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Acquittal of ASI in corruption case
Cancer Stay Home remains distant dream
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Police arrest 3 accused who took away Rs 40,000 from youth outside OBC bank
Two held with 60 boxes of illicit liquor
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Acquittal of ASI in corruption case Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, October 11 The complainant in the case, a Malaysia-based NRI had accused ASI Jaswant—then posted at the Bhagta police station, of seeking illegal gratification in a road accident case. The NRI was driving a car which collided with a bike which two persons were riding. The injured bike riders lodged a complaint with the police and demanded registration of a case. The ASI (Jaswant Singh) who was in possession of the complainant’s passport and driver’s licence sought Rs 50,000 to release the NRI’s documents. Interestingly, the shadow witness, Bharat Bhushan, deposed before the court that he never accompanied the complainant Balwinder Singh to the office of the Vigilance Bureau. The Vigilance Bureau had claimed—in the FIR—that the accused ASI was arrested in the presence of the shadow witness. Contrary to his earlier statement, Bharat Bhushan stated that the complainant (the NRI) never told him about the illegal demand from any person. He never joined the complainant along with the police party in any alleged trap. He further stated that in his presence, the complainant Balwinder Singh did not hand over any currency notes to the accused Jaswant Singh. Though Bharat Bhushan admitted the signature on memos were his, he said they were obtained by the police on blank papers. He further stated that he was never joined by the police in the investigation of the case and no demand for any bribe was made by the accused in his presence. Even in his cross-examination conducted by a public prosecutor, he categorically denied the fact that he accompanied Balwinder Singh to the office of DSP (Vigilance) or that Balwinder Singh got his statement recorded in his presence before the DSP. SSP (Vigilance) Sukhdev Chahal said since the complainant in the case died during the course of hearing and the shadow witness turned hostile, they would recommend making a further appeal in the case. The SSP stated that the Director, Prosecution, in Chandigarh usually appeals in such cases but in this particular case, he would recommend an appeal by submitting the relevant documents for further legal proceedings. The court of Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh had acquitted ASI Jaswant Singh who allegedly pocketed Rs 10,000 as bribe from an accused in the road accident case and further demanded Rs 40,000 in lieu of releasing the passport and vehicle of the accused. The ASI had the bribe deposited in his bank account. The NRI accused ASI Jaswant of pocketing Rs 10,000 as bribe and demanding Rs 40,000 to release his documents. The court observed that the only independent shadow witness, Bharat Bhushan, has turned hostile and has not supported the prosecution version. Moreover, since there are several other lacunae in the prosecution case, therefore, the prosecution has miserably failed to bring to book the guilty beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt. As a result, providing the benefit of doubt, the accused Jaswant Singh was being acquitted of the charges against him, the court further observed.
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Cancer Stay Home remains distant dream
Bathinda, October 11 Tenders were allotted in September this year to a firm owned by Sachin Mittal after the firm gave its proposal to run the centre at a low rate. However, it has not come to claim the tender and run the home. The Cancer Short Stay (CSS) home would benefit the attendants of the patients with a provision for stay for about four to five days at a nominal cost. A number of patients receiving treatment under the cancer relief scheme of the state government in the empanelled private hospitals of Bathinda would have benefitted with
this. To fetch the numbers, the CSS Home was inaugurated by the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister ahead of the General Elections held this year. The Cancer Short Stay Home was established with the aim of providing comfort to the poor cancer patients for three or four day under a state government scheme. Unfortunately, besides failing to start functioning, the CSS Home has faced several problems in the newly constructed building, including water leakage. Set up in an area of four kanal of land, the Cancer Short Stay Home was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 3.15 crores, adjoining the Bathinda civil hospital. Consisting of 24 rooms with attached bathrooms and 15 dormitories, the CSS Home was supposed to come into existence in December 2013, but got delayed. The CSS Home is meant for the relatives of poor cancer patients who visit the private Max Hospital under the Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund Scheme for the treatment of cancer patients. The private Max Hospital is one of the 16 empanelled hospitals under the state cancer relief scheme. The Bathinda civil hospital consists of a Cancer Control Unit, a Center-state project, under which the cancer patients are given free treatment. But because of the unavailability of facility for radiotherapy, the state government did not empanel the Bathinda Civil Hospital for treatment of cancer under the cashless scheme of the state government. The state government, however, failed to tie up with private hospitals for the provision of
radiotherapy. In Ludhiana, the facility for radiotherapy is provided by the government by tying up with a private hospital. The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) had constructed the building and was supposed to hand it over to the Bathinda Red Cross society but the Red Cross has taken the charge of CSS Home under its procession only this week. Secretary, Red Cross Society, Bathinda, RC Dhand said, "Tenders were called and allotted in the month of September. However, the company had not taken the charge to run the CSS Home. We have given them two chances and now they would be given a last chance to receive their tender failing which we would decide on whether the tender should be called again or handed over to the runners-up firm that participated in the tendering process. Our motive is to run this stay home on no a profit, no loss basis and the NGOs who have some experience would get a chance." The short-stay home would benefit the patients visiting the Max Hospital or the cancer control unit running under the Centre-state project. The charges for stay and food here would be nominal. An amount of Rs 50 is expected for stay in the general room while Rs 300 could be the charge for the special room here, according to sources. By making efforts to curb and eradicate cancer by starting the Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund, the Punjab government is now ready to cater to the needs of cancer patients and their relatives. But the facility to provide for a comfortable stay of the relatives of cancer patients' during their treatment is a far-fetched dream. |
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Karva Chauth celebrations a reminder of marital bliss
Bathinda, October 11 Dressed in their best with bright colours like red, orange, magenta and golden dominating the scene, the women look gorgeous and elegant. Matching accessories like 'bindi' and bangles, worn with matching outfits, seem to be the perfect choice for the day. Their day starts with the "sargi" (the eatables). A few enjoy the eatables in the company of their husbands in the wee hours while the others are accompanied by their children and mothers-in-law. The women, who are on fast, chalk out plans to spend the day amid fun and frolic. The clubs and banquet halls are booked in advance for the women's day out". Games like tambola and others are organized to make their day special. Those not interested in playing such games organize card-sessions to spend time. Women place marginal to heavy stakes on cards and enjoy the day. Congregations in local clubs, banquet halls, hotels, restaurants and of course temples, kept them busy all the day. At around 3 pm, most of the women could be seen going for the ritual of exchanging thalis. After performing the puja, women offer gifts to their mothers-in-law, which is the main ritual. The elders then bless them. The newly-married and those recently engaged appear to be more excited. Some women, who happen to be away from their husbands, either speak to them over the phone before ending their fast or chat to them through the internet telephony. Karva Chauth this time has coincided with the weekend adding to the festive fervour in the city, and acting as a trailer for the main blockbuster, that is Diwali. |
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Police arrest 3 accused who took away Rs 40,000 from youth outside OBC bank
Bathinda, October 11 Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, while divulging details in the case, said Vinod Kumar, a resident of Bhagat Singh Market, filed a complaint at the Kotwali police station stating that some unidentified persons fled after taking Rs 40,000 from the servant working in their sports goods shop. In the complaint, he stated that on September 2, he had sent his servant Harpreet Singh to the OBC bank to bring cash. When he did not return after sometime, he sent his other servant and later went himself to enquire. His servant Harpreet Singh then said that he had taken the cash from the bank but two unidentified persons, by luring him into talks, told him to deposit Rs 2 lakh in the bank as they were illiterate and did not know how to do it. They gave him a bag and took out eight notes of Rs 1,000 each and told him to hand over his bag to them saying they would give it back after he deposited their cash and promised to give him an additional Rs 20,000. Harpreet Singh took the bag and went to the bank. When he opened the bag, he found it was filled with chits of paper. When he returned, he found that the accused had fled. The SSP stated that the Kotwali police, while patrolling the Bank Bazaar area, got a tip-off that the accused were moving around in the market and their vehicle had been spotted by Harpreet Singh. Acting swiftly, the police arrested Kalu, Gopal and Pawan. He has also stated
that during the interrogation, the accused admitted to having duped the youth outside the OBC bank. They also admitted to keeping an eye on the people frequenting the bank and are said to have duped nearly half a
dozen people. |
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This child rights warrior spreads awareness on immunisation
Bathinda, October 11 “There is a big need for a joint global campaign to create awareness about vaccination and public health” says Lal Chand Singh. He began his mission of creating awareness in 1984 urging the people to vaccinate their children to save them from dangerous diseases including polio, measles, hepatitis, chicken pox and diphtheria. He rides a bicycle from one village to another, sensitising people. He uses different ways to communicate with people, reciting his own poems and also singing songs and delivering lectures about vaccination in schools and at public places. He has visited numerous schools and other places under his mission to spread the word about the importance of vaccinating
children. He has also travelled to Rajasthan and Haryana, spreading the message by writing slogans on walls
of houses. Now also, he is working to spread awareness towards the plantation of trees too. He has planted banyan and peepal trees on different places of the city and nearby villages and also takes care
of them. Lal Chand says that all of his family members support him for the noble cause. A resident of Chughe-Khurad village of Bathinda, Lal Singh is an ITI diploma-holder in stenography. He joined the Health Department as Class-IV employee in 1980 and started wearing
painted kurta with slogans in 1984. To continue his mission, Lal Chand had promotion in the department so that he should carry on with his mission. “I am dedicated for the cause of good health and children and I shall remain dedicated till the end of my life,”
he says. |
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Power cuts leave residents sour and sultry
Bathinda, October 11 The chairman, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), has been claiming that less demand for power is the reason why many units in the three state run thermal plants have shut down. But the coal crisis has affected power supply to the consumers leaving them to deal with long hours of power cuts. The ongoing coal crisis has left nine out of 14 units of the three power plants owned by the state government shut whereas on Friday, about 11 units were shut down. Around three units, including two at Ropar Thermal Plant and one in Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant, started functioning again on Saturday. The coal crisis is at its peak with coal for just two days left in these thermal plants. The PANEM that was supposed to supply the coal to these power plants has stopped the supply since September 19 whereas the coal from the CIL is reaching the plants. For the last five days, the consumers have been facing long hours of power cuts in Punjab while on Friday, the Bathinda zone witnessed around 7 hours of power cuts. Sources revealed that in Punjab, about two hours of power cut was placed. All the towns witnessed power cuts scheduled officially in Punjab, confirmed sources. Balwant Singh, a resident of Mansa, said, "We have been facing long hours of power cuts and this is despite the fact that the demand has decreased with the summer season almost over. The state government makes false claims of being a power plus state. Yesterday, we faced about six hours of power cuts." Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had dreamt of making the state power plus. However, there is little sign of relief. With the season changing and the demand for power reducing after the paddy season, the demand has witnessed a decline but the state-owned thermal plants running short of coal are not competent enough to providing sufficient power to the consumers. The demand for power in Punjab at present is about 5,500 MW and the state is not capable of fulfilling the demand. During the paddy season, in the months of June, July, August and September, Punjab had witnessed a demand for 8500 MW of power. As per the agreement, PANEM is supposed to supply 70 lakh tonnes of coal annually (about 6 lakh tonne monthly) to the PSPCL thermal plants in Punjab but it had supplied less than what it had committed. Allocated to Punjab government, the Pachwara coal block in Pakur district of Jharkhand is one among the 214 coal blocks declared illegal in a recent decision of the Supreme Court. Now, the PANEM would supply coal only up till March 31, 2015. |
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SHO’s ‘misbehaviour’: Congress protest enters Day 3
Bathinda, October 11 Today in the afternoon, Congress leaders and workers planned to stage a silent protest march in the city from the Canal Colony police station to Dhobi Bazaar, but the Canal Colony police foiled the bid by stopping them before the Multania flyover near the Canal Colony police station. After the clash between Congress workers and the police over the incident, Congress leaders started raising slogans against the Punjab government and the police administration, but the Canal Colony police stated they had stopped them as they did not have permission for the protest march in the city. Seeing no other way out, Congress leaders changing their strategy, again sat on a dharna outside the police station. Congress leaders alleged that the police at the behest of the SAD-BJP government was misbehaving with them and nobody was listening to their grievance and issues. They were allegedly even trying to suppress their agitation, but their agitation will not stop. The leaders stated that till SHO Gurpreet Singh who had misbehaved with Mohan Lal Jhumba, Congress committee city president, is not transferred till then, their agitation will go on and if till October 14 their demand is not fulfilled, then they will intensify their protest. Former minister and general secretary of the PPCC Harminder Singh Jassi today lead the dharna along with, Rajan Garg, Rajesh Dimpa, Dr Mukesh, Ram Virk, Rajinder Mittal, Iqbal Dhillon, Jagtar Baba, Rupinder Bindra and many others who were present during the protest. |
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Natyam’s theatre festival enters next phase
Bathinda, October 11 Sandhya Chaaya, an emotional production about the problem of loneliness of elderly couples and the brain drain issue, left a strong effect on the audience. Director of the play Sudesh Sharma played the lead role of the father and Madhu Bala played the role of the old lady in the performance. Director of Natyam, Kirti Kirpal informed that many people from other nearby cities came to watch the play. On October 12, the play ‘Rabba Rabba Meenh Varsa’ will be staged at 7.15 pm. Social worker Manish Pandhi, Manish Parsad and Gopal Singh were among those present to see the performance of the artistes. |
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Two held with 60 boxes of illicit liquor
Bathinda, October 11 The police have registered a case under Sections 61,1 and14 of the Excise Act against Manmohan Singh, a resident of Dhurkot and Sarabjit resident of Moga and started the investigation. |
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Adulterated sweets a matter of concern
The seizure of sub-standard and adulterated sweets, especially during the festive season by the officials of the Health Department, is a matter of grave concern. Such periodic checks are necessary to ensure the quality and standard of sweets and other food items being sold in the market. In view of the health hazards involved, the authorities should make it mandatory for the sweets manufacturers to certify the date of manufacturing and expiry along with the details of ingredients and their calorie value on the boxes as is the general practice with other consumable articles. This measure should be in addition to checking the quality of raw material and the process of preparation. A contact number should also be made available to the consumers for any enquiry, suggestion or complaint. Prof NK
Gosain, Bathinda Solve traffic woes at the time of kisan mela
The PAU holds its Kisan Mela at its Regional Centre, located on Dabwali road. It is a big and colourful event for the farmers of the area and the sellers of agricultural inputs. One thing, however, which goes unnoticed, is the traffic problem faced not only by every visitor to the mela but also by those commuting on the Bathinda-Dabwali highway. This time, the situation was so bad that the traffic jam extended right from the gate of the mela venue to the ITI Chowk overbridge. The roadside was occupied by the plant sellers and others. No space was left for parking vehicles by the roadside. The problem is that the main gate of the mela venue is situated on the service road of the railway overbridge and does not have much space. Although the PAU regional centre has sufficient space to accommodate the gathering and the vehicles, a single gate constructed at an odd place is not enough to enter and exit the mela venue for men and machinery coming to the kisan mela. The police force present too is unable to regulate the traffic due to the wrong entry and exit gate at the mela venue. The problem started after the construction of the railway overbridge near the gate of the Regional Centre. The Regional Centre authorities have not paid heed to providing a suitable entrance as per the changed situation. The problem needs an immediate solution because holding kisan melas there is a routine matter. For a permanent solution to the problem, two gates of the Regional Centre should be constructed at the mela venue; one for the entry and the other for exit. These gates should be away from the service road leading to the overbridge. This is not difficult because the regional centre has its land alongside the road starting from the ITI chowk overbridge upto Wood Resort or the beginning of the next overbridge. The PAU Regional Centre collects lakhs by way of rent from hundreds of stalls installed at every kisan mela. So, funds should not be a problem. Harinder
Mittal, Bathinda |
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