urban areas and only three hours of regular supply in rural areas. The PSPCL failed to restart the Lehra unit that closed down due to a fault in the generator in the wee hours on Sunday. But it started the other unit which was not working due to the shortage of coal to overcome the power shortage at 11 am on Monday.

The 210 MW unit No. 1 of the Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant tripped on Sunday morning. But it could not be started as the engineers refused to attend the fault due to their ongoing work to rule agitation. The stir is against the alleged violation of the Tripartite Agreement (TPA) by the Punjab Government. The engineers work from 9 am to 5 pm only. Engineers have refused to work overtime and on holidays.

Having failed to restart the unit so far, the PSPCL management has decided to start unit No. 3 of Lehra and unit No.2 of Ropar to tide over the situation. None of these units are likely to start generation by Sunday.

Earlier, both the thermal power plants at Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat were completely shut on May 10 and could not be restarted due to work to rule agitation by engineers. They were started after two days on May 12 only when the engineers reported for duty on Monday. On May 10, restoration work at 220 KV grid sub-station at Moga (Singhawala) where due to a fire incident, power transformers were damaged on May 10. This is taking more time.

R&M (Renovation and modernisation) of unit No. 4 of the GNDTP Bathinda is also getting delayed due to the work to rule agitation by the engineers. The unit No. 4 of the GNDTP was planned to be commissioned by March 31. The date was then shifted to April 30 but it has not been commissioned so far.

At present, only four units, one 120 MW unit No. 3 of Bathinda, another 250 MW unit No. 4 at Lehra and two 210 MW units No.4 and 5 at Ropar are running. There are 14 thermal units in Punjab.

The PSPCL on Sunday had purchased 70 lakh units of power at the cost of Rs 3.58 per unit while on May 17 it purchased 28 lakh units at Rs 3.62 per unit whereas its own generation cost of PSPCL is far less than it had purchased.

The variable cost of generation at Lehra is Rs 2.36 per unit, at Bathinda it is Rs 2.75 per unit and at Ropar it is Rs 2.80 per unit.

The supply of coal to all the three state-owned thermal power plants by M/s PANEM private coal supplier was stopped on April 10 but the supply was resumed partially on May 9.

PANEM is proposed to supply six rakes of coal daily, including one rake at Bathinda, three rakes at Lehra and two rakes of coal at the Ropar thermal power plant but so far the PANEM since May 9 had supplied around two rakes per day to these plants instead of six.

Two units are already shut due to shortage of coal at the GNDTP Bathinda while the third unit is running. The coal stocks are falling as only three rakes have been received during the month of May so far.

Coal shortage, non-commissioning of private thermal power plants as per schedule and the unrest among engineers coupled with the forecast of a poor monsoon may lead to power woes in the state. Punjab may face a major power crisis if the present stalemate continues.

In February this year, the state government overruled the agreement it inked with the engineers in 2010 during the restructuring of the PSEB and gave an extension to KD Chaudhri, Chairman-cum-Managing Director PSPCL beyond 62 years age. The engineers are protesting against this move for the last three and a half months and are also demanding implementation of an agreement regarding common cadre and equal scale to newly recruited assistant engineers (SDO), but the state government has failed to resolve the deadlock.

The Indian Meteorological Department had predicted below normal monsoon this year with rainfall projected at 95 per cent of long period average (LPA). Any shortage of power during the critical months of June and July when paddy sowing is going on, could raise the cost of inputs for farmers considerably.

Paddy sowing in Punjab will begin from June 10 and power requirement during this time goes up considerably because of the drawing of underground water by the farmers for watering the crop. Farm sector is given a minimum of eight hours of power daily. The demand for power during summer in Punjab goes up by 20 to 25 per cent to more than 9,000 MW, leading to severe power shortage in the state.

Punjab has total thermal power generation capacity of 2620 MW. Besides, it has hydel projects with a capacity of 1,000 MW, share from the BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) at 1,110 MW, share from the Central projects at 2507 MW, cogeneration of 469 MW, taking the state's total installed power capacity to 7,706 MW.

Bathinda, May 19
While the state education department is busy inspecting private schools and closing the ones which do not meet the rules and regulations laid down under the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009, some of its own schools are reeling under an acute shortage of staff and furniture. One such school is the Government Primary School located on the premises of the Central Jail in Bathinda.

As one enters the school, the sight of students washing their hands at a hand pump and drinking water from the same crosses the eyes. A clear picture of the dismal situation and lack of basic facilities for the students of the school becomes clear when one enters the classrooms.

Shockingly, there is not even a single desk-chair set in any of the two classrooms for the students to sit on and the students have no option but to sit on mats spread on the floor of the classrooms as two old ceiling fans creak as they rotate in a vain attempt to provide the students relief from the hot weather.

“Only recently, I wrote to the office of the District Education Officer regarding the shortage of furniture in the school. I have also sent a request to the office regarding installation of an RO water purifier system so that the students may have access to pure water,” said the principal of the school, Labh Kaur.

Although the students were drinking water from the hand pump, she insisted that the water was being brought from a nearby public RO plant for the students and that the school had recently got waterworks connection.

Interestingly, while some of the students were dressed in the new uniform (caramel colour) others were dressed in the old blue uniform and a few were dressed in their personal clothes. “All the students are yet to get the new uniforms. And even those who have got it, have only one set and I have allowed them to wear their old uniforms when the new one has been washed,” said the school principal.

The District Education Officer (Elementary) Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta, however, denied receiving any request from the school regarding furniture or any other facility. “We regularly request all the schools to send us details of their requirements but the Government Elementary School located on the premises of the Central Jail in Bathinda has not sent any such request to our office as yet. There are two teachers there and only a few students and hence, they don’t care for the students’ welfare.”

It is pertinent to note here that the school was opened on the premises of the Central Jail to provide education to the young children of the jail inmates. At present, no such student is studying in the school. “Children of the class IV employees or those belonging to the lower income group and residing in nearby areas are studying in the school,” said the principal, adding that she was thankful that the jail authorities had allowed their mess to be turned into a classroom.

Bathinda, May 19
A mobile phone manufacturer and a Bathinda-based service centre have been penalised by the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and were directed to pay an amount of Rs 21,000.

In a complaint to the forum, Deepak Kumar, a resident of Amreek Singh Road, said he had purchased a mobile phone of Samsung company which developed various problems and could not be rectified. The complainant said that despite taking the handset to the service centre many times, the workers failed to make any difference and continued to develop various snags.

In his complaint to the forum, he made the Samsung India Electronics Private Limited, New Delhi, Samsung Service Centre near Public Dharamshala-Bathinda and Shivam Traders of Bathinda a party to the case.

The forum after listening to the arguments of both the parties, found deficiency in service on the part of the Samsung India Electronics Private Limited-New Delhi and the Samsung Service Centre and dismissed the application against the Shivam Traders.

The complainant said he had purchased the handset by paying a sum of Rs 16,018 with one year warranty. The mobile set, however, started giving problems in less than a year.

He said the phone developed problems in display and front case colour. The complainant said the mobile handset had developed manufacturing problems and could not be repaired and had demanded refund of the money. But his pleas were not heard by the other party.

The complainant finally moved an application before the consumer forum demanding adequate compensation.

The opposite parties after appearing before the forum pleaded that their responsibility is to rectify or replace only those parts which are under warranty. The performance of the mobile handset depends upon its handling, downloading of various mobile applications and virus threat during the use of internet. The opposite parties stated that they did not assure any replacement under the terms of warranty. It further stated that the problem of the set hanging was due to the downloading and installation of non-compatible mobile applications and games which lead to problems in the software.

The forum, after hearing the arguments of both the parties, declared deficiency on the part of the company and imposed on it a fine of Rs 5,000. It asked for a refund of Rs 1,608 to the complainant.

Bathinda, May 19
Manpreet Singh Badal, who contested the recently held Lok Sabha polls unsuccessfully from Bathinda, today called on workers of the Congress, People’s Party of Punjab and the CPI to get ready for the by-elections in the Assembly segments and the municipal corporation. He said this during a function held to thank his supporters, polling agents and workers of all the alliance parties.

Addressing the gathering, Manpreet said, “I represented Gidderbaha as an MLA for four consecutive terms. My victory margins rose from 2,200 to 19,000 over four terms but this is the first election of my life, in which I got a lead of 30,000 votes from one segment. The credit for this lead goes to the workers of the Congress, PPP and CPI.”Thanking the voters, he said that he would work for the welfare of the people who voted for him. He added that from Thursday, he would begin a thanksgiving walk.

Addressing the workers, he said, “Never tell a lie for success, help the poor and fear the god. Those who are arrogant will have to bend.”

Taking a dig at Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s claim of achieving a decisive victory, he said while the Badal family had won the elections by a wafer-thin margin, they had learnt that the mandate was against them.

Bathinda, May 19
The murder of a truck operator from Maur in Kharak Singhwala village, Mansa district, by a former truck union president has created fear and tension in Maur town.

It is worth mentioning that on May 2, former truck union operator president Gurbachan Singh beat up and allegedly killed a truck operator in Kharak Singhwala village. A case was registered against Gurbachan Singh and others at Joga police station, but the police have not yet arrested the accused.

Irked over the agitation, the committee blocked the road in Maur three days ago, during which the police assured them that they would arrest the accused in two days but in vain.

Due to this, there was tension and fear in Maur town for some days. To sharpen the ongoing agitation for justice, an action committee along with other unions today kept the city completely shut and staged a protest outside the local truck union office.

Residents gave a good response to the call by the action committee to keep the market shut. The city was converted into a fortress and a heavy police force was deployed in and around the city.

Seeing the police in large numbers, the protesters dropped their plan to block the road and organised a dharna outside the local truck operator.

Protesters also raised slogans against the state government and the police administration for stopping them from staging protest by blocking the road and denying justice in the murder case.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Mansa, Bikrampal Singh Bhatti, along with Superintendent of Police (SP) Rupinder Bhardwaj, reached the spot and held a meeting with an eight-member action committee.

However, the talks with the action committee bore no fruit.

Sensing the trouble, the SSP Mansa called the SSP Bathinda Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and made him aware of the situation. The SSP Bathinda along with the DC, Bathinda, KK Yadav, reached the spot and held a meeting with the action committee , in which it was decided that the police would arrest the accused in two days and would also issue a search warrant against them.

Bathinda, May 19
Students of Saint Sahara Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kotshamir, staged a protest outside their college today. The students alleged that at the time of admission in 2011, they were kept in the dark about the affiliation of the college .

The students said they had appeared in examinations in December 2012 and some of them had failed. In June and December last year, they had appeared in the examinations again, they added. “However, in March 2014, , a notification was issued on the website of the Guru Ravidass Ayurvedic University that the results of the students of the college had been withheld. When we asked the authorities about the reason behind this, they didn’t pay heed to our requests and kept asking us to wait.”

The students said though the college had issued a fresh schedule for examinations to be held in June 2014, they did not receive their mark sheets and decided to take up the matter with the authorities. The students are demanding that they be given detailed mark certificates and the documentary proof of the affiliation of the college to the university.

The students argued that the identity cards and fee receipts issued by the college to students were considered fake by officials of various government departments. Meanwhile, during an evening meeting, the students, Principal PN Srivastava promised them that their DMCs would be issued within a week.

Meanwhile, the principal said, “We have promised the students that their DMCs would be issued by Friday. As for as the issue of the affiliation of the college with the university is concerned, we have assured them to furnish the documents at the earliest.”

Bathinda, May 19
Many sitting Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress MLAs failed to convert their 2012 Vidhan Sabha elections victory into a lead for their Lok Sabha candidates in the recently concluded parliamentary elections.

In Bathinda (Urban), which is represented by SAD MLA Sarup Chand Singla, SAD candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal trailed by 29,000 votes. Singla had won the Assembly elections by more than 6000 votes.

Whereas Congress MLA from Bhucho Ajaib Singh Bhatti, who won by 1,300 votes in the last Assembly elections, failed to muster enough support for Congress-CPI candidate Manpreet Badal, who trailed by 5,000 votes from the Assembly segment.

In Bathinda rural, which is represented by SAD MLA Darshan Singh Kotfatta, the SAD candidate trailed by 3,700 votes. The MLA had won by a margin of 4,000 in the last Assembly elections.

Surprisingly, Congress’ Bathinda rural president Gura Singh Tungwali also failed to secure a lead for the congress candidate from his village Tungwali. Manpreet trailed by 292 votes in the village.

Meanwhile, SAD leader and CPS Sarup Chand Singla said he was shocked disappointed with the results. “I would analyse the Lok Sabha results and act accordingly,” he said.

The Congress MLA, Ajiab Singh Bhatti, said they were happy with the results as their worker had worked hard. “We trailed because we were not given a free hand by PPP workers who were leading the canvassing in these elections.

Bathinda, May 19
Though people take hypertension lightly, doctors advise its early treatment. “There are no clear symptoms of it due to which a large number of people remain undiagnosed. Even among the patients diagnosed with the problem, very few undergo treatmen,.” Said Dr Sharad Gupta, a cardiologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH), Bathinda, on the occasion of World Hypertension Day.

The NDCPCS clinic inside the local Civil Hospital also treats patients suffering from hypertension.

Dr Gupta said,” The prevalence of hypertension increases after 30 years of age. Before 50 years of age, the prevalence of hypertension is lower in women than men. By the age of 75 years, almost 90 per cent of the people become hypertensive. In 90-95 per cent of hypertension patients, a single reversible cause of elevated BP cannot be identified as it is called primary hypertension.”

Dr Gupta further added that hypertension was rarely accompanied by any symptom and it could be identified through screening. “A few hypertension patients complain of headache, vertigo, and tinnitus (buzzing or hissing in the ears) or altered vision while others report nervousness, sweating and difficulty in sleeping. The truth is that it is largely a condition without any symptoms,”he added.

If not treated in time, the disease can put strain on heart, lead to hypertensive heart disease or coronary artery disease. It causes stroke, heart failure, peripheral arterial diseases like blockage in arteries of arms and legs.

“On an average we receive 20 to 25 hypertension patients at our hospital OPD. Of these patients, 75 per cent generally have some or other kind of lifestyle disorder like smoking, excessive drinking and obesity. There is a rise in the number of youngsters below 25 years of age who complain of high blood pressure,” Dr gupta said.

An oncologist at Bathinda NDCPCS Centre, Dr Vandana said, "One should take a proper diet with fruits and vegetables and avoid the intake of intoxicants. Regular exercise should be done to maintain proper blood circulation."

Tips to prevent hypertension Lose weight, if you are overweight Stop smoking Eat plenty of fruits and vegetable Go for regular brisk walking Monitor your BP regularly Enrich your diet with antioxidants Limit alcohol intake

Bathinda, May 19
Ravinder Kumar, district president of the Shiv Sena, claimed that he was arrested by the police this morning. He had threatened to kill himself if a liquor vend was not removed from near a temple on the Patiala railway crossing in the city.

He claimed that the police arrested him from his house and took him to the Vardhaman police chowki. Later, he was presented before the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Damanjit Singh. He submitted a letter to the SDM, demanding the removal of the liquor vend. The SDM assured him of looking into the issue. The SDM also assured of taking action within a month, if anything was found illegal. Meanwhile, Gurdarshan Singh, in-charge, Vardhaman police chowki, said Ravinder Kumar was not arrested by them and was taken to the Civil Secretariat for a meeting with SDM .

SDM Damanjit Singh said he had written to the ETO to find if the liquor vend near a religious place was illegal. He said if anything was found illegal, he would take action immediately.— TNS