Bathinda, November 4
Security measures have been intensified in the city to avert any untoward incident during the festival season. Round-the-clock patrolling and security checks have been started as a precautionary measure.

According to Jagdish K. Mittal, Deputy Inspector General, Counter-Intelligence, “Bathinda is one of the major cities in the state. So we have beefed up security here. Otherwise, security in the rest of the Punjab has also been intensified. All this is to avert any unfortunate incident on Diwali.”

Senior Superintendent of Police Naunihal Singh said, “We have been trying our level best to avoid any unpleasant incident in the city. Special instructions have been issued to the policemen to remain vigilant.”

The vigilance assumes significance especially in the background of the recent Ludhiana blasts.

Barnala, November 4
A tug-of-war has initiated between two Akali groups over the presidentship of the truck union in Bhadur.

One of the groups with affinity to local MLA Balbeer Singh Ghunus presently holds the post of the union president whereas the second group, headed by former market committee chairman and former SGPC member, Sadhu Singh Ragi, wants to oust the sitting union president Hardeep Singh, and wrest control of the union.

Saturday was a hectic day for both the factions as Ragi tried to take control of the union while MLA Ghunus did his best to send him jail today.

The effort to take control of the union cost Ragi dearly as he landed in jail today due to alleged high-handedness at the truck union premises in Bhadur on Saturday afternoon.

Acting on a complaint filed by the munshi of the union, Baljeet Singh, the Shaina police sent Ragi to jail after a formal investigation.

In his complaint to the police, Munshi Baljeet Singh stated that on Saturday evening, he was sitting at his truck union office in Bhadur. Suddenly, the former SGPC member along with his three companions entered the truck union building.

He asked for the records of the truck union and told him that he (Ragi) himself would make the ‘pukar’ (a call for trucks to send them for consignments). When the munshi refused to submit the record to Ragi, the later forcibly tried to snatch it away.

Baljeet Singh further said that sensing the gravity of the situation, he shouted for help and many truck operators gathered at the scene. Seeing the operators side with the munshi, Ragi along with his companions fled away from the scene.

Before leaving, Ragi reportedly used derogatory language for the truck union president Hardeep Singh and local MLA Balbeer Singh Ghunus.

It may be recalled that Hardeep Singh is a lieutenant of MLA Ghunus.

Ghunus said that Hardeep would complete his term as the president of the Bhadur truck union and he would not tolerate any attempt to meddle in the affairs of the union.

A case has been registered by the Shaina police against Sadhu Singh Raghi, his son Peeta Singh, Nirmal Singh and Sonu Singh.

Fazilka, November 4
Despite several announcements by the education department, the scene is far from rosy on the education front in Punjab. A report prepared by an NGO says that 75 per cent of schools in the state do not have a regular principal and are being run by officiating heads.

The report, prepared by the NGO, Siksha Sudhar Committee, Punjab, reveals that the education department stopped direct recruitment of principals and headmasters in 2001 and had decided to fill up 55 per cent of the vacancies for principals by promoting lecturers, 30 per cent by promoting headmasters and the remaining 15 per cent by promoting vocational teachers.

Patron of the NGO, Raj Kishore Kalra, said the decision has not acquired a practical shape so far. Thus hundreds of headmasters, lecturers and senior teachers retired from the service or are on the verge of retirement.

According to available figures, of the 1,298 senior secondary schools, 1,146 are without a regular principal. Similarly, of the 1,742 high schools, 1,039 are without a regular headmaster. Besides, of the 10,000 sanctioned posts of lecturers, nearly 4,000 are vacant. Most of the posts are in the English and Punjabi subjects, which are compulsory.

The situation in the primary wing of the education department is also no better. The entire state has been divided into 228 blocks and the same number of posts has been sanctioned. But ironically, 220 posts are vacant and senior head teachers supervise the work.

Kalra also provided details of the district wise vacancies. Of the 1,146 vacant posts in 20 districts, 66 posts out of a total of 79 are vacant in Patiala district, 103 out of 124 are vacant in Ludhiana, 34 out of 40 in Ropar, 65 out of 75 in Sangrur, 13 out of 22 in Mohali, 22 out of 25 in Barnala, 27 out of 32 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 103 out of 117 in Jalandhar, 79 out of 94 in Hoshiarpur, 108 out of 119 in Gurdaspur district, 40 out of 43 in Nawan Shahar, 71 out of 85 in Amritsar , 51 out of 52 in Tarn Tarn, 21 out of 24 in Faridkot, 63 out of 71 in Bathinda, 38 out of 42 in Mansa, 64 out of 67 in Moga, 76 out of 81 in Ferozepore district. The officiating principals are running these institutes.

In Muktsar, the home district of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, there is a regular principal for just one school and the remaining 56 are being run through temporary arrangements. Similarly in Kapurthala, the home district of Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur, 46 posts are vacant out of a total of 49.

Likewise in high schools, of the 1,039 vacant posts, 54 out of 100 are vacant in Patiala district, 93 out of 191 in Ludhiana, 29 out of 59 in Ropar, 89 out of 119 in Sangrur, 13 out of 51 in Mohali, 43 out of 50 in Barnala, 25 out of 41 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 83 out of 140 in Jalandhar, 65 out of 140 in Hoshiarpur, 63 out of 124 in Gurdaspur, 43 out of 62 in Kapurthala, 37 out of 56 in Nawanshahar, 67 out of 109 in Amritsar, 71 out of 82 in Tarn Tarn, 29 out of 42 in Faridkot, 56 out of 87 in Bathinda, 41 out of 49 in Mansa, 54 out of 77 in Moga, 42 out of 77 in Muktsar and 44 out of 93 in Ferozepore district. Senior teachers are running these schools.

In the light of its findings, the NGO has demanded that senior headmasters, lecturers and teachers working should be promoted to fill up the vacancies to improve teaching and administration in schools.

Mansa, November 4
Mansa is one district that has great scope for setting up industries. In reality, it is the absence of industry and the consequent lack of avenues for the youth that is seen as one of the main reasons for problems like unemployment and drug addiction here.

Some time back, a sugar and a cotton mill were set up at Budhlada and Mansa, respectively. But they are now proving to be white elephants.

 The fact of the matter here is that small and big industries are absent here. Farmers here had some hope from the Budhlada sugar mill and the Mansa cotton mill but these mills could not fulfill the hopes of farmers.

The Mansa cotton mill was sold some time back and a residential colony was constructed on the same site. The Budhlada cooperative sugar mill too became economically unproductive.

Small-scale industries based on soyabean, ghee, electricity, tooth powder, ayurvedic medicines, plastic industry and steel furniture, etc. can be set up here. The work of making artificial jewellery has been developed across the country but there is no such industry in the Mansa region.

 Lack of industries is also the reason for the high rate of unemployment. When asked about their view, they said that the government should provide proper facilities to clear the way for the coming of industry in Mansa region that can mean jobs for them. One of the main hurdles in this way is the lack of facilities factors like subsidy on land, electricity and sales tax etc. Facilities like interest-free loan and finance had been stopped to small-scale industries.

 The District Commerce and Industry Association is of the view that there is no raw material in this area and lack of transport and marketing facilities are the main reason for this.

A local leader Manjeet Singh Jhalbooti and Kisan Union leader Ram Singh have demanded that the government should encourage the industry by providing financial help and subsidy. They said that the setting up of industries would solve the problems of the people of this region and generate jobs for the youth.

Bathinda, November 4
The district police force, in the news recently for instilling fitness among its men, has again taken a fresh initiative in this direction.

Acting upon the orders of the Senior Superintendent of Police Naunihal Singh, policemen here are learnt to have started doing daily exercises to keep themselves fit and to receive a handsome amount of prize money, which the SSP, Bathinda, has announced for them.

Talking to TNS, the SSP disclosed the idea behind the programme, “I was finding that three things were affecting the staff – politicisation, overage and medical fitness. To overcome these, I have taken this initiative.”

Giving details of the programme, the SSP said, “All policemen in the district were recently medically examined and the reports declared more than 450 as physically unfit. Taking a serious note of the report, we have gone for a weight loss programme for 270 of them, who were found to be overweight.”

“The competition will be named as ‘Bathinda Police Fitness Challenge 2007-08,’ for which practice has started from November 1. The final will take place at the Police Lines, Bathinda, on February 9, 2008. The motto of the challenge is very simple: Biggest weight loser will be the winner,” he added.

“As many as 12 teams have been formed including gazetted officers and others. Each team has over 20 members. In the middle of the practice, every team will have to nominate 20+2 members for participation in the final round.”

“The most interesting part of it is that it includes a bhangra competition, in which taking part will be mandatory for every team,” the SSP said.

About the rules of the competition, the police official said, “They have been photographed and weighed on the first day of the practice. After a gap, they will be weighed on every seventh day. The final weight will be measured on February 9, 2008, to declare the winner. The basic condition for qualifying is to lose a minimum of 100 kg of collective team weight. As many as 75 per cent attested practice schedules are mandatory.”

“The amount of prize and the kits will be collected through contribution. Anybody found cheating, he will have to pay a heavy amount as penalty,” he added.

Kundan Lal, medical-in charge, Police Lines, said, “The step needs to be appreciated as it will help the participants give up on liquor. To lose weight, everyone will have to give up liquor consumption.”

Bathinda, November 4
The state government is trying to find ways to avert a possible attack of Mealy bugs on wheat. To find ways to evade this, the government has despatched a team to this cotton belt.

R. S. Sandhu, finance commissioner, Punjab, Balwinder Singh Sidhu, director, agriculture department, Baldev Singh, director, horticulture, along with the experts from the PAU, surveyed a number of villages in this belt.

Sandhu held meeting with district agriculture officers from the cotton belt. He also instructed officers of the horticulture department to keep a check on this pest.

The special team visited Naruana, Baho Yatri, Nandgarh, Badal and Khio Wali villages in the area.

Balwinder Singh Sidhu, director, agriculture department, said, “The team has surveyed the loss that has occurred due to the pest. The Mealy bug can attack in hot conditions, especially after February. To prevent it, the department has taken steps.”

According to experts, the Mealy bug continues to perplex the agriculture department. According to sources, the Mealy bug has affected narma in an area of 50,000 hectares. Of this, crop in an area of 24,000 hectare has been the worst affected. The pest is also reported to have posed a threat to other crops and fruits like citrus.

The Punjab Agriculture University sent a sample of this pest to the US to gather information about it. But no information is so far available. A meeting has been convened by the chief secretary on November 13 to discuss the danger to the crop from the pest. 

Bathinda, November 4
It was ‘not a pleasant experience’ for the railway ticket seekers at the Bathinda railway booking counters on Sunday morning.

Power snapping to carry out repair work at the station resulted into the closing of booking counters, causing a lot of inconvenience to the ticket seekers.

The booking counters at the station witnessed heavy rush today as it was a holiday and people wishing to go home on Diwali thronged the counters. At about 9.30 am, the power cut took place and the UPS could support the systems only for about 10 minutes.

Many ticket seekers, after waiting for some time, went to cyber cafes to get an e-ticket while many contacted booking agents. The rest kept on waiting for restoration of normalcy. The counters were opened after around 45 minutes at about 10.30 am.

According to railway sources, “Old overhead wires at the railway junction are being replaced with new ones.” “To carry out the wire replacement work, power had to be snapped for about one hour, between 9.30 am and 10.30 am,” sources added.

“Since the UPS back-up at the reservation counters was not strong and could supply power only up to 15-or-more minutes, ticker seekers had to face inconvenience,” railway sources said.

Ticket seekers said that the railway must not coincide repair work with booking time. “They should have done the repair work on Sunday after 2 pm when the reservation counters are closed,” a ticket seeker said.

Fazilka , November 4
The Health department and the Fazilka police unearthed a factory used to manufacture synthetic khoya here on Saturday. The health department team, led by Rakesh Sikri, district health officer of Ferozepur, inspector, food and civil supplies, Kanwaljit Singh and ASI Manjit Singh raided the premises of Rameshwar Lal, a sweet vendor in Radha Swami Colony here.

They seized around 25 bags of dry milk powder, each weighing 25 kg, 15 tins of refined oil, each measuring around 15 litres, 300 kg of sugar, a burner, 20 empty cans and 27 empty cardboard of sweet boxes.

Dr Sikri said the drive to check sub-standard and adulterated sweets had been intensively launched in view of the ensuing festival season and the increased demand for sweets. He said about 10 quintals of synthetic khoya was intended to be prepared from the seized material. From this synthetic khoya, sweets like barfi, milk-cake etc were to be prepared and marketed, he added.

The police registered a case against the accused Rameshwar Lal. On the other hand, Lal reportedly admitted to the recovery of the material but denied that he intended to prepare any khoya or sweets.