Bathinda, January 1
Tall claims made by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) almost a week ago that the 250 MW first unit of stage II at Guru Hargobind Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant will be commissioned by December 31 seem to have fallen flat with the unit still not operational.

Sources informed that the testing, commissioning and erection has not been done by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) as per the standards. “It’s a mere political stunt of the ruling government to impress the people at Maghi Mela in Muktsar. The reality is that work on both the units is still incomplete.’’

The commissioning of two units at Guru Hargobind Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant is already running almost 16 months behind schedule. The earlier deadline was March 2007 and later, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal set another deadline of June 2007. Due to the slow pace of work, the cost of project has gone up from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,200 crore.

This delay has already resulted in a financial burden of more than Rs 700 crores on the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) besides the cost of additional power purchases to the tune of 1,825 crores. Also, an interest worth Rs 250 crore will have to be paid to the Government of India (GoI) on the loan taken as the project has failed to meet the deadline.

Sources in the PSEB informed that all components of the system have not yet been completed. “Ideally, whenever a unit is commissioned, first it is lighted up using HFO and LDO oil and then after two or a maximum of three days, it’s fired up using coal. On December 26, the unit I of stage II was lighted up using this oil, but till date, the BHEL officials have not completed the work on the unit and are misusing the resources of PSEB by lighting it up on oil. This oil, being very costly, the PSEB is losing lakhs of rupees everyday because of that. This even endangers the system.’’

Sources further informed, “Yesterday, when the commissioning of the plant was going on, strainers (filters) of two Condensate Extraction Pump (CEP) got damaged and so strainers of unit two of stage II are being used. Even the main system tripped 10-15 times in the last few days. This situation is dangerous for the whole equipment. Now the firing up by coal will take place on January 12 and if it is done, it will be very dangerous for the whole system because the unit is still incomplete. Virtually, BHEL is playing with our system as well as the equipment.’’

``Chemical Dozing system, De-mineralised Water Plant, Hot Well Make Up Pump and other such auxiliary systems are still incomplete,’’ sources added.

On December 23, Gurtej Singh Sra, member (generation), PSEB, had announced confidently that the unit I of stage II would be operational by December 31. Despite repeated attempts, Sra could not be contacted for his comments today.

Even on November 6, during the commissioning of the same unit, a steel hanger broke into half, delaying the work further. Sources cited the reasons for this as lack of proper quality control measures adopted by BHEL, who are constructing the new units (unit 3 and 4) at the thermal plant.

The PSEB has already charged a penalty of Rs 95 crore on BHEL for delay in completion of the project.  

Bathinda, January 1
It is common to wish near and dear ones a happy and prosperous new year and the district police chief has done this precisely by greeting policemen, who had been suspended earlier, with their reinstatement.

Using his powers, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Naunihal Singh gave another chance on New Year Eve to the six cops who were in the dock.

When asked, the SSP said, “Yes, it is a new year’s gift but certain conditions are also attached. The reinstatement does not mean that there will be no inquiry or that no proceedings will be initiated against them. It may be a cause of happiness for them but it is also meant to overcome the acute shortage of staff in the district.”

“If we require 1900 policemen, we have only 1700 and with so many VIPs and VVIPs visiting the district these days, we have to deploy staff on special duty,” he added.

“I wanted to reinstate all the suspended policemen but on December 31, only five head constables and one sub-inspector, Bhagwant Singh requested. So, all the six were reinstated on the same day.”

When asked specifically about the reinstatement of SI Bhagwant Singh, the in-charge of Civil Lines police post who was suspended after the protest by lawyers, who accused him of ‘ill treating’ them, Singh said, “We were in need of an SHO. So, I have granted him another chance. Meanwhile, the inquiry into the allegations levelled against him will go on.”

Giving his reaction, Bhagwant Singh, said, “I am thankful to the SSP. After my reinstatement, I have been posted at the Police Lines.” 

Bathinda, January 1
To celebrate the New Year, a cultural function named Salaam-e-2008 was organised at the Swami Vivekananda Girls College, here today in the morning. Rahul Tewari, deputy commissioner, Bathinda, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The function started with a welcome address by the college principal, Raj Gupta. Various cultural items like group dance, duet songs, solo dance etc were held. For group dance, a competition was held which was won by Gurjeet and her group. Judges for this competition included Usha Sharma, Beant Preet and Paramjit Devta. 

Bathinda, January 1
Frustrated over the perennial problems of overflow of sewage and waterclogging, the residents of Paras Ram Nagar were today up in arms on the main road of their colony.

The residents raised anti-establishment slogans and lodged a protest over the ‘callous attitude’ of the authorities. They accused the municipal corporation of neglect which had resulted in the inconvenience. They said that water from the sewer lines usually overflows and even the repeated requests to the authorities had failed to awake them from their slumber.

People in the area complained that there were two motor pumps for draining the water that had accumulated in the streets. But most of the time, the pumps remained out of order. The residents also said that many projects had been passed for the colony during the Congress regime, but the present regime had done nothing to implement them.

They further said that the SDO, JE and even the executive officer of the municipal corporation had been informed of the problem, but except for assurances, nothing had come their 
way.

A ‘langar’ had been organised by the local market union on the occasion of New Year, but due to waterclogging, the area turned into a cesspool which forced the residents to take to protest. 

Bathinda, January 1
A purist may term it a political statement, but it is not about being right or centrist. ‘Keeping to your left’ is an old convention from the traffic handbook.

Wikipedia describes traffic as the movement of motorised and unmotorised vehicles and pedestrians on the roads. Traffic rules are ways to put all characters on roads in a non- chaotic way.

Bathinda still does not have the kind of traffic seen in Delhi or Mumbai. But it appears to be preparing for the future as is evident from its traffic park. As you enter the Rose Garden in Bathinda, you encounter the Children’s Traffic Park-cum-Traffic Training Institute, on its right corner.

Orange, white and green railings beckon you. As you walk into it, metalled pathways with black and white painted pavements welcome you. There is a check-post but nobody is manning it, so you can sneak in. Models of smoking chimneys, district courts, civil hospital, Government Senior Secondary School and bus-stand are also there, depicting a mini-Bathinda.

But all these structures are here for academic interest only. This state-of-the-art park is actually designed to acquaint children and traffic personnel about focal points in the city. DSP, Traffic, Parminder Singh claims that the park gets a good response from school kids. “Almost every school has so far participated in educational programmes here,” he said. He further informed that traffic personnel are imparted training every two months at the park.

The park teaches about the sign languages, whether the road is one-way or two-way, U-turns, speed limits, whether you can park your car or not and many other things about which we may not be aware of. There are sponsored billboards mentioning rules and regulations while driving.

The most interesting about this park are the facts written on placards like the first traffic offender—Henry Knight of the UK in 1895, the longest railway track in the world — from Moscow to Nakoda , the first use of traffic lights etc.

There are lots of benches to sit on but love-birds are scared to enter it for fear of being challaned. And some may use it as a thoroughfare, without caring for the rules printed on the boards. Children like Joypreet, Jovendeep and Sarita Kanwar, who were present ath the park seem more interested in swings than in learning how to cross the road. Jaswinder, a local, has come with his nephew for sightseeing.

As per the data avilable, 66 people were killed and 403 injured in 220 road accidents in Bathinda in 2007. The data available on the website of the Ministry of Road Transport, Shipping and Highways says that in Punjab, in the year 2005, around 2,793 people were killed and 4,131 were injured in road accidents.

Recently, in a reply to a question in parliament, minister of state for shipping, road transport and highways, K.H. Muniyaapa said the maximum number of accidents, especially fatal, occurred on straight stretches due to high speed. Four-arm junctions were the most accident-prone, pedestrians most vulnerable and trucks involved in most night accidents. Negligence and over-speeding were found to be the causes of 90 per cent of accidents, he added.

All this only underlines the need for observing traffic rules. And what better way to ingrain traffic sense in our citizens than when they are young.  

Abohar, January 1
West Bengal minister of state for micro and small-scale enterprises and textiles Narayan Biswas today inaugurated the Tacospin Cotton Research and Testing Centre in the old grain market here. SAD (B) MP Zora Singh Mann was the chief guest on the occasion.

Biswas said the centre, backed by the latest technology, had been set up at a cost of Rs 70 lakh.

The textile industry in West Bengal was facing a shortage of raw material owing to the decline in local produce. Abohar, a rich cotton producing area, would now get an instant testing facility where the cotton traders can get the samples tested for open marketing also, he added.

The centre would also boost the research to improve the quality of the produce, Biswas said.

The minister said the Tamrapatra Co-operative Spinning Mills Limited, West Bengal had initiated this project for the welfare of the farmers besides ensuring better environment for the textile units.

Biswas and Mann went through the first test report released by the centre within two minutes of feeding the sample.

Mann said the Punjab government would explore more avenues for the prosperity of this cotton belt.

Rakesh Rathi, president of the North India Cotton Association, said it would be an additional facility made available by the West Bengal government to local cotton traders.

Pardeep Sharda, a leading cotton ginner, Pramil Kalani, president of the Arhtia Association and Suresh Bansal, vice-president of the Punjab Ginning Factories Association also welcomed the step.

V.P. Nagpal, branch manager of the Cotton Corporation of India, and SDM N.S. Brar were among those present.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab government had initially planned to set up a cotton research centre here in 1970 but dropped the idea fearing that Abohar might be transferred to Haryana under the Chandigarh award given by the then Prime Minister following negotiations with Fateh Singh through the then Lok Sabha speaker Hukam Singh and other emissaries.

The state government shifted venue for the centre from Abohar to Bathinda. Again the union government had agreed to sanction a research centre here but the same was wrested by the Haryana government to locate it in Sirsa.

Finally, the West Bengal government resolved to invest Rs 70 lakh in the cotton research and testing centre to ascertain the quality of the cotton here. 

Bathinda, January 1
The Sarv Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) launched by the Union government to ensure the enrolment of all children in the age group of 6-14 years and improve and strengthen basic infrastructure at the elementary level has made slow progress.

The progress of programme under implementation in 598 out of 600 districts in the country varied from state to state and district to district as the existing educational infrastructure and literacy rate is not uniform.  

The SSA is being implemented in all districts of Punjab and the Bathinda district in the state’s relatively backward Malwa region is making a slow and steady progress. Though year-wise physical and financial targets have been fixed, the authentic and uptodate data of the targets achieved is not readily available.

There is no reliable mechanism to monitor the implementation of the programme and even the exact number of children to be covered is not known. However, the officials maintain that the targets for the current financial year will be achieved.

Bathinda district has 235 villages, nine municipal committees and one municipal corporation and 632 schools, including 384 primary and 248 upper primary (middle) schools that are being covered under the SSA.

The funds are provided under various components of the SSA and the main thrust is on development of infrastructure and teachers’ training. Although both primary and upper primary education is covered under the SSA, both the sections are yet to be fully amalgamated into one integrated unit.

Training of teachers being a crucial area, special training programmes have been organised for the primary teachers.

A 20-days training capsule has been prepared and about 3,500 primary teachers are being imparted training at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET).

According to Gurjinder Pal Kaur Dhillon, District Education Officer (Primary), twelve days of training for teachers has been completed and the remaining eight days of training is underway.

The highest allocation of Rs 14 lakh has been made for teachers’ training, Rs 4 lakh has been provided for Cluter Resource Centre (CRC) while

As many as Rs 3 lakh would be spent on community training centre. Besides Rs 2,000 as grant, Rs 5,000 for repairs and Rs 500 for teaching learning 
material has been allocated to all the 632 schools.

As many as 200 village educators and seven block resource persons have been appointed for community-related activities and each village educator is paid Rs 80 per day while the block resource persons are getting Rs 7,000 per month.

Against the target to construct extra rooms in 41 schools, rooms have been constructed in 39 schools while construction in the remaining two schools is under progress.

Free school bags and books have been given to girl students at the elementary level and the mid-day meal programme has been started to bring down the drop-out rate. 

Bathinda, January 1
Even as the shortage of cadavers in the medical colleges of the state is posing a hindrance to the study of the students, unclaimed bodies, which are supposed to be handed over to medical institutions for the purpose of anatomical examination and dissection and other similar purposes, are being cremated by NGOs, flouting the several Acts.

Most importantly, the police seem to be unaware of the Act, which states that the unclaimed bodies should be handed over to the medical institutions for the above-mentioned purposes.

The Indian Medical Council (IMC) rules say that there has to be one cadaver in the anatomy laboratory for every 10 student of the first-year.

The Punjab Anatomy Act, Section 5 sub-section 3, reads, “Where a person having no permanent place of residence in the area where his death has taken place, dies in any public place in such area and his body is unclaimed, the authorised officer of that area shall take possession of the body and shall hand it over to the concerned authorities.”

The penalty under section 6 of the Act also says that whosoever with the intention of provisions of this Act, disposes of or abets the disposal of an unclaimed body or obstructs any authority in charge of an approved institution, such person shall be punished with fine.

The Punjab Anatomy Rules (PAR), 1966, Section 6 states, “Decomposed bodies which can not be used for any purpose mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 5 shall be returned to the authorised officer for disposal.”

However, Section 7 of the PAR, says, “A dead body handed over to an approved institution may be claimed by a near relative of the deceased within a period of 96 hours of the death. No charges shall be payable by the near relative if the body is claimed within the period of 24 hours of the death.”

Adding to these provisions, in a letter issued by the Government of Punjab, the Department of Medical Education and Research (Health branch), states that in exercise of the powers of Section 4 of the Act, the Governor of Punjab is pleased to declare the principals of the Government Medical Colleges, Amritsar, Faridkot and Patiala as authorised officers for the purpose defined in section 5 of the Act.

A senior professor at the Government Medical College, Faridkot said, “Nothing can be an alternative to the human body in the study and teaching of human anatomy. The experience and education gained through the use of human cadaver in the course of analysis is much superior and totally different than the knowledge provided by synthetic substitutes and textbooks.”

Giving the details of the cremation held in 2007, the president of Sahara Jan Seva, an NGO in Bathinda, said, “In 2007, our organisation alone cremated 148 unclaimed dead bodies, of which some were decomposed.”

There is not a single NGO, which cremates the unclaimed bodies, but finding the police unaware, several social welfare societies cremate the bodies taking it as a social responsibility.

A social thinker and doctor by profession, Gagan Deep of Muktsar said, “Cremating a body without following the provisions of the Act and rules is illegal. The important thing is that it prevents the medical students from proper study.”

When contacted, the SSP Bathinda, Naunihal Singh, said he was not aware of the Act.

Advocate Chandan Goyal said, “It is the duty of the Punjab Police to hand over such bodies to the anatomy department of the government medical colleges.” 

Mansa, January 1
The Mazdoor Mukti Morcha today organised a demonstration against the alleged police atrocities at Joga police station. The leaders at the demonstration criticised the atrocities against Dalits. 

A few days ago, Bira Singh of Khadak Singh Wala village blamed the Joga police for beating him up. That’s why the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha had given a call for dharna against the Joga police.

Addressing the dharna, Bhagwant Singh Sammaon, state secretary of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, said that in the rule of the Akalis, the Punjab police was doing injustice to the Dalits of 
Punjab.

He said that the Dalits were ignored in every field as in the distribution of the Atta-Dal scheme.

On the occasion, the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha burnt an effigy of the SHO of the Joga police station.

The leaders of the Morcha said that they would approach the Human Rights Commission and the SC/ST Commission against the police behaviour.

Among others who addressed the dharna were Gurjant Singh Mansa, Sukhcharan, Nikka Singh, Jeet Bhikhi, Sinder Pal Kaur, Bhola Singh Sammaon and Jaspal Singh Khokhar. 

Abohar, January 1
Realising that the cost of the New Year greeting cards had increased manifold and most of the cards had been manufactured by the professional business houses with raw material derived from trees, the students in the Kenway College of Education here today opted to prepare the cards themselves using colours and sketch pens besides other material which they used in the curriculum.

Kanta Rani was adjudged best in the greeting card and poster making competition. Jasdeep and Shawinder Kaur shared the second position; Gurpreet Singh and Amarjit Kaur also shared the third position. Some students including, Subhash, Sunil, Mamta, Neha Thakkar and Purnima added colours to the celebrations with poetry, songs and dances. Principal Satyender Singh exhorted them to set new goals to achieve in the New Year. Puran Chand Bansal and Sushil Garg, president and secretary, respectively, of the managing committee, wished the students and teachers a bright future. 

Mansa, January 1
The Sabhyachar Chetna Manch here is organising the ‘Third Lohri Mela’ on January 12. Informing this, the president of the Manch, Kamaljet Malwa, said the real object was to change the mindset of the people regarding the girl child.

“Gone are the days when the birth of a girl was considered to be a bad omen. However, today, girls are not only competing with boys in every field but are also leading them in some areas,” the president said.

The prime aim of the club was to make the public aware and encourage them to celebrate the Lohri of their daughters with the same fervour, festivity, joy and gaiety as they do for their sons. There was no difference between a boy and a girl, he added.

On this eve, a cultural programme would also be conducted and prominent Punjabi folk singers, including Mohammed Sadique and Bibi Sukhjit Kaur, would exhibit their performance.

Famous flute maestro (Bansuri Vadak) Baba Kashi Nath and comedian couple Bhajna Amli and Bibi Santi would be among those performing on the occasion.

Besides, the school kids would perform folk dances like Bhangra, Giddha, Sammi and Jaago.

Surjit Singh Dhillon, deputy commissioner Mansa would be the chief guest and senior superintendent of police M.F. Farooqi would preside over the function. 

Barnala, January 1
Deputy commissioner of Barnala, R.L. Mehta, inaugurated a Patwar Bhawan at village Khudi Kalan about 10 km from here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Mehta applauded the work of Krishan Kumar, a patwari, for construction of this Patwar Bhawan with the assistance of villagers.

He said other patwaris must get inspiration from him to construct similar buildings in other villages. The Patwar Bhawan is very necessary to keep and preserve the revenue records, he added.

P.S. Kehlay, sub-divisional magistrate,   Saroj Aggarwal, tehsildar of Barnala and Gurwinder Walia, naib tehsildar, were also present on the occasion.

Mehta declared that Krishan Kumar would be honoured on January 26 for this work. 

Mansa, January 1
M.F. Farooqi, senior superintendent of police, Mansa, has said that a campaign would be launched against drug addiction and anti-social elements in the district in the New Year.

For the purpose, he asked for cooperation from all sections of society. He said that since the efforts were made, good results had been seen.

Last year, following the anti-drug campaign, 146 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added.

The police confiscated 38.46 kg of opium, 91,010 tablets, 1,000 capsules, 55 injections and 189.075 gm of smack from the arrested persons.

Along with this, 327 cases were registered in connection with illegal liquor, which was seized in large quantity.

Five cases were registered against travel agents and some arrests have been made. About 227 applications of women were received by the women’s cell of Mansa in 2007, and out of these, 196 were solved. 

Bathinda, January 1
A 17-year-old girl, believed to be in a depressed state of mind, reportedly consumed some poisonous substance and ended her life at her village, Jandawala, in the district.

Sources said Sarabjeet Kaur was in class XII at Bhai Jagta Ji school in Goniana village. The girl had reappeared in some papers in the class X and from that very time, had been in depression. It has been learnt that she was undergoing treatment at the medical college in Faridkot.

Sources said the girl had intended to take her regular medicines but by mistake, had consumed some poisonous substance. Finding her condition deteriorating, family members rushed her to the civil hospital in Goniana, where she died. The Nahianawala police initiated proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC and handed over the body to the family members after the postmortem. 

Barnala, January 1
The Unemployed B.Ed Teachers’ Front would organise a big convention on January 5 at the Government Boys School in Barnala.

Giving this information, Harinder Singh Badesha, district president of the Front, said that the purpose of this convention was to highlight the problems faced by the educated unemployed youth and to impress upon the government about the urgency of their demands for expediting the recruitment process for teachers.