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| Wednesday,
February 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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PSEB staff boycott work Ludhiana, February 4 Hundreds of employees boycotted work from midnight affecting power services in the district. All bill collection centres, consumer complaint centres and other public dealing offices remained closed. Employees staged dharnas in front of their respective offices and raised antigovernment slogans, demanding the initiation of measures to bring the board out of the red. The workers underlined the fact that privatisation of state electricity boards in other states had failed. The need of the hour was to pump in more resources to improve the functioning of the board and not to shut it. Rallies were held at Janata Nagar, Focal Point, Civil Lines, Model Town, Aggar Nagar, Sunder Nagar and the CMC. The workers were demanding an inquiry into all large scale purchases made during the past decade so that the officers, who allegedly placed orders for equipment at exorbitant rates, could be punished and the money recovered from them. They also stressed that the state government should initiate measures to bring the board out of the red. The employees said the government had been citing free power to the agriculture sector as reason for the losses suffered by the board but this had been exposed by over 95 per cent bill realisation from farmers by the board. Another reason was the low tariff which, too, had been hiked recently. The protesters alleged that the wrong policies and purchases made by the top brass over the years were alone responsible for the mess. “Why is the board management punishing thousands of employees — with imminent privatisation — who had always worked for the betterment of their organisation?” They asked the officers have failed the board and not vice versa, they alleged. The agitators alleged that again the senior officers were to blame for the rampant power thefts indulged in by major industrial houses of the state in the past. What is being witnessed now is the cumulative effect of the abovementioned malpractices, he pointed out. The employees have appealed to all like minded unions to come together on one platform to counter the privatisation moves. Mr Swaran Singh, president, Workers Federation (INTUC), Mr T S Mohi, secretary, Federation of PSEB employees, Mr Subash Chander, secretary, TSU, Mr Chander Mohan Kalia, president of the DMC Employees Union, also issued statements. Ahmedgarh: Employees of local PSEB offices observed complete strike today. The complaint office, administrative office and all cash counters wore empty look. Mr Hari Datt Sharma, Mr Nirbhai Singh, Mr Baljit Singh, all PSEB Employees
Amloh: On a call given by the PSEB employees’ struggle committee Punjab (Employees Federation PSEB, Punjab State Electricity Mazdoor Sangh), technical and ministerial staff of the division and its four sub-divisions observed strike today. The offices of SDO here were found locked. Mr Prithipal Singh, president Amloh division, said the call was given against turning the PSEB into a corporation, against privatisation and non-implementation of decisions already arrived by the PSEB with the employees union. The agitation would be intensified further if Haldya Committee report was not rejected, said Mr Prithipal Singh, Mr Jeet Singh and Mr Ajmail Khan in a press note here today. |
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Traders
protest against Exim form Ludhiana, February 4 The demonstration was held as a
follow-up action by various trade and industrial groups who have constituted a joint action committee (JAC) to fight against the government for getting the Exim form withdrawn. The JAC has been maintaining that the Exim form will only strengthen the “inspector raj” and lead to further harassment to traders and industrialists. “It will only add to our harassment”, the speakers at the demonstration said. It was for the first time in many years that the representatives of various trade and industrial associations had come together to protest against the introduction of the form. The speakers criticised the Finance Minister, Mr Lal Singh, who had declined to withdraw the form. He is reported to have said that the form was introduced to curb the sales tax evasion. They said while the world was moving forward, the state government appeared to be taking a backward route. The Exim form would only hamper the free trade, as the sales tax officials would get another stick to beat the traders, who are already a worried lot. Giving technical reasons, the speakers pointed out that in case of heavy machinery, the industrialists needed instant delivery and the orders were placed on telephone or fax only. In case the Exim form was introduced, no consignment could come without the form and the delivery of goods would take lot of time. The demonstrators appealed the Chief Minister not to break his promise of providing a hassle-free atmosphere in the state. They said the industry and trade had great expectations from the Chief Minister. |
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Migrant
labourer gets money back Ugly scenes were witnessed in Central Post Office, Bhadaur House, here today afternoon when, the postal employees were ‘forced’ to return a sum of Rs 56,000 to a migrant labourer, after he confronted the postal department staff along with certain mediapersons. Interestingly, the money was kept by them for about 20 days without bringing it to the notice of senior officials, police or the victim himself. The labourer, Raj Bhardwaj Lahru, had sent a money order of Rs 62,000 to his brother in Ajamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on January 16 from the Mata Rani Chowk post office. Much to his surprise his brother received two money orders for Rs 3,000 each only. Lahru got to know about the received amount only yesterday when his brother called up to say that he had sent Rs 6,000 while he had promised to send an amount of Rs 62,000 to him. Lahru could not believe his ears and rushed to the post office in the morning today. The money was supposedly a down payment for the purchase of a plot by his family. His attempts to meet the officers failed till the time he was spotted by some mediapersons in the post office. They gathered there only to find out that the receipts of the money order sent by him carried an amount of Rs 3, 150 each that included the money order commission (Rs 150). Mr R.K. Munshi, the Postmaster, when contacted, admitted that some employees had kept the rest amount with the post office only as the limit of money order was Rs 5,000 only. He added that the employees had become suspicious of the labourer, as he was carrying thousands of rupees. The employees said they had kept the money as they thought the man had got it through evil means. |
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11 judicial employees sacked Ludhiana, February 4 The step was necessitated as the staff became redundant after the sacking of five judicial officers by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the aftermath of the infamous Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment scam. Initially, there was a move to sack all 36 judicial employees as they had become surplus, but the employees got united and succeeded in saving the jobs of 25 other employees. A majority of the employees working here had gathered in the Sessions Court compound yesterday and virtually decided to go on strike. According to them, as many as 30 posts were lying vacant and there was no need to terminate the services of the surplus staff. They demanded that instead of sacking the employees, they should have been adjusted against the posts. Mr Harish Rai Dhanda, Bar President, also met the District Judge on the
Those whose services have been terminated are: stenographers — Manoj Kumar, Gurmit Singh, Raj Kumar, Rajiv Kumar, Baljinder Kumar, Deepak Spal, Balwinder Kumar, Karamjit Kaur; chowkidar — Ravinder Singh; Malkhana peon — Anand Singh: and orderly — Parminder Singh. Retrenched stenographers have been directed to immediately hand over the charge of their posts to the judgement writer or other stenographer of the court. Meanwhile, stenographer Pawan Kumar working in the Court of Mr J.S. Bhatia, ADJ, has been promoted as Judgement Writer (Sr Grade) in the same court. After adjusting the surplus staff against the vacant post, the District and Sessions Judge has ordered the transfer of the following employees to fill the posts in view of the termination of services of the employees: Steno-typist Gurnam Singh has been transferred to the Court of Mr Ashok Kapoor, JMIC; Surinder Kumar has been transferred to the Court of Mr R.K. Sharma, Civil Judge (Jr Div.), while the steno-typist of the same court has been transferred to the Court of Mr Sanjay Agnihotri, CJJD. Steno typist Gurpreet Singh working in the Court of the Additional District Judge, Mr H.S. Madan, has been transferred to the Court of Civil Judge Senior Division, Ludhiana. |
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Hazaroon sal nargis apni be noori pe roti hai, badi mushkil say hota hai chamman mein deedar paida.... India will continue to mourn Kalpana Chawla's death like that. For she probably may not have been as famous if she had survived, as she became in her death. It was a national tragedy in the true sense. There would hardly be anyone across the country who knew about her and did not grieve her death. In her life itself she had already become the role model of thousands of young people who wanted to become and fly like her. And in her death she has become an ideal for millions and millions more. It was too unfortunate for the country to lose her at this stage when she was on her flight to greatness. Her continuous and consistent outstanding performance was unparalleled. It is after a long time that the young of the country have found a role model in her. She will definitely serve better as a role model than the sporting icons, whose glory is as short lived as their sporting innings. We may have physically lost her, but her image in her space suit will always remain alive in the minds of millions and millions of people. One is reminded of Keats' Ode to Grecian Urn, "more happy love! more happy, happy! For ever panting and for every young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue." Kalpana will always remain, young and bright, jovial and cheerful in our memories. Always and always. Humility personified Noted Punjabi singer Harbhajan Mann is humility personified. Notwithstanding his great success in the world of music he still remains tied to his roots. As modest and down to earth to the core as your next door neighbour. Currently he has assumed the role of helping the society to reform itself. He is working hard against the drug addiction prevailing across the state. Only the other day he walked into The Tribune office in Ludhiana to express his gratitude to the staff working here for cooperating with him. He said, he felt pained after looking around and seeing the plight of the youth who were ultimately trapped in the vicious circle of drug addiction. It gives him immense pleasure to work for the society much more than earning millions. Keep it up.
Marketing stunt Wives' stress Senior police officers of different states have converged at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, for a six-day course on stress management. Several speakers spoke volumes about the stress caused by the needs and demands of the contemporary world. After hours of serious discussions, one light moment occurred in the course. One of the senior police officers remarked that he wished the participants’ wives were also attending the course. Giving reasons he said as per his information and experience, wives contribute a lot to a man's stress. A female journo covering the course could not help retorting, "Thank your stars, the wives are not here, otherwise you would be the most stressed one right now for daring to say something like this".
Bad stars? If there was one department that will like to take the services of an astrologer for the magical cure of problems, it will definitely be the police department of the city. The first month of the new year has brought along a plethora of problems for the local police. It has been the subject of much ridicule owing to a spate of cases arising out of the ‘goof ups’ made by one cop or the another. The first embarrassing case was when a cop challaned a Sikh driver for not wearing a helmet while driving a car ! Second, three cops were suspended by the police authorities for taking bribe of a meagre Rs 110 rupees from three truck drivers to let them through a police check post. One alleged conman took away a scooter, from police custody on forged documents. The vehicle was owned by some other person who is now at his wits end to take back the vehicle. Then, the police was in the news for harassing a female journalist, and few days after that of misbehaving with two women relatives of a senior IPS officer.
No value for time The organisers of functions whether political, cultural educational, always want press to cover their functions. But the problem is that no function ever starts on time stipulated in the card.. Infact the functions always start very late which upsets the
schedule of the reporters. On some days, there are a lot of functions and in all different directions, It really becomes nerve racking task. Actually , People in the city have no value for time at all. In present day times, when time is money, the functions should
start on time as the reporters have to meet deadlines. Punctuality is not considered a virtue in this country, if it had been, we would have been more successful.
Test tubes shots A new way of serving Taqila with Blue Curacao is in vogue these days. The tempting blue colour drink is being served in test
tubes. The bartender mixes Taqila and blue Curacao well in a container. Then they are poured into test tubes- yes, the very
same test tubes used in a chemistry laboratory. Twenty four test tubes are carried by the waiter in a container. The people just pour the entire contents into their throats in one shot. Since they taste sweet and pleasant, people drink as many as 30 shots. On an average , they drink 10 test tube shots. The people seem to enjoy having these shots- but the next day they have a massive hang over. Test tube shots have replaced Taqila shots what next now!
Heroes or...? Two young school going students had a great respect for smartly dressed traffic police men. They
sympathised with them as they felt that they were standing discharging their duty amidst obnoxious fumes of vehicles.. The students in awe of such policemen always saluted them while cycling down to their school and the policemen smartly returned their salute till one day. They were shocked when one day when instead of returning their salute, the policeman at the crossing winked at the girl. The poor girls was shell shocked at his unexpected behaviour and has never ever dared to look at one. Sentinel |
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Long wait for son’s body Ludhiana, February 4 His debt-ridden father, Jarnail Singh, has tried his best to work out some solution but to no avail. As the process would require a lot of money, the poor father has unsuccessfully knocked at several doors. The Ludhiana Tribune had highlighted the plight of Jarnail Singh a few days ago but surprisingly no NGO has come to the aid of the grief-stricken family. Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, President of Lok Bhalai Party and former MP has taken up the cause of the youth. Talking to The Tribune today he said he was trying his best to help Jagroop's family bring back his body. He said he had already announced a help of Rs 1.5 lakh to the aggrieved family that would allow them to see their son’s body for the last time. Jagroop (24), was found hanging from a tree in a city in Hong Kong a month ago. His body was claimed by a gurdwara in the city where it was kept by the management in wait of his claimants. Jarnail Singh, a farm labourer, who had spent lakhs of rupees in sending his son abroad with the hope of solving problems of poverty-struck family, does not even know whether his son had committed suicide or was killed by somebody. He had
only received a telephonic message from his friend abroad that his son was found hanging from a tree. He had sent Jagroop to Hong Kong by borrowing money from a financier eight
months ago. Not only he has lost his young son who was supposed to look after him in his twilight years, he cant even think of performing the last rites of his son. Jagroop was the eldest of his three children. He was working as a shoe dealer and had married off his sister and brother a few years ago. Despite working overtime, he was not earning enough money. So he had decided to move to Hong Kong in search of greener pastures. Villagers and his family members said Jagroop was a very hardworking and responsible boy and had a very positive bent of mind. ‘‘When he was leaving the country he had told me that I should not worry at all. He had assured me that he would bale us out of the crisis. He could never commit suicide. Somebody must have killed him for some reason.’’ said his father while crying. The gurdwara where his body is kept had demanded an amount of Rs 4.5 lakh from Jarnail Singh. But when he wrote to them that he could not pay this amount, the gurdwara management agreed to send the body from their own funds. “But the body has not arrived so far. I had written to the Chief Minister also for help. But nothing happened.” Mr Jarnail Singh added. |
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ABVP dubs
Mann traitor Ludhiana, February 4 Addressing mediapersons here today, unit chief Sandeep Kapoor said it was unfortunate that the birth anniversary of a controversial figure, who was allegedly responsible for promoting terrorism in the state, was being celebrated. “Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, president of the SAD (A) and MP, is a traitor and the unit would write to the Lok Sabha Speaker to cancel his candidature. We further demand that the MP should be put behind bars and prosecuted for disturbing internal peace and security of the country,” he said. Mr Kapoor said such functions could create fission in two communities. A written complaint to the Punjab CM, the Union Home Minister besides the Lok Sabha Speaker had also been made to stop the function, he added. ABVP district secretary Rohit Sharma said the unit would hold a protest rally on February 12 by observing the day as “Gaddar Divas”. They appeal to all parties and those working against terrorism to join them. Also present on the occasion were vice-president Rajat Sood, Ashu Gupta, Amitoz, Vikas, Pawan, Atul, and Gurpreet Singh. |
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Residents
told to pay for development Ludhiana, February 4 According to the Municipal Corporation’s Superintending Engineer (Operations and Maintenance), Mr Subhash Dua, the civic body could carry out development work only in authorised colonies and the areas declared as public streets as laid down in the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976, after the residents deposit the stipulated development charges with the Corporation. “Keeping in view the difficulties being faced by the residents, the Corporation has regularised several unauthorised colonies so that the basic amenities can be provided to the people. But on their part, residents have failed to pay development charges and as a result, no worthwhile development works have so far been undertaken in many such colonies,” he said. Despite the failure of the local residents to pay development charges, the Corporation had gone ahead with providing brick-flooring on roads and streets in several colonies and the sanitation work was entrusted to sanitation committees approved by the area councillor, he added. The Municipal Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sharma, appealed to the residents of such colonies that were authorised by the civic body to realise their moral and statutory responsibility and pay development charges so that development work could be started.
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Every 2nd cop ‘suffers from hypertension’ Phillaur, February 4 He said, whether policemen are deployed on a high tension posting or sidelined, they are always prone to acute stress which can even lead to coronary heart disease. However, a mild stimulant is essential to provide inputs for healthy life that is also productive in terms of work. Mr Kapoor said, “more policemen die from stress-related diseases than from physical harm while on duty. It is estimated that 80 per cent of all modern diseases have their origins in stress.” He disclosed that even the slightest change in environment causes stress and it is the inability to cope up with this change that causes disease. Stress, he added, was the psycho-biological response to such situation. Perception, he explained, that exceeds a person’s ability to cope up with the change in environment leads to stress that can be caused by emotional, psychological and philosophical reasons. High achievers, he said, were more prone to stress and illness. Talking about stress and policing, he said stress among policemen leads to problems in attitude that makes them cynical and it gets worse with passage of time. Surprisingly, he said most police personnel were aware of the risk of physical harm due to the nature of their job but were unaware of psychological problems they faced, leading to alcoholism, bad health along with other stress related diseases. The attitude that police personnel must be in control of their emotions is also taking a heavy toll on their health. At work, the environment is very negative and this too contributes towards health problems. The hardest job for a policemen, Mr Kapoor said, was staying healthy and to admit he or she was suffering from any health problems. Factors such as lack of mental peace and stressful daily life situations lead to psychological problems resulting in alcoholism, depression and finally even suicides. The stress which is caused by high anxiety situations like Godra massacre, attack on parliament, killing on duty, losing a work partner while performing duty also takes a very heavy toll on health, Mr Kapoor said. Factors that caused maximum stress to police personnel stemmed from within the organisation, work environment, pressure from judiciary, governments, politicians, media, human right commissions, personal and family concerns. This leads to diseases such as coronary heart disease, stomach ulcers, hypertension etc. Stress can be caused by simple things like change in temperature, threat from another person, sudden change in environment or complex reaction like death of a loved one. Stress, Mr Kapoor, said can be caused by good things as well as bad as both are experienced psychologically. “A policeman’s job is stressful, especially in problematic police departments as the police is subject to daily job stresses. Studies have shown that a police officer’s progress in his/her career causes eroding of attitudes, police work presents a high risk of developing attitudinal problems and as a police officer’s career progresses they become more cynical. No one questions this any more, the only question in research today is how cynical and how soon? Studies have called police work a high risk life style but it is not high risk in terms of physical dangers of the job but a high risk in terms of developing, attitudinal problems, behavioural problems, intimacy and relational problems. The problem with cynicism is, Mr Kapoor said, that it destroys all attitudes, the outlook becomes negative and thus a cynic eventually crashes. Cops more than people in any other profession are in continuous danger of crashing. There is immediate need to train police personnel in the country to de-stress themselves and make them aware of the high rate of physical illnesses that flows out of job related problems. Unless a mechanism is developed to de-stress our police force, it will continue to effect the health, marriage, children and mental peace of the police personnel, negatively effecting their performance. |
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Chinese
food festival Ludhiana, February 4 According to the Chinese
calendar this is the “Year of the Sheep (Ram, Goat )”. The Chinese
calendar dates back to centuries before the Julian calendar which we use today. This is the third Chinese New Year celebration in the hotel. The first was the “Year of the Snake” (2001) and the second was the “Year of the Horse” (2002). The Chinese call the New Year’s celebration the “Spring Festival.” Colourful calligraphy called ‘Chunlian’ (spring couplet) is as popular as that for Halloween or Christmas. “Gung Hee Fat Choy” is a phrase commonly used to wish someone a Happy New Year and FU as goodluck. The Chinese civilization dates back to 5000 years and has a splendid culinary culture developed over the centuries. A new menu was launched for the festival. The dishes which have been carefully chosen from eight types of Chinese food — Szechwan, Hunan, Cantonese, Shandung, Anhui, Zhejiang and Beijing. The non-vegetarian starters include, salt and pepper lobster while vegetarian starters have Crispy babycorn with fried spinach. Besides, fish and seafoods include, crispy pomfrets, Hunanese prawns on Sizzler, Chicken volcano, Eight treasure plate and Multi flavoured duck. The vegetarian fare includes Chye-Sim, Eggplant cake in hot sauce, rice and noodles, jade rice, chicken steamed rice and desserts, pickled ginger and lychee
chocolates with black currant cream.’ Surprise’, fried ice cream served with tasty butter custard sauce is really surprising. |
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Councillors
upset over map issue Khanna, February 4 The Public Relations Department issued a press note today stating that the map of the new wards is being displayed in the council office during the working hours. As per the press note on behalf of the Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Khanna, any objections or suggestions about the map could be raised only till February 6. Councillors of the opposition alleged today after the release of the press note that the E.O.M.C, Khanna, was being pressurised by Congress leaders and he had not displayed the map till today. They said they had already expressed concern over the attitude of the local Congress leaders and the municipal authorities who had planned not to display the map so that no one could raise any objection. Mr Jaspal Singh Lotey, Lakhvir Singh, Mohinder Paul Jassal, Vijay Sharma, Sanjiv Dhamija and Iqbal Singh had sent telegrams to the department and the state Election Commissioner and sought intervention of the higher authorities in the matter. The Executive Officer of Khanna Municipal Council said the map had been sent to the SDM, Khanna, and after receiving it he will display the map in the council office. |
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SAD mourns Kalpana’s death Machhiwara, February 4 The meeting was called to take stock of the arrangements made for the road blockage by the SAD on February 10. Mr Atwal assigned duties to workers and urged them to gather at Samrala to block the traffic of the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road, on the scheduled date. |
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Smuggler held Ludhiana, February 4 The other accused have been identified as Santokh Singh alias Shoki, Shinderpal Singh alias Shinda, Manjit Singh alias Gabbar, Balbir Singh alias Billu and Gurmeet Singh alias
Meeta. |
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Ludhiana, February 4
At a time when advertising and creating brand image seems to be the primary purpose of all leading products, small traders like vegetable vendors also appear to be adopting various marketing stunts. Be it use of religion or politics or anything else, a vegetable vendor in the Field Ganj area uses these all. Currently he is selling vegetables while using wearing saffron clothes to appear like a sadhu. Earlier, in the post September 11 period, he made himself to appear like Bin Laden, sporting beard and turban, similar to his. And sometimes he wears a turban and a beard to make himself look like a Sikh. Instead of agreeing that it was a marketing stunt, he claims to identify himself with all religions whether Hinduism, Islam or Sikhism.
