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LS polls: SAD may field Ghubaiya
Sukhbir arrives in Ferozepur
Non-stop power supply in city as Dy CM takes oath
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Admn accepts EGS teachers’ demand
Filthy water supply irks Veer Colony residents
AIMTC for parity in fuel prices
Charan Singh Lohara, president, All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), addressing media at the residence of Barinder Singh Mann, president of Youth Akali Dal (A) in Bathinda on Wednesday.
Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera
Weather mood swing in the offing
Rs 1,280 cr for drinking water
Bank equipment gutted in fire
Bishnoi Sabha members meet Gehlot
Mystery shrouds death of man
New Fazilka BDPO assumes office
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LS polls: SAD may field Ghubaiya
Ferozepur, January 21 The chief minister Prakash Singh
Badal, his son SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and other senior leaders of the party are holding a state-level conference of the Rai Sikh community at Jalalabad in this border district on Thursday. Sources in the SAD revealed that the Badals may announce Ghubaiya's name as their candidate from this constituency, which would also possibly end the speculations of the BJP's claim from this Lok Sabha
seat. Ghubaiya, who currently represents the Jalalabad assembly constituency, is a popular leader of the Rai Sikhs, the community that comprise more than 35 per cent of the total population in this border district. He is likely to face the firebrand Congress leader Jagmeet Singh Brar of the Congress whose name has been recommended to the party high command by the state unit from this constituency and is considered as a strong contender even as there are few more
aspirants. Political observers say that it is likely to be straight fight between the
SAD-BJP and Congress candidates no matter who fights the elections. Jagmeet has an advantage this time that the areas of
Muktsar, his home town and Malout areas had been included in this constituency after the delimitation. The Zira sub-division dominated by Jat Sikhs that was earlier part of this constituency has been included with the Khadur Saheb constituency. The policy makers of the SAD feel that the Zira sub-division was their stronghold and if it had not been removed from Ferozepur constituency then they would have definitely fielded a Jat Sikh candidate. Moreover, Congress has a good mass base in Muktsar district and Jagmeet Brar has the capability to mobilise the voters. Therefore, the better option left before the SAD is to field a Rai Sikh the community that enjoy dominance in the areas of Guru
Harsahai, Jalalabad, Fazilka and Abohar areas. The SAD leadership feels that they could consolidate the votes of Rai Sikhs in their favour to give a strong fight. The Congress hopes on Jagmeet to garner support of the Jat Sikhs. The Jat Sikhs also comprise 40 per cent of the total population but their votes are divided and no party is in a position to consolidate these votes in its
favour. If Ghubaiya's name is announced by the SAD leadership tomorrow, then the chances of Jagmeet Brar getting the party ticket brightens. Another main contender, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi sitting MLA from Guru Harsahai constituency is neither a Jat Sikh nor a Rai Sikh. The another aspirant former minister Hans Raj Joshan is a Rai Sikh but the Congress cannot bet on him because his entry in the electoral battle could only divide the votes of Rai Sikhs but cannot garner the support of Jat Sikhs. Based on the overall socio-political scenario, the political observers feel that there is a possible electoral fight between Ghubaiya and Brar in the Lok Sabha elections from this constituency. |
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Ferozepur: The SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal after taking the oath as deputy chief minister of the state straightaway arrived here in Ferozepur to hold an important meeting of the party leadership, besides, trying to console the BJP leaders who are claiming their seat from here.
Sources close to the junior Badal revealed that he would hold dinner diplomacy with the BJP leaders after holding a meeting with the local MP Zora Singh Mann, irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, other senior party leaders and local MLAs. Badal is likely to take final call on Ghubaiya’s name tonight. When the news report was last filed no SAD leader was willing to talk on the issue. This correspondent tried to contact Sukhbir Badal on his mobile phone but he could not be contacted.
— TNS
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Non-stop power supply in city as Dy CM takes oath
Bathinda, January 21 The reason is very simple. Due to the live telecast of the oath-taking ceremony on various cannels, there was no disruption in power supply. As per information available, power gets suspended at 10.30 am for a few hours on a regular basis. But there was no such power cut today indicating the eagerness of the ruling party to enable people to watch the ceremony that was attended by a number of bigwigs and senior political leaders.
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Admn accepts EGS teachers’ demand
Bathinda, January 21 Prithpal Singh Fazilka, state president of the Union, said, “We met the secretary in the morning and after hearing us, he agreed to our demand for admission to the D.Ed course.” Sources said the government would release an advertisement within a few days, which would contain an application for the D.Ed course. The sources added that the authorities have asked the EGS teachers, who were unable to fill up the form for admission to the course, to fill up the form this time. The teachers were assured at the meeting that admission would be provided to all the teachers after 10 days. The teachers told The Tribune that they would be admitted to the 17 DIETs meant for diploma in education in the state. Prithpal said around nine people, along with a DSP and DRO from Bathinda, had gone for the meeting to Chandigarh. It is noteworthy that over 3,000 EGS teachers were rendered jobless after the government closed the EGS centres in the state. The government had promised admission to the D.Ed course, which would be considered equal to an ETT teacher’s qualification, and after a long struggle the demand of the EGS teachers was accepted today. |
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Filthy water supply irks Veer Colony residents
Bathinda, January 21 Today, some residents of Veer Colony in the city showed a bottle of filthy water to the TNS. They also said that this was not the first incident and they get dirty water supply every alternate day. It may be mentioned that a day earlier, The Tribune published a story about the garbage left to rot in the Sirhind canal, the main source of drinking water for the city. But the authorities concerned are
indifferent to the problem. The reason for such apathy might be better known to the officials concerned but the residents have started blaming them health problems. A noted doctor in Veer Colony said that every morning, when the tap is opened, they allow the water to keep flowing to allow for the flow of clean water. When contacted, the executive engineer of water supply department, Dalip Kumar, said, “We can comment only after proper checking in the morning when fresh water would again be supplied. I can only say that many cases come to us where domestic water pipes, which pass under the sewage drain lines, get rusted. Due to this, the water pipes get negative pressure and take in sewage. When we release the supply, dirty water comes out first.” “I assure that the menace would be checked as swiftly as we can,’’ he said. |
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AIMTC for parity in fuel prices
Bathinda, January 21 He lamented that the union government had slashed the price of air traffic fuel (ATF) eighth time in the past two months, bringing it down to Rs 29 per litre from Rs 74 per litre. But the price of diesel, which was used by truckers, farmers, industry and other small transporters, had been reduced by Rs 2 per litre only. Lohara said the UPA government was more concerned about airlines than trucks operated by “aam aadmi”. The AIMTC president said the Union government had claimed that it was not slashing the price of diesel because it was making up for the losses suffered by government oil companies when oil prices were above $70 per barrel. Another major demand of the truckers is to break the alleged cartel of tyre companies, which have raised tyre prices from Rs 17,000 to Rs 30,000 per pair. Despite 40 to 70 per cent fall in the price of rubber in international market, price of tyres had not been lowered by the companies. Other demands of the AIMTC included exemption from toll tax. “Owners of trucks were biggest employer of the semi-literate youth and exempting them from toll tax was in national interest,” Lohara said. The AIMTC president demanded that the government should introduce a bailout package for the sector to address issues such as high price of diesel, tyres, and permits besides other demands. The list also includes levying uniform 4 percentage point VAT on diesel, scrapping registration and return filing requirements in the new Carriers Act, reducing tyre prices by 30-35 per cent and rolling back national permit fee from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,500. The transporters also want a moratorium on all instalments and waiver of interest on truck finance for at least six months. “We will not budge till the government accepts our long-pending demands,” Lohara said. |
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Weather mood swing in the offing
Bathinda, January 21 The condition is, however, likely to change from Thursday evening or Friday as the system for the overcast sky accompanied with precipitation is once again developing. As far as the weather conditions for the last two days are concerned, the mercury has been hovering around 5.5 degree Celsius and 19 degrees, at minimum and maximum level, respectively. On Wednesday, the mercury recorded 6 degree Celsius and 19.5 degrees, as per the Agro-MeT advisory services, PAU Regional Station, Bathinda. According to the weather forecast made by the IMD, Chandigarh, for Bathinda region on Tuesday and received by the Agro-MeT advisory services here, the weather is likely to remain dry and clear till Thursday. There is, however, also a possibility of the beginning of partial overcast conditions in some pockets of the region from Thursday evening. Sources in the regional station said that the western disturbances were once again approaching the region. There was possibility of partial overcast to overcast conditions from Friday, the sources said, adding that the region might also experience rain on Saturday and Sunday. The mercury, which is hovering around 6 degree Celsius at minimum-level these days, may repeat its behaviour on Thursday also, but it may increase from Friday onwards, sources said.
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Rs 1,280 cr for drinking water
Mansa, January 21 Bhunder further said that under the scheme besides improving water supply and sewerage system in the villages, the ponds would also be cleaned. In addition to it, sanitation committees would also be setup at village level for the smooth execution of work, he added. Chief executive officer of Zila Parisad, Baljeet Singh Sandhu, said that the pilot scheme of the World Bank was being implemented in the villages of Mansa district such as Doddra, Ghudda Wala, Saidewala, Malikpur Bheemra, Mander, Toddar Pur and Ramgarh Sahpuria. At two places, the work of establishing water supply houses was almost complete. He further said that along with the World Bank scheme, 13 more villages had been selected for water supply and sanitation. These villages are Jalbaira, Sherkhawala, Joia, Burj Jhabbar, Malok and Mankhera.
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Bank equipment gutted in fire
Bathinda, January 21 Branch manager R.K. Pratham, while speaking to the media on the spot, said the bank staff had left for the day at about 8 pm and nothing untoward had been noticed till then. It was only at around 2 am that the bank security guard noticed smoke coming out of the branch and raised an alarm. Two fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames in an operation that continued for an hour. According to preliminary reports, the fire broke out in the computer room of the bank, ostensibly because of short-circuit. A final version of the causes behind the fire, however, is still awaited. Furniture, computers and air-conditioners were gutted. However, all the important records have been saved, the branch manager said.
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Bishnoi Sabha members meet Gehlot
Hanumangarh/Abohar, January 21 The delegation included Looni MLA Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, state general secretary Anil Dharnia and chief spokesman Shriram Bishnoi. Interestingly, Gehlot welcomed the workers with garlands and lauded the NGO for its deep concern over wild life and environment. He assured to extend all kind of assistance in this campaign of the Bishnoi community besides assuring representation in the government bodies. The workers offered him guard of honour and organised a rally also through the main bazaars to bring awareness on environment, Prabhu Ram spokesman for the delegation informed. The delegation reportedly apprised the CM of activities of the wood mafia in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh district and regretted that even green trees were being cut in certain villages.
— OC |
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Abohar, January 21 As per sources, the victim consumed a poisonous substance today and died after he was shifted to the civil hospital. The police reportedly recovered a handwritten letter from his pocket which alleged that Sandeep Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Satish Kumar and Sheenam had been harassing him for the last few months. In another such case, the wife of the victim along with four others were booked by the police after the death of one Vikas Kathuria of Malout. He was found unconscious near thebus stand and died in the hospital later. His brother Subhash Chander reportedly told the police here that Vikas was frustrated as his wife preferred to live with her parents in Abohar. Those named in the FIR include wife Meenakshi, her mother Santosh Rani and brothers. — OC
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New Fazilka BDPO assumes office
Fazilka, January 21 Mann took the charge following the suspension of Saroj Kaushal, officiating BDPO. Kaushal who has been working as an accountant has been suspended following detection of alleged irregularities in cash book during surprise checking by divisional deputy director, Panchayati Raj, Jalandhar about four weeks back. |
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Mansa, January 21 Bhikhi police had registered the case. — OC
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Bathinda, January 21
