Bathinda, June 13
After chicken pox, incidence of diarrhoea has assumed serious proportions in Bathinda. A large number of diarrhoea patients have been admitted to government and private hospitals in the city.

Among others, five women suffering from ailment were admitted to civil hospital on Friday. Subhash, a resident of Dhobiana locality and Pinki, Rajwinder, Pushpa and Balwinder of Bhago Road area were admitted to the local civil hospital.

Two of them, identified as Balwinder and Pinki, were passing blood along with stool. Now their condition is stated to be stable.

In the past three days, 22 cases of diarrhoea have been reported at the out patient door (OPD) wing of the local civil hospital.

Dr Indu Bhushan Aggarwal, assistant civil surgeon, along with the executive officer of the MC has ordered the cleaning of these localities.

Dr Aggarwal admitted that diarrhoea had gripped Bhago Road and Dhobiana
areas of this city.

He said that medical teams had been going from door-to-door to detect more cases. Medicines were being distributed and a medical camp had been started in the affected areas.

The “diarrhoea-affected” residents alleged that sewage was mixing with the drinking water, resulting in the spread of the disease.

They further alleged that the wastewater overflowing from tubewells of the areas was the root cause of the problem.

In the wake of reports of the outbreak of “diarrhoea” in these localities here, the health department has distributed 3,000 tablets of chlorine and 80 packets of ORS (oral rehydration solution) to the residents of the areas to prevent the spread
of the disease.

Dr Charanjeet Garg, SMO, claimed that the situation was under control and there was no need to panic.

Two water samples were taken from the affected areas and sent to a Chandigarh laboratory for testing.

Meanwhile, the Bathinda Municipal Corporation has also launched the cleanliness drive in the localities. The EO Kamal Kant was seen overseeing the cleanliness drive.

According to Dr Garg, taking precautions against diarrhoea is the only safeguard. Cut fruit, stale food should be avoided and take boiled water, they advise.

Dr Raminder Singh of civil hospital said this disease is basically caused by contaminated drinking water.

Bathinda, June 13
Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B), today said that the hike of Rs 105 in the MSP for per quintal of paddy announced by the Congress-led UPA government was a “slap on the face of Punjab farmers”. Sukhbir was talking to media persons here today.

He accused the Congress party of being “anti-farmers”. The meagre hike was not acceptable to us and it should be raised to Rs 1500, he demanded.

He said that the farmers of Punjab had saved the country from food crisis and they deserve a higher MSP as the cost of inputs had also increased manifold. He said that he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in support of the demand.

He said while on one hand the Centre had purchased red wheat, which was unfit for human consumption, from Australia at a price of Rs 1600 per quintal, why were the farmers of Punjab and other states being fleeced by paying a pittance of MSP.

Sukhbir Singh said that the Centre had sharply hiked prices of food grains and petroleum products that were now being subsidised by the state government.

He said the SAD-led coalition government was responsive to the problems of the people and as such had subsidised the cost of petroleum products that was recently hiked by the centre.

He said that the state government had written to the Centre a letter seeking setting up of a special economic zone (SEZ) at Bathinda for the cotton growing Malwa belt, but unfortunately no response had come so far.

He said that the SEZ would come only when the NDA government came to power at the Centre. He said that the long-pending issue of giving Chandigarh to Punjab would also be taken up with the NDA government.

The SAD chief said that a massive development programme would be initiated throughout the state shortly. He said that the Congress was frustrated and was engaged in infighting.

Bathinda, June 13
The paddy sowing in Malwa region has hit hard due to acute shortage of farm labour. The farmers are a harried lot as labour is not available even at double the rates as compared to the previous year.

They find themselves helpless before the labourers, who are dictating terms. The farm economy of Punjab was heavily dependent on agricultural labour coming from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. But this year, the inflow had been reduced drastically and the farmers are at the receiving end.

Jaswir Singh, general Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta said the labour rates for paddy sowing ranged between Rs 550 and Rs 650 per acre last year but the farmers were forced to run after the labour this year who were reluctant to work even at Rs 1350 to Rs 1500 per acre.

Besides demanding nearly double the rates, the labourers are asking for 3 Kg of wheat flour and setting their own terms like completing the sowing in patches instead of doing it in one go.

Harbeer Singh, a villager said he paid Rs 550 per acre as labour charges last year but this year he had to pay Rs 1350 per acre.

The farmers were vying with each other to lure the labourers with higher rates and by offering other incentives like beds with mattresses, home-cooked meals and even liquor, said another farmer from Mansa.

The situation was so pathetic that some of the farmers who had gone to adjoining states of Rajasthan and Haryana returned empty-handed.

The farmers were engaging women and children in several areas to cope up with the situation but it was only a partial relief.

The labourers from Punjab who have shifted to urban areas for better jobs are
also being persuaded to come back to help the farmers come out of the prevailing crisis situation.

The farmers are looking for migrant labourers at railway station and bus stand but are disappointed as the inflow was negligible.

A farmer from Bathinda, Khushbeer Singh attributed the crisis to the ban imposed by the government on early sowing of paddy and as a result the transplantation was not staggered and labour was required simultaneously in the entire state, thus multiplying the demand.

Moga, June 13
The district administration of Moga has geared up to control the impact of Mealy bug on cotton crop grown in certain pockets of the district.

A district-level meeting to assess the impact of Mealy bug was held here today under the chairmanship of DM Satwant Singh Johal, in which officers of various departments were present, besides, technical experts from the union government, research institutes and NGOs.

Amarjit Lal Sharma, state advisor of the Sir Rattan Tata Trust and B.D. Sharma, technical officer from the union ministry of agriculture, gave presentations and described various aspects of the disease and its control.

Adding that the new crop had already been sown in the district, the DM said that it was high time to control this pest and eradicate its host weeds like congress grass, Peely Booti, Kangi Booty, Tandla, Itsit etc, as the insect feeds on these weeds before attacking the cotton crop.

“We are going to wage a war against the Mealy bug menace,” said the DM while informing that special teams from agriculture department had been set up that were touring villages of the district to bring awareness among the farmers about the pest.

It may be mentioned that under the National Integrated Pest Management Programme, 50 villages of the district had recently been adopted to keep a close watch on the bug.

In the Baghapurana block- 20 villages, in Nihalsinghwala-15 villages, and five
villages each in the Moga-I, Moga-II and Kot-ise-Khan blocks had been adopted under this programme.

The DM appealed the rural folk to root-out these weeds manually from near the canals, roadsides and vacant lands instead of spraying chemicals blindly.

Palwinder Singh Aulakh, chief agriculture officer of the district, gave a brief account of Mealy bug and the measures taken by the department for its eradication.

The agriculture department was also seeking active cooperation from revenue, education, Panchayat, horticulture, forest and public works departments for the weed eradication drive, he said.

Amarjit Lal Sharma revealed that the main source of carry over of the pest were the weeds and cotton stacks, hence, prevention of spread of the pest from these sources to the newly planted cotton needed to be dealt with priority.

Malout (Muktsar), June 13
The local court here today sent an NRI, Gurdarshan Singh, resident of Kakhanwali village of Muktsar district, to judicial custody.

According to the information, Gurdarshan married Paramjit Kaur of Rajawali village of Abohar sub-division in 1992.

Later, he took her to Germany where she gave birth to two kids. In 1997, following a dispute the couple applied for divorce but could not get it.

In 2006, they returned to India and Gurdarshan then married Soma of village Smagh of the Gidderbaha sub-division.

Father of his first wife, Karnail Singh, filed a case in the Lambi police station against 14 family members of the accused in December 2006.

The police booked them under various sections of the IPC and presented them in the local court.

Finding himself in trouble Gurdarshan fled to Germany, and in August 2007, the court declared him a proclaimed offender.

On June10, when he disembarked at Delhi airport, the police arrested him and handed him over to the Lambi police on June 11.

Confirming the facts, SHO Lambi Harinder Singh said after a day’s remand today the court sent him to judicial custody till June 26.

Bathinda, June 13
The “honouring ceremony” of the members of the ruling SAD and the BJP who have emerged victorious in the recently held elections for local bodies and also of candidates for the forthcoming BMC polls at Gurudwara Hazi Rattan has put a question mark on enforcement of the election code.

MP-cum-ruling SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, BJP general secretary Kamal Sharma, SAD general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder, senior vice president (SAD) Chiranji Lal Garg, junior vice-president Sarup Chand Singla and District SAD president Sikander Singh Maluka along with a number of leaders marked the event at the Gurudwara complex here today.

During the programme, Sukhbir Badal and Kamal Sharma presented two Siropas one of SAD and other of BJP, with printed photos of its national leaders, to the candidates, who would be contesting the Bathinda Municipal Corporation elections slated for June 22.

Loudspeakers were used in the Gurudwara complex to address the gathering. The leaders flayed the Congress for inflation, low MSP for paddy, alleged callousness towards development projects during their regime and also urged the people to cast vote for them.

During his speech, Sukhbir Badal lashed over Congress and cited that the public verdict in favour of SAD-led alliance gave a clean sweep to the Congress throughout the state in the recent PRI polls.

Violating the code of conduct before the BMC polls, he further announced a lot of forthcoming and ongoing projects like revamping of canal distributaries, RO plants, sewerage and electricity projects.

It is pertinent to mention here that provision number 30 of the code of conduct prohibits ministers and other authorities to make any promises, which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the party in power.

Further, the code of conduct prohibits usage of religious complex for any election related events. However the Gurdwara premises was full of SAD (B) flags and portrayed a political gathering.

When contacted, Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “It was just an honour ceremony arranged for the winners so it can not be termed as election meeting.”

But when asked about the announcements and projecting the BMC candidates of the alliance, he parried the query.

Despite repeated attempts, the deputy commissioner Bathinda, Rahul Tewari, who is authorised to take action against the violators under provision 33 of the code, could not be contacted for his version.

Moga, June 13
The outbreak of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in Bhagike village of the Nihalsinghwala sub-division has further spread to other parts of Moga district.

Seven fresh cases have been found positive of these viral infections in the main affected village, adding the total positive cases to 14.

Chief medical officer of Moga, Adarsh Sood, while talking to The Tribune, said that the medical officers were finding it difficult to shut down the illegal medical shops of the quacks following stiff resistance from the local people of the village.

She said that it had already been established that these infections had been caused by the use of inadequately sterilised needles and syringes by local unqualified medical practitioners.

It may be mentioned here that when a team of medical officers along with officials of the civil administration tried to shut down the illegal medical shops in the Bhagike village today, many villagers had come out with sticks and sharp-edged weapons against them, confirmed the CMO.

She said that due to the stiff resistance of the people they had to suspend the action for the time being.

Revealing the details of fresh cases of hepatitis infection, Dr Sood said that out of the 29 samples of blood taken yesterday, five cases had been found positive of hepatitis B, one of both hepatitis B and hepatitis C and one of hepatitis C, including a 13-year-old girl, who had been found positive of hepatitis B.

She clarified that there was no cure of the hepatitis B and hepatitis C and infection would remain in the human body forever, making it mandatory for patients to take life-long precautionary measures against deadly complications like jaundice.

In reply to a question, she said there were certain medicines available, with manufacturers claiming for curing this infection but these medicines were not available with the state government and in the local market it was very costly.

She further informed that medical officers had collected many blood samples today also that were being kept under clinical observation, the reports of which would be available on Saturday.

Fazilka, June 13
An incidence of flashing obscene MMS message has come to light here with the registration of an FIR by a girl alleging that her face was superimposed on a pornographic footage and was being circulated by the accused.

Seem Rani (name changed) (20) in her FIR with the city police here stated that she was working in a private insurance company of Fazilka and had to speak to various people to further the company’s business.

She alleged that on May 26, one of the company’s clients, Simarjit Singh, a resident of nearby Sureshwala Sania village, asked her to accompany him to a locality in the town to procure some insurance business.

But he took her to a room where he clicked her photographs on a cell phone and forcibly attempted to remove her clothes.

In the process, the accused allegedly took her semi-nude snaps. When she resisted, he threatened her of dire consequences. Out of fear, she did not reveal the incidence to anyone.

However, on June 5, a group of young ruffians passed by her house and commented that a movie had been prepared. She was alarmed and suspected that the comments related to her.

She enquired and came to know her face had been super-mposed in pornographic movie that was being flashed through MMS and SMS to different cell phones.

She brought the matter to the notice of the DSP, Fazilka, Rachhpal Singh. Following the DSP’s instruction, the city police registered a case against Simarjit.

The site of incidence described by the girl is being inspected by investigation officer DSP Rachhpal Singh. The accused is, however, absconding.

The occurrence of incidence in the tranquil border town has created panic and insecurity among the parents of young children.

They feel that accused should be nabbed and accorded with an exemplary punishment so as to act as a deterrent.

Abohar, June 13
Even when the ‘farmer-friendly’ government was in power in the state, the residents of Bazidpur Bhoma village had been deprived of electricity for about 15 days now, rued Sukhmander Singh, block president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan.

He led a dharna and demonstration at the office of the executive engineer, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) here on Friday.

Others who lambasted the PSEB included sarpanch Wasawa Singh and senior BKU workers, Rohtas Bablu, Ranjit Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Harpreet Singh.

They said the authorities had not made arrangements even to run the water works. All flour processing units were also lying closed. On the other hand, other villages, including Seetogunno, were getting round-the-clock supply, they added.

The authorities said there was some serious fault in the supply line which could not be repaired despite efforts.

The protesters alleged that it appeared that the government intended to teach them a lesson for spearheading a campaign against acquisition of agriculture land in the area for the establishment of a thermal plant in the private sector.

The BKU warned of an indefinite agitation, which could include gherao of the officials, if the fault was not repaired immediately.

Barnala, June 13
To lodge their protest for not arresting the main accused in Manpreet Kaur murder case, around 21 members of the Insaaf Dilao Action Committee held its protest march in the main bazaars of Sherpur city here today.

Manpreet was allegedly killed by her in-laws on June 5 at village Kheri Chahal. His father Bant Singh complained to the police that his daughter had been killed for not meeting their regular demands of dowry.

Former social welfare minister Gobind Singh Kahnjla, Congress MLA Harcharan Kaur and BSP leader Madanjeet Singh Balian participated in her last rites today morning, which were performed at Gurudwara Ravidass at Sherpur.

Action committee leader Harbans Lal, while addressing the public, said that due to the continuous protest held by the area people, the Sherpur police had changed the section 304 IPC to 302. But one of the main accused, Shyam Lal, JE with the PSEB, was still absconding, he added.

Demanding the arrest, the Action Committee, supported by hundreds of men and women of Sherpur, held the protest march.

Gobind Singh Khanjala told TNS that he had spoken to SSP Barnala to look into the matter. The latter had assured to nab Shyam Singh soon. The SSP said that the raids were on to nab the accused.

It may be mentioned here that the two persons have been arrested, including Balbeer Singh, husband of the deceased, and his maternal aunt Manjeet Kaur.

Mansa, June 13
A team from the CIA staff here set up a check post near bus stand, Moosa, on Friday and recovered one kg opium from a motor cyclist.

According to information available, a police party, led by sub-inspector Nachhatter Singh stopped one Baljinder Kumar, son of Bant Ram and a resident of Raipur village here, on suspicion.

He recovered one kg of opium from his possession. He was arrested and a case was registered against him at the sadar police station.

Mansa, June 13
The workers of the Communist Party of India (CPI) today organised a protest march in the city against the hike in oil prices and burnt the effigy of prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Addressing the rally, district secretary of the party Boota Singh said the central government should take appropriate steps to control the rise in fuel prices.

Among others who addressed the rally were kisan leader Nihal Singh, Pala Ram, Jagraj Singh, Atma Singh, trade union leader Kaka Singh, youth leader Krishan Chauhan, Harbans Singh and Daljeet Singh Manashahia.

Meanwhile, at Kot Dharmu village, the Punjab Kisan Union burnt effigy of the state government today against the suspension of OYT scheme and the oil price hike.

The union leaders, Balkaran Singh Balli and Gamdoor Singh, criticised the anti-people policies pursued by the state government.