Bathinda, August 28
The police nabbed as many as 15 residents of this district at bus stand here today. They were in possession of various packets of poppy husk and were commuting by a PRTC bus plying on Sangria-Bathinda route. However, after being assured of the drugs being carried for self-consumption, the police took them to a Gurdwara and let them off only after they swore in the name of God that they will give up the habit. No criminal case was registered against them.

As per the details available, the Bathinda police today received a tip-off that 15 passengers on a PRTC bus coming from Sangria (Rajasthan) were drug addicts and had bought packets of poppy husk from some vends in Rajasthan.

When the bus reached the bus stand here, the policemen gheraoed it and frisked all passengers. It was found that all passengers were carrying poppy husk. Some of them had put the packets in hand bags while some had obscured it in turban, pyjamas and socks.

Immediately after the recovery, the cops took the accused to the Kotwali police station, where legal formalities were completed. Meanwhile, the accused pleaded to the station house officer (SHO) that the seized poppy husk was for their self consumption and not for any illicit trade.

The SHO reportedly contacted his seniors and agreed to release them only on the condition that they take an oath in a Gurdwara to give up the habit.

The accused agreed to the offer and were taken to Gurdwara Qila Mubarik Sahib, where after taking an oath they all were released. No criminal case was registered against them.

Confirming the facts, Jaswinder Kaur, in-charge of the bus stand police post, said, “Each of them had the poppy husk packets and the weight of the packets varied from 400 grams to 1.5 kg.”

Drug trafficking thriving in Punjab

The sale of poppy husk from vends established in neighbouring Rajasthan has been a headache for the Punjab Police for a long time now.

Despite the tall claims made by senior police officers, many gangs indulging in drug trafficking have mushroomed throughout the state.

Being adjacent to Haryana and Rajasthan, Bathinda, Muktsar, Ferozepur and Mansa districts of Punjab are the worst hit.

There are reports that a large number of children and women are also employed to smuggle poppy husk into the state.

Bathinda, August 28
With reports appearing in the media on the presence of uranium in water in the Malwa belt, which has been confirmed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) recently, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has taken a suo moto notice of the reports and had asked the director, health and family welfare, Punjab, to submit a report.

On the basis of the report, the PSHRC would decide on the matter on September 10.

When contacted, S.P.S. Sohal, director, health and family welfare, Punjab, said, “I was asked for a report and I have contacted the BARC and Dr Surinder Singh from the GNDU for their reports before I report to the PSHRC.”

Giving details today, Dr G.S. Dhillon, consulting engineer, water resources development projects, and former chief engineer research-cum-director irrigation and power, Amritsar, said that safe level of uranium in drinking water was different according to different authorities. According to the BARC, the level of uranium in water considered safe for drinking is 60 parts per billion whereas the WHO puts it as 15 ppb and the USPEA as 30 ppb.

“After deciding on the safe level of uranium in water, the PSHRC will have to consider if the available data on uranium levels is sufficient to demarcate danger zones and if the data is not sufficient then who is the authority to decide the safe levels and what norms and procedure will be adopted to determine it,” he added.

“The PSHRC will have to decide what measures will be taken to ensure availability of safe drinking water to the public and also determine whether the prevailing reverse osmosis (RO) system is enough to provide safe water or not because the scientists, who have done research in the presence of uranium in water, claim that RO is not enough,” Dr Dhillon stated.

Bathinda, August 28
India's exclusivity is not only in its cultural heritage but also in its climatic diversity, as one can observe all kinds of climate at the same time just by moving from one corner to the other.

This diversity fascinated four young tourists from Ceska Republika, the erstwhile division of Czechoslovakia, to visit various sectors of northern India for the past over two months. All four-Martin Novak, Pavel Prokop, Olga Haringova and Lenka Gregorova-were here today at Qila Mubarik, referred to as the Bathinda Fort.

"One can hardly find such diversity anywhere else, so it is a must to enjoy it at least once in life," they all echoed.

They were taken to the fort by Rupinderjeet Singh, Khushwant Singh and Yadwinder Singh of Lehra Dhoorkot village, who had recently developed friendship with them after a meeting at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

"We exchanged telephone numbers and then they invited us to Bathinda. They are according us warm hospitality," said Martin Novak.

They disclosed that they were touring India during their school vacations. They have visited Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, various parts of Punjab and would move to Rajasthan before leaving the country on September 15.

Capturing all moments in their cameras, they mentioned that last year some of their friends had visited India, who showed them pictures that inspired them to undertake the visit if they wanted to see the real life.

They showed some pictures of rickshaws, with its unique design, as they had never seen it before. Further, they expressed their willingness to ride and drive a tractor.

Sharing her personal experience, Olga Haringova said, "India is a safe country, where foreigners, even a girl, can move freely without bothering for personal safety."

When asked about the difference they observed in the two countries, they cited the variation in temperature. Further, they expressed regret saying that in India they saw a lot of noise pollution and unchecked violation of traffic rules.

"Despite all odds, India has a number of things which are incomparable, which will keep us compelling to visit again, whenever it is possible," they said in unison.

Kotha Guru (Bathinda), August 28
People in Punjab care for their cattle like their children. It becomes apparent in the countryside, where one can see cattle covered with colourful nylon nets.

This net is to save the cattle from a big fly-Botfly — which sucks their blood and irritates them with its sting.

During a random visit to Kotha Guru village, it was observed that this practice had been adopted by a number of villagers. Cattle tied with pegs were lying relaxed as they were covered under a huge net. A number of insects were hovering around the net cover but finding it unable to enter through it.

Paramjeet Kaur, who has four buffalos, said, "We bought this net from market paying Rs 500 for 100 meters. Its benefit is quite visible as the cattle remain calm and relaxed now, otherwise, this ‘Makh’ used to irritate them by inflicting wounds.”

Another farmer of the same village, Harbhajan Singh, who had covered his two buffalos and three calves, said, "I treat my cattle as my children. They can make the fly run away but these speechless cattle cannot save themselves on their own. So I opted for this practice, which is proving to be quite beneficial."

Surinder Singla, deputy director, Animal Husbandry department, also termed the use of the net as a good practice but expressed regret, when asked about arrangement to provide it to the farmers at subsidied rates. Further, he named an insecticide, Amitraz, which provides a cover in shielding cattle from dangerous flies by repelling them.

Bathinda, August 28
To start afresh their struggle for making the bus passes applicable in private buses also, students would hold a meeting in Bathinda soon. The government’s decision of making bus passes inapplicable in private buses is affecting over 4,000 students in Bathinda.

Members of the Punjab Students’ Union (PSU) today criticised the government for giving a step-motherly treatment to the students for almost a year now.

They informed that a majority of villages in the city’s periphery did not have either PRTC or Punjab Roadways’ service. Private mini-buses ply on these routes and students are forced to make use of them.

Manpreet Singh of the PSU said the passes were earlier valid in private buses also, which proved as a boon for scores of students, who travel by these buses daily.

Later, private bus operators raised a concern that they were facing losses.

“A bus pass is made for three months for which one has to give a fare of just three to four days and the rest is contributed by the government. But since PRTC buses do not ply on the route that leads to around 35 villages near Bathinda, students have to travel by private buses,” Manpreet said.

He added that the past few days saw a lot of protests from the students across the state, who demanded validity of their passes in private buses also.

Iqbal Singh, GM, PRTC, Bathinda, when contacted and apprised about the PRTC buses not following their routes, said he was not aware of it, adding, “The students should come to me and not go to the press directly.”

However, the PSU said the official had been apprised of the problem several times but every time, he just gives an assurance of sorting it out.

Muktsar, August 28 
Has the Punjab government finally decided to solve the high voltage issue of unbundling the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB)?Highly placed sources in the Punjab government disclosed that the issue to unbundle the PSEB, considered to be the backbone of agriculture in Punjab, was discussed threadbare at a high level meeting held in Chandigarh on Thursday. 

However, it is not yet clear whether the state government will go in for trifurcating the power entity into generation, transmission and distribution companies or will it just create just one company dealing with the trading of power.The Punjab government has sought repeated extensions from the Union Power Ministry to prevent unbundling on one pretext or the other. 

The power ministry, sources reveal, came down heavily on the state government when it sought the last extension, which is slated to expire on September 15.Under the Central Electricity Act-2003, all State Electricity Boards in the country were to be unbundled till 2004.

Sources reveal that there will be no job losses as feared by various PSEB employees Unions and the PSEB Engineers Association. Ever since the issue first cropped up in 2003, the PSEB Engineers Association and Employees Unions on the one hand and the State government on the other have been at loggerheads with each other. The employees unions fear that once unbundling comes into force, there will be job losses.

However, sources disclose, there have been no job losses whatsoever in those states where unbundling has been effected. Says an expert, who has written a comprehensive report for the New Delhi-based Indian Institute of Public Administration, “Unbundling is a very important part of power reforms because it brings in a system of accountability and transparency."Revealed a senior engineer associated with a power board which has been unbundled, "Once trifurcation happens, there will be adequate, unrestricted supply of quality power with no voltage fluctuations.Also better service will be provided in the fields of meter reading, billing and collection. 

Moreover, the Plant Load Factor (PLF) and Plant Availability Factor of both thermal and hydro projects will improve considerably. Transmission and distribution losses will also come down and the wide gap between demand and supply will narrow down significantly."State Electricity Boards (SEBs) generally hide a lot of inefficiencies, which are shown as transmission and distribution losses." 

The unbundling of entities, with separate balance sheets generally leads to optimum performance," revealed a chief engineer.Yet another senior engineer confided, "After unbundling, the productivity and work culture of various power entities will improve because of focussed attention on each entity.

 The undue pressure of big employee unions will be reduced significantly. Just look at the Gujarat model where after unbundling there is 24 hour power supply to all sectors. Because of this, the industrial growth rate of Gujarat has increased.

 The present integrated structure of the PSEB has become totally unmanageable and the only solution now to save the power board from incurring more losses is to unbundle it."

Our Correspondent Fazilka, August 28A special meeting of Beopar Mandal was convened in Sunder Asharam earlier this week to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in Fazilka.

 About 200 office- bearers and members of 42 traders’ association participated in the general house meeting. It was presided over by its president Ashok Gulbadhar and patron Dina Nath Sachdeva. 

While giving the details, Satish Dhingra, general secretary of Beopar Mandal said that it was discussed in the meeting that after the agitation initiated by the Beopar Mandal 10 days back when Gulbadhar was thrashed by some miscreants, it was negotiated between Beopar Mandal leaders and the police officers that the police would launch a special drive to check hooliganism in the town and nab the ruffians to maintain peace.

 However, nothing has been done so far and the police even did not deploy a single official at sensitive places.

 "The hooliganism is going on unabated," alleged the leaders. Keeping in view the present circumstances, Beopar Mandal called a special meeting.Ashok Gulbadhar, while addressing the traders, disclosed that an 11-member sub-committee was constituted. 

The committee members would discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in Fazilka with higher police authorities. Ashok Gulbadhar reiterated the traders’ resolve to fight this menace to its end. The traders also pledged to maintain unity in the Beopar Mandal. 

Abohar, August 28 
Scores of villagers including women held a demonstration against a private hospital here near Major Surinder Chowk on Friday blaming the in-charge doctor of negligence in a major surgery.One Beera Rani of border village Roopnagar said she had got her husband Thana Singh examined by the doctor in-charge of the hospital on August 20. He reportedly opined that a major surgery will have to be conducted. 

"The patient was taken to the operation theatre at 4 pm and was profusely bleeding when brought out at midnight. Realising that his condition was serious, the doctor accompanied us to get the patient admitted to a private hospital at Sriganganagar but the doctors there too have told us they are helpless," Beera Rani informed newspersons. 

The demonstrators urged the sub-divisional authorities to take stern action against the hospital that had been in news for similar cases earlier also.The doctor in-charge, while denying negligence on his part, claimed that the patient was serious in the initial stage. "I took him to Sriganganagar and have spent Rs 25,000 so far on the treatment. 

I am ready to bear more expenses,” he said.However, the protesters warned that they would organise demonstration during the visit of the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday, if the authorities fail in taking action against the erring doctor.