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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Vet pharmacists call off hunger strike
Gulzar Singh Ranike, minister for animal husbandry, offering juice to the pharmacist who was on hunger strike in Bathinda on Sunday. Bathinda, January 25
In an attempt to avoid an unseemly situation on Republic Day, Gulzar Singh Ranike, minister for animal husbandry, today persuaded the unemployed veterinary pharmacists, who were staging protest here for the past 10 days, to call off their fast-unto-death stir.

Gulzar Singh Ranike, minister for animal husbandry, offering juice to the pharmacist who was on hunger strike in Bathinda on Sunday. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera

Porters promoted
Rail passengers left in lurch
Bathinda, January 25
Welcome to Bathinda station and be ready for a bitter experience. Sounds bizarre! But this is what the thousands of train passengers are actually going through every day at the junction, the biggest in Asia. Appears exaggerated? Consider this: There are nine platforms at the Bathinda station and all are half-a-kilometre long. It means, you have to walk more than half-a-kilometre — about 700 meters precisely — and also have to climb a foot over-bridge, which includes 60 stairs, to catch a train and come out of the station. Importantly, you can’t escape the stairs.

Poor fencing at Deer Park
Sandalwood scent lures miscreants
To save chandan trees from theft, authorities at Bir Talab Deer Park have removed the boards carrying information about these trees. Bathinda, January 25
Absence of proper fencing at the Bir Talab Deer Park has exposed its ‘chandan’ trees to theft while the animals at the park have become vulnerable to diseases. The park, located at about 10 km from the city, is fenced with barbed wire (one km) and a five-feet wall (about one-and-a-half km). The wall is in a dilapidated condition at several places.

To save chandan trees from theft, authorities at Bir Talab Deer Park have removed the boards carrying information about these trees. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera

Dy Mayor, councillor at loggerheads
Bathinda, January 25
The tussle between the deputy mayor and a councillor of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now reached their party (BJP) high command. The deputy mayor has complained of alleged misbehaviour by the councillor.

Dr Jitendra Jain

President’s medal for DIG
Bathinda, January 25
Dr Jitendra Jain, deputy inspector general of police (Faridkot range) is among the three IPS officers of the Punjab police who have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

Pratap House wins trophy
Sriganganagar/Abohar, January 25
The annual sports meet was held at Sadhuwali Cantonment The chief guest at the spectacular inaugural session Col and Mrs Sood declared the meet open in a true display of sportsmanship, discipline, balance and determination. The students participated in a number of events like jalebi race, frog race, 100-metre race with a lot of enthusiasm amidst loud cheers by the non-participants.

Two killed in road mishap
Mansa, January 25
Two motorcyclists were killed in a road accident near Bhikhi today. According to information available, an Army truck, that was on its way from Bhikhi to Nabha, had hit the motorcycle near a marriage palace on the Mansa-Sunam road.

Health camp for slum women
Fazilka, January 25
To offer better health facilities to slum- dwelling women, the health department, with the cooperation of Chemists Association, Fazilka, organised a free medical check-up camp for women at a local civil slum area dispensary here today.

AWWA holds workshop on care of special kids
Sriganganagar/Abohar, January 25
To increase awareness on care and management of special children in the society, the Amogh AWWA (Army Wives Welfare Association) organised a workshop at the Maneshaw Officers' Institute at Sriganganagar Military Station on Saturday.

	‘Canada needs skilled workers despite slowdown’ Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, January 25 An upcoming leader of the ruling Conservative Party in Canada, Parm Gill, has said that there was no effect on job avenues and on immigration policy of the nation due to the prevailing worldwide economic slowdown. In an exclusive interview, he said the total population of Canada has just crossed 33 million mark. Therefore, this vast country with very less population was still short of required skilled workforce. He came here to preside over a kabbadi tournament sponsored by NRIs of Canada. Gill said that his government had already decided to maintain its immigration level in the year 2009, welcoming between 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents. The 2009 plan includes up to 156,600 immigrants in the economic category, 71,000 in the family category and 37,400 in the humanitarian category. Adding that the Punjabi youth has a good chance to emigrate to Canada and get jobs this year, he said the Canadian government would soon upgrade the Canadian Immigration Centre in Chandigarh and ensure that the visa refusal rate in this office was reduced from the current 55 per cent to just 20 per cent. "We will appoint counsellors who can communicate in Punjabi to make it easy for the applicants that will help the Punjabi youth to get maximum number of visas," he said. "These levels are among the highest for this country over the past 15 years and reflect a continued commitment to an immigration programme that balances Canada's economic, humanitarian and family reunification goals," he added. He said his government would bring in legislation in the next couple of weeks to protect the jobs of those already working in Canada. "We will not let anybody lose jobs due to economic slowdown in the private sector," the Conservative party leader said. In reply to a question, he said the Canadian government was well aware of the marital and other frauds committed by the NRIs here in India but can not interfere because as per the laws such criminals would have to face trial in this country. "The crimes committed by NRIs in Canada are very less, otherwise, special laws could have been introduced to check them," he said. Parm Gill further said that he would soon launch a campaign through likeminded people in Canada to educate the NRIs there not to indulge into such crimes in India to save the community from frauds.
	More families come into SAD (B) fold Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 25 Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, inducted around 200 Brahmin families to SAD (B) fold, on the third day of her mass contact programme here today. She assured the new members of their due place in the party. Speaking on the occasion, she flayed the Congress and accused its leaders of deceiving the electorate. Mrs Badal spoke at length about the achievements and ongoing development schemes being pursued by SAD (B). She said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and her son Sukhbir Badal, deputy CM, had been doing their best to solve the problems of the people. During her visit, she also met the BJP leaders and listened to their grievances and views in connection with the Lok Sabha polls. Sources said that in their interaction with Surinder Kaur Badal, the BJP leaders accused the BMC Commissioner K.K. Yadav of being prejudiced. They are believed to have alleged that Yadav did not pay heed to their proposals. They also accused a reader of the local tehsildar of ignoring them and giving importance to SAD leaders only.
	Vet pharmacists call off hunger strike Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 25 In an attempt to avoid an unseemly situation on Republic Day, Gulzar Singh Ranike, minister for animal husbandry, today persuaded the unemployed veterinary pharmacists, who were staging protest here for the past 10 days, to call off their fast-unto-death stir. After an hour-long negotiations with the representatives of the union at the camp office of the Deputy Commissioner, Ranike assured them of recruitment on a regular basis, as promised in the election manifesto of the SAD (B) at the time of assembly polls. Later, addressing the protesters, he said that following the orders of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the whole process of recruitment would be completed before the code of conduct for the parliamentary elections came into force. He added that if the code is imposed earlier. the process would be completed just after the elections. Ranike then offered juice to Gurpreet Singh Nabha, an activist of the union, who had gone on fast-unto-death since January 23. On the other hand, the protesters said they had just lifted the hunger strike and not the dharna, which would continue till the advertisement for the recruitment appeared in the newspapers. It may be mentioned that, except for the bureaucrats, no district or local SAD (B) leader was witnessed accompanying the minister during his visit. Later talking to the TNS, Ranike said the department had been making its best efforts to introduce five cattle mandis in the state and identification of land for the purpose is in the process. He said that all five mandis would have ultra-modern facilities and would be inaugurated simulataneously. To a query about why he had to give the sports and youth welfare portfolio to Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, he said, " Being a youth leader, Sukhbir Badal opted to keep the department with himself."
	Porters promoted Rail passengers left in lurch Sudhanshu Verma Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 25 Welcome to Bathinda station and be ready for a bitter experience. Sounds bizarre! But this is what the thousands of train passengers are actually going through every day at the junction, the biggest in Asia. Appears exaggerated? Consider this: There are nine platforms at the Bathinda station and all are half-a-kilometre long. It means, you have to walk more than half-a-kilometre — about 700 meters precisely — and also have to climb a foot over-bridge, which includes 60 stairs, to catch a train and come out of the station. Importantly, you can’t escape the stairs. If you have no luggage, negotiating such a path would not be an issue but what in case you have a lot of luggage. Further, what if a person happens to be elderly, above 60 years or like Considering calling a coolie? Forget it! Gone are the days when passengers were greeted by porters at the Bathinda station. This facility has become scarce here as the station has only three coolies. Only three coolies for about 20,000 passengers! Their ‘absence’ is compelling thousands of passengers, including women and senior citizens, to undergo physical and mental agony every day. And this is not happening for a day to two but for the last eight months and the Railways appear to be in deep slumber. Significantly, all this is happening at the station which besides being Asia’s biggest junction comes under the ‘A’ category of stations. On any given day, around 20,000 passengers use the station, which handles altogether 64 important trains everyday. This was not the situation before last June when in one stroke, altogether 57 porters out of 60, deployed at the station, were promoted as gangmen and no other arrangements were made till date to fill the vacuum. In addition, the incongruent ratio between the porters and the passengers has given rise to a monopoly of porters. Besides posing health hazard to the passengers, the condition has also caused serious security concern at the station as the rickshaw- pullers, grabbing the opportunity to earn easy money, have turned into ‘part-time porters’. When the RPF, the railway sources said, objected to their unauthorised entry, they started buying platform tickets leaving the security personnel in a bind. The passengers also do not discourage such activities by using the services of the rickshaw-pullers, the sources said. When contacted, the DRM Ambala division, H.K. Jaggi, talking to The Tribune over the phone on Saturday admitted to the problem being faced by the passengers. He, however, said that work was on to arrange coolies at the stations to fill the vaccum that arose after porters turned gangmen. The requirement was being sought from the stations, the DRM added. It may be mentioned that Bathinda is not an isolated case. Several other important stations under the Ambala division are also facing a shortage of porters. These stations include Ambala, Saharanpur, Chandigarh, Shimla and others, sources said.
	Poor fencing at Deer Park Sandalwood scent lures miscreants Harbinder Singh Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 25 Absence of proper fencing at the Bir Talab Deer Park has exposed its ‘chandan’ trees to theft while the animals at the park have become vulnerable to diseases. The park, located at about 10 km from the city, is fenced with barbed wire (one km) and a five-feet wall (about one-and-a-half km). The wall is in a dilapidated condition at several places. Its height has also been reduced following the accumulation of soil on its sides, which facilitates the miscreants, including stray dogs and cattle, to gain entry into the park. For want of proper fencing, ‘chandan’ trees, which have quite a high market value and are famous for their fragrance, carry the risk of getting stolen. Significantly, stray animals that gain entry to the park quite easily not only scare the inhabitants of the zoo but may transmit disease also. About 92 animals of different species, besides a large number of birds, are housed at the park. Among close to 15,000 trees of about 50 varieties, the park had some trees that were rare in the region, including ‘chandan’ (Sanatalum album). It is pertinent to note that a single night watchman, equipped with a torch and a bamboo stick, keeps a vigil over the 32-acre park. Sources in the park disclosed that recently, three to four miscreants had barged into the zoo at around midnight, roughed up the watchman, locked him into a room and started cutting couple of ‘chandan’ trees. The watchman called up an official, who was sleeping in a room on the premises of the park. The official woke up, came out of his room and yelled at the watchman. Afraid of being caught, the miscreants fled the spot. The official, then, opened the room to free the watchman. “Reporting to the police has proved futile,” the sources added. Since then, the boards along the ‘chandan’ trees have been removed so that wrong-doers don’t get to recognise the tree. Is it a solution considering that the boards carry the information about the trees to facilitate the visitors to the park? When contacted, S.P. Anand Kumar, divisional forest officer, Bathinda, said, “At present, we don’t have funds. We have sent a proposal for renovating the park to the forest department about five to six months back. It is being reviewed by the chief wildlife warden at Chandigarh. Meanwhile, we are trying to arrange funds from other sources.”
	Dy Mayor, councillor at loggerheads Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 25 The tussle between the deputy mayor and a councillor of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now reached their party (BJP) high command. The deputy mayor has complained of alleged misbehaviour by the councillor. According to information available, deputy mayor Gurinder Pal Kaur Mangat lodged a written complaint with the party high command accusing councillor of ward number 21, Krishan Garg, of misbehaving with her. Taking a serious note, the party directed Narender Mittal, district BJP president, to investigate the matter. The party has authorised the district president to issue orders against the councillor, if found guilty. Mangat told TNS that Garg had problems with her and had levelled allegations against her. He had also cast aspersions on her character, she said. “The problem began in 1999, when an inebriated Garg misbehaved with me. Though the matter was kept in abeyance, still, he kept on commenting on me in front of party workers. I did not want to create a scene. But in the recent general house meeting, he used derogatory language. So, I complained,” Mangat said. When contacted, Kamal Sharma, state BJP general secretary, “It has come to my notice. But as it is a local issue, I have asked the district president to take action.” On his part, Mittal said, “I am investigating the matter. If the allegations are proved, the councillor will be punished.” Brushing aside the allegations, Krishan Garg, the councillor in question, said, “I do not have any grudge against her. I will reply in case the party summons me.”
	President’s medal for DIG Bathinda, January 25 Dr. Jitendra Jain, deputy inspector general of police (Faridkot range) is among the three IPS officers of the Punjab police who have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service. His name has been announced for the award on the eve of the Republic Day. Jain is a 1993 batch IPS officer and belongs to Barmer in Rajasthan. Besides being engaged in literary work, Dr Jain has been playing key role against drug abuse particularly in the Malwa belt of Punjab. — TNS