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Improvement trust
PM's speech: Schools scramble to arrange TV sets for students
Construction of elementary school wall stalled
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Resident wins law suit in fire incident
Sarbat Da Bhala trust opens office in city
CUP organises special lecture on India’s global goals, prospects
GZS-PTU professor receives Best Educationist Award
Three booked for cheating woman of Rs 7.47 lakh
Earthmover driver electrocuted
Man gets 10-yr jail term
Two killed as speeding car knocks down bike
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Plots fail to enthuse their owners
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, September 4 “The reason behind the lack of interest of the people in these empty plots is the sheer negligence on the part of authorities in sprucing up these colonies by providing basic amenities,” said advocate Naresh Garg who has a plot in the Improvement Trust’s Dairy Nagar on Goniana Road. Garg said while people don’t have money to purchase plots in the private colonies, they refuse to invest in the colonies of the Trust despite their ideal locations. “The sewerage plant installed at Dairy Nagar is used by criminals and unscrupulous elements due to lack of maintenance and boundary wall. Despite spending money on the plant and installing electric poles, nothing has been done there,” he said.
He added that the price of the land in 32.5 acres area failed to shoot up as compared to the other areas which have witnessed manifold increase in the price. While 206 plots were earmarked for dairy purposes, the others were meant for residential purposes. Despite slashing of the rate of these plots, there is hardly any taker showing interest due to lack of facilities. “There is no sewerage connection, water or electricity in the area. Also, the roads are full of deep potholes and the plots too are in low-lying areas which requires extra money for filling earth,” said Naresh Garg. A visit to the area revealed that only a handful of plot owners have initiated construction work while the others failed to initiate any construction for residential or commercial purposes. Chairman of the Naujawan Welfare Society, Sonu Maheshwari, who procured information under the Right to Information Act (RTI), stated that the list of empty plots in the Trust colonies is bewildering and the officials must take steps to encourage the plot owners to start construction.
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PM's speech: Schools scramble to arrange TV sets for students
Bathinda, September 4 Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mall Road, which has a strength of 2,200, has planned to make do with the three TV sets that the school has. "Two TVs which are used for the Edusat lectures and one more TV will be used to show the speech live to the students. Since we have more than 2,000 students, we have planned to arrange the telecast in the school ground," said one of the senior teachers of the school, adding that the rainy weather may play a spoilsport. Bhupinder Kaur Dhillon, principal of Desraj Memorial Senior Secondary School, Bathinda, said, "We have an ROT system which we use to screen live talks and lectures to the students will be used to screen the lice telecast of the speech. Apart from that we have another TV set. If need be, we will use a small TV set owned by the security guard of the school. We have also arranged for a radio." "Since we didn't have any television sets of our own, we have spoken to parents of some of our students who stay close to the school. Their parents have agreed to lend their TV sets to the school for two hours in the evening. We had to work out some arrangement or the other," said Buggar Singh, principal of the Government Elementary School, Dhobiana Basti. Meanwhile, members of several teacher organisations assembled at the Teachers' Home and burnt copies of the order arguing that the Central government was working hard towards publicising the Prime Minister and his political agenda by forcing the students and teachers to watch the live telecast of the speech. The teachers argued that the state government was leaving no stone unturned in making sure that the students were shown the speech while it was oblivious to the demands and welfare of the teachers. They stated that while the teachers had to take to roads to make the government fulfill their demands, on the other hand it was making it mandatory for the students to watch the speech ostensibly aiming to make students respect their teachers more. |
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Construction of elementary school wall stalled
Bathinda, September 4 The construction of rooms and wall in the school had begun in December last year and till now, three rooms, sanitation block, principal’s office and boundary wall of two sides have been completed. Speaking to TNS, principal of the school, Buggar Singh, said he was surprised that PUDA has taken note of the construction now and had stalled the work when it was about to be completed. “We have started using the sanitation block and office. The boundary wall was also about to be completed when the work was stalled. We have written to the District Education Officer (DEO) apprising him of the situation and he has assured us that the needful will be done soon. We need a few more rooms to accommodate all the 420 students we have,” he said. He added that he had even asked the Education Department if the work would resume or not. Else, the material lying at the site be sent back to the supplier. He stated that despite three more classrooms, some of the students of the school were still being seated in the nearby dharamshala for classes. The DEO (Elementary), Shiv Pal, stated that he had asked the Education Department to look into the matter since he was in Chandigarh as he had an additional charge. PUDA officials stated that the authorities had directed the Education Department to complete the paperwork before starting the construction and also after the work began. “Since the Education Department had failed to heed to our requests, we had no option but to stall the work. The construction will resume now only after the paperwork is completed,” a PUDA official said. As per the plan, Rs 36 lakh was to be spent on constructing three classrooms, an office for the head teachers and a bathroom. While a grant of Rs 21 lakh had been released under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh grants were announced by MP Harsimat Kaur Badal and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla, respectively. The grants by the MP and CPS were to be used to construct a boundary wall for the school. It is pertinent to note here that the infrastructural upgrade of the school has come as a boon to its students and staff members who till now had only two rooms, one office and no toilet or potable water facility. Rooms in a nearby dharamshala were being used to conduct three classes of the school.
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Resident wins law suit in fire incident
Bathinda, September 4 The forum also directed the bank and the insurance company to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh each with Rs 11,000 as litigation expenses. Sita Ram Mittal, the owner of Mittal Enterprises, moved an application in this regard. A fire broke out in his electric goods godown around three years ago. He failed to get compensation from the insurance company, following which he moved the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, which passed orders to give him Rs 5 lakh as compensation. The complainant had made two separate petitions in the consumer forum seeking compensation. The forum, however, dismissed the petition filed against the insurance company and accepted the petition against the bank and directed it to pay Rs 5 lakh to the petitioner. Not satisfied with the forum’s orders, the complainant moved the state consumer forum. His counsel Naresh Garg said Mittal, a wholesale and retail businessman, had a cash credit limit of Rs 25 lakh with UCO Bank. As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the bank used to purchase the insurance policies for the hypothecated stock from the insurance company every year. All the stock of the complainant was lying in two premises — one in the godown at Bibiwala village and another in their shop, which was insured (for nearly Rs 17 lakh) for fire, theft, burglary etc. The bank used to purchase the policies for both the godowns in the months of April and February. A sum of Rs 3,746 was deducted by the bank in February 2006 and again in February 2007 for the renewal of the policy. In January 2008, the complainant wrote a letter to the bank that the entire stock of their godown in Bibiwala village was shifted to their shop and the insurance of his godown village be discontinued. The complainant’s counsel said, “The bank didn’t renew the insurance policy, as it was stated in the MoU, in the year when the fire broke out in the shop.” A fire incident was reported at the shop in January 2010 and the complainant duly informed the opposite parties about the incident. The surveyor from the insurance company, however, declared that the shop was not insured and refused to conduct survey. He said the MoU with the bank got expired in March 2009 after which the policy was not renewed. Material worth nearly Rs 27. 35 lakh was burnt in the fire. The opposite parties appearing before the forum in Bathinda and the commission in Chandigarh denied allegations and instead levelled counter allegations. The commission after hearing arguments and pleas of both the parties modified the forum’s orders and directed the bank to pay a sum of Rs 9.23 lakh (value of stocks lying in the shop) with 12 per cent per annum rate of interest. The commission also directed the parties to pay a sum of Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 11,000 as litigation cost. The insurance company has been directed to pay Rs 17.85 lakh with 12 per cent rate of interest, Rs 1 lakh as compensation and 11,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant. |
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Sarbat Da Bhala trust opens office in city
Bathinda, September 4 Oberoi claimed that Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust had its branches in 21 states and 17 countries. The trust is dedicated to uplift the educational level of the weaker and socially underprivileged groups, through cultural and economic development of rural people, groups and institutions, giving pensions to widows, helping the poor and needy. Dr Kashish Gupta was appointed as the president of the Bathinda office and was asked to constitute the working bodies within the district. On this occasion, Jassa Singh, president of Patiala unit, Harvinder Singh Kuku and other office-bearers and executive members of the Bathinda office were present. The trust undertakes a number of welfare schemes, including pensions to the poor, indigent and helpless widows, grocery items and blankets are distributed among the needy, old dilapidated houses are repaired and new houses are built for the homeless, marriages of girls of poor families are solemnised, free dresses, books, lunch and breakfast are provided to the kids studying in schools in slum areas, free transport facility is also given to such student. Scholarships are given to poor and brilliant students for higher studies like engineering, medical, technical courses. Sewing and stiching centres are being sponsored by the trust so that unemployed girls and needy women can earn their livelihood. The youth are trained in computer applications, stenography and typing so that they can earn and become self-dependent. The schemes, including hospitals and health clubs, are opened in villages of many states — Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh among others. De-addicton centres are set up in jails and at many other places. Libraries are opened in jails so that inmates can learn and become good citizens. Special attention is being paid to the welfare of downtrodden, physically handicapped, mentally retarted, deaf, blind by providing facilities of hostels, meals and studies. A hostel to accommodate 10 special children has been constructed. The trust has adopted 40 Nepali orphans and takes care of their education, and lodging. A centre for accommodating 100 such children in Kathmandu, Nepali, is under construction. Free medical check-up and eye check-up camps are organised.
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Power plants: 8 out of 14 units shut down after rain brings relief in region
Bathinda, September 4 Against the availability of 21 days of coal stock, the state-owned thermal plants have only been left with two to three days of coal stock. These plants have witnessed a shortage for many days as the officials have alleged that PANEM, the company supposed to supply coal, is not supplying it according to the terms and conditions. With heavy rainfall, the demand of power had declined to about 5,500 MW
whereas the demand had touched its peak to 9,500 MW of power. In the Thermal plant, Ropar, four units have been shut down while in both Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plants, two units each have been closed voluntarily. Earlier, facing shortage of coal, the Ropar Thermal Power plant was producing less power than its capacity. It was producing 255 lakh units daily despite having capacity to produce 302. Out of the six units of 1,260 MW Ropar Thermal Plant, each having capacity of 210 MW, only two units are running while four are shut down for the day with reduction in demand. The demand of water for irrigation by farmers and usage of air conditioners by the consumers had gone down with immediate effect with lowering of temperature. The farmers were earlier facing acute power shortage of power to irrigate their lands but the rainfall in state had reduced their demand. The state government is already purchasing power of Rs 49 crore daily from outside sources at cost
of Rs 4.5 per unit approximately. Two units each of the state-run Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, and the GNDTP, Bathinda, power plant are running while two each have been shut down. Both theses power plants are running with shortage of coal stock up to three days but the closure would likely increase their stock as coal coming with irregular supply by PANEM would reach in day reportedly. The PANEM against the six racks of coal every day is supplying only three racks of coal that had left to shortage of coal in these plants. The state-owned three power plants have capacity of 2640 MW total power daily. Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, having capacity of 460 MW, Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, 920 MW and Ropar Thermal Plant 1,260 MW daily at present. Balwinder Singh, an urban resident, said, “Today, we faced power cuts but that I came to know was an outcome of some ongoing repair of transmission line in Bathinda. As the weather has gone well after rain there is no need of air conditioner and for the last two days we had not used AC in afternoon time.” |
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CUP organises special lecture on India’s global goals, prospects
Bathinda, September 4 Sharing his views and experience, Anand said since centuries, the journey of India had witnessed several ups and downs but the capability to achieve goals with highest aspirations was a legacy of
this nation. He said India played a crucial role in promoting peace and development with its 16 per cent hard working population share in the world population. Foreign relations of India were gaining new heights with the formation of the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narender Modi, who in 100 days of governance has undertaken many imaginative initiatives and tough test calls in the realm of foreign affairs, he added. He said the invitations to SAARC nations over the swearing in ceremony of Narender Modi gained a lot of praise around
the world. Formation of deep relations with East Asian counties as well as the European Union and the Central American countries by Modi through business initiatives would give a boost to economy
as well as diplomacy, he added. After the programme, he participated in a discussion programme with the students. Chancellor Prof SS Johl said we all worked hard to build a strong economy. He said China, due to economic reforms and investments throughout the world, converted itself into a major economy of the world. “Now, if we want to reach at the same position, we should first remember our duties,”
he said. After the lecture, officiating Vice Chancellor Prof P Ramarao and Prof RG Saini honoured Bal Anand and Chancellor Prof SS Johl. During the programme, registrar Col (retd) Jagdev Kartar Singh, Dr AK Jain and Dr RC Sharma, in-charge of examinations, were also present. |
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GZS-PTU professor receives Best Educationist Award
Bathinda, September 4 Presently, Prof Dhot is working as an associate professor and is heading the Department of Architecture of Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Campus, Bathinda. He has been teaching for the past 21 years. He is also actively involved in architectural consultancy work. Birla White Group also awarded the ‘Yuva Ratna Award’ to him in 2010 for being the winner as a team guide in the design competition. Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, had also presented an award to the Architecture Department of the campus as the ‘Best Architecture College’ for the year 2013-14. Prof Dhot said, “I owe my achievements in the field of education to the feedback I have been receiving from my students and to the excellent organisational climate of the GZS-PTU Campus.”
— TNS |
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Three booked for cheating woman of Rs 7.47 lakh
Bathinda, September 4 She added that after her husband fell ill, she decided to sell their 21.1 marla land and again tried to get the services of the same middleman who cheated her and pocketed Rs 7.47 lakh without giving her even a single penny. Investigating Officer (IO) in the case, sub-inspector Amreek Singh said during the investigation, it was found that the accused, Kuldeep Gora, along with two others, namely, Pargat Singh and Atma Singh, had cheated
the victim. “The woman relied on the broker and accepted his offer of cheque payment instead of cash while selling her piece of land at Burj Gill village near Rampura. The cheque, however, bounced after which the the accused refused to give the amount,”
Amreek said. He pointed out that the accused are believed to be habitual offenders, and added that they will soon be arrested by the police. |
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Earthmover driver electrocuted
Bathinda, September 4 He was driving an earthmover and went down after noticing a wire. He tried to remove the wire with his hands and came in contact with the current and died on the spot. The police said inquest proceedings have been initiated in this connection and the family members of the deceased have been informed about the incident. The police sources added that he was working as a driver of an earthmover at Namdev Road. The body of the deceased was shifted to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. |
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While the plots in private colonies in and around the city are being converted into houses at a fast pace, there seems to be hardly any interest among the people in the empty plots lying in the Improvement Trust colonies.
He said the Trust also has plots under the residential category but they are lying useless for owners due to lack of basic facilities. “Despite being inaugurated twice in the past decade, the project, aimed at shifting over 250 scattered dairy farmers, failed to take off,” said Pawan Dixit, another resident. He said despite lack of facilities, the Trust, sometime ago, imposed heavy penalties for delay in construction by the owners.
