Bathinda, February 20
The foundation stone of the much-awaited super specialty cancer and cardiac care hospital for Malwa would be laid here on Sunday. The facility would help in reducing the patients’ dependence on hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, Bikaner and Agra.

A chunk of 4.8 acres of vacant land on the premises of the civil hospital will be utilised for the purpose.

The construction is scheduled to be completed within 18 months and the hospital would tentatively be commissioned by 2011.

As per the details gathered from various sources, the hospital will have a capacity of 200 beds and comprehensive primary and secondary level services in all specialties.

Considering the major problem of the belt, there would be super-specialised treatment in two specific disciplines: cardiac care and cancer (oncology).

The hospital would be developed on a public-private-partnership (PPP) basis and the Max Healthcare Institute Limited has been selected as a concessionaire for 50 years through bidding carried out by the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).

The Max will invest Rs 100 crore and at the end of the lease, the assets would be returned to the Government of Punjab. The state government would have five per cent share in the gross revenue generated.

Confirming the details, Shoumik Guha, head of the hospital management contracts of the Max Healthcare Institute Limited, who was in Bathinda today, said, “It would be a landmark PPP project and would benefit the residents of Malwa.”

The Malwa belt is infamous for the large number of cancer patients and CM Parkash Singh Badal had assured a state-of-the-art hospital in Bathinda. Now, Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal will lay the stone for it. 

Bathinda, February 20
The foundation stone of a five-star hotel, first in the region, would be laid here on Sunday.

According to the notice issued by the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) vide reference number PIDB/CGM/09/1021, the project has been awarded to the Vipul Hospitality Limited in a tie-up with the Sarovar Hotels and Resorts Limited for a concession period of 60 years.

The awardees, with an investment of Rs 100 crore, would construct it within two years and on a public-private-partnership (PPP) basis. The hotel would be constructed on approximately 2.55 acres of land belonging to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) in the centre of Lake No. 2 and 3.

About the revenue to the state government/PSEB, the agreement states that it would be from annual concession fee or the revenue share, whichever is higher. The minimum gross revenue ensured from the project for the state is estimated at Rs 192 crore for the entire period with the annual concession fee starting at Rs 36 lakh. It would be increased at the rate of six per cent per year.

As per the salient features of the project, there would be a minimum of 75 rooms, a coffee shop, a restaurant and a lounge for at least 50 persons. It would also have a hall, conference room, commercial area, souvenir shops, etc. One of the attractive features is expected to be the shikaras in the lakes. There is also a proposal to start floating rooms.

Confirming the details, DC Rahul Tewari said, “The project will have a multiplier effect on the city’s economy.”

Bathinda, February 20
After being mired in controversies, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has now given thousands of farmers a reason to smile. These farmers were issued demand notices under the Own-Your-Tubewell (OYT) scheme before it was discontinued.

According to PSEB sources, now, the connections would be released on a first-cum-first-serve policy, but at a fresh price for the transformers, varying according to the power capacity.

As per details gathered from the west zone of the PSEB, which covers six districts — Bathinda, Moga, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Muktsar — there are 17,630 farmers, who would be considered this time. There were a total of 34,950 applications out of which 181 were pending for their test reports, 17,630 have been issued a demand notice and 17,320 have not completed formalities.

The zone is divided into four circles as Mansa is included in Bathinda circle and Moga in Faridkot. In Bathinda circle, demand notice has been issued in 7,971 cases while in Faridkot, there are 5046, in Ferozepur 1,491 and in Muktsar, 3,122. Further, the maximum cases of non-compliance is also in Bathinda circle (12567). Faridkot has 2185, Ferozepur has 1472 and Muktsar 1096 cases.

The figures state that in the zone, till January, 2009, a total of 18,947 connections were issued under the scheme.

Officers, unwilling to quote their names, said the scheme had to cross many hurdles including intra-departmental and also from the farmers.

As per the fresh directions, only those cases will be entertained in which demand notices have been issued. This time, transformer and other related equipment would be transported to the place of installation by the PSEB it self and inspection of 11 KV line would also be done by the Board officials.

Bathinda, February 20
The Baba Farid College of Education organised a national seminar on ‘professional ethics and values in teacher education’ here today.

The seminar explained what ‘values’ meant when it came to education and that they were an integral part of education.

Eminent speakers from Punjab and other states spoke on the occasion. They explained the ways to inculcate ethical values in students, teachers and society.

Dr Shaminder Singh Gill, vice-chancellor, Baba Farid Medical University, Faridkot, said, “Girls are doing better than boys. People working in the medical field have more women then men. Universities have more girls than boys, which is a healthy sign.”

Dr Parwinder Singh said many people of high repute today were from government schools. “It is not that government schools are bad. They are being made so. They are left only to cater to poor kids now. Rich don’t send their wards to government schools.”

He said a child, who already had a troubled family background and poor upbringing, required special care and concern from teachers.

Parwinder emphasised on five principles of education, namely dignity, respect, integrity, empathy and justice.

Dr Harminder Singh paid more importance to what a seminar actually meant and aimed at. He said, “Seminars are not only for coming and listening to what people say. Everyone present should participate and make it more of an interaction.”

Meanwhile, the principals of colleges outside Punjab present at the seminar faced problems as the speakers from Punjab used Punjabi as a medium to put their thoughts across to the audience.

Sriganganagar/Abohar, February 20
The general manager of the North-West Railway, Ashok Kumar Gupta, visited different railway stations falling under Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts on Thursday amid tight security cover.

The security ring around senior railway officials had been further strengthened following threats from the Pakistan-based terrorist groups that Bikaner and other railway stations may be blown off, sources said. The GM was accompanied by DRM Alok Ranjan and other officials of the Bikaner division.

They faced protests at Suratgarh from locals who rued that by raising walls on the "thoroughfare" the authorities were trying to prevent 30,000 citizens from going one side to the other.

The GM, however, agreed to expedite the proposal for a railway overbridge to connect two parts of Suratgarh after clearance from the state PWD and local Municipal Council.

The GM later said work on Sriganganagar-Jaipur broad gauge line will be completed by March 2011 to facilitate better traffic from Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar. He assured that pending work on broad gauge link between Sriganganagar and Sarupganj will be started after two months. This will help in running train from Sriganganagar to Bikaner and onwards.

The NGOs demanded double track on Bathinda-Suratgarh section, extension of Bandra-Bikaner Express train to Bathinda and Delhi-Bathinda Kisan Express to Suratgarh. The GM said most of the problems would be solved upon replacing the meter gauge track between Sriganganagar and Sadulpur.

Bathinda, February 20
The Ex-Servicemen Welfare Union Punjab has written an open letter to the Members of Parliament. The letter was aimed at explaining anomalies existing in pensions of ex-servicemen. The letter states that the SPC has shocked pensioners from the Defence forces. The letter said the salaries of high-profile politicians were revised without any objection from the UPA and the NDA but when it came to defence forces, criticism came from everywhere.

The ex-servicemen blamed every party for cheating the defence personnel by making false promises in election campaign. ‘One rank, one pension’ issue has again been highlighted in the letter, which the ex-servicemen complain, is being neglected.

The ex-servicemen felt that ‘god and soldier were remembered only in adversity’. The memories of the Sino-Indian war of 1962 was mentioned in the letter and it was also stated that defence forces have stood the test of time by undertaking duties assigned to them irrespective of their character. Through their letter, the ex-servicemen have appealed to all to consider their interest. — TNS

Bathinda, February 20
The wife and son of a former minister have been booked by the Bathinda police for duping a woman, presently settled in the US. The police has also booked three more persons, including an advocate, in this connection.

All have been accused of usurping six acres of land worth crores of the NRI, Jaspal Kaur, located near ITI chowk, here.

As per the details, Kotwali police have booked five persons, including Rajinder Kaur and Sandeep Singh, wife and son respectively of late Teja Singh, former minister, Prabh Kirat Singh, advocate Chandi Parshad and Satwinder Pal Singh of Chandigarh, under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the IPC.

Police sources said the accused had duped the NRI by preparing fake documents of the property. The accused first prepared a fake power of attorney in the name of Rajinder Kaur and she further transferred it to her grandson.

In her complaint, the NRI gave an affidavit to the Bathinda police that she had issued power of attorney in the name of her son only. But the accused with the help of an advocate prepared the power of attorney by mentioning a wrong address in Chandigarh.

After receiving the formal complaint from Gurpreet Singh, kin of the lady, the SSP Bathinda forwarded the case to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW, which during the investigation, could not trace the Chandigarh address, mentioned in the registry.

Confirming the facts, in-charge of the EOW, HS Riar said earlier, both the families were having good relations but after the death of Teja Singh, there was some dispute among them.