Sultanpur Lodhi, November 24
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal advocated that the state should be allotted 25 per cent extra power over and above its normal share from future hydro projects in the country. He made a strong plea for centrally assisted power projects for the state.

He was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stones for two 66 KV substations at Khalu and Pandori Jagir villages, near here, today.

Badal said power from these substations would not only improve the power supply to 42 adjoining villages but also result in better voltage for another 105 villages. This would attract more entrepreneurs to this areas resulting in more job opportunities of the youth, he pointed out.

He also appreciated the gesture of the two village panchayats in providing land to the board free of cost.

Power from the ongoing projects - Kol Dam, Lohari Nagpala, Tapovan Vishnugarh, Teesta-II, IV, Lower Subansri and Koteshwar, 1500 MWs of power from Lara Thermal Power Porject in Chhatisgarh, 200 MWs from the Badarpur Extension Thermal Power Station of NTPC, 700 MWs from the Rajasthan Atomic power Projects (RAPP) units 7 and 8 - should be given to the state.

Badal Said SAD-BJP government would leave no stone unturned in making the state a self -reliant state in power sector in the near future. “We have already drawn a big scheme where private players would be asked to generate and supply power to the state,” he added.

Earlier, welcoming the CM, education minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur, said the power stations would meet one of the long standing demands of the people. She also hoped that the stations would be in place within the stipulated time.

J. S. Sekhon, member operation, PSEB, said the board would construct 80 new sub-stations in the state within this year besides upgrading the existing ones so that they to enable them to improve power supply in their areas. Work on 27 sub stations was currently underway, he informed.

Phagwara, November 24
The Punjab government, it seems, is determined to set up a ‘media corporation’ to develop better relations with the media and to apprise the people from developmental works being done by the state government.

Talking to newsmen here this afternoon, Harcharan Bains, media advisor of the CM, disclosed that the proposal of the media corporation would be tabled in the next cabinet meeting and could be implemented very soon.

When asked about some confusion created due to contradictory statements of few ministers on the issue of the finances of the state being burdened, Bains denied the charges and said, “Only Punjab health minister Prof Lakshmi Kanta Chawla and Adesh Partap Singh Kairon sought some clarification and were satisfied on being explicated.” Bains said the media corporation was the brain child of SAD acting president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Punjab minister for information Bikramjit Singh Majithia.

Replying to a question about the public relations department, Bains said the media corporation would also be helpful for the public relations department. Bains further said the police officials were being included in the corporation to awaken them about the importance of the media.

When asked whether the media corporation could face financial crisis, Bains said, “The corporation would raise its own funds. Also the huge amount of Rs 15 crore being given to advertising agencies of Delhi would be saved after the formation of the media corporation.”

Replying to another question, Bains said SAD-BJP government was committed to usher in development.

The problems of power shortage and bad roads would be solved soon, he added.

Hoshiarpur, November 24
Bureaucracy is completely dominating in Pakistan and it can bring any politician or army General to power or dethrone him.

This was stated by a columnist of an Urdu daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, and chief editor of Moon Digest, being published from Lahore, Pakistan, Adeeb Jawadani, in an exclusive interview to this correspondent at the residence of secretary, DAV College Managing Committee, D.L. Anand here this evening.

Jawadani said all those political parties of Pakistan which were opposing proposed general elections in the country would definitely participate and contest from all seats. On account of disunity among political leaders, people of Pakistan had been facing army rule since long.

The contesting of election in Pakistan had become a costly affair. Each candidate had to spend Rs 3 crore to 5 crore and spending such a huge amount was beyond the reach of poor politicians. Jagirdars were dominating in almost all political parties, which did not allow any of the poor person to contest the elections.

Referring to the recent imposition of emergency in Pakistan, Jawadani said it had completely seized the freedom of electronic media. Journalists and editors had been agitating throughout the country for the restoration of their rights. Around 150 journalists had recently been arrested for their agitation, but were released later on.

Presently, there was a complete freedom to the print media. It was apprehended that their freedom would also be seized in near future. Referring to the ongoing liberalisation process being adopted by the India and Pakistan governments to make more cordial relations between the two countries, Jawadani said the procuring of visa should be more liberalised so that maximum persons of both countries could frequently and easily visit the other country.

Jawadani, along with his wife Fozia and son Kashif, has come to Hoshiarpur for participating in a seminar on “Indian education” to be held at the local DAV College on November 26.

Jawadani belonged to Maili village in Mahilpur block of the district. He left the village along with his family members when he was six-year-old during Partition and settled in Lahore since then.

Though he is visiting India for the second time after the Partition, but had not went to his native village during his first visit in 2004. He has a strong desire to have a glimpse of his ancestral home in the village where he was born and spent his childhood and is likely to visit it tomorrow.Jawadani has been running 10 schools in the name of Moon Digest in Pakistan and his wife is the chairperson of all private management school association of Pakistan.

While describing the plight of education in Pakistan, he said more than two lakh government schools were being run without any basic infrastructure. According to a government report, majority of the schools had no buildings or were being run without furniture, light and drinking water facilities, etc. The situation of education in Punjab (Pakistan) was worst.

According to the district Nazimof Lahore, more than 70 per cent academic degrees in various courses procured by the inhabitants were fictitious and none had dared to check them. 

Jalandhar, November 24
“Satgur Nanak pargatya, mitti dhundh jag chanan hoya….”

Hymns recited by prominent ragi jathas from Sri Harmandir Sahib reverberated on the cool, serene, full moon night of katak month today as city residents got together at various gurdwaras to attend kirtan darbars organised to mark the parkash utsav of Guru Nanak Dev.

The daylong programmes began with the bhog of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and ardas. Kirtan samagams included recitation of shabads, singing of vaars by dhadhis and katha on the teachings of Guru Nanak explaining the significance of various sakhis including “Sacha sauda”, “Char udasis” and those pertaining to his encounters with Kauda Raksh, Wali Kandhari and Bhai Lalo. Langar followed in all gurdwaras including those in Model Town, Central Town, Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, Rama Mandi and Defence Colony.

Jalandhar, November 24
Arrival of the much awaited Science Express is good news for science geeks from the city. It already seems to be a hit among the residents.

The train exhibits latest discoveries and technologies of science and research. It aims at encouraging adolescents into adopting science for higher education. Video clippings and models installed in the train help students get acquainted with science.

Project co-ordianator, Ramesh Uttam says, “The target audience for the project is teenagers who are yet to adopt their careers. The aim is to help students to observe various aspects of science and plan their career directions.”

For easy understanding of students, video clippings on subjects varying from astrophysics to zoology are displayed here using LCDs. There are more than 240 clippings exhibited in the small train. “Around 23 Noble laureates have been associated with the project. Every coach has been built under their guidance and for an easy understanding of the students the concepts have been simplified.”

The visuals and data displayed in the train are in English as higher studies in sciences are in the English medium in most schools, says Ramesh. However, the summary of the coach has been displayed in Hindi on the left side of every coach.

Talking about the train he said only the coaches of the train have been manufactured by India, rest of the infrastructure has been developed by Germany. The train has seven coaches at present with different themes. However, the train is scheduled to have 14 coaches in all. Rest of the coaches will be attached in the second phase in the first week of December, says Ramesh.

The facts on display include a specimen of meteorite obtained from Mundrabilla, Austrailia in 1911, disclosure of human’s ability to regenerate organs, languages on verge of extinction, which includes Jarawa spoken in the southern Andaman and Nicobar islands. The language is known only to 200 people belonging to the tribes here.

The train also displays functioning of teraflops, which are used to measure the processing speed of supercomputers and censor technology.

With the staff strength of 20 researchers and post-graduates, the express is in city till November 27 and public can visit it between 10 am to 5 pm free of cost. 

Jalandhar, November 24
A maid attempted suicide by setting herself ablaze at a city doctor’s house located in Gujral Nagar here today.

Hailing from West Bengal, Sangeeta had been working as a domestic help at Dr Rajesh Mahajan’s house.

The maid was rushed to local civil hospital where her condition is stated to be critical. No case has been registered so far in this regard.

When contacted, SHO of police station number 2 Sukhjit Singh said maid had told the police soon after the incident that she had tried to commit suicide due to her some mental tension. The SHO said her condition was serious and she was not fit to give her statement.