Grieving relatives of persons killed in the bus collision at the Barnala Civil Hospital on Saturday. A Tribune photos: Kulbir Beera.

Barnala, February 28
The eight persons, who received critical injuries in the Barnala bus accident last night, are still fighting for life in hospitals in Patiala and Ludhiana. Ten persons were killed and 37 others were hurt in the accident on the Barnala-Bajakhana road near the sub-jail here.

The Punjab government has formed a committee, headed by Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Managing Director, PRTC, to probe the accident. The committee will submit a report in seven days.

Eye witnesses said the PRTC bus (PB04L-9904) from Chandigarh to Faridkot was crowded. The driver, to save a cyclist, took a sharp turn and hit a private mini-bus (PB29E-9541), going from Moga to Barnala. A Tata 207 vehicle (PB07Q-7644) also rammed into the mini-bus from the rear and was damaged.

Sangrur MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa visited the Civil Hospital here this afternoon. He, on behalf of the Chief Minister, announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each to the families of the deceased, Rs 50,000 to critically injured and referred to other hospitals, while Rs 25,000 was announced for other injured persons, besides free medical treatment.

Master Mohan Lal Transport Minister also announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 to all bereaved families by his department.

The scene at the hospital was heart-rending. Social workers, helping the families of victims, informed the ambulance service and langar continued the whole night. The police had set up a make-shift office in the hospital for completing documents and assisting the kin of victims. Though drivers of both buses were killed on the spot, the police has registered a case of rash driving and negligence to complete formalities.

Out of a total 37 injured, four were referred to Patiala, one each to CMC and DMCH, Ludhiana, while eight were shifted to local private hospitals. While 11 of the injured were still admitted to the Civil Hospital, the rest were discharged by today evening.

Seven of the injured belonged to Shehna village, six were from Bhadaur, four from Faridkot, three from Barnala, two from Hoshiarpur, two from Kot Kapura, three from Maur, two from Bakhtpur village, while one each was from Deepgarh, Karnal, Kothe Jhal Wale, Bhagta Bhai Ka, Cheema, Beeli and Saharanpur.

The deceased were identified as Kartar Singh (50) and his wife Veer Pal Kaur (45) of Shehna villahge, Mewa Singh (35) of Mallian village, Gurmel Singh (55) and Resham Singh (25), driver and conductor of the private mini-bus belonging to the Vishal Transport Company, and Jagroop Singh (45), driver of the PRTC bus.

The police said Rattan Singh (42) and Hardeep Singh (27), the driver and conductor of another PRTC bus and Gurwinder Dass (35) of Shehna, a private bus conductor, were also in the ill-fated bus who later succumbed to injuries.

Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) chief, party workers of which were in the hospital, also expressed grief over the incident.

Chandigarh, February 28
Outgoing Punjab DGP and newly appointed DG of the National Security Guards (NSG) NPS Aulakh said yesterday that the biggest achievement of his two-year stay at the helm of the state police was the creation of a new Police Act.

During an interaction before laying down charge, Aulakh said the new Act was the result of a careful drafting for most of 2007 before it could come into being in 2008. He said a modern Police Act replacing the old one of 1861 would ensure improved functioning of the force.

The first Punjab police officer to head the NSG said during his tenure he had also concentrated on curbing narcotic smuggling and trafficking. He said the State Narcotic Cell had been made much more active than ever before and it had resulted in record seizures. He said the past year had also been very peaceful due to alertness on the part of the force, which had recovered a large amount of weapons and explosives besides arresting 32 terrorists.

The police officer said benchmarks and procedures had been laid out for various official works.

When asked what more he could have done, Aulakh said more could be done on the drug front. “We need to make a concerted effort to stop the sale of drugs in Punjab and for this awareness as well as de-addiction programmes have to go side by side,” he added.

Asked about increased politicisation of the police force, he said “it is very easy to paint the whole police force black”. He said if allegations of increased politicisation were correct, then there should have been more complaints of bias, which was not the case. “There could be individuals who are politicised”, he added.

Amritsar, February 28
A section of Congress leaders has proposed the name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Amritsar parliamentary seat to the observer, but the onus lies upon the party high command, which is expected to finalise the name of the candidate within a week.

Congress observer Kuldeep Rathod here today said he would submit the report for Amritsar and Fatehgarh Lok Sabha seats to the high command within a week.

Rathod, general secretary, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee and member of the AICC, declined to specify the date for announcement of the candidates on the premise that it was the prerogative of the high command.

Meanwhile, he accepted that some Congress leaders met him and requested for the Prime Minister to be named candidate for the holy city. “As per my personal opinion, Dr Singh will definitely win the seat if he accepts the offer to contest from here,” said Rathod. However, he hastily added the final decision rested with the Congress high command.

When asked about the specific number of aspiring candidates from the district, he replied that being an observer he could not answer this and the authority concerned was the high command to elaborate on it

Rathod arrived here on February 25 and wound up his visit today. He would begin search for candidate for the Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary seat from March 1 and submit the report of both within the first week of March.

Sources in the Congress said apart from meeting the aspirants Rathod also visited some villages to take view from the grassroots level. He also held meetings with rural and urban units of the district Congress committee at their respective offices.

Training gun against SAD-BJP candidate for the Amritsar parliamentary seat Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rathod said the former cricketer was in the habit of using uncouth language against senior leaders which did not show him in good light.

Scoring a political point over the adversary, he demanded a code of conduct for MPs so that they could not be part of programmes being telecast regular. According to him, politics was a serious vocation and MPs being representative of public must not involve themselves in laughter and dance programmes. 

Ludhiana, February 28
The Board of Directors of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has approved the annual budget for the year 2009-10.

Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon, Chairman, PSEB, told The Tribune today that the expenditure during the year 2009-10 would be to the tune of Rs 184.28 crore against the income of Rs 162.03 crore. There would be a deficit of Rs 22 crore, which would be met through the receipt of the arrears of Rs 17.51 crore from the Social Welfare Department of the state government. 

This amount was due to the fee concession and the distribution of free books to Dalit and Other Backward Classes students. Another sum of Rs 11 crore would be received from the Income Tax Department as refund.

Dr Dhillon disclosed that the board had decided to introduce semester system in classes IX and XI from the academic session 2009-10 and 40 per cent of the syllabus would be taught in the first semester from April to September and the remaining 60 per cent in the second semester from September to March.

The chairman claimed the online system of the PSEB had proved very successful this year and there were no complaints regarding the late delivery of the roll numbers for classes VIII, X and XII examinations. More than 10,000 students received their roll numbers through the online system. Moreover, syllabus and some books were also available on the Internet. Study of computer education had also been made compulsory.

He said more than 11 lakh students were appearing in the board examinations of classes VIII, X, and XII. The examination of class X would start from March 2. Strict vigil was being observed during the examination to check copying and cheating, he added. 

Patiala, February 28
Working president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) Mohinder Singh Kaypee has made it clear that he has no hesitation in contesting from Jalandhar, provided the party high command directs him to do so.

Meanwhile, the main poll plank of the PPCC in the forthcoming general elections will be an array of issues ranging from the ‘achievements’ of the UPA government to the ‘tough’ stance against terrorism taken by it, besides the nuclear deal, arrest of price hike, the NREGA scheme, and the state government’s ‘inability’ in maintenance of the law and order situation in the state.

“I am a loyal soldier of the party and will be acting in accordance with the party high command wishes and directions. It is a different matter that the high command has not given any directions to me in this regard. On my part, there are no hassles as far as contesting the polls from Jalandhar is concerned,” said Kaypee while talking to The Tribune.

With UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi making it clear that he would not be replaced from his current position till the completion of the poll process, Kaypee has already consolidated his position within the Congress. Sonia’s gesture has put all those in an embarrassing position who were speculating that Kaypee was about to be replaced in the wake of the parliamentary polls. 

His assertion and willingness to contest from Jalandhar, in case he was directed to do so by the party high command, has further strengthened his position as it was rumoured within the party and outside earlier that he was ‘shying away’ from the Jalandhar seat as he wanted to remain in the state politics.

Referring to selection criteria for the candidates to be adopted by the party, Kaypee said the issue would be decided in the Punjab Election Committee’s meeting to be held at New Delhi on March 3. “The broad criterion would be laid in the March 3 meeting but candidates will be finalised in the party’s screening committee meeting in New Delhi on March 6. 

The meeting will be chaired by committee in charge and senior party leader Janardhan Dwivedi,” said Kaypee.

He added the party would sprearhead its poll campaign by creating awareness among masses about the ‘high-handedness’ of the SAD-BJP government and its ‘failure’ on every front.

Sangrur, February 28
Encroachment on government land, especially highways, by individuals and institutions in Sangrur town has been going on due to lack of concern of government officials of the departments concerned.

Many cases of encroachment are pending in courts. Kamal Anand, an activist of the People for Transparency, an NGO, got this information from the Municipal Council (MC), the PWD B&R and the Central Works Division (PWD B&R) here under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

He said many encroached lands were under the possession of encroachers as they had moved courts. The MC had identified 84 encroachments.

The encroached places were in the possession of individuals, religious institutions and government departments. About 22,400 sq yd of council land had been encroached on by the government by constructing a youth hostel there. Besides this, 505 sq yd of the council land was in the possession of a homoeopathic dispensary, he added.

Nearly 100 encroachments on National Highway-64 from Mahavir Chowk (near civil hospital) to fountain chowk (near district library) in a stretch of 3.6 km in Sangrur have been identified by the CWD (PWD B&R). These encroachments are by individuals and others on both sides of the highway.

The Provincial Division (PWD B&R), Sangrur, has also identified 23 encroachments on the road from Nabha Gate Kishanpura to Shivam Chowk in the town. Most of the encroachments are by individuals, while at one place, where a pump house of the council is situated, has also been included in the list of encroached land.

Anand asked the government why it had turned a blind eye to encroachments in the town and failed to remove these.

Gurdaspur, February 28
Eurasian and Sarus cranes have been spotted at unlisted and unprotected Shalla Pattan wetland in Gurdaspur district. Gurdaspur has a few natural wetlands visited by migratory fowls in winter every year. Both species face threat to existence due to habitat loss following reclamation of wetlands for agriculture. 

These two crane species do not visit other wetlands, including Harike. A team of Dr Chander Parkash, Dr Anish Dua, Rupali, Raman and Ashwani, from the Zoology Department, Khalsa College and Guru Nanak Dev University visited Shalla Pattan, Keshopur and Magar Mudhian wetlands to assess winter migratory waterfowl population.

Shalla Pattan was the key wetland where about 200 of Eurasian cranes were seen. Earlier, the wetland drew attention of ornithologists and wildlife experts due to influx of Sarus cranes in 2007. However, this year Eurasian cranes visited the wetland in large numbers.

This wetland is drawing attention of Sarus and Eurasian cranes every year, making it an important bird area of India. Sarus is a vulnerable species.

The experts said looking at important species of birds at Shalla Pattan and its unprotected status, the government must endeavour to develop this natural wetland as another Community Reserve as Kesopur. They also emphasised to launch awareness programme in nearby villages about such wetlands.

Sangrur, February 28
The indefinite dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here by the activists and members of the Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union (AICCTU) today entered second day.

According to the union, the dharna will continue till the acceptance of their demands, which are increase in the wages of brick-kiln workers, release of 51 arrested leaders and workers of the brick-kiln workers’ union and the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, and scrapping of cases registered against them by the Lehragaga and Sangrur police.

State committee member of the brick-kiln workers’ union Pargat Singh Bir said the administration today held a meeting with the union leaders and assured them that the minimum wages would get implemented at the brick-kilns. He alleged SAD leaders of the district were supporting the brick-kiln owners, so if their demands were not met soon then the brick-kiln workers would gherao the kothi of Sangrur MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa here.

The protesters also held a rally here that was addressed by state general secretary of the democratic employees front (DEF) Sukhdarshan Natt, district president of the Kirti Kisan Union Dhanna Singh Bhattiwal, state committee member of the CPI (ML) Liberation Gurjant Singh, a district-level leader of brick-kiln workers, Hari Singh Tolawal, and a leader of the All-India Students Association (AISA), Harmandeep Singh.

Sangrur, February 28
Punjab Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal today laid the foundation stone of Col Gurcharan Singh Cheema Bus Stand at Moonak, 60 km from here. The bus stand will be constructed at a cost of Rs 75 lakh in seven months. On the occasion, besides others, MP from Sangrur Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and state Transport Commissioner R Venkat Ratnam were also present.

The Transport Minister said when the Badal government had taken the charge of the state two years ago, the PRTC had been facing a loss of Rs 162 crore, but due to the good performance of the SAD-BJP government the losses had come down to Rs 50 crore.

The minister further said the government would include 250 new buses in its fleet during the next financial year. Besides this, 100 more AC buses would be included in the fleet by June 30 by the government, while 225 AC buses were already plying in the state, he added.

Dhindsa said the state government had provided Rs 1.05 crore for the repair of an unsafe subdivision complex of Moonak. He said repair of the complex would be done soon to make the building functional.

He said four villages of the Lehra Assembly constituency had been connected with reverse osmosis (RO) system to provide pure drinking water in these villages.

Chandigarh, February 28
The meltdown may have been bad for many, but it is definitely set to revive the flying clubs of the state, which had become virtual graveyards for idle planes till three years back with students choosing private flying clubs to learn flying in a jiffy so that they could grab jobs in a booming aviation industry.

Students are thronging Patiala and Amritsar clubs and prospects are bright with flying to start in Ludhiana too in four months. Patiala and Amritsar clubs have already received Cessna 172-R aircrafts worth Rs 1 crore each. A Hansa aircraft from the National Aeronautics laboratory is also going to join soon.

As there are no longer many jobs available in the market due to recession, students are thinking twice before enrolling for training abroad as it is no longer a done deal to get a quick job.

Flying clubs in the state have again become attractive options for students not only because they are charging less per hour for flying, but also because they have got their act together and in the case of Amritsar the bar has been raised to international standards.

In Amritsar, students now have the option of flying the world-class Cessna 172-R, besides a Pushpak aircraft. While one Hansa has been allotted to them, another is expected soon. The Amritsar club has 18 students who have already clogged 406 hours despite flying to start there only in September 2008.

“This is probably because students taking training in Amritsar get the experience of flying from an international airport from day one,” says secretary, Aviation, Visvajit Khanna. He said besides this the fact that the flying per hour cost was the lowest in the country, which mattered in the days of recession. 

Khanna said flying clubs of Patiala and Amritsar were making a profit and producing more instructors who were being encouraged to stay on so that they could work for new clubs envisaged at Talwandi Sabo and Faridkot.

State Advisor, Aviation, Abhay Chandra disclosed that flying charges at both Patiala and Amritsar were at least Rs 2,000 cheaper per hour than those charged by private clubs. He said the Patiala club was overburdened with 30 students and was not able to cope with the demand for flying. The Patiala club has clogged 3,623 hours since September 2006 when it restarted operations and has issued 187 student pilot licences.

Flying at the third flying club in Sahnewal (Ludhiana) is also set to start this summer. The runway at Sahnewal is being recarpeted and strengthened by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) so that 100 seater planes can land on it. 

It is also being equipped with navigational equipment for easier night landing and a bigger parking apron all of which will help students enrolling at the club again. 

Amritsar, February 28
A Bangladesh national was shot dead by Border Security Force (BSF) jawans while another one got nabbed, after they were duped by a travel agent who reportedly promised to help them cross over to Pakistan.

Mohammad Hussain Ahmad of Hasanpur, Bangladesh, lost his life when he, along with his maternal uncle, identified as Abdul, tried to cross over the barbed fence near border post Rattan Khurd about 2 am today.

BSF jawans on hearing some noise at midnight challenged them. But they tried to escape. Mohammad had climbed the wire. The jawans opened fire in which Mohammad lost his life, while Abdul was arrested. The body was later handed over to the Gharinda police where a case has been registered against them.

Jagir Singh, DIG, BSF, said as per the preliminary investigations both Hussain and Abdul had come to India through West Bengal on valid visas. From Kolkata to Amritsar, they were accompanied by a travel agent who brought them till the Indo-Pak border. The travel agent disappeared from there. He asked them to jump the barbed wire to enter the neighbouring country.