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| Tuesday,
June 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Give VVIP treatment to poor: Badal Chandigarh, June 11 Presiding over a meeting of all Commissioners, Financial Commissioners and Principal Secretaries and Deputy Commissioners, he said the administration should be “service-oriented” and responsive to the needs of the common man. Describing the Deputy Commissioners as the “nucleus”, he expected them to play a crucial role implementing policies and programmes of the government in a manner that even the Opposition should not find any opportunity to criticise the government. The meeting cautioned field officers about paddy marketing and warned against complaints of distress sale and other procurement related problems. Mr Badal pointed out he had already requested the Union Food Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, not to notify the paddy and rice specifications for the coming kharif season without consultation with the paddy growing states in accordance with ground realities. The Deputy Commissioners, on their part suggested immediate movement of stocks already stored in the purchase centres to create storage space. The lack of storage space was posing problems. At least 20 lakhs tonnes of paddy belonging to state agencies was lying unmilled. The Chief Minister informed he had already approached the Union Food Ministry for extension of milling of last year’s paddy (October-November 2000) up to December 31, 2001. At least 125 lakh tonnes of paddy was expected this year. The FCI share would be around 40 per cent. Farmers who sold paddy at lower price than the MSP would get compensated in the next 15 days. Payment of Rs 100 crore would be through cheques. The Chief Minister announced that Rs 3,000 per acre should be given to the farmers for damage to standing/harvested crops due to fire. The compensation to the farmers whose crops were damaged due to electrical faults would be given by the PSEB, whereas, the relief in case of fire due to any other cause would given by the revenue authorities. The Chief Minister, said funds allocated during “sangat darshan” should be used the way any Plan scheme of the government is implemented. Henceforth, all Deputy Commissioners stand designated as Administrators, under the Punjab New Mandi Township Act, 1960, to ensure the auction of plots in new mandis in a transparent manner. The Chief Minister also reviewed flood protection works. The meeting also discussed “shagun” and pension scheme’s implementation as well. There are over 7,45,238 pensioners entitled to different doles. During the current financial year Rs 27 crore have been provided under the shagun scheme, to cover 74,000 Scheduled Caste and Christian girls. Those who married off their daughters between April 1, 1997 and March 31, 2001 can submit applications till June 30 if they could not avail of the money from the government. “Make Punjab green” was a new slogan given by the Chief Minister under this, a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 would be given as first, second and third prize to the most green panchayats, schools and colleges. |
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Be people-friendly,
CM tells cops Chandigarh, June 11 Emphasising greater “openness and transparency”, Mr Badal, who was addressing a meeting of district police chiefs and other senior police officers, said active involvement of the people in fighting criminals was essential. Mr Badal asked the officers to launch a crusade against drug trafficking. The police, he emphasised, must ensure protection of human rights and civil liberties of the citizens. |
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Farmers
turn to cane, maize Sangrur, June 11 Though there are several reasons for this diversification, the most significant among these are apprehension among farmers that they may face problems in paddy procurement this year. Non-availability of adequate power and canal waters is another reason. Farmers have been pushed to the wall. Because of non-procurement of paddy by certain agencies last year, they had to resort to an agitation, said Mr Hardial Singh of Ubba village, near here. A survey conducted by The Tribune in this region reveals several developments on the agricultural front in the state. Farmers have realised that they will have to minimise the area under paddy. The sub-soil water-level is going down at a rapid pace in the countryside. Because of this factor, tubewells are becoming redundant. For instance, in the Nimol belt of this district the water-level has gone down to 55 feet this year, registering a 10-foot in the water-table in the past one year. Farmers have, by and large, stopped early transplantation of paddy. In fact, farmers are deliberately delaying it as it has become a costly proposition. In the absence of power to run tubewells, farmers operate diesel engines for the same. To operate the engine for an hour, the minimum cost is near Rs 45. “It is a very costly affair to irrigate the paddy crop with the help of a diesel-run engine”, said Mr Jit Singh of Hariau Daska village. The other reason in the delay in transplantation is that the farmers want to ensure its maturing and harvesting only after the entrance of state procurement agencies in grain markets in October for quick disposal. “We have delayed the transplantation of paddy by at least two weeks”, said Sukhwinder Singh of Rajgarh village near Bhawanigarh. A former student of Modi College, Patiala, he said he had decided to reduce the area under paddy to 10 acres this year against 12 acres last year. Mr Ajaib Singh, a labourer working on the farm of Mr Manmohan Singh of Makaronpur village near Fatehgarh Sahib, said his landlord had reduced the land under paddy and the same would be covered under sugarcane. Several other farmers made similar observations. Between the Patiala-Sunam belt, farmers have mainly turned to sugarcane, maize and groundnut. “We have three sugarcane mills nearby to dispose the crop”, explained Mr Karnail Singh of Grachon village. So there would be little problem in selling sugarcane to the mills. In this belt a large number of farmers have also gone for chillies, though at a very small scale. Farmers have sown groundnut following an agreement with a private company which will buy the groundnut at Rs 1200 per quintal. The company has provided quality seed to farmers. In the Sunam-Mansa-Bathinda-Abohar belt, the cotton crop is back in the reckoning. Farmers have increased the area under the crop, despite the fact that they have had poor returns from the crop during the past many years because of repeated attack of the American bollworm. Chillies have also attracted the attention of farmers in this belt. Mr Manjit Singh of Wadali Ala Singh village said the farmers, till recently, were getting power three to four hours daily. Now it had been increased to five six hours daily. He said the government’s assurance on power supply for eight hours to tubewells daily, has been on paper alone. “When it was raining in the past few days, the power supply remained almost round the clock. As soon as the temperatures started soaring, the power supply in the countryside started dwindling. Without adequate power supply, farmers cannot irrigate the paddy crop,” he added. More and more farmers are going for the vanaspati variety of paddy. The increase in the area is expected to be about one lakh hectares more than last year, when it was 1.40 lakh hectares. The Agriculture Department authorities say it is because of their efforts that farmers have started the process of diversification. “We made former Vice-Chancellors of Punjab
Agricultural University to issue an appeal to farmers to reduce the area under paddy and to avoid its early transplantation”, a senior functionary of the department
said. The department’s target is to cut the area under paddy by two lakh hectares this year. |
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Detainee sends substitute to jail Ferozepore, June 11 The police has registered a case against fake detainee Jasbir Singh and the court has issued warrants to arrest real detainee Angrej Singh. Both hail from Raniwala village and Jasbir Singh is believed to be an employee of Angrej Singh. Jail Superintendent Harbhajan Singh said Angrej Singh, who was arrested by the Zira police under Section 15 of the NDPS Act, was brought to the jail on January 18. He was produced before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh on April 17. The judge granted him 15-day interim bail on May 15 and the accused was directed to appear before the court on May 30. But instead of Angrej Singh making his appearance in the court on the appointed day, his fake appeared and nobody noticed. The imposter was sent to jail after the court proceedings but there too nobody suspected foul play for several days. The Superintendent said on a tip-off later they began investigation and found to their shock that the real accused had escaped. They immediately informed the court. The judge issued summons for appearance of the imposter on June 15 and warrants to arrest the real accused. The police has launched a search for Angrej Singh.
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Scheme creates problems for panchayats Bathinda, June 11 Sources said the state government had issued orders to the Panchayat and Rural Development Department to give a piece of land to the Dalits from the land owned by the panchayats. The orders said if the land owned by the panchayat was away from the village, it should be given near the village after purchasing land after selling the far off land. The decision of the government will be welcomed by the Dalits but it could prove to be a hindrance in the development of the village. Panchayat-owned land is used for earning income which in turn is used for the development of the village. If the land is used to make houses, the income will be reduced considerably. The sources said the problem would be more in those villages which did not have much land. Such villages would not be able to give land to the Dalits. Villages which have sufficient land for cultivation would not face much difficulty. But the number of such villages was less. Mehma Sarja has about 18 acres of panchayat land and even after distributing land among the Dalits it would have sufficient land for earning income. The other problem would be shortage of land for building government like hospitals for both humans and animals, water supply projects, sports complexes and purchase centres. In some villages, basic facilities like cleaning drains and paying wages to labourers would be affected, the sources said. There are some villages which were unable to generate funds in order to get help from government departments. They could not generate 50 per cent share which was necessary for getting grants for development purposes. Khialiwala, Dlahar, Mehma, Harraipur, Jandawala and Bhokhra villages only had panchayat-owned land for bearing development expenses. A sarpanch on condition of anonymity said although the scheme was good in spirit, it was not practical. |
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Case against Garg demanded Bathinda, June 11 Mr Garg is facing a civil suit filed by Mr N.K. Garg, an advocate, in connection with the alleged encroachment of ‘shamlat’ land. Summons were issued to him in the case, but the minister did not appear in court on at least two occasions. Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon, senior vice-president of the Lawyers for Human Rights (International) said action must be initiated to curb “illegal” activities of politicians. He said legal action against the minister would serve a lesson to others. Mr Dhillon alleged that the government was not taking action against politicians whose names figured in corruption cases. Mr Ishatpal Singh Khialiwala, General Secretary, Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD), said stern action should be taken against corrupt politicians. He said the minister was not showing respect to the judiciary or else he would obey the summons of the court. The SHSAD leader said it was pity that a public announcement (munadi) was to be made for summoning the minister. Mr Khialiwala said the state government had not taken action against 16 politicians whose names appeared in the list of the Punjab Lokpal. Mr Ajitpal Singh, president of the Kotfatta circle of the youth wing of the SHSAD, said to curb the menace of corruption stern action was needed against erring politicians. |
Akali leader issued show-cause notice Faridkot, June 11 Such type of factionalism would harm the prospects of the party candidates in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the district, Mr Arayianwala said criticising Mr Dhillon for not supporting the district unit in various party activities. Mr Dhillon has been asked to reply to the notice within 15 days of its receipt, clarifying his position on the issue. The party president said that the matter would also be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and SAD supremo Mr Parkash Singh Badal shortly. When contacted, Mr Dhillon said that he along with his family was a sincere and devoted worker of the party and had never indulged in anti-party activities. He said that he organised the meeting of the local workers only to mobilise them for the state-level conference to be held at Kotkapura on June 13. He is one of the aspirants for the party ticket from Faridkot assembly segment and was making rounds of the villages in this connection. Expressing concern over the indifferent attitude of Mr Arayianwala, Mr Dhillon said that he had never been informed about the party activities in the district. In spite of this, he accompanied by his mother and Bibi Gurdev Kaur, member SGPC, attended the district party meeting at Gurdwara Singh Sabha. However, when he got the show-cause notice, he would personally meet the district SAD president and defuse the situation, he said. Contrary to this, Mr Arayianwala while talking to this reporter said that senior party leaders had visited villages in this district several times to strengthen the party, but Mr Dhillon never accompanied them. The party held two meetings on May 25 and June 5 at Kotkpura to review the party working in the district and Mr Dhillon remained absent at the first meeting. Meanwhile fissures in both groups came to the fore yesterday when speakers from both groups criticised each other for damaging the cause of the party by holding parallel meetings. Speaking at Gurdwara Singh Sabha meeting Mrs Jagdish Kaur deplored Mr Arayianwala for running the party in an autocratic manner without taking the party workers and leaders into confidence. She further alleged that she was never apprised about the party activities or developments in spite of her being a senior leader. Interrupting her speech, Mr Gurtej Singh Gill, another senior party leader and president of the local nagar council, charged her and her son for organising the parallel meeting only to weaken the interest of the party. Mr Harjit Singh Bholuwal, chairman, local market committee, Mr Chamkaur Singh Veerawala, president, truck union, Mr Makhan Singh Nangal, and Mr Jagjit Singh, both members, SGPC and many other senior leaders attended the district-level meeting. Mr Ajaib Singh Dalsinghwala, president, Jaitu circle, Mr Rajinder Rupana, Mr Karam Singh Dhaliwal and Mr Amarjit Singh Romana, former chairman, Land Mortgage Bank, were present at the meeting organised by Mr Dhillon. |
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Congress
leader
meets warring groups Mansa, June 11 Mr Bajwa met dissidents led by Mr Narotam Singh Chahal, former president municipal council at Madhur Millan marriage palace and the supporters of Mr Dhaipi at Mai Nikko Devi Model School here. He met party workers of both groups individually. Mr Bajwa expressed his displeasure over factionalism in the district unit of the party and stressed the need for unity among the party workers when the assembly elections were round the corner. The dissidents demanded the removal of district Congress chief Ram Paul Dhaipl alleging that he had done nothing to further the interests of the party. On the other hand the District Congress committee led by Mr Dhaipi, reiterated its demand for the expulsion of Mr Chahal and Mr Manjeet Singh Jhalbutti, member working
committee of the PPCC for which a resolution was passed on June 5. However, Mr Bajwa said no one would be expelled from the party and he would submit his report to PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh for further action. Meanwhile, talking to mediapersons here yesterday Mr Bajwa said, “Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police are playing the role of Jathedars in the state.” He said these officers do not even meet Congress workers. Mr Bajwa alleged that the smuggling of narcotics was going on in the state under the patronage of ruling party leaders, who were collecting money to contest forthcoming elections. He said the “sangat darshan’ programmes being conducted by Mr Parkash Singh Badal would end in July and if the governments failed to make adequate arrangement for the purchase of paddy, elections would be held before the arrival of paddy crop. Mr Bajwa accused the Punjab Government of selling public properties at throwaway prices. He alleged that Rs 350 crore meant for the payment of relief to paddy growers was being distributed at the sangat darshan programmes to woo voters. |
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Amarinder’s son
chairs YC meeting Bathinda, June 11 Mr Raninder Singh lauded the role played by the Youth Congress and appealed to the state leadership to allot ticket to as many YC activists as possible in the coming state Assembly elections. A large number of workers attended the meeting. They seemed
jubilant over the proposal. Mr Tinku Grover, vice-president of the state unit of the YC alleged that the state government was being run on ‘kitchen politics’ of the Badal family. Many ministers of the government had been indicted in various crimes, he alleged. Mr Bhupinder Gora, general secretary, alleged that the state government’s policy to give a ‘grant’ of Rs 2.5 lakh to kin of farmers who committed suicide due to debt, amounted to abetment to suicide. Instead of amending the wrong agriculture policies, the state government had bowed to the dictates of the WTO, he alleged. |
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SAD conference postponed Chandigarh, June 11 |
Cheema is minister in Canada Dr Gulzar Singh Cheema has been appointed Minister of State for
Mental Health in British Columbia, a province of Canada.
Born at Bariar village in Gurdaspur district in 1953, he migrated
to Canada in 1979. He practised in rural Monitoba and Winnipeg and
interned at the University of Newfoundland. He was resident at
Saskatoon’s University Hospital. His hospital experience includes
neonatology, psychiatry, psycho-geriatrics and geriatrics.
He joined the Liberal Party and was elected Liberal Member
Legislative Assembly from Kildonan constituency (Winnipeg), Manitoba
State in 1988. He was re-elected from the Maples constituency
(Winnipeg), Manitoba State in 1993.
While a member of the Legislative Assembly in Manitoba he served as
critic of health, labour, housing, native affairs, sport, cooperative,
consumer and corporate affairs.
He shifted from Winnipeg to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1993.
He was Liberal candidate for ‘Vancouver Fraserview Riding’ in May,
1996.
He was elected Member Legislative Assembly from ‘The Riding of
Surrey — Panorama Ridge’ in May this year and appointed Minister. |
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Keeping
‘dhadi’ tradition alive Nawanshahr A postgraduate in history and son of a famous dhadi, Daya Singh Dilwar, Kuljit opted for the VRS from the local Punjab and Sind Bank recently and decided to become a full-time dhadi. He is fully aware that hard times lie ahead. He dismisses those dhadis who try to achieve success by ‘‘stealing’’ music from films and playing on the synthesiser instead of the traditional dhad and the sarangi. Kuljit says that though his father brought fame to the family he felt dejected on seeing the plight of dhadis. He himself became a dhadi when his father was detained for more than two years under the National Security Act in 1984. At that time Kuljit took his father’s place on the stage and realised his potential as a dhadi. Since then, Kuljit has been regularly attending religious congregations to give performances. Besides, he has performed on Jalandhar Doordarshan and also toured England, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, there are four cassettes to his credit aimed at promoting the dhadi tradition. He has also authored 16 books relating to religious songs and poetry. Although Kuljit has achieved a lot as a dhadi, he is concerned about the future of dhadis in general. He feels the SGPC and the SAD do not seem to be keen on promoting the tradition. That is the main reason why young persons today are not willing to becoming dhadis. Kuljit suggests that the SGPC should open a school for dhadis. Besides, more time should be given to dhadis on Doordarshan to promote the tradition. Kuljit alleges that Doordarshan is meting out ‘‘step-motherly’’ treatment to dhadis. Recently, the Sri Guru Hargobind Dhadi Sabha had organised a dharna in front of the Jalandhar Doordarshan Kendra in protest against this, he says. |
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Police
pressured to hush up eve-teasing case Barnala, June 11 According to sources, following a tip-off the police rounded up six persons, including a STD-PCO owner, a tea stall owner and two railway employees this morning in this connection. Sources further revealed that these SAD leaders were pressurising the SSP to soft-pedal on this issue. It is reliably learnt that a gang led by a shopkeeper with influence in SAD circles has been active in the railway quarters area and the STD-PCO centre nearby. |
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Dharnas
against move to privatise FCI Bathinda, June 11 In a press note issued here yesterday, Mr Jora Singh Nasrali said the labour union would continue its struggle until the decision was taken back. He said on July 16 a dharna would be organised at the Chandigarh office of the FCI. If need be, a dharna would be organised at New Delhi too. The union leader said the government was creating confusion regarding allocation of powers of loading and unloading of vehicles at the godowns of Punjab Warehouse. He alleged that government officials were making labourers of various unions fight with each other. Many incidents had been reported from Barnala, Lehra Bega and other places where labourers had received injuries following conflicts over unloading and loading at godowns, he added. He urged labourers to maintain peace among them. |
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Demand
for more booking counters Bathinda, June 11 In a press note issued here today, Mr Ramesh Garg, general secretary of the BJP unit said the booking windows did not meet the requirement as the number of passengers who boarded trains was large. He said sometimes passengers had to travel even without ticket. He alleged the window that was opened in the Gole Diggi area of the city was not of much use. Tickets for many stations were not available there, he said. Mr Garg said separate counters for women and aged people were not available. They had to stand in queues for long. The BJP leader said long queues could be seen in front of the counters at the railway station. He demanded the system of issuing tickets be computerised. |
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Trust ‘forced’ to withdraw
plot auction Amritsar, June 11 Months of preparation by trust authorities came to a naught when only three parties appeared for the bidding of the 4,000 sq yards hotel plot adjoining another well known hotel. Mr Bakshi, Trust-Chairman, Ram Arora said they were expecting at least 15 parties, including many outstation bidders. However, he could not state the reason for the poor turnout at the Bachat Bhavan today. However, it is learnt that two original bidders had split to make a third entry as a bidder, to complete the quorum of minimum three parties to be present at the time of bidding. The bidding began with an initial reserve price of Rs 5,000 per square yards, however, it only reached the figure of Rs 10,500 after lobbying and pooling by the land mafia started. All three bidders had reached on time to complete the quorum and had excepted to get mileage from the poor turnout. |
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Demand
to implement Mandal report Chandigarh, June 11 In a memorandum presented to the Punjab State Backward Classes Mission, Mr Rabinder Singh
Sohil, president of the federation, said though the apex court had given a verdict for 27.5 per cent reservation in government and public sector appointments, admission in academic institutions and representation in civic and other elected bodies, yet the orders had not been implemented. The federation demanded immediate clearance of backlog. The federation also demanded that the Directorate of Backward Classes should be separated from the Directorate of SC and Backward Classes besides stressing the need for setting up of the Punjab State Backward Classes Commission. Demanding a better deal and financial powers for the Backward Classes Financial Corporation, the federation also wanted that free education and books should be given to students of backward classes. It also maintained that during the recent Census operations, there was no column for indicating as to whether the particular family belongs to the backward classes and if so which class. Mr Sohil further maintained in his memorandum that Ramgarhia class had been declared backward class in Punjab in November, 1999. But no formal notification has been issued as yet. He wanted the Punjab Government should be asked to notify Ramgarhia class as backward class. Another issue raised by the federation was about existing restriction of the upper income slab for the backward classes which it wanted to be relaxed failing which the purpose of reservation would be defeated, the federation said in its memorandum. |
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Pilot’s death
anniversary Patiala, June 11 Among other leaders, who spoke on the occasion, were Mr Nirmal Singh
Bhatian, former Chairman of the Patiala Improvement Trust, Mr Sant Ram Singla, former Member Parliament, Mr P.S Chandumajra and Mr Lal Singh, former Cabinet Ministers, Mr Brij Lal Goyal, former Chairman Punsup, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, former Chief whip of the Punjab Assembly and senior Congress leader of the district, Mr
K. K. Sharma . |
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Front to oppose Musharraf’s visit Amritsar, June 11 Opposing the visit of General Pervez, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, president of the AIATF, has called upon the opposition parties to come on a single platform to plead the national cause. He said General Pervez should be allowed to visit India only after he had handed over Parmjit Singh Panjwar, chief of the Khalistan Commando Force, and other top militants. His other condition is that General Pervez must remove Lieut-Gen Javed Nasir, former ISI chief, as president of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. He alleged that Lieut-Gen Nasir was responsible for aiding and abetting terrorism from across the border when he was chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. Mr Bitta said Nasir was also responsible for the anti-India propaganda being done from various Sikh shrines in Pakistan. Mr Bitta said that if the General was allowed in India without accepting their demands, it would fester wounds of the martyrs of the Kargil conflict. The AIATF chief also opposed the entry of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan, self-styled
Chief of Khalistan, into India. He alleged that the entry of Dr Chauhan would revive terrorism in the state. |
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Minister condemns attack on photo journalist Pathankot, June 11 The minister also passed instructions to the SSP, Gurdaspur, to immediately take punitive action against the suspects and investigate the case. He assured the journalists that stern action would be taken against the suspects. |
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MC employees, dhobis clash Pathankot, June 11 While the functionaries of the mahasabha alleged that they had been occupying the Dhobi ghat for more than 50 years, the council wanted to oust them from the land. On the other hand, employees of the council alleged that some functionaries of the mahasabha had assaulted them while they were duty on Sunday. They demanded arrest of the assailants. |
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Closure
of illegal factories
sought Pathankot, June 11 An example in this case is the massive fire that broke out at midnight near New Sabzi Mandi last year. A large number of boxes stocked there and some shops were destroyed in the fire. The fire was put out by fire brigade officials from Pathankot, Jugial and Kandrori, Army and Air Force. It took them six hours to do the job. The SDM and the SP then had assured people that unauthorised factories would be removed nothing has been done so far. Inhabitants of the area have demanded the closure of the factories. |
Govt’s achievements
to be highlighted Fatehgarh Sahib, June 11 Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhatti, president, district Youth Akali Dal, called the workers’ meeting a preparation for the political conference to be held on June 26, which would be addressed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Addressing the gathering, Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhatti said the decision of Mr Badal to give due representation to youths while allotting party tickets for the ensuing assembly elections has boosted the morale of the youths. He said workers of the youth wing would go to the grassroots level to highlight the achievements of the Akali government. Mr Swarn Singh Chanarthal, District president, SAD (B), said all differences among partymen had been sorted out. Mr R.S. Cheema, a former minister, said that it is a good sign that all leaders have come on one platform. Mr Didar Singh Bhatti, Rajesh Paul Singh Lalli, Kirpal Singh Sethi, Tejinder Singh Salana and Rakesh Mitter also addressed the meeting. |
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Weekly power-off system revived Patiala, June 11 The board is also facing problems with its thermal plants with one unit of the Lehra Mohabbat plant being closed since June 9 and another unit of the Bathinda plant being shut down since yesterday. While the Lehra Mohabbat plant tripped due to generator earth fault, the Bathinda plant had a boiler tube leakage. The Bathinda plant is expected to come back on steam tomorrow morning. Officials said attempts were still being made to revive the plant at Lehra Mohabbat after efforts failed yesterday. Unit number one of the Ropar plant was closed for capital maintenance and would not be run till June 20, officials said. Against a supply of 896 lakh units today, there was a demand of 960 lakh units on the system. They said the board had received 137 lakh units from the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and 239 lakh units from the central pool, besides generation from its thermal plants. The board today imposed five-hour rotational cuts on all category one urban and rural feeders. These feeders supply power to domestic, commercial and industrial users, besides catering to villages covered under the 24-hour power supply scheme. They said a two-hour cut would also be imposed on all major cities. The board has also revived the weekly off system which had been kept in abeyance till now due to the comfortable power position. It has also announced that peak load restrictions will be enforced on industrial consumers from 7 pm to 10 pm. The board has to meet the power demands of paddy growers with paddy transplantation expected to begin in full force within a day or two. Sources said in such a situation the board might buy more power from the central pool if available. |
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Punjab
Police team leaves for UK Chandigarh, June 11 Other members of the team are Mr A. Prasad, Superintendent of Police, City (Amritsar), and Mr
R. S. Cheema, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. |
MIDDLE EXAM OF PSEB SAS NAGAR, June 11 Two students of MSD Senior Secondary Public School , Bathinda, Tensy Jindal and Rajni Garg, were placed second and third, securing 98 per cent and 97 per cent marks, respectively. As in the past, students of private schools dominated the merit list with a cut-off percentage of 91.5 released by the board authorities. A total of 534 candidates with a pass percentage of up to 91.5 have been placed in the merit list. Though the first two positions have been secured by boys, 26 girl students have found place in the first 50 positions in the merit list. Of a total of 3,96,527 candidates, both regular and private, who appeared in the examination, 3,187,80 were declared successful. Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the board, said the pass percentage of regular candidates was 81. 69 as compared to 79. 63 last year. At least 2,61,621 regular students out of a total of 3,20,255 passed the examination. In the case of private candidates, the pass percentage was 74.94 against 74.47 per cent last year. Mr Baldev Singh Mann, Deputy Secretary ( In charge Middle ), said the results would be available on June 13 after 11 a.m at the district-level textbook sales depots. The result cards of the private candidates were being sent through post. The results could also be seen on the following websites: <www.punjabeducation.org>;
<www.schoolnetindia.com> The names ( roll no./ marks out of 600) of the first 50 students are as under: Sanchit Ankur Garg(494765/593), Mohit Garg (534841/593), Tensy Jindal (187967/590), Rajni Garg (187831/589), Jasmine (184906/584), Mohit Pathak (589201/584), Sukhminderpal Singh (187990/584), Surinderpal (594224/583), Hari Maheswari (187876/582), Hemanshu Aggarwal (254416/581), Anu (254332/580), Simranjeet Kaur (575961/580), Supreet Kaur Dhillon (343979/579), Preeti Gupta (187853/579), Ravi Kant (187920/578), Ankur (187941/578), Swati Kaushal (720359/577), Prince Gupta (188015/577), Ashok Singla (184934/577), Mani Rani (176761/577), Ravinder Kaur (348258/577), Tarun Kumar (184920/576), Richika ( 530066/576), Ravinder Kaur ( 642349/576), Barishi Arora ( 251581/ 576), Navjot Kumari (291524/ 575), Ritu Bala (187832/ 575), Rahul Goel (187940/575), Harjot Kaur (534809/ 757), Roopinder Kaur (347234/ 575), Ginni Karir (483038/575), Bharat Deep (572315/574), Deepak Singla (328115/574), Mamta Chibber (254333/574), Aashima (717971/574), Mohit Kumar (714873/ 573), Manoj Kumar( 501750/ 573), Asish Goel (534849/573), Deepak Kumar Mangla (187921/ 573), Ramiti (717951/ 573), Shivani Kansal (254388/ 573), Roopinder (530067/572), Heena Sippi (642356/572), Sunidheeka (714832/ 572), Anurag (572214/572), Nikhil Kanaujiya (667708/ 572), Satinder Jeet Kaur (205216/571), Mohit Nayar (347236/ 571), Honey Bansal (187923/571) and Navneet Kaur (363890/571). |
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Complaint
against ‘threats’ to lecturers Ludhiana, June 11 Stating this in a press note, Professor K.B.S. Sodhi, president of the union, said he had sought justice for the lecturers, Ms Harbans Kaur, Ms Iqbal Kaur, Ms Parveen Bowery and Ms Harmeet Kaur, who were being given threats of forcible eviction from their residences on the college campus with the help of anti-social elements who identified themselves as gunmen of some VIPs. He also said Ms Harbans Kaur, had been suspended on “frivolous and flimsy grounds” with an aim to torture her.” Professor Sodhi said he had sought help from the Chairperson of the commission after his complaints to the Panjab University Vice-Chancellor produced no results. The union would hold an executive meeting on June 23 at Ferozepore to discuss the issue with the Principal, Ms Madhu Prashar, and decide further course of action, he said. Professor Sodhi also criticised ‘exploitation’ of lecturers of colleges in Punjab saying that they were underpaid and being denied maternity, medical and earned leave provided under rules. |
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