Bathinda, December 23
Running almost a year behind schedule, the first unit of 250 MW Guru Hargobind Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant stage-II will be commissioned by December 31 this year.

The 250 MW unit would initially be operated using oil fuel which would be replaced by coal from January 12, 2008, G.S.Sra, member (generation) of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) said.

The project estimated to cost approximately Rs 2,123 crore is being executed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and the steam blow out of the first unit of stage-II has been successfully completed on December 15 and synchronisation is on the cards.

Ravi Kumar, director (power), BHEL, has also inspected the project along with executive directors, Mathew Krishnan and Budhwar Bharti, and assured that the unit would 
be operationalised by December 31. The second unit of 250 MW capacity will also be commissioned four or five months later.

The first unit was scheduled to be commissioned in December 2006 while the second unit was expected to start power generation in April 2007 but the BHEL could not stick to the schedule.

The PSEB has charged a penalty of Rs 95 crore on BHEL for delay in completion of the project, PRO, PSEB, Satwant Singh Aulakh, said.

The Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant stage-I is already operating two units of 210 MW each and with the commissioning of stage-II, the total installed capacity of the project would increase to 920 MW.

The power generated from the stage-II project would be fed into 220 grid of the PSEB for further distribution.

The commissioning of stage-II would fill the demand-supply gap to some extent. The present power generation in Punjab is 6200 MW against a peak requirement of 9000 MW.

The state has drawn up an ambitious programme to generate 4100 MW power from Lehra Mohabbat stage- II (500 MW), Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Project (600 MW), Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant (1800 MW) and Nabha Thermal Power Project (1200 MW) to meet the shortfall.

The annual electricity generation from the plant at 68.5 per cent load factor would be 3000 megawatt and the cost of generation would work out to Rs 3.17 per unit at (bus bar). The consumption of coal per year would be 1.86 million tonnes.

The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 1,452 crore (70 per cent) for the project while the remaining 30 per cent of the cost is being met by the state.

Sra said that unit II of the first stage of Lehra Mohabbat plant was shut down for repair and 38 days were allowed to complete the works, but the task was finished in 26 days.

At present, the plant is running with 98 per cent plant load factor (PLF), which is considered good, he added. 

Bathinda, December 23
The spirit of Christmas is coming alive with Christian groups singing carols in churches and homes of Christian families all over the town.

The tastefully decorated churches and homes humming with melodious carols (songs of rejoicing identified with Christmas) and festival fever have gripped the town.

Though small in number (about 4000) the Christian families are fully involved in carol singing and other programmes for past one month.

The Protestant church started the carol singing and special prayers from November 25 and is celebrating green Christmas. Father George Masih of Methodist Church said, “We are using green colour in all the events and even the Christmas star that reveals the birth of Jesus is lighted in green rather than yellow and red to give out a message of ‘Save Mother Earth’ on the occasion of Christmas.”

The Catholic Church took out a march with an impressive tableaux depicting the life of Jesus Christ on Sunday. Vijay Bhudev, who was busy decorating the Holy Rosary Church, said there would be a cracker free Christmas celebrations this year.

On December 24 at 10 pm, the celebrations would start with the midnight mass followed by prayers and carol singing and fancy dress competitions in which the participants would portray different characters from the Bible.

Christmas lights are adorning the homes and streets, stores are filled with extra merchandise, friends and relatives are exchanging cards and homes are decorated with evergreen trees waiting for Santa Claus.

The devout Christians are eagarly waiting to attend special services in churches on Christmas eve or on that day. Elaborate music and rituals mark the midnight mass on Christmas eve and families exchange gifts the next morning.

The priests in the churches remind the people of the message of Jesus Christ: Love each other as I have loved you, to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and humanity. 

Bathinda, December 23
“The result of the Gujarat assembly elections is a slap on the face of critics who were dubbing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as communal,” said Kamal Sharma, general secretary, BJP, Punjab.

Celebrating the win of Narendra Modi in Gujarat, Sharma said over telephone from Chandigarh, “After the BJP win in Gujarat, we are hoping for a similar results in Himachal Pradesh also.” The results show that the next government at the Centre will be formed under the leadership of BJP chief Lal Krishan Advani, he added.

Sharma said the hype over Gujarat elections was more than the actual condition. So, the BJP workers put in their best efforts resulting in the party sweeping the elections and Congress biting the dust.

The BJP workers in the city celebrated the Gujarat win greeting each other on phone. The workers of the party used SMS to greet media persons and party workers.

Some of the BJP workers distributed sweets in the market and beat drums Dhobi Bazar here to express their jubilation.

BJP’s Bathinda district president Narender Mittal said, “The voters are now more aware. Development speaks for itself. This is the reason behind the BJP’s third time win in Gujarat.”

Mittal said that the district unit of the BJP has planned to celebrate the birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on December 25 in the city with great fervour. 

Bathinda, December 23
The three-day free health fair held at the civil hospital concluded today but not before setting an example for the region as the reported number of OPDs broke almost all records registered at previous fairs.

But it was also observed that the main aim of the fair, to make people aware about their health, appeared to have been lost as most of those thronging the fair were found interested in free medicines and free medical tests being offered.

The fair, held with Rs 8 lakh granted from the MPLAD funds, had the aim of educating the public about the care and preventive measures to be taken in case of various diseases.

To make the fair successful, a number of stalls had been set up to provide free counselling under various national health programmes. But the figures provided by the hospital authorities speaks for themselves as it was less than 8 per cent of the total OPDs. Shockingly, the boxes of condoms placed on every doctor’s table were found unopened even after three days of the fair.

The fair was unprecedented because of the high level of interaction between patients and the doctors which was much more than on any other regular day. The hospital was specially decorated with colourful flags and its walls were plastered with messages written on flexes and charts.

The main attraction of the fair was free major tests like x-ray, ultrasound and others which were not mentioned in the guidelines issued to the hospital authorities by the department concerned. When asked about the additional expenses incurred on these tests, civil surgeon Maninderjit Singh replied, “The funds allocated were enough if one managed them properly and we put in our best efforts to utilise even a single penny.”

Giving details of the fair, the civil surgeon, added, “As per our expectations and the achieved figures, the fair has set an example for the region. At the three-day fair, the number of OPDs touched the figure of 12,201, which in itself is a record.

As per the data provided by the hospital authorities, 909 persons attended counselling for various national programmes including de-addiction, psychiatry and female foeticide. The total number of laboratory tests conducted reached 3,974. Meanwhile, 278 ultrasound tests and 623 x-rays were conducted at the fair, even when they were not mentioned in the guidelines.

Details provided also indicated that ECG was performed on 300 patients, 732 persons visited for blood group tests, whereas 36 cases of papsmear came up. Fifty-eight persons had there sputum examined at the fair.

Messages on AIDS awareness and preventing female foeticide were also spread at the fair by staging the performance of special plays. 

Bathinda, December 23
This is the Christmas season. The air is filled with thoughts of Santa Claus, gifts, Christmas tree, bells, lights, carols etc. Christmas shopping is on its peak in Bathinda. Decorating homes with evergreen foliage and trees like holly, mistletoe, amaryllis and Christmas cactus is in vogue.

“There are three churches in the city, in each of which about 200- 250 people come, usually on Sundays” said Mrs Agnes, who lives in Thermal Colony, Bathinda. At Holy Rosary Church, Dhobiana road, Bathinda, crib competitions were held from December 17 to 22 and on Monday, at 10.30 pm, a Christmas play will be performed. On December 25 at 9.30 am, there will be Christmas mass at the church.

Bakers in the city are also enjoying the festival season, because their sales increase these days. Pawan, an executive at Pizzano, a leading fast food outlet in the city, said, “Baked products are more on sale from December 24 to 31.”

The TNS team also visited some Christian families in Bathinda. Their homes were beautifully decorated with stars, Christmas trees, lights and balloons. According to Mrs Agnes, every year on December 24, her two daughters hang their new stockings outside the house and by night, she puts gifts in them and the little girls think that Santa Claus has fulfilled their wishes.

The Johnson family in Bharat Nagar also appeared to be excited about celebrating the festival.

“We are eagerly waiting for December 24, because at 12 pm, we celebrate the birth of Jesus by cutting a cake and sharing sweets and good wishes with one another. On December 25, we go to the church and pray for the welfare of humanity,” said Mrs Johnson.

Different schools have also prepared for Christmas day celebrations. Students have already bought Christmas trees and decorative pieces. “We enjoy Christmas season the most because its is celebration time coupled with the leisure of the winter vacation,” said the student of a leading convent school in Bathinda.

“Students will portray the story of the birth of Jesus, they will distribute sweets to poor children, sing carols. Many entertaining games will also be held on December 25,” revealed Fr. Amaro Martins, principal of St Xavier’s School. “This is the time to reach out to the poor and the needy, because this is a celebration of an act of love from god. Jesus loves humanity and one day, he will return and save the planet from sins,” he added.

The Delhi Public School also celebrated. There was a winter carnival on December 16 and carol singing on December 21. Students, especially in the junior section, were busy preparing to enact plays.

Students of St. Paul’s school, Silver Oaks School and others were also busy preparing for the occasion.  

Bathinda, December 23
The state police has declared 385 terrorists as proclaimed offenders (TPO) and out of these, the police has no clue about the whereabouts of 26 TPOs. This is the truth if one were to go by the information provided by the office of the deputy inspector general of police, crime-cum-APIO, Punjab.

The details mention that out of the 385 TPOs, 283 are still in India while 76 have fled to other countries to avoid arrest.

The record has no information about their existence. Sources in the police department and some investigative agencies say many of these TPOs have died, but the police records show them as alive and absconding.

At least nine terrorists from Bathinda district have been declared proclaimed offenders, but have been absconding.

The records mention that Canada has provided shelter to 16 TPOs who are on top of the list of the Punjab Police. Meanwhile, 15 TPOs have fled to the USA. The TPOs have also opted to take shelter in Germany as the list mentions 12 TPOs as taking shelter there.

The record also mentions that five have taken shelter in Belgium and Italy while two TPOs have taken shelter in England, one in Portugal and Malaysia.

The list shows that Paramjit Singh Panjwar, against whom 11 criminal cases were registered, is in Pakistan and had been first declared a TPO in 1990.

About Harkinderjit Singh alias Kinda, police record states that only in Tarn Taran district, six cases were registered against him and from 1988, he has been declared a TPO but is now in the USA.

Sukhwinder Singh alias Panta, who has been shown as having fled to the US, has been facing eight cases and from 1991, has been declared TPO several times.

Tarsem Singh alias Sema and Wadhawa Singh, who have been booked in five and four criminal cases, respectively, have also been declared TPOs several times. The report mentions both as residing in India.

Sarabjit Singh alias Saba, Sukhdev Singh, Avtar Singh and Ranjit Singh alias Manjeet Singh alias Neeta have been shown residing abroad, but the state police has expressed its ignorance about it.

There are many other TPOs about whose existence the police has no clue.

During his visit to Bathinda, the Punjab Director General of Police, N.P.S.Aulakh was asked about the criminals who have escaped to other countries.

Replying to the query, Aulakh said at that time the Punjab police has decided to flash red corner notice to the Interpol for the arrest of about 700 wanted criminals who had escaped abroad. The CBI would also be approached in this regard, the DGP had added. 

Muktsar, December 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the state of Punjab on a public interest litigation (PIL) in which the aggrieved residents of Muktsar had objected to the elevation of Abohar road in the town.

HC chief justice Vijender Jain yesterday issued notices of motion for March 6 to Punjab secretary, PWD (B&R) and to the department’s chief engineer at Patiala and the executive engineer of Muktsar district after hearing the PIL which stated that nearly 1,100 families and some 200 shops along Abohar road would be facing hazards like draining of the rain water into the residences and shops following the proposed elevation of the said road up to three feet.

“While constructing the said road, the PWD authorities are ignoring the fact that during the rainy season, all the rain water will directly sweep down into the residences and shops of the locality, and this may lead to a situation like flood, hampering the transportation and mobility on the roads as well as endanger the lives and property in the locality leading to mental and financial loss,” the petitioners had stated in the PIL.

Further seeking the court’s direction to the PWD (B&R) to stay further construction of the road, presently being elevated, immediately during the pendency of the instant writ petition, the petitioners also submitted in the court for direction to the PWD to lay out the road at the same level of the connecting streets and adjoining roads like the by-pass. “The height of the 700 metre stretch of Abohar road, in the heart of the city, is proposed to be raised to three feet, ignoring the fact that it may lead to some dangerous consequences to the residences and shops of the locality and may further put many human lives and property in danger,” the PIL added.

The affected residents and shop-keepers had earlier carried out a protest against the elevation of the said road, which has already been elevated up to two feet through earth filling.

Another “noticeable fact” mentioned in the PIL was that the present road was being elevated by laying down the raw materials directly on the old road without making any efforts by the respondents (PWD authorities) to dig the base so as to strengthen the new road. Thus, the new road on which a huge amount of money was being spent would soon depreciate with the passage of time, leading to further expenditure on repairs. 

Ferozepur, December 23
Zora Singh Mann, Member of Parliament, has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the case of opening of Hussainiwala border with the Pakistan government and include the issue in the agenda for the next round of their bilateral talks.

In a communiqué to the PM, Mann said that the Malwa residents had been striving hard for the opening of the Hussaniwala-Gandasinghwala border for over three decades, ever since its closure in the aftermath of the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

The MP said that during his last visit to Pakistan, the foreign affairs ministry of Pakistan had assured their full cooperation in this context, as their foreign minister, Mehmood Kasuri himself hailed from Kasur.

Mann said that with speculations rife about opening of the border, the entire road stretching from Lahore via Kasur to Hussaniwala had already been widened.

He said that with the opening of Kasur-Hussainiwala border for trade and transit, the residents along both the sides of the border would be equally benefited.

It is pertinent to mention that the 
Hussainiwala-Kasur route was the lifeline for the traders of dry fruits, clothes, vegetables and fruits.

But after its closure in 1971, the trade declined as the entrepreneurs were discouraged and the investment in the area saw a steep fall.

Mann further said that if this border is opened soon, the farmers in the area would derive immense benefit from the export of items like fruits and vegetables and other agriculture produce to Pakistan, Middle East and the Gulf countries through the Hussainiwala route.

The Pakistani dry fruits, grapes, cloth material has ready market in India and similarly, sugar, tea, vegetables, pan, farm equipment have great demand in Pakistan. 

Abohar, December 23
It was another bid by an addict in less than a fortnight, which helped the police to solve the mystery behind two murders in Rajasthan.

According to the information available, a boy, Mehanga Singh (13), cried for help when an intruder hit at his neck with a sharp- edged weapon in Bhagatpura village under the Sangria police station late at night on Saturday.

The grand father of the victim, Jarnail Singh, though identified the fleeing culprit but preferred to get the grandson admitted to the nearby hospital before informing the police.

The police lost no time in nabbing the suspect identified as Paramjit Singh Pamma.

Additional superintendent of police Anil Katyal said the culprit, during interrogation, confessed to having murdered a woman, Dalip Kaur, on December 12.

Pamma, a known drug addict, reportedly told the investigating team that he had gone to Dalip Kaur’s house for money to meet his needs.

When he lifted the purse from Chhinder Singh’s pocket at about 10 pm, his grandmother Dalip Kaur woke up. She immediately identified Pamma, who then killed her with a sharp-edged weapon and also attacked three of her relatives.

He, while escaping, had thought that all of them had died but some of them survived. Unfortunately, Chhinder Singh later succumbed to his injuries.

Pamma further said that he had thrown the purse in a septic tank after removing the money. Investigation was in progress, sources said today. 

Abohar, December 23
“While pursuing graduation as a student of the DAV College here, I had to struggle hard to arrange for the minimum eleven players required for my first cricket team in 1973. 

But it is amazing now that not only all municipal wards here but even each village has its independent cricket team,” said IFFCO chairman Surinder Kumar Jakhar while inaugurating the 3rd inter-ward cricket tournament as chief guest at the Nehru Stadium here today.

He also exhorted the youth to participate in the ‘Nashon Se Door, Khelon Ki Aur’ (away from drugs, towards sports) campaign. 

Fazilka, December 23
Fazilka has been a major and traditional cotton producing area of north India but cotton, popularly known as ‘white gold’, is losing its lustre due to decline in the area of cultivation.

The attack of Mealy bug on the cotton crop and heavy rains after the sowing of the crop is considered as the major reason for the decline.

According to available official figures, the total arrival of cotton in Fazilka grain market has been estimated at 2,63,275 quintals.

This arrival at the fag end of the season is nearly half of what had arrived in the market last year.

Last year, the total cotton production was recorded at 5,04,400 quintals.

Cotton producing farmers maintain that in the last few years, the area under cotton cultivation had risen due to the better yield of the Bt cotton variety.

However, due to adverse climatic factors and non-availability of quality seeds in addition to the attack of the Mealy bug, about 30 per cent of the cotton crop had been damaged.

For better yield of cotton last year, some new cotton factories were also set up and the capacity of the old factories was also enhanced.

But this year, the cotton factory owners are facing scarcity of raw material and this is hindering them from running their factories at its optimum potential.

In addition, they do not find it profitable to run their factories by purchasing cotton at a higher rate.

At present, the daily arrival of cotton is estimated at around 5,000 quintals every day.

The cotton producers and the factory owners maintain that if only the government is able to check the attack of the Mealy bug on narma and provide quality Bt cotton seed would the cotton producers be able to flourish. Only then can the cotton factory owners survive. 

Abohar, December 23
No government has succeeded in realising the dream on industrial focal point into truth here. The first attempt to develop an industrial focal point had been made some 20 years ago by acquiring 27 acres of land close to the new grain market on Malout road. 

But lack of will power and poor publicity could fetch only seven applications for the allotment of plots for small-scale industries.

The government then resolved to transfer the land for developing cotton-spinning mills to the cooperative sector. The 25,000-spindle unit was inaugurated with much fanfare claiming that it would bring a sea-change in the economy of the area besides generating employment for more than 2,000 persons. But 85 per cent of the employed people were migrants from other states.

As was expected, this led to more industrial unrest than production. The workers and officers’ unions finally put the blame for the failure of the mills on innexperienced executive officers besides alleging rampant corruption. The mills, like other units in the state, had to be disposed of.

Then, another industrial focal point was also planned by acquiring 50 acres of land near Alamgarh bypass on Abohar-Sriganganagar road here. Its foundation-stone laying ceremony too involved huge expenditure a decade ago. The department claimed that about Rs 1 crore had been spent on providing the complex with roads, streetlights and water works. Again applications were invited for setting up small-scale units. Only a few responded.

Now, one can find shrubs all over there. Most of the street-light poles do not have mercury lamp fittings. Only the family of a caretaker lives in the water-works building. Children were found using the water storage tanks as playground. The PSEB had disconnected the supply of electricity to the focal point area for obvious reasons. There appeared to be no hope of converting the dreams into a truth, sources in the industries department averred. 

Bathinda, December 23
Unemployed multipurpose health workers have threatened to launch a protest march against the ruling party in the state for not fulfilling job promises made to them.

A number of unemployed multipurpose health workers held a meeting at Teachers’ Home here on Sunday to criticise the government and evolve strategy to put pressure for providing jobs to them. Speakers at the meeting threatened that the new year would begin with their struggle to ensure their right to employment. —TNS 

Fazilka, December 23
C.P. Kamboj (32) of Fazilka is the first acknowledged author to have written books in Punjabi on computer basics. The young writer has to his credit several computer books, some of which are part of the syllabus of the Punjab School Education Board.

Kamboj has written about 1250 articles on computers in Punjabi, which have been published in different Punjabi newspapers and magazines. He also has 13 books to his credit.

His first book on basics of computer was published in 2003. The book, written in simple language, became very popular and the Language Department, Punjab, decided to publish his books on the basic knowledge of computer in Punjabi.

Many international and national organisations have honoured him. — OC