 |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
PSEB workers shun work
Patiala, February 7 Forum's president Karam Chand Bhardwaj said today's dharna evoked a good response all over Punjab. Cash collection centres were closed and residents, facing power breakdowns in their houses, had a harrowing time, as employees absented themselves from complaint centres also. Prominent among the organisations that supported the forum were various Kisan Unions, Khet Mazdoor Unions and Industrial Trade Unions. Thousands of members of PSEB Technical Services’ Union
(TSU) of Patiala circle sat on a dharna in front of the circle office. They demanded an end of work outsourcing, re-instatement of dismissed employees and cancellation of court cases against various union leaders. The agitating employees also gave a call to gherao the SE, Patiala circle, and threatened that if their demands were not met they would intensify their struggle by holding a series of protest rallies from February 11 to 29. Hundreds of employees of the PSEB Employees’ Federation also staged a protest in front of Patiala circle office. Meanwhile in
Mohali, employees of the board struck work by resorting to a pen down, tool-down strike in protest against anti-employee policies of the Punjab government and the power board. Mohali circle president Lakha Singh led the protest, which was organised on the call of the Technical Services’ Union, Punjab. He said all power complaint
centres, cash counters and offices remained closed as part of the protest. Employees were compelled to protest because the government had planned to hand over the power board to private parties, which would adversely affect them. They also demanded that the Power Bill, 2003, be scrapped. Circle secretary Vijay Kumar said the government as well the board management was not conceding to the long-pending demands of employees. Family members of employees who lost their lives while on duty were not being given employment on a priority basis, vacant posts were not being filled but various types of works like spot-billing, taking meter reading, installing boxes for meters were being done with the help of private contractors. Seven employees of Patiala circle were dismissed when they held agitations. Some were transferred and
chargesheeted. Union leaders demanded that authorities concerned should hold talks with office-bearers of the Technical Services’ Union and concede their demands.
Impact negligible: PSEB
Despite a strike call given today by a section of PSEB employees’ unions, its impact was negligible at the PSEB secretariat at Patiala, where the attendance was full. This was stated
in a press note issued by the PSEB today. The board claimed that thermal and hydro-generation plants
functioned smoothly |
|||||||
|
Govt docs make quick private buck
Patiala, February 7 Government hospitals in the city, be it Rajindra Hospital, Mata Kaushalya Hospital or TB Hospital, all are facing a strange situation. Postgraduates far outnumber established doctors, while it should have been the other way around. Sources revealed that there were scores of government doctors who were doing private practice at their residences and had even hung boards indicating their timings and availability. A visit to a government hospital revealed that patients, too, are unhappy with the facilities offered at these hospitals and that is one big reason why these patients flock to doctors who are doing private practice. Sources revealed that at present, there were 65 posts of doctors lying vacant at Rajindra Hospital alone. The state exchequer was being defrauded to the tune of lakh of rupees since these doctors, who were running their private practices from their homes, also claimed non-practicing allowance
(NPA), which, for all practical reasons, they could not. As per rules, NPA was paid to doctors who were on emergency duty but at present, all doctors were claiming it, sourcs added. Senior member of the Indian Medical Association Dr D.S. Bhullar said there was not an iota of doubt that doctors, in an attempt to make fast buck, were concentrating more on their private practices and less on governmental duties. He said the IMA criticised this illegal practice of the doctors and that the government should frame some stringent rules to curb this practice. The state health minister has already gone on record saying that the government would be framing rules to end this practice but at the same time admitted that she had ‘no administrative’ control over these hospitals. |
||||||||
|
ASHA workers to help rural folk
Patiala, February 7 Deputy commissioner, Patiala, D.S. Grewal handed over the appointment letters to 834 activists at the local Government Medical College auditorium, today. Speaking on the occasion, the DC said for every 1,000 people, there would be one ASHA worker taking care of their health. These workers would help in vaccinating children, carrying out sterlisation operations and help people suffering from TB. Civil surgeon Avtar Singh Jarewal said there was no payment for these workers, yet a moderate allowance would be given to them and every worker would initially be given a medical kit worth Rs 600 to start with.
|
||||||||
|
Demolition Drive
Patiala, February 7 It is pertinent to mention here that the administration has earmarked the land for new PRTC bus stand and it had already given notices to the people living there to vacate the area or face demolitions. According to sources, there were 81 illegal occupants in the colony and notices had already been served on them. However, panic gripped the residents when the administration officials, led by additional deputy commissioner, SDM and tehsildar, reached the venue with a heavy police posse. However, some senior residents of the colony, assisted by lawyers, struck an agreement with the administration. According to the agreement, the residents would be given 50 sq yard plots in some
other areas. Out of the 81 illegal occupants, 61 gave in writing today that they would vacate their
houses within a time period of 10 days. SDM Gurmeet Singh, when contacted, said once the inmates vacated their houses, the entire area would be handed over to PRTC officials for setting up a new
bus stand. |
||||||||
|
Singla takes over as new DC
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 7 Ashok Kumar Singla, a 2005 batch IAS officer, who took charge of the office, was accorded a warm welcome by the senior functionaries of the district administration and the members of the press. While speaking on the occasion, Singla promised to provide a transparent and effective administration. He was holding the post of secretary of the state election commission, before joining the district headquarters as the deputy commissioner. Meanwhile, the district administration bid a warm farewell to Alaknanda Dayal. |
Shamsher leads u-18 hockey team
Chandigarh, February 7
The other members of the team are: Dhanvirder Singh, Karanvir Singh, Bikramjit Singh, Jagmeet Singh, Ravisher Singh, Amandeep Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Aahish Singh, Mohit Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Manjinder Singh, Pradeep Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sumeet Pal Singh, Davinder Rana and Harpreet Singh.
The officials who would be accompanying the team are: Amarjit Singh, Yudhvir Singh and Amritpal. |
|
Badminton camp cancellation hits players
Chandigarh, February 7 Wg Cdr Bhatia is a former Olympian and captain of the Indian Badminton team in the Thomas Cup in the year 1963, 1969, and has also played in the commonwealth games and the Asian games. “The camp should not have been called off because of a shortage of shuttlecocks. This will affect the interest of the players and also the game in coming future. The Badminton Association of India and the sports Authority of India are to be blamed for the cancellation, said Wg Cdr Bhatia. It was the duty of both the SAI and the BAI to store adequate stock of shuttlecocks. This is an unprofessional approach by the Sports Authority of India. The Sports Authority of India could have arranged shuttlecocks much in advanced”, asserted Wg Cdr Bhatia. “Not only the players who were to attend the camp would be affected by the cancellation but this abandonment will hit the overall scenario of the game. Even the city badminton players will be affected by this”, said a local badminton player. “The result of the cancellation of the camp will be seen in the up coming Thomas and Uber Cup. The performance of the players will be hampered”, said a badminton coach. |
|
Weightlifting camp called off
Patiala, February 7 Laxman Singh Ranawat, executive director of Sports Authority of India, told UNI here today: “I have taken this step since only half of the lifters have reported for the camp. I cannot allow this kind of indiscipline.” “I have told the secretary-general of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, Balbir Bhatia, that the lifters have to be disciplined and only then we will give the permission to hold the camp at the NIS,” he said. The camp for the seniors — which began on January 17 and was to continue till April 24 — was to prepare the lifters for the Asian Weightlifting Championship to be held in Japan towards April-end. The camp for juniors was slated from January 17 to October 5 to prepare the Indian squad for the Commonwealth Youth Weightlifting Championship in October in Pune. — UNI |
Central nod to regional trauma centre
Chandigarh, February 7 According to sources, the ministry of health and family welfare approved the RTC on February 5. It will be located in Sector 53 here and will prove to be a boon for the region. The modalities for the setting up of the centre are being worked out. It is learnt that it could either be partly funded from the ministry or set up on the public-private participation. Besides, it will provide a fillip to the health services in southern parts of the city by being an extension of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Prof Raj Bahadur, director-principal, GMCH, said here today. Currently, three major hospitals - the PGI, GMCH, and the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, are crowded as emergencies from all over the region are reported here. With the setting up of the RTC, trauma patients would stand to benefit. In fact, an advanced trauma centre is already under-construction at the PGI here. Official sources said the administration was planning to have the RTC on the pattern of the American College of Surgeries with a helicopter service transporting patients from far-flung areas of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal being envisaged. Meanwhile, as back-up infrastructure, the administration has proposed to procure about 20 ambulances for the patients. Besides, the three major hospitals are trying to procure at least one high-end ambulance in respective hospitals. Also, plans are afoot to have a mini resuscitation unit manned by emergency medical technicians in the ambulances. The administration and the ministry have proposed to develop a course for the medical technicians, the sources added. |
|
Health authorities gear up for polio drive
Panchkula, February 7 A request for requisition for 60 vehicles has already been made with Panchkula sub-divisional magistrate Virender Dahiya in this regard by heath authorities. Dahiya has directed city magistrate Yogesh Kumar to arrange at least 40 vehicles from government departments while the rest will be hired from private transporters. To create awareness among the masses about the drive rallies will be organised by school students on February 8 and 9 while NGOs have also been requested to adopt some areas to increase booth coverage. |
|||||
Mitika, Ashutosh are ‘voices’ of PU
Chandigarh, February 7 They emerged winners after competing in the ‘geet-ghazal’ and the folk round. Sonika of GCG 11 and Simranjit Singh of PU English department were the runners-up. The winners and second position holders were given a cash prize of Rs 5,100 and Rs 1,100 each respectively, in addition to the trophy. The search for ‘Voice of Punjab University’ began through auditions on the campus in which various students of the varsity and local affiliated colleges participated. Around 250 students came for auditions out of which 21 were selected to perform in the quarterfinals. Twelve girls and nine boys made it to the semi-finals, while four each stormed into the finals. Prof Pamila Singh, Prof B.S. Sharma and Prof Yashpal Sharma were the judges during the finals held at the Law Auditorium. "It is for the first time in the history of PU that this kind of competition was organised. This was an opportunity for students to come forward and show their talent," said Navjot Sharma, the co-ordinator of the event. Parminder Jaswal, president of Students’ Council, said: "The response was overwhelming. We are planning to organise such a function every year.” |
|||||
|
|||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
