Jalandhar, May 17
Even if you feel that the power situation in the city is getting deplorable with each passing day, the worst fears are going to come true this season.

Officials of the Punjab State Electricity Board say that all those power shutdowns till date were simply to do repair work in the pre-paddy season; the power cuts are yet to begin.

The officials cite the reason as 18 per cent more demand of power in Punjab at this time of the year vis-a-visa same time last year.

“While there was a demand of 990 lakh units per day in 2006, it has now touched 1180 lakh units a day”, said deputy chief engineer and SE of Jalandhar circle of the PSEB, B.S. Sekhon, while culling the data.

Ask him to predict the power situation this year and he abruptly replies: “Going by the trends, we do not want to paint a rosy picture for the residents. The demand in the peak season will certainly rise above 2000 lakh units a day, for it was between 1700 and 1800 lakh units per day last year.”

The officials attribute power problem to an increasing dependence of the residents on electric gadgets. “The farmers have increased the power of their motors. The number of shopping malls and commercial buildings is on a rise, most of which work for long hours if not round the clock.

The domestic load too has increased as those who were using fans have bought coolers, those with coolers have switched over to airconditioners and those with one AC have purchased some more this time,” the deputy chief engineer explains the reason for increasing deficit.

The only hope perhaps which the residents can bank upon is the likelihood of any power purchase agreement (PPA) which could be signed by the Punjab government with any other state.

The power distribution for Jalandhar circle consumers depends on another factor. The PSEB is in the process of setting up three power substations - 66-KV substation at Patel Chowk, 66 KV at Chara Mandi and 132 KV at Children Park - which aim at reducing losses at the time of transmission.

The Children Park substation is one of the most crucial ones as many shopping malls are being constructed around the area.

The Patel Chowk substation will lighten the burden on the Maqsudan power station and improve the supply in the primarily industrial area.

The work at the Chara Mandi substation coming up right in front of HMV College is the worst affected. The project which had come up on the forest department land and had got an NOC from the municipal corporation is now hanging fire as PUDA officials are said to have an objection to it.

The power substation is coming up in an area that covers the front portion of PUDA’s new colony owing to which the construction has now been stopped on the orders from the MC.

While the PSEB officials contend that the colony residents would be at a high advantage owing to proximity from the substation with respect to high quality and better voltage supply, the civil authorities are at loggerheads with them, for they seem to be more concerned over the aesthetic angle to it.

Meanwhile, the PSEB staff is busy campaigning over the issue of power saving.

Says PRO Manav: “If 60 lakh people today cut down their power consumption by 1 unit each day, they would be saving 75 lakh units as there is a loss of 0.25 unit for the supply of each unit of electricity”.

Phagwara, May 17
Unearthing a massive evasion of road tax and route permit duty by the owners of private, especially tourist, buses which was causing huge losses to the state exchequer, the regional transport officer (RTO), Jalandhar range, has found that several buses have been running without permit or other papers for the past several years.

Rajinder Singh, RTO, Jalandhar range, impounded two buses during a special drive undertaken by the district transport department. At the same time, Phagwara traffic police and district transport department challaned about 15 buses that were plying without a registration certificate, driving licence or road tax.

RTO sources said over 50 buses were checked. Only those buses were impounded that had no route permit. Buses with other irregularities like plying without a registration certificate or driving licence or road tax were challaned.

Rajinder Singh, RTO, when contacted, said the surprise checks were conducted on the directions of district transport department. He said the department had information that the buses were plying without route permit and in some cases two to four buses were plying on one route.

He said the buses found without sufficient papers were challaned on the spot. He said the illegal plying of buses was a major scandal, which was being nailed by the department.

Phagwara, May 17
The city roads would no longer wear a deserted look at night, especially during the crime-prone hours of midnight to 4 am, thanks to the massive night-domination exercise started in the wake of the recent spurt in crime incidents, said Rakesh Aggarwal, Kapurthala SSP in a 'face to face' programme here on Wednesday night.

"You will find cops all over the city during day time and actually more at night time," asserted SSP Aggarwal.

With the city witnessing a series of crime incidents and the confidence of the residents in the police shaken up, the cops have virtually come on the roads to keep a tab on the alertness of the force and keep criminals at bay.

To provide the residents a peaceful sleep, SSP Aggarwal along with DSP HPS Khakh and other senior police officials, are personally supervising night domination work, delivering pep talks to the PCR cops, checking nakas and police stations to keep the force on toes and hence prevent crime. The officials are randomly checking the cops.

The officials are also in the process of infusing new life in the police control room motorcycle squad, which has been termed as the lifeline of the city police. At any given time, 17 motorcycles with two cops riding each, have been put on the road to increase the police presence and boost public confidence.

This correspondent was also on the roads last midnight to catch the preparedness of the police to the latest challenge thrown by gangs of criminals, who have committed several robberies and murders in the previous dark fortnight.

The Tribune witnessed a pep talk delivered to the contingent of the PCR-police control room motorcycle squad at different nakas within the city limits. "You are the lifeline of the city police. Off late, we have drawn flak due to the sluggish work of this department. But now is the time to pull up our socks and man the city in such a way that no longer is it considered a haven for criminals," said the SSP.

"We are aiming to take the PCR squad to a new high" he told The Tribune. "Their presence on the road means confidence for people and discouragement for the criminals," he claimed.

DSP H.P.S. Khakh revealed that the SHOs of the police stations and those in charge of chowkis conduct surprise checks and set up nakas.

The DSP said walkie-talkies and mobile phones for the PCR cops were also arriving. The telephone lines at the control room have been increased. The city may be safe till some criminals find some chink in the armour or the cops go lax. 

Phagwara, May 17
In an ever-increasing competition of globalisation of business, human resource development and training are very important, this was stated by minister for dairy development, animal husbandry, fisheries, sports, youth services and SC/BC welfare Gulzar Singh Ranike while addressing newsmen here.

In modernisation and enrichment of dairy farming in the state, Ranike said that the Punjab Dairy Development Board had established a dairy training and extension counter in a two-acre plot at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore at Chatamli village of Ropar district. “Breeding and milk management, including practical training in dairy farming, would be imparted to trainees who would like to run dairy farms,” said the minister.

He said that the department for admission to dairy entrepreneurship had received more than 700 applications. “Keeping in view the great demand, the minister said such dairy training centres would start functioning at Taran Tarn, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepore soon,” he added.

Ranike said that institution finance would be available to interested trainees. Punjab State Agriculture Bank, besides Allahabad Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, had also started giving loans for dairying at 3 per cent less interest rate than the primary lending rate.

Earlier, Gulzar Singh Ranike inaugurated a demonstration dairy plant at Phagwara. Minister for technical education and industrial training Swarna Ram, Punjab dairy development department director Anil Kaura and animal husbandry secretary Usha Sharma were also present.

Kapurthala, May 17
Realising the educational value and being fully conscious and aware of the importance of educational tours, a free educational tour to Pushpa Gujral Science City was arranged by Dr N.S. Kang, chairman, VEDC Government School, Khassan, with the support of the Juniper Networks Foundation Fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

They visited various historical places of Kapurthala. The buses were flagged off by former DFSC Bahadur Singh Bal and social worker Gayatri Devi. The students were thrilled to see the indoor laser show, flight simulator, dome theatre, virtual 3D-show, planetarium, health gallery, evolution of man, energy park and kids science park.

The students showed great curiosity and were amazed to see the latest scientific advancements. The students will be able to retain such knowledge forever. — TNS

Phagwara, May 17
Thieves broke into the house of an NRI in Model Town on Tuesday night and reportedly decamped with valuables worth Rs 12 lakh.

The police said here on Wednesday that Karam Kaur had recently returned from the USA to her Model Town house here. In her complaint filed with the police, Karam Kaur said thieves broke into her house when she, her grandson and other family members were asleep and escaped with gold ornaments weighing about 500 gm, Rs 25,000 in Indian currency and $15,000, besides two passports and other valuables.

Fingerprint experts were summoned and a dog squad was pressed into service this morning. But no arrests have been made so far.

Phagwara, May 17
Congress activists led by former Punjab PWD minister Joginder Singh Mann and block Congress committee president Manmohan Sharma yesterday held a protest march here against the anti-nation activities of SAD (A) president Simranjit Singh Maan, who desecrated the statue of late Chief Minister Beant Singh at Jalandhar.

The protesters first assembled before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in local Town Hall and then proceeded towards the SDM’s office after paying tributes to Gandhi. They raised slogans against Maan.

Later they submitted a memorandum to SDM Amarjit Paul in which the Congress workers alleged that “jungle rule” had been prevailing in the state since the SAD-BJP government took over. They also alleged that the law and order situation was going from bad to worse in the state.

They demanded that the Punjab Governor should instruct the Akali-BJP government to stop its vindictive policies against Congressmen who were being falsely implicated in different cases. 

Jalandhar, May 17
It was artificial but was enough to bring cheers in everybody’s mind. In the mid of artificial rain, kids of Delhi Public School, took the opportunity to showcase their talent along with some much-needed relief and fun.

Jalandhar, May 17
As the summer vacation is about to begin in schools, the city kids will have a handful of opportunities to hone their skills, discover new areas of interest and experience a variety of fun-filled activities so that they can spend their time merrily and fruitfully.

The kids will also have a wide variety of summer camps to choose from with activities ranging from adventure sports, horse riding, yoga, aerobics, swimming, skating, karate, sculpturing, origami, animation, computer education, theatre, music, dance, art and craft, language proficiency and personality development. Duration of the different camps is also variable. While some schools are offering a 10-day camp, others plan to have it for a complete one month.

Cambridge International School for Girls is offering a 10-day course from May 22 to May 31. The main attraction of the camp will be training girls in physical skills like rope climbing, wall climbing and rappelling. The school will hold classes in theatrical production in which artistes from Darry John group, New Delhi, will train the students. The school will also offer a course to improve proficiency in English language which will be conducted by a team from British Council, said principal Deepa Dogra.

Police DAV Public School is holding two separate camps for its students. The junior group upto Class II will have camp from May 21 to 29 in which they will have water pool games, fun games, dance and craft classes and table manner session with refreshment. The senior classes will camp from June 1 to 11 to participate in fabric painting, block printing, glass painting, candle making, horse riding, yoga and aerobics.

Eklavya School is also planning to hold a free summer camp in the second fortnight of June in its Model Town campus. Principal Sapna Bakshi said that there will be classes for skating, Indian classical music, instrumental music, folk dance, classical dance, art and craft and computer education.

Apeejay School too has planned various activities for its children. Students of classes IX to XII will attend summer camp in the college campus with activities ranging from sculpturing, theatre, creating sound effects and animation. Classes VI to VIII will have an option to learn Western music, karate and theatrical skills. Swimming classes will be held in the Model Town branch. MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, will hold a camp from May 28 to June 9 with classes in yoga, dance, music and spoken English. Some private dance and music academies are also planning to conduct summer camp. Vivek Aggarwal School for Performing Arts will have a month-long summer camp starting from June 1 in which kids would be trained daily for three hours in various dance forms including Salsa, Latino, classical and folk. There will be classes for art and craft, music, personality development and table manners. 

Kapurthala, May 17
Railway passenger Rakesh Sharma has written to V.K. Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepore cantonment, about the absence of critical passenger amenities and general 
mal-administration at Kapurthala station causing gross danger to passengers’ health and safety.

Retired bank employee Rakesh Sharma, president of All-India Ex Servicemen Bank Employees Federation, has also sent copies of the letter to railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, northern railway GM V.N. Mathur and director 
(public grievances) Badri Lal Meena.

Rakesh Sharma stated in his complaint that he recently had to board a train (4JFNR, 0738 DMU) from Kapurthala to Jalandhar City (JUC) along with his son and wife to catch the 2926 Paschim Express from JUC (PNR 233-6726562 and 00108533 dated 05-3-2007).

As they were waiting for the train to arrive on the platform, they overheard some fellow passengers whispering that the train due to arrive on the platform was now to arrive on the rail line further away from the platform.

Since there had been no formal announcement of this sudden change of platform over the public address system, he rushed to the station master’s office to verify the “rumour”, he added.

To his sheer surprise, he discovered that it was true, which meant they had to somehow cross over the line to board the train. In the absence of a foot overbridge at the station, they had no choice but to do what other fellow passengers did, that is, to get onto the train standing at the platform and get off from the other side passing through the vestibule area. Thereafter he found themselves standing in between two rail tracks along with several other passengers waiting for their train to arrive.

Further he stated in his complaint that their ordeal was not over yet. They had to board the train without a platform. When the train arrived, they quickly had to climb onto the train along with the heavy luggage, using only the foot-pedals situated just below the coach entrance.

Rakesh Sharma mentioned in his complaint that he had been undergoing medical treatment due to a serious back problem and was under instructions by the doctors to take extra precautions while travelling to avoid aggravation of his problem.

His wife too suffers from a long-standing asthma problem and had only recently been discharged from hospital before this incident.

Interestingly, a similar incident happened when they arrived at Jalandhar City station.

There was an announcement of the arrival of the 2926 Paschim Express at platform number two that the train was running 20 minutes late, a shortwhile later we saw the Paschim Express approaching platform number three and yet again as it happened at Kapurthala, there was no announcement of this change.

Rakesh Sharma also stated in his complaint that as per the passenger amenities section of the Citizen’s Charter, additional facilities such as raised platform(s) and foot overbridge(s) should be provided at important stations.

The complainant further raised questions as to why the use of public address system was not employed by the appropriate station staff to inform the waiting passengers of any change in the departure platform of the train? 

The age limit for senior citizenship for all purposes, including income tax, should be 60 years. This limit is being considered by banks, the Railways, the PGI, Chandigarh, and other departments, but for income tax purposes it has been fixed at 65 years by the Finance Ministry. The age limit should be uniform at 60 years for all purposes.

Also, the central and state governments should enact a law to make it compulsory for children to take care of their aged parents. It any child fails to take care of his parents, he should be punished in the form of a fine or even a jail term.