 |
|
|
MGN School students taken ill after mid-day meal
In a world privatised to its soul
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vigilance wants high-level probe into Dalit scholarship funds
Dhilwan’s LPG cylinder ordeal
Woman killed in accident
|
|
MGN School students taken ill after mid-day meal
Jalandhar, October 28 The kids started showing symptoms of food poisoning and diarrhoea as soon as they reached home, it has been learnt. The students reported frequent bouts of vomiting. Some of them even showed symptoms of dysentery, mild fever and dehydration. Four
children, Prajwal (5), Mansi Shoor (6), Ritik Shoor (6) and Anmol Shoor
(5), were admitted to Bhutani Children’s Hospital, while five children
Jasraj, Japnoor, Angad, Ankit and Shamsher, all KG students, were
admitted to Randhawa Hospital. Two other KG students were taken to the
clinic of child specialist, Dr Salwinder Singh. Taking a serious note of the matter, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok K. Gupta, said he had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter. The parents of the children said the school authorities had served moong daal, chapatti and milkshake to the children in the school. The children had told their parents that they had started feeling uneasy after taking the meals. Ms Richa, mother of Prajwal, said her son had been vomiting every five minutes and he looked completely fatigued when she took him to hospital at 3 pm. Another
parent, Ms Suman Shoor, said her son had become almost unconscious after
bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. “My daughter was relatively stable
though she had a mild fever in addition to vomiting,” she added. The
parents said they were paying as much as Rs 350 per month to the school
authorities for a compulsory meal. They said they had never expected
such a “lapse” on the part of the authorities in ensuring hygiene
and food quality for their children. Dr M.S. Bhutani, a child specialist, said the children had been serious when they were brought to hospital. But they had started responding to the treatment soon after, he added. He said the children had shown signs of diarrhoea that could be confirmed through the stool culture report scheduled to come tomorrow evening. He said the children would continue getting the treatment for another day. Dr
T.S. Randhawa, Randhawa Hospital, said five school children had been
brought to his hospital today. “All of them showed signs of food
poisoning. While four children responded to oral medication, one of them
had to be given injections. The children are now stable and are likely
to be discharged by late evening. They might be told to visit again
tomorrow,” he added. The doctors said the school meals seemed to be the common source of infection, though the infection could also have been acquired through the water served to them. Meanwhile, Ms Jaspal Singh, Principal, and the school staff visited the hospitals where the students were admitted. The principal said that six sections of KG, with a strength of 250 students, were served a meal at 10 am today. She claimed that the teachers had also taken the same meals with the children. In case the food was contaminated, all students and teachers would have been taken ill, she added. She said the doctors had told her that the water could also be a source of infection. The principal added that as soon as she got the information about the children falling sick around 3 pm, she rushed to the three hospitals. She said she had taken the samples of the food and sent them for testing at a laboratory.
|
|
|
In a world privatised to its soul
Jalandhar, October 28 Far-fetched? Not quite if you happen to see the paintings by students that
foresee the future—bad and very private: ‘Quake Flood Private Limited,’
‘Banda Dying Private Limited,’ and ‘India Bachao Limited’ on display at
the Desh Bhagat Yadgari Hall on the third day of the ‘Mela Gadri Babeyan Da.’ The paintings showcase apathies that lead to suicides, disaster victims being asked for identity cards, a barren Kashmir devoid of all foliage, civilizations made of concrete jungles housing private companies for every service, and a world running on digital numbers and devoid of any human bonding. The works also bring out the pain of the hard-pressed commoner unable to find any helping hand in the private set up. Members of the Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR), organisers of the exhibition, said their young artists have tried to portray that with the deterioration of public services, private players would gain absolute power and one day control all the aspects of human life. AFDR
has also decided to carry the message to every nook and corner of the
state. “We want to draw people’s attention to the fact that the
government is pulling its hand out of every social responsibility
leaving the common at the mercy of money-minting companies,” said
Amolak Singh, an AFDR member. “Even relief operations can go into
private hands in situations like floods, quakes, or famines if the state
continues to privatise its bodies.”
|
|
|
Vigilance wants high-level probe into Dalit
Jalandhar, October 28 The department first detected these irregularities amounting over Rs 1.5 lakh in one single section and now believes that the missing money could be as high as Rs 1 crore. The government provides financial help in the form of scholarships to girls of the Dalit community studying in government schools. The money is given by the Department of Social and Family Welfare. The irregularities worth lakhs of rupees have been confirmed in the scholarships meant for the eight centres of the Nakodar block in the year 2003-2004. The Vigilance Department first did its investigations in the Bir village of Nakodar area and discovered that grants given to the Block Primary Officer as scholarships to Dalit girls was siphoned off. Based on this revelation, the Department has recommended inquiries in the entire district, disclosed the authorities. Mr
Surinder Atwal, who was the District Education Officer then, confirmed that he
had got the inter-departmental inquiry conducted into the matter. “The
findings uncovered financial irregularities up to Rs 1.57 lakh in the
distribution of scholarships. About 470 girl students studying in the block did
not get the government help meant only for them.” The inquiry found that the
money was transferred only on papers, he said.
|
|
Dhilwan’s LPG cylinder ordeal
Dhilwan (Kapurthala), October 28
“I booked the cylinder 21 days back. Still I am standing in the queue since 7 am,” said Jatinder Kumar Hans, a local resident. “This is my second day in the queue as stock of cylinders that arrived yesterday were exhausted when my turn came. I have to lose two days of wages to get the cylinder,” said Jarnail Singh, a daily wage labourer in the nearby fields. “Though we are not eligible to get the cylinder before 21 days of booking, there is no shortage of gas in the black market,” alleged Lakhvir Singh, another resident. There are also allegations on the distribution of underweight cylinders. Satwinder, a customer standing in the queue, said the dealer has no weighing scale in the godown. When contacted, the agency owner, Varinder Ghuliani, said the consumers were being distributed cylinders within period stipulated by
Indane.
|
|
|
Phagwara, October 28 According to police sources, Jasbir Singh, along with his mother Sukhbir Kaur, residents of Kanah Dhesian village, were going to their village from Phagwara on a motorcycle (PB-08 AS-6778). A truck (PB-10 T-9613) hit their motorcycle, killing Sukhbir Kaur on the spot. Her son, who was critically injured in the accident, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.
— TNS |
|
Two killed as truck hits car
Jalandhar, October 28
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
