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HC orders medical tests of injured
Jail police staff showing their torn uniforms at civil hospital in Bathinda on Saturday. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera
BSF, Pak Rangers agree to cooperate on repatriation
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Pbi teachers await allotment of schools
Asking for alms on Saturday, a way to earn living for 3000 kids in Malwa
Pisciculture focus on sea water fishes
Record generation at thermal plants
Woman tries to deposit fake currency, booked
Pregnant woman dies of jaundice
Bridge comes up through ‘shramdaan’
Alert traffic cop nabs chain snatcher
‘CM okays Rs 4 cr for development work’
Dasmesh School’s students honoured
Youth killed in Mansa
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HC orders medical tests of injured
Bathinda, November 1 Receiving the orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, chief judicial magistrate, Barjinder Singh, SSP Ashish Chaudhary and medical officer Harjeet Lal today visited the jail and ordered the jail authorities to conduct the medical examination today. The injured, who were taken to the hospital late this evening, were divided into three groups. Of these, 11 prisoners were on the one side while four policemen and three other prisoners were in separate groups. To get them examined, the hospital authorities formed a three-doctor board comprising Visheshwar Chawla, a surgeon, Vijay Mittal, an orthopaedist, and Harjeet Lal, an emergency medical officer (EMO). The eleven prisoners, who were brought first, accused the police staff and a senior leader of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (B) hailing from Rampura Phul for their role in the clash. Accusing the SAD leader, they said that his son, after meeting his “goons” labelled the Lakha Sadhana group, had just moved out of the jail and immediately after, they assaulted them in the porch of the jail. They further alleged that the police staff, including senior officers, were hand-in-glove with the miscreants, who allegedly peddle drugs inside the jail. Giving their version about the incident, they said that some junior ranked police officer had asked for bribe from them in the name of Diwali. “Even after the clash, the jail authorities did not bother to get us medically examined. It was done only when our advocate faxed a petition to the High Court on October 31,” they alleged. On the other hand, the injured policemen, showing their injuries and torn uniforms said, “It is the Kaan group of Bathinda that was involved in clash with the Sadhana group. We reached only when an alarm was raised. When we tried to intervene, they attacked us and even tore our uniforms.” The three other injured prisoners, including one sentenced to life and a kabbadi player said the brawl took place between the police and the Kaan group. When they tried to stop them, the Kaan group assaulted them without any reason. They further alleged that the 11 injured were drug addicts and have connections inside and outside the jail. |
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BSF, Pak Rangers agree to cooperate on repatriation
Sriganganagar/Abohar, November 1 Uttam Kumar Bansal, additional director general (ADG West) of the BSF, while confirming the development at a press conference in Sriganganagar, after a high-level meeting, said officers of the neighbouring countries feel that innocent people of the border villages had been crossing the Zero Line to bring back their stranded cattle. Neither are they aware of the legal position nor does anybody fight
their cases. Such intrusion never threatens the internal security of the country and is tantamount only to misuse of the official machinery. Respecting the spirit of human rights, both sides had agreed to summarily examine such cases and repatriate the nationals without involving them in litigation. However, it needs some time to resort to the new process, he indicated. On recommendations of the Six Pay Commission and special package for the security forces, the ADG observed that for the BSF men duty was like religion. “We convey our sentiments to the government through proper channel and in a peaceful manner. The government would keep in mind the challenging conditions under which the BSF men work round-the- clock.” Agreeing that subversive forces try to intensify their nefarious activities when the elections are round the corner, Bansal said that it was the profession of the terrorists to hurt the internal set-up by bringing a spurt in their activities. BSF, however, was fully seized of the threats and would combat such bids. "Our jawans are keeping strict vigil on international border spread over 6600 km in length. I have planned to visit this region after visiting Sri Nagar and Rajouri areas. Certain people point their fingers at the BSF following a spurt in intrusion bids but nobody can deny that the force had thwarted a series of bids made by the terrorists to intrude in this country," he observed. On increasing cases of smuggling through Punjab borders from Pakistan, the ADG said that increased production of opium in Afghanistan was a major reason behind this. Speaking about the modernisation of the BSF, Bansal informed that a pilot project was in the pipeline under which tubewells would be installed at each border post. This will help the border residents also in fetching potable water. IG K.L. Meena and DIG C.R. Chauhan accompanied the ADG to some border posts, including Nakki in Karanpur area and
Hindumalkot. |
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Pbi teachers await allotment of schools
Bathinda, November 1 “We fought a long battle to get jobs and when we got it, we had to struggle even more to get offer letters, even after getting offer letters we were not sent to any school for teaching because according to the government, there was no post. We have become teachers but are not allotted stations,” rued a teacher. In Bathinda alone there are 12 such teachers, who have got appointment letters but have not been assigned schools to teach. There are more than 100 such teachers in the state who are suffering in a similar way. In Khemuana village of this city, a Punjabi teacher Har Bhagwan Singh, who is a MA, B.Ed and appointed as an ETT and a Punjabi teacher, is bearing the burden of the laxity shown by the government towards teachers in the state. Har Bhagwan was a scrap dealer before he was appointed as a teacher and after being appointed as an ETT and a Punjabi teacher, he gave preference to Punjabi but was shown the way by concerned authorities giving a response that posts were not vacant and as soon as there were posts, he would be allotted a station. He left his earlier work after getting the appointment letter. The circumstances have brought him back from where he had started. He is again a scrap dealer and feels helpless. Around 19 teachers in Muktsar have a similar story. Almost 23 teachers were appointed by the government as Punjabi teachers, and out of them only four went to teach, rest were held back and they still await their turn to teach. Their case has been sent to the DPI by the DEO. A teacher Charanjit Singh said he met the assistant DPI on October 26 and the DPI assured him that if there was no place in their district then they would be sent to some other district. Another Punjabi teacher said, “After a long struggle the government had finally softened its stand on us and gave an advertisement for 625 posts. The chosen teachers underwent medical examination and other formalities were also conducted and we were given offer letters also. The problem now is that there is no place for us to start teaching.” The teachers have put up a demand to the government that if there is no place in the district from where they were chosen then they should be sent elsewhere. |
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Asking for alms on Saturday, a way to earn living for 3000 kids in Malwa
Bathinda, November 1 Sushil Kumar, a city resident who asks for alms to calm down the Shani Dev, does not even know who Shani is. He says, “All I know is that the day makes me earn a few hundred rupees.” Sushil does not go to school and waits for Saturdays so that he could head towards the streets. Dressed in white kurta and a red stole, he claims that he could calm down the Shani Dev for anyone, who could give something to him. He also gets a lot of mustard oil on the day. There are many kids who have resorted to this work to earn a living. As many as six districts of the Malwa region have around 3,000 such kids. The ‘taily mohalla’ is the place in this city where those asking for alms, especially on Saturdays, live. Sunil, another such kid, said he had been into the job for the past six years and earns Rs 250 every Saturday. He claimed that on Saturday, after finishing his work, he donated Rs 100 at a temple and takes the rest of the amount home. On other days, he works as a labourer. Suresh and Dhaara are siblings and are in the same profession. Dhaara said, “Suresh goes to Faridkot and I go to Jaitu Mandi and we manage to earn Rs 700 every Saturday. We feel bad about the fact that we can not attend a school.” Most of these kids are negligent about the fact that they are spreading superstition. According to sources, around 24 children from a local ‘basti’ go to far-flung places like Ambala, Patiala, Devigarh and Chandigarh on Saturdays. Sanju and Pawan, both 15 years old, said they set out for work to selected areas of the city at 4 am every Saturday. “Some people even shell out Rs 50 to Rs 100 to please the Shani Dev,” said Sanju with a smile on his face. Many such kids can be found standing at prime locations of the city every Saturday. There are almost 800 such children in Bathinda alone. Sattu, a priest, said, “There are many fake ‘Brahmins’ in the city, who are into this profession. But with time, things are changing. There are families, which were earlier into this job for years but now want their kids to go to school.” Rajinder Singh Bhadod of the Tarksheel Society said, “Superstitions thrive in India and clever people draw benefits out of it. Kids do these jobs due to poverty.” He added that the government should identify such kids and do something for them so that they get to study instead of begging. “Parents of such kids should be punished,” said Bhadod. Mansi, who gives alms to such kids, said she felt satisfied after giving her bit to a needy person.
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Pisciculture focus on sea water fishes
Bathinda, November 1 After observing the low growth rate of fresh water fishes, the department will now procure fish and seed from Kolkata that can survive 38 PPT salinity. To encourage fish farmers of the black water districts, the department held a two-day training camp in Ropar and now a 10-day camp is going to be organised at Muktsar soon. At the camp, 20 farmers from each of the six districts will be called. The attendants will be provided Rs 100 per day along with travelling charges on the first and the last day. The department is now ready to bear the expenditure up to Rs 2.10 lakh for one farm and after analysing the response, as per the information, the Union government has promised the state department that there would be no scarcity of funds. Besides this special programme for Malwa, the state government has been making its best efforts to promote fish farming as a diversified profession. To promote the trade, the fisheries department has been providing subsidies, training and even helping in formalities regarding loans. Moreover, the state government has also offered electricity connection for tubewells to meet the requirement of water in the fish pond. In a notification issued in 1984, the department of rural development and panchayats mentioned that where a department of the state government or the Government of India or a member of the Fish Farmers Development Agency sponsored by the government desires to take a pond on lease for rearing fish, the panchayat may lease to such department or person, along with some condition. Confirming the details, chief executive officer of the Fish Farmers Development Agency, Bathinda, Sukhdev Singh said the department is lending its support in promoting the trade. As a result, now there will hardly be a single village where ponds will not be hired on rent for fish farming. He said that anybody who is interested in adopting fish farming as a trade, will be given free training for five days and the batches run every month. Along with the training, subsidy for digging new pond, renovation of the old ponds, promoting trade related to fish farming like poultry, pig farm, duck pond etc, would also be encouraged. Subsidy is also given in installation of an ariator (a device to increase the oxygen level). Besides promoting fish farming equipment, 10 per cent subsidy in seed farming has also been planned. But all the subsidies are conditional, and can be availed for 10 hectare of fish farms. |
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Record generation at thermal plants
Bathinda, November 1 The units have generated 2.10 per cent more power than their rated capacity at the the highest ever monthly plant load factor of 102.10 per cent. According to a spokesman of the GHTP at Lehra Mohabbat, the record generation had been achieved without any tripping, without consuming any oil and with the lowest demineralised water make up of 0.5 per cent. It helped in saving crores, achieving greater efficiency and economy. The units have not tripped for the past 64 days i.e. since August 28, and are generating more than their capacity. The 250-MW unit 3 is also running at full load for past 32 days and has generated 181.63 MUs at a plant load factor of 97.65 per cent during October. The unit 4 is expected to achieve full generation this month. Meanwhile, the GNDTP at Bathinda has produced
283.4 MUs with plant load factor of 86.6 per cent in the month, which is the maximum monthly generation in the past 20 years. The PSEB also informed that Gurtej Singh Sra, Member Generation, PSEB had been assured by the Ministry of Coal that more coal rakes would be given to the PSEB. Sra had taken up the matter of low coal stock at the three thermal power stations in state with the ministry. |
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Woman tries to deposit fake currency, booked
Moga, November 1 Sources in the police said that the manager of the bank had complained to the police that the said woman brought Rs 40,000 to deposit in her account, out of which, 18 currencies of Rs 500 denomination were found to be fake. On the basis of the complaint, the police had registered a case against the woman. Meanwhile, the woman had alleged that she got Rs 10,000 as loan from a local shopkeeper who arranged the money for her from a head constable of the police presently posted at Ludhiana. She said that the fake currency notes were given to her by the shopkeeper. The police had so far maintained that they would first verify the genuineness of the currency and then go ahead with the investigation process. Adding that she was asked by both the policeman and the shopkeeper to keep her mouth shut, she further alleged that the cops were trying to save the policeman who could be involved in a bigger racket involving fake currency. |
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Pregnant woman dies of jaundice
Mansa, November 1 Nearly a month back, her husband died of electrocution, sources said, adding that two other members of her family were also suffering from the disease and were undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mansa. It may be mentioned here that hundreds of residents of the district had been suffering from the disease. Residents of Mansa, including Jaspal Singh Khokhar and Sukhcharan Singh, said that indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned towards cleanliness was the major reason behind the spread of the disease. They demanded that the administration and the municipal council should launch a cleanliness drive soon. They said that the health department should also take steps to control the spread of jaundice and malaria in the district. |
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Bridge comes up through ‘shramdaan’
Hanumangarh/Abohar, November 1 This had cut the link with Sangria and the adjoining villages from Tibbi. Not only that, the traders suffered due to slump in the business but the suspension of the traffic through the diversion had caused heavy revenue loss to the Rajasthan government as well. The office-bearers of the Tibbi Beopar Mandal on Friday submitted a memorandum to the administration for getting the bridge repaired. As the authorities expressed inability under the pretext of the model code of conduct for elections, the workers of the BSP, Beopar Mandal and Ekta Club, during a meeting yesterday, decided to construct a temporary bridge on the Tibbi-Sangria road functional by "shram-daan". Mukesh Kumar, president of the Ekta Club, informed on Saturday that their efforts yielded results. The temporary bridge has now been made functional. The residents termed it as a post-Diwali gift by the social activists. |
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Alert traffic cop nabs chain snatcher
Bathinda, November 1 According to ASI, traffic police, Piara Singh, he was returning home after the duty hours. When he reached near the Circuit House and Dunes Club, he found the wife of the Mayor along with a girl shouting for help. Meanwhile, he also saw a youth riding a Bullet motorcycle trying to snatch away her purse. Acting quickly, he intercepted the youth. Meanwhile, traffic constable Jaspal Singh also reached there and they managed to nab him. Piara Singh said the name of the accused was Balkaran Singh and also disclosed that the accused would be handed to the Civil Lines police post. Attempts were made to contact Mayor Baljeet Singh Bir Behman but he disconnected the call and switched off his mobile phone. When a call was made to his residential landline phone number, his son said the details would be given after an hour. To confirm the incident, when SHO, Civil Lines police post, Sandeep Singh, was contacted, he said, “I received the information about the incident but I am not sure about the name of victim.” |
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‘CM okays Rs 4 cr for development work’
Barnala, November 1 SAD MLA Balber Singh Ghunus said that he met chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and apprised him about the development projects needed for the area. He also presented a list of the work formally approved by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal
on the occasion of Dussehra at the village gurudwara. He said that the chief minister had sent the first grant of Rs 20 lakh for the purpose. Today, he gave a cheque of Rs 3 lakh to Patti Bir Singh panchayat and the rest of the cheques to the panchayats concerned would be distributed on Sunday. He claimed that party workers were showing enthusiasm for the SAD rally scheduled for November 7. Election campaign for MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa would be launched at the rally, he said.
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Dasmesh School’s students honoured
Faridkot, November 1 The function was organised to honour all the sportspersons who represented Punjab in the 52nd and the 53rd National School Games and brought laurels to the state. Chief guest, Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, gave away the prizes to the winners. Later, Mohreet Kaur Sandhu was invited to the Nehru Stadium, Faridkot, to light the torch on the opening of the 59th Punjab State Sports Shootball, Basketball and Kabaddi Competition held at Faridkot on
October 20. |
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Youth killed in Mansa
Mansa, November 1 According to information gathered from police sources, Kuldeep Singh, son of Mela Singh, was murdered while he was sleeping at home. His family members do not suspect anyone. Parmjeet Singh, SHO of Bhikhi police station, said that after conducting the post-mortem examination, the body was handed over to the family members.
— OC |
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Meeting held
Bathinda: The members of the Punjab Field and Workshop Workers Union’s local branch met here and criticised the state government for delaying the disbursement of the increased dearness allowance (DA).
— TNS
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Bound by the orders of the High Court, the district administration today awakened from its slumber and took all 18, including prisoners and jail police staff, who were injured in a brawl that took place three days back, to the Civil Hospital for medical examination.
