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Cong meet to unite dissidents today
Doctors ‘cremate’ SAD-BJP govt
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Ambala DRM inspects Abohar
H.K. Jaggi, DRM, Ambala, talking to officials during the inspection at the railway station in Bathinda on Monday. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera
Trader held in OYT fraud case
Mystery shrouds death of 3-yr-old
Child labour menace looms large in city
Plans afoot to fortify rly station
Farmers advised to sow malt barley
Medical centres told to check bio-medical waste
BMC councillors to meet today
Cops sensitised on AIDS
Birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Dass celebrated
Exam for girls of class VI, VII on Feb 14
Man burnt alive
Opponents trying to frame me: Moffar
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Cong meet to unite dissidents today
Bathinda, February 9 Kataria told this correspondent today that office-bearers of the urban and rural wings of the party and leaders of the frontal organisations, including the Congress Sewa Dal, NSUI, Youth Congress, women wing of the party and the INTUC, had also been invited to the meeting. The party would contest the Lok Sabha elections unitedly and differences would be sorted out, he said. Kataria, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha and a senior Congressman of Punjab, has been assigned the task of uniting the warring factions of the party and also identifying the candidate with winning prospects. He is also a former state Congress chief. Raninder Singh, general secretary of the PPCC and son of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, and Surinder Singla, a former minister, are front-runners for the party ticket for Bathinda seat. All but one sitting MLAs of Bathinda and Mansa districts have backed Raninder Singh for the ticket. Kataria said forging unity in the party would not be a problem as Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal had already started addressing public meetings jointly at various places in the state. |
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Doctors ‘cremate’ SAD-BJP govt
Bathinda, February 9 Ravi Kant, vice-president of the RMSA, said the post-mortem conducted on the Akali-BJP government late last night revealed that it did not have brain or heart but a massive liver to digest the huge amounts of corruption and deaf ears to help circumvent the large doses of criticism. Meanwhile, the indefinite chain hunger strike of the agitating doctors entered the sixth day today. Earlier, while addressing the gathering besides the 'dead body' of the government, Aslam Parvez, president of the RMSA, condoled the deaths of the infants at the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. A two-minute silence was also observed for the departed souls. He said that the rural doctors and villagers would not forget the incident and the government would have to pay a heavy price for this in coming days. Later, in the afternoon before burning the effigy of the government, massive gathering of rural doctors, leaders of various associations, social workers, took the 'dead body' of the incumbent government in a huge procession of cars and mobikes around the city. The body was also kept outside the local office of the SAD (B) and area in-charge Sarup Singla's office. |
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Ambala DRM inspects Abohar
Abohar, February 9 DRM Harjeet Kumar Jaggi during an inspection here took strong exception to Gupta's "way of talking". None of the consumer activists objected as the police pushed Gupta out alleging that he was not behaving properly and had entered the railway platform without purchasing the ticket. Interestingly, none of the other citizens, who thronged the railway platform to welcome the DRM besides submitting memorandum had purchased a platform ticket, sources said. As per information available, Gupta was furious over alleged apathy of the railway authorities towards the bridge being used by hundreds of citizens twice a day. He also resented that the road that linked the over-bridge with Nai Abadi had not been widened despite repeated requests. The DRM revealed that maximum number of cases (62) against the Rail-Roko agitations had been registered during the year in the Ambala division. The railway officials had requested the Punjab DGP and Principal Secretary (Home) to formulate a strong mechanism to check reoccurrence of such agitations. Representatives of North Zone Railway Passengers Association, Consumer Movement and former members of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee said the DRM that the 65 KV generator installed at the railway station here has not been functioning properly ever since its installation and required repair frequently. This upsets the light arrangements during night hours when the PSEB enforced unscheduled cuts. The DRM reportedly asked the concerned officials to get the 65 KV generator replaced by 115 KV unit by April end. They regretted that the number of AC chair cars in the Sriganganagar-Delhi Inter-City Express train has been reduced from two to one. The NGOs further demanded increase in staff at enquiry window during night hours since most of the express trains leave the station after 8 pm. They desired that the long awaited Abohar-Fazilka rail link be completed by June end.
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Problem of porters to be solved soon:
DRM
Sudhanshu Verma Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 9 Jaggi disclosed that the railway had identified altogether 72 such level-crossing in the division on which the incidence of school-vehicles were high. The DRM was talking to the media at Bathinda station on Monday during the day-long inspection of the Sriganganagar section. Jaggi's inspection is also linked with the inspection of the General Manager of NR who is scheduled to inspect the Sriganganagar-Bathinda section excluding Bathinda on February 18 and 19. Earlier, the DRM along with other senior railway officials of Ambala division, including SDCM, SDOM, SDPO, DSC, arrived here in the evening. He inspected newly-constructed pay-to-use toilets, platforms and others areas. He also took stock of the ongoing construction of the railway stadium. He said that the railway was mulling over the proposals of constructing a subway and ramp at Bathinda station where direct access to platforms was non-existence. He also said that the problem of porters was likely to be solved in two months as the department would soon take a major policy decision in this regard. The DRM instructed the officials concerned to make extra efforts to keep the railway premises neat and tidy. He said that since Bathinda was considered as one of the important stations, the railway was taking all possible steps on security front. The RPF, GRP and civil police were working in tandem to avoid any untoward incident, he said. The representatives of several associations, including Pool Banao Sangarsh Committee, submitted their memorandum to the DRM and reiterated their demands of competing underground braige, land for RO plant etc. He also met the officials of the NFL, the Ambuja and the GNDTP. ATM Bathinda, SS, ASS and others officials accompanied the DRM.
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Trader held in OYT fraud case
Moga, February 9 Jatinder Singh, who runs an electrical goods shop at Dharamkot was arrested and produced before the local court of Kuljit Pal Singh that sent him to police remand for two days for further probe. The illegal sale of OYT transformers came to light in the month of June last year when Jatinder levelled allegations against his business partner Rakesh Mehta of Jai Bajrang Electrical Store a Moga-based authorised dealer of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) that he paid a sum of Rs 18 lakh to him but Mehta sent him transformers of Rs 7 lakh only. He alleged that Mehta had duped him of Rs 11 lakh by not sending the remaining 22 transformers for which he had already paid the money
to him. On June 18, 2008, when a consignment of transformers came to Mehta's shop, Jatinder rang up the police saying that unauthorised transformers had arrived in town, following which, the police conducted a raid and took the truck loaded with transformers into custody and registered a case of fraud against Mehta. However, during the course of investigations, it came to light that Jatinder had got printed a fake bill book of Jai Bajrang Electrical Store and booked transformers of the farmers by taking advance money from them. The police arrested him last evening for committing this fraud and duping many farmers of
lakhs. |
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Mystery shrouds death of 3-yr-old
Bathinda, February 9 According to sources, parents of the boy, Balkaran Singh of Sivian and Amandeep Kaur of village Kothe Guru, had a dispute since after their marriage, which took place four years ago. As per the details procured, the boy's maternal side has been accusing the father of being a drug addict and murdering the boy. But the boy's paternal side has been claiming that his death was due to some illness. Sensing the gravity of the matter, Thermal police took the body in its custody and handed it over to the father's side after the postmortem conducted at the civil hospital. Talking to the media, Ajaib Singh, maternal grandfather of the deceased, said the couple had a dispute over the dowry soon after their wedding. He said they had done all possible at the time of the marriage but he kept demanding more. "Later, he started beating my daughter and she returned to us and we filed a case with the crime against women cell, Bathinda, from where the case was referred to Dyalpura police station for investigation. About a year back, Balkaran, in an attempt to kill, threw the child from a wall," said a sobbing Ajaib Singh. "My daughter took the child along with her but later Balkaran took him along to his village. The child died on Saturday evening and we came to know about his death on Sunday morning. We are sure that Balkaran or his family members killed him and then attempted to hide the facts from us." On the other hand, Balkaran's kin, who were also in the hospital, refuted the allegations and said the child had died of pneumonia. When contacted, Thermal police said the case was under investigation and inquest proceedings had been initiated. After the postmortem report, the accused would be booked under the related provisions of law. |
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Child labour menace looms large in city
Bathinda, February 9 Rani, a 10-year-old girl, hails from UP and has been working as a domestic help in the city for the past three years. She says, “Ye nahi karenge toh kya
karenge.” Her father is a labourer and she has four siblings. “As my father cannot cater to all of us, my mother and I work to support the financial needs of the family,” she said. She felt that what she does was much better than begging. She mops the floor, cleans utensils and washes dirt off many houses at the age when she should be studying and playing.
Raju is seven years old and delivers ironed clothes to homes. His father provides laundry service. Raju rides a cycle, which is double his size. Someone gave it to him because earlier he used to walk the distance to deliver clothes at customers' doorsteps. His feet barely touch the pedal of the cycle and he finds it difficult at times to ride on the busy roads in the city. “It is double my size but it is better than walking,”Raju happily said. The underprivileged children felt that it was better for them to work rather than sitting at home and becoming victims of violence, which according to them takes place often at their
homes. Shashi Tyagi, district programme officer, women and child development, Bathinda, when contacted, said, “We get an annual grant of Rs 2.25 per child. We got a grant of Rs 2
crore, which we withdrew and gave to the Zila Parishad. If the government wants to get rid of the menace it has to think about rehabilitating these kids. Poverty is the main cause of child
labour. They do it under their parents’ pressure and if withdrawn, they would return to it as they don’t get enough food also when sent to government centres where such children are kept.” |
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Plans afoot to fortify rly station
Bathinda, February 9 The divisional security commissioner (DSC) of RPF
Ambala, S.Z. Khan, while talking to The Tribune here on Monday, said that a proposal in this regard, which had got approval at the divisional level, had been sent to the headquarters for further consideration. He said that it would like plugging the loopholes by constructing home-to-home wall. Khan was here during an inspection of the station carried out by the DRM
Ambala. Sources in the railway said that besides beefing up the security at platforms, parking areas and other places, stepping up safety at yards is also considered essential by the RFP. Talking about deployment of commandos at Bathinda station, Khan said their positioning is on the cards but in the later stage as Bathinda comes under the phase-II of the Integrated Security System
(ISS) as per the threat perception. |
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Farmers advised to sow malt barley
Bathinda, February 9 G.S. Dhindsa, a scientist in plant breeding, PAU, said here today that the variety - DWRUB-52 - was released last year for commercial cultivation in the northwestern plains and its yield had been good. The variety was being sown in Punjab and it was expected to reduce the burden on industry, which had to import grain/malt for producing quality beer, he informed. The scientist added that the decision to release this variety was taken as malt barley was becoming popular in Punjab due to increasing demand by the breweries. Until recently, the quality of grain used for malting/brewing purpose was an impediment for indigenous malting and brewing industry to compete with the quality of malt being produced abroad, he revealed. Sarvjeet Singh, another scientist with the PAU, said the barley varieties recommended earlier in the state were six-rowed and the grain quality of these varieties was not according to the standards of industry. The scientists informed that on the average of nine research trials conducted in the state, DWRUB-52 yielded 49.1 quintals per hectare as compared to 42.1 quintals per hectare of VJM 201. "In adaptive trials conducted by the Directorate of Extension Education, PAU, DWRUB 52 yielded 46.3 quintals per hectare on an average of 44 trials as compared to 40.8 quintals
per hectare of VJM 201," they added.
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Medical centres told to check bio-medical waste
Bathinda, February 9 Health institutions are reportedly flouting the bio-medical waste management rules. Many government hospitals were still operating without the permission of the prescribed authority, the PPCB. According to rules, the hospitals having over 50 beds and those with less than 50 beds but treating over 1,000 patients in a month have to obtain the authorisation from the PPCB. The rules on biomedical waste were applicable to hospitals, nursing homes, veterinary hospitals, pathological labs and blood banks. Gurnam Singh, an official of the PPCB, said here today that the hospitals, nursing homes and pathological laboratories at default were liable to penalty as per the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and other pollution control Acts. According to the rules, “Every occupier generating the biomedical waste needs to install an facility to ensure requisite treatment of waste in accordance with Schedule I and the standards prescribed in Schedule V.” Gurnam said in the absence of such facility, the hospitals would not be granted authorisation. He said action would be taken against the “erring” institutions once the applications were processed.
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BMC councillors to meet today
Bathinda, February 9 Expressing concern over the poor condition of fire-fighting equipment, the agenda of the meeting carries detailed proposal for its improvement, including a new vehicle and two sub-stations, one at Paras Ram Nagar and the other at ITI
chowk. In the agenda number 8, it has been mentioned that sub-stations were essential for the city as due to increase in traffic and mushroom growth of localities in and around the city, fire fighters face difficulties in reaching the spots to douse flames. To get the nod of the house for the construction of buildings and recruitment of staff, the matter would be placed in the house. In the agenda number 12, an issue related to the regularisation of 282 sweepers of the BMC has been mentioned. For the purpose, over Rs 21 lakh will have to be paid to them as salary. The agenda report states that keeping the less number of functions held at the open air theatre located in Rose Garden, there is a proposal to give it on contract so that it could be properly maintained. Apart from that, the Bathinda Municipal Corporation would get to earn rent on it. |
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Cops sensitised on AIDS
Bathinda, February 9 Sham
Lal, project manager, HIV/AIDS prevention programme, said the policemen were vulnerable to the disease as they were exposed to contaminated blood during accidents. The cops were informed about the causes and symptoms of the disease and necessary precautions to be taken to avoid contracting the virus. Importance of condom for prevention was discussed at length. Various myths and misconceptions were also cleared during the
program. Narinder Bassi, UNAIDS Educator, and Harjinder Kaur, counsellor of the project team, also shared their views with the police. The chief guest on the occasion was DSP Gurmeet Singh. |
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Birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Dass celebrated
Fazilka, February 9 Local MLA, Surjit Kumar Jyani participated in Guru Ravi Dass Mandir, Ambedkar Nagar and in Guru Ravi Dass Sabha Mandir, Pir Guraya. While addressing the gathering, Jyani exhorted the people to follow the holy preachings of late Guru Ravi Das. The president of Guru Ravi Dass, Ambedkar Nagar Sabha, Thakar Dass reminded Jyani that the municipal council had resolved to provide 2.5 kanal land for the construction of Guru Ravi Dass Bhawan but the land was not allocated. He demanded to get land allocated for the building. Jyani announced that he would direct the municipal council to allocate land for the building and also promised to provide financial aid for the construction of the Bhawan. Jyani and BJP district president, Mohinder Pratap Dhingra and Gurucharan Singh Musaffir, retired deputy district education officer also attended the programme at Ravi Dass Mandir in Pir Guraya locality. |
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Exam for girls of class VI, VII on Feb 14
Mansa, February 9 He said that altogether 30 students would be honoured belonging to five block of the district and Rs 2,000, Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 would be given to the girl obtaining first, second and third positions respectively. Meanwhile, district education officer (secondary) Harbans Singh Sandhu said that such competitions would be held in every school under the inspection of school teachers. Ashok Kumar and Amritpal Singh, officials of Sarve Siksha Abhiyan, said that the budget for this programme would cost nearly Rs 15 lakh. |
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Man burnt alive
Hanumangarh/Abohar, February 9 City police in-charge, Surinder Singh Rathore rushed with force and shifted the charred body of the victim to the local hospital but the doctors declared him "brought dead." Assistant engineer of the electricity department, Sayyed Imamudeen, while ruling out the possibility of short circuit said the hut is located at a distance of 70 feet from the supply pole and a cable had been provided at the meter that was installed outside the residence.
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Opponents trying to frame me: Moffar
Mansa, February 9 Addressing the media, he said that a case has been registered against him due to political vendetta. He further clarified that his driver Butta Singh was driving the car during the night. His men rushed the deceased to the hospital after the accident. The accident did not occur due to negligence. He would raise the issue in Assembly and write to the DGP Punjab and SSP Mansa in this regard, he added. |
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In a bid to unite the warring factions of the Congress in the Malwa heartland ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Virender Kataria, observer, AICC, has convened a meeting of the party's sitting and defeated MLAs, MPs and office-bearers of the areas falling within the Bathinda parliamentary constituency. The meeting will be held here tomorrow.
Rural medical officers, under the aegis of the Rural Medical Services Association, today lit the pyre of the Akali-BJP government symbolising the spiritual death of the alliance.
DRM inspects rly station
