Chandigarh/ Ludhiana, July 4
Recent hike in price of petrol and diesel has started upsetting budgets of people. With transporters in the region having announced 8 per cent hike in freight prices of perishable foods (fruits and vegetables) have started showing increase.

Transporters in the region said they were unable to absorb the increase in diesel price as well as the hike in toll on major national highways. “On an average, the freight charges will go up by almost 8 per cent or Rs 2,500 per 15- tonne load. Not only has the diesel price gone up by Rs 2 a litre, but sharp hike in toll has also started affecting us.

Against Rs 160 that we were paying as toll between Jalandhar and Delhi, we are now paying Rs 425 for single entry,” said Charanjit Singh Lohara, president, All-India Motor Transport Congress.

Since 70 per cent of all transportation, be it food items or industrial goods, takes place by road, the fuel price hike is bound to lead to an increase in prices of most goods. Mangoes (which come from Uttar Pradesh), onions (Rajasthan and Nasik), tomatoes (Himachal) have already started showing increase, with prices having gone up by 15 to 20 per cent.

In Ludhiana, apples, litchi, khurmani, plum and mango, which come from far-off places like Srinagar, Chamba, Pathankot, Kullu and Kinnaur, have also shown increase in prices.

Soon the cascading effect will be visible on all non-perishable food items (pulses and cereals). Since these items selling in retail are from the stocks, the prices have not risen immediately. But once the new stocks come in with the enhanced freight charges, the rise in prices of these items too is evident.

Pritpal Singh, president, Dal Dealers Association, Ludhiana, said the hike in oil prices would hit common man. “The trucks coming from Indore have revised freight tariff to Rs 200 per quintal of load, as against Rs 170 per quintal earlier. We will have to pass on the hike to customers by raising prices of the goods brought from other states,” said Pritpal.

Shahkot (Jalandhar), July 4
Four members of the family of a policeman committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at Buddanwal village near here this morning.

The dead have been identified as Baljit Kaur (45), her two daughters Prabhjeet Kaur (22), Varinder Kaur (20) and son Gobind Preet Singh (16). They are members of the family of Manohar Singh, ASI, CIA staff, Jalandhar police.

Friends of the family and relatives said strained relations of Manohar Singh with his wife forced the family to take the extreme step.

Manohar was staying with another woman in Jalandhar for some years which was objected to by his grownup children, family sources revealed.

The sources said after the deaths, Bachan Kaur, mother of Baljit who was staying with the family, was missing.

DSP, Shahkot, DS Dhillon said Gobind Preet Singh often quarrelled with his mother for a motorcycle. Baljit got him a motorcycle of a company not acceptable to her son.

Gobind sold the bike and purchased a vehicle of his choice. Baljit objected to the decision saying the family was not in a position to pay instalments of the bike. There was a quarrel over the issue last night.

Upset over the behaviour of her son, Baljit consumed the tablets early in the morning and was noticed by her elder daughter after she started vomiting. Varinder Kaur raised the alarm and ran to the house of Sarpanch Parwinder Kaur for help. After noticing Baljit’s critical condition the Sarpanch informed other villagers to take Baljit to a nearby hospital.

Villagers found all four family members had consumed poisonous tablets and bolted the house from inside. They were taken to the Shahkot Civil Hospital.

The DSP said that Baljit died on the way, while Prabhjit, Varinder and Gobind died in the hospital.

Chandigarh, July 4
The Health and Family Welfare Department, Punjab, has decided to provide Rs 200 for private transportation of pregnant women for deliveries in government hospitals. Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla yesterday stated that this initiative had been taken under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

All categories of women in rural and urban areas would be eligible for this grant. The amount would be paid in the institution itself at the time of the discharge of the mother. This facility had been provided to encourage mothers to approach health institutions for deliveries.

The minister further stated that her department had already waived off user charges for all deliveries, including caesarean in government hospitals. The user charges of Rs 300 for normal delivery and Rs 1,000 for caesareans had been withdrawn and deliveries were being conducted free of cost.

She added that the department had recorded a remarkable 50 per cent increase in institutional deliveries in government hospitals during 2008-09 as compared to previous year. She said increase of institutional deliveries would drastically bring down infant mortality ratio and maternal mortality rate. 

Ranjit Sagar Dam, July 4
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a leader who went to the places where his contemporaries failed to tread during the Raj. However, his stature is now being diminished by ruling politicians, who, it seems, have no time even to unveil his statue installed at the Ranjit Sagar Dam many months ago. Their apathy reflects scant respect for the great Maharaja, who also earned the title of Sher-e-Punjab.

The decision to install the bronze statue of the Maharaja at the dam in Ropar and at Parliament House was taken in 2001 by a committee headed by then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the occasion of bicentennial celebrations of his coronation.

Though the life-size statue was unveiled by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001 at Parliament House at an impressive function attended by many dignitaries, including Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, successive governments of Punjab have failed to do the same in the state.

In the absence of formal unveiling, the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on horseback, standing on a podium set up on a hilltop near the dam, has been reduced to a forlorn figure. It was covered with blue and saffron-coloured clothes from all sides when it had been installed, but now it sans any protective cover.

Though Badal had visited the site a number of times and even stayed put for a night at the guesthouse located adjacent to the statue, he could not unveil it for one reason or the other.

Karamjit Singh Sra, Deputy Commissioner, said as per his information the formal unveiling of the statue could not be done due to the model code of conduct being in force for the last Lok Sabha elections.

He added the statue would now be unveiled after the election code of conduct imposed in Gurdaspur district due to byelection of the Kahnuwan assembly segment was over.

Chandigarh, July 4
Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur is facing opposition from none other than her husband and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over her choice of former Additional Advocate-General Deepinder Singh Dhillon for the party ticket from Banur, where a byelection will be held on August 3.

According to sources, Preneet and Amarinder differed over the choice of the party candidate during a meeting presided over by party general secretary Mohsina Kidwai in Delhi on Thursday. All others attending the meeting, including Pradesh Congress president Mohinder Singh Kaypee, former working president Lal Singh and CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, kept quiet on the issue leaving it to the couple to hold a separate meeting with Kidwai. Following the meeting it was decided to leave the decision on Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The sources said at the start of the meeting it was Amarinder who put up the candidature of former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna. While explaining his case, the former Chief Minister said though the bypoll would be held according to the old delimitation, under the new delimitation, the constituency had been renamed Dera Bassi and was likely to become a predominantly Hindu seat. Amarinder said keeping this in mind it was best to give the seat to a Hindu and that Arvind Khanna was the best choice.

Preneet, however, took umbrage to this. The minister said Deepinder had been given charge of the constituency for two consecutive Lok Sabha elections contested by her and that he had managed to improve the party’s position in the constituency tremendously. Preneet also maintained that the party had suffered tremendously in the last election when it put up a Hindu candidate in Rakesh Sharma and lost the seat by over 45,000 votes.

While Preneet was not available for comment, Amarinder said a free and frank discussion had taken place as to who was the best candidate for Banur. He said he had conveyed that the party must take into account the future while deciding on candidates, as configurations would change in 2012. He said in the next assembly elections, the seat, which would be known as Dera Bassi, would not have the predominantly Sikh segment of Banur.

When asked whether he still felt that a Hindu candidate would be the best bet for the party from Banur, he replied “certainly”, but said the issue would be decided by the Congress president. “We both have only given our opinions”, he added.

Amritsar, July 4
Unemployed veterinary pharmacists, who were arrested by the police last night for protesting and raising slogans against Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, have been sent to jail after presenting them in the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s court today.

They were on a hunger strike outside the residence of the Animal Husbandry Minister in protest against the failure of the state government in providing them jobs as promised during the Assembly elections.

Two pharmacists, Gurpreet Singh Nabha and Davinder Singh Malerkotla, who have been representing the Unemployed Veterinary Pharmacists Union and were on fast unto death, will continue their agitation in the jail premises also, said senior vice-president of the union Gurmeet Singh.

More than 30 pharmacists were taken into custody to scuttle the protest last night of whom 12 were released, while a case under Section 107 and 151, CrPC, was registered against the remaining pharmacists.

Gurmeet alleged that during their custody they were threatened to call off the strike. However, they remained adamant to continue their stir till the fulfilment of their demands.

Meanwhile, the pharmacists held a demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office today. Later, they again tried to hold a dharna outside the residence of Ranike on the Majitha Road. However, the police forced them to leave the place.

Gurmeet said they were now planning their future course of action, including holding a hunger strike in Jalalabad from where former Deputy Chief Minister and president of Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal was likely to contest elections scheduled to be held on August 3.

Bathinda, July 4
As students, teachers and principals express their views over Kapil Sibal’s proposal to scrap class X Boards in schools, those associated with the Punjab School Education Board feel that classes V and VIII Boards should also be done away with.

Surinder Pal Kaur, DEO (Secondary), Bathinda, supporting Sibal’s proposal said the overall assessment of a student’s performance was more important than taking exams at the end of an academic session. “A student has to appear for Boards four times during his schooling, which is not needed.

House tests and continuous assessment of a student is important for the overall development. Boards in classes V and VIII make no sense. Class VIII this year gave an unsatisfactory result. This happens almost every year because teachers and students feel the pressure of Boards. The government should think about scrapping Boards in classes V and VIII”.

Some students and teachers also stated that there was an unnecessary stress on students when they had to face a Board exam and class V was too young a class to bear any kind of stress. Satpal Kaur, a teacher from a local school here, said, “I have seen many students who fare well in class IV.

But once they come in class V, their performance goes down. There should be no Boards in classes V and VIII. Four Board exams will not make a student bright”.

Some teachers also felt that exams were no means of assessing a student’s performance. Darshan Maur, faculty at the District Institute of Elementary Training (DIET), said, “Board exams are not enough for judging a student’s capability. Children remain under psychological fear. I do not understand why the government introduced the system of Boards in such small classes like V and VIII”.

However, a few teachers said if a child could give Board exams once, he could face it again also.

“The only problem with the education system here is that Board exams are over-hyped. It all depends upon one’s preparation. If a child can face normal school exams, he can face Board exams also. If a child studies and is prepared, then why only four times, Boards can take place in every class,” said Gurdeep Singh, Principal, Government Secondary School, Mall Road here.

Krishan Kumar, Director General, Secondary Education, refused to comment on the issue saying he was not supposed to speak on a government decision or proposal, being a government official. 

Chandigarh, July 4
Asha Attri, who retired as Financial Commissioner some years back, has been appointed member, Punjab Education Tribunal. Asha belongs to the 1969 batch of the Punjab cadre and is wife of Kamal Attri, who retired as Director-General of the Punjab police recently.

Since the appointment of the tribunal members also needs the consent of the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, the composition of the tribunal is now complete. Besides, Asha, the state government has also nominated retired Principal P Sidhu as its third member.

Meanwhile, the appointment committee of the Cabinet has cleared the name of Raman Srivastav, an IPS officer belonging to the 1973 batch of Kerala cadre, as the next Director-General of the BSF. He will take over his new assignment on August 1.

Also cleared is the appointment of Rawther Dawood Nazeem, a 1995 batch Himachal Pradesh IAS, as executive director in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Secretary, Commerce and Industry, Rahul Khullar, 1975 batch of IAS belonging to AGMU cadre, has also been given additional charges of Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation.

The committee also formally cleared the appointment of Gopal Krishna Pillai as the Union Home, Law and Justice Secretary. Pillai belongs to the 1972 batch of IAS and is from Kerala cadre and cleared inter-cadre deputation of PS Gill, the new Punjab DGP, from Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab yesterday. PS Gill belongs to the 1975 batch of the IPS.

The committee of the Cabinet has also cleared re-employment of MN Prasad, Secretary to the Prime Minister for three years. He has been re-employed in the rank, pay and status of secretary to the Government of India with a fixed salary of Rs 80,000.

Prasad, who belongs to the 1972 batch of IAS and Bihar cadre, attained retirement age of 60 years on June 27. Another person to be re-employed is Omita Paul, a superannuated Indian Information Service officer belonging to the 1972 batch.

She has been appointed adviser to the Union Finance Minister for three years. She will also be in the rank, pay and status of secretary to the Govt of India. Harish Khare, new media adviser to the PM, will enjoy the same status.

Meanwhile, Anil Verma, a West Bengal cadre IAS belonging to the 1989 batch, has been cleared for appointment as Minister (Economic) in the Indian High Commission in London for three years.

Chandigarh, July 4
To increase the scope of post-retirement rehabilitation of troops, the directorate of Sainik Welfare, Punjab, has drawn up plans to train ex-servicemen to undertake retail operations in commercial establishments.

Directorate officials said the training programme would be aimed at polishing their skills as departmental supervisors, floor supervisors, billing clerks and security controllers.

With the economic recession ending, a boom is expected in commercial activities in the foreseeable future that would create a large requirement for manpower in retail operations. Officials said NCOs and JCOs could fit the bill because of their experience in inventory and man management, exposure to information technology and multi-tasking ability.

Already a programme to train ex-servicemen as JCB and dozer operators is underway at Bathinda. This programme was started a few months ago keeping in view that infrastructure is a hot sector.

Several others training programmes have also been started by the directorate for wards of ex-servicemen. This includes coaching for written examinations and interviews for joining the Armed Forces.

Over the past two years, 216 candidates were coached, out of which 54 cleared the written UPSC examination. Out of these 12 have been selected by the Services Selection Boards (SSB) for pre-commission training in IMA or NDA, while another 21 are awaiting screening by SSBs.

Candidates being coached for SSB include girls. Already 14 girls coached by the directorate are undergoing training at the Officers Training Academy. Three joined OTA this year while another seven are awaiting SSB screening.

Training programmes are also underway to prepare women candidates for recruitment into the BSF and the Punjab Armed Police. In addition vocational training courses in computers and stenography are being run by the directorate.

Chandigarh, July 4
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi, has granted approval to Punjab’s first Integrated Campus of the Chandigarh Group of Colleges at Gharuan, Mohali.

The campus would comprise faculty of engineering, faculty of computer applications and faculty of business management offering multi-disciplines in the field of engineering, computer applications and management, respectively, from the current academic session.

“Based on the pattern of the university system in the country, AICTE wanted that students should be able to opt for various professional courses under single institution.

This campus will offer BTech degree in computer science engineering, electronics and communication engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering while the faculty of computer applications and faculty of business management will be offering post-graduate courses MCA and MBA,” said chairman Satnam Singh Sandhu and president Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal, Chandigarh Group of Colleges.