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No Civil Surgeons in 7 districts
Burning of paddy stubble unchecked in Muktsar
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No pressure from any party on police: DGP
Midday Meal Scheme
PPCC office-bearers seek security cover
Punjab gets rap for ‘ignoring’
juvenile justice
PSEB’s global tenders get good response
Adulterated Milk Products
ETT teachers stage dharna
NRI to invest in power project
City Centre Scam
Cops fail to arrest rape accused
Five killed in road mishap
2 held for selling animal skins
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No Civil Surgeons in 7 districts
Jalandhar, October 10 Barnala, would be eighth district that would add to this list next week. The senior medical officer in the rank of assistant directors or assistant civil surgeons have been asked to look after the work of the civil surgeon in addition to their own duties. The post of civil surgeons is in the rank of deputy directors, whereas post of assistant civil surgeon is in the rank of senior medical officer (assistant director). The general-secretary of the PCMS-I Association, Dr DC Sharma said the posts were not being filled up because the Health Department wanted to victimise certain deserving candidates due for promotion. Moreover, it wanted to promote adhocism in the department. Functioning of the department had been virtually in a shambles owing to the vacant posts. Of the 40 promotional posts in the PCMS cadre, 16 posts had been vacant. These include a post of director, two posts of additional directors and 13 posts of deputy directors, including the seven civil surgeons, state chemical examiner, medical superintendent of Mata Kaushalya Hospital, Patiala, and three deputy directors in the office of the director health services, said Sharma. The government has reemployed two retired deputy directors- one is functioning as medical superintendent and other as state chemical examiner. By the end of the year, four more deputy directors- civil surgeon (Sangrur) Dr GS Nagi, civil surgeon (Ropar), medical superintendents, ESI Hospital (Ludhiana) Dr Arjun Singh Gill and Dr Jatinder Kaur and deputy director in the office of the DHS Dr Ranjit Singh Rana, would retire raising the number of vacancies to 50 per cent. Deputy directors- civil surgeon (Ludhiana) Dr Maninder Singh, civil surgeon (Jalandhar) Dr SS Walia and deputy director in the office of the DHS (Punjab) Dr Meena Arora would retire in January. A departmental promotion committee meeting for the promotions to the posts of deputy directors, was held on March 25, 2009, but the promotions were not finalised as the Personnel Department raised objections that prior to the promotion to the posts of deputy directors, the department should promote the concerned doctors to the posts of the senior medical officers.
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Burning of paddy stubble unchecked in Muktsar
Malout (Muktsar), October 10 During a random visit to the Malout-Bathinda road, it was witnessed today that a thick cloud of smoke had engulfed the main road. Least worried about the health hazards and inconvenience of passersby and the colossal damage to the environment and land being caused, the farmers were resorting to large-scale burning of paddy stubble in their fields. When asked, some of them floated various myths and urgency to recultivate the land as basic reasons for resorting to the act. Two farmers, who were setting the stubble on fire near Dabwali bypass, said the burning of stubble in the fields increased the fertility of the land. Besides, it also destroyed harmful pests left from the last crop in the land, they said. However, the agriculture experts of the PAU at the regional station, Bathinda, had a totally different opinion. They claimed that burning of stubble killed friendly pests and bacteria that increase the fertility of the land. They condemned the act of the farmers alleging that despite their repeated requests, farmers remained stuck to the old traditional method to get their fields clear for next sowing. “We are quite aware about the laws and warnings of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, but it is the Chief Minister’s home district, where hardly any rule is implemented. Official of this district do not want to take stand against such practices, as we all have direct approach to the CM,” said Jangir Singh, an elderly farmer of Gidderbaha, who claimed to have spent some odd-moments with Parkash Singh Badal. Holding a burning bamboo in his hand, a peasant. Kashmir Singh, said, “The owner of this field ordered me to put the paddy stubble on fire at the earliest. Of this, work on six acres has been completed, except you nobody else has even asked us about this.” On his part, district magistrate, Muktsar, Rajat Aggarwal said, “I have issued an order banning the stubble burning, but people are still violating it. From the past experience, I have observed that booking the guilty farmers is not the effective measure to check the menace, so this time we have been taking help of NGOs to create awareness among them. Moreover, announcements were also made through loudspeakers in various villages.”
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No pressure from any party on police: DGP
Act of cruelty A pair of pigeons, released by the DGP at the inaugural ceremony of the shooting championship, failed to fly high. The pair, after hovering over the venue for almost 20 minutes, descended as parts of their wings had been pulled out before their “release”
Jalandhar, October 10 He also claimed that the law and order situation has been under control in the state and the force was well prepared to tackle any untoward situation. Earlier, Amarinder Singh alleged that the police has been playing in the hands of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. He had also alleged that the law and order situation has deteriorated in the Akali leadership. Gill was here to inaugurate the 3rd All India Police Shooting (sports) championship being held at PAP Shooting Range. To strengthen the women police personnel, the DGP claimed that more women would be recruited in the forces and at the higher ranks. Answering to a query that if he had received any complaint from the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) regarding threats by the Babbar Khalsa International to local MP and the PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee and certain other Congress leaders, Gill claimed that no such formal complaint has been receive as yet. “The police will definitely take a serious note of the complaint if the department will receive any,” Gill added. Kaypee, however, claimed to have forwarded his complaint to the DGP officer after getting threat letters. The DGP said the issue of reversion of the sportsperson in the forces had been under discussion. The department has mooted a new sports policy and has been sent to the state government for necessary action, he said.
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Midday Meal Scheme
Sangrur, October 10 The police also impounded the tractor-trailer, wheat and rice. It has registered a case against the three under Sections 408 of the IPC. Talking to The Tribune over the phone this evening the Dirba SHO Lakhbir Singh Tiwana said the police had arrested two teachers, Major Singh, who is also in charge of the midday meal scheme in the school and Bhupinder Kumar. Besides, tractor-trailer driver Charan Singh has also been arrested. He said the villagers raised an objection when they saw them (Major, Bhupinder and Charan) taking five quintals of wheat and five quintals of rice of the midday meal scheme in the tractor-trailer to allegedly sell the same in the market. The SHO said on receiving information the police immediately initiated action against the “erring” persons. It not only arrested them on the spot but also impounded the wheat, rice and tractor-trailer. All three persons had been produced today in the Sunam court which remanded them in police custody till October 12, the SHO added.
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PPCC office-bearers seek security cover
Chandigarh, October 10 PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee and other party officials have alleged that they have received threat letters from the militant outfit Babbar Khalsa. In a press note issued by general-secretary Rajpal Singh yesterday, threat letters addressed to Kaypee, Pradesh Congress general-secretaries Tarlochan Singh and Raj Pal Singh and other officials have been received in his office. Raj Pal Singh added that MS Kaypee and Tarlochan Singh have already lost their respective fathers to acts of terrorism. As the security of these persons is the duty of the state, it is requested that adequate security be provided to these persons immediately. In a request letter to the Punjab DGP, the PPCC general-secretary pointed out that there had been no proper security arrangement for the Punjab Congress Bhawan, which houses the state headquarters of the Congress. Senior leaders, including former Chief Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, MPs and MLAs, frequently visit this building, but there are only three constables at present on security duty in the vast building. “Only one constable is deployed at the main gate, whereas the whole surroundings remain unguarded. It is requested that the security arrangements may kindly be beefed up at the Punjab Congress Bhawan, Chandigarh, to avoid any untoward incident in future,” states the letter to the DGP.
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Punjab gets rap for ‘ignoring’
juvenile justice
Chandigarh, October 10 Speaking at a seminar organised by the Monitoring Committee on Juvenile Justice of the High Court, Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur said the Punjab government has not met several statutory requirements of the Act. “A basic body like the child welfare committee is missing from most districts, no inspection committee has been set up to monitor the working of children’s homes and there is no shelter home in the state,” he said. “The state had not bothered to set up a juvenile justice fund and the state has no advisory board either for the implementation of the Act,” he added. “When it comes to Acts and adopting conventions, we (in India) have made the loftiest declarations and created perfect comprehensive acts,” he said quoting from the provisions of the National Charter for Child Rights. “Our Acts provide all protection and bring out our utmost commitment towards the protection of the rights of the children but how many provisions of these Acts are actually implemented on the ground is a question that needs to be answered,” he said. Justice Thakur also pointed out the pendency of cases being heard under the Juvenile Justice Act. “I have been told that 776 cases are pending in Punjab where the juveniles have been in observation home for over two years. In Haryana there are 4,000 cases where the juveniles have been in observation homes for more than four months,” he said. Justice Thakur added that the state governments should be careful in choosing members for the juvenile justice boards. The seminar was presided over by Justice MK Sharma, judge, Supreme Court, who pointed out that the Juvenile Justice Act has been misused by criminals to avoid punishment and that aspect too needs to be looked at. “When we (judges and judicial officers) are considering juvenile delinquency cases, we need to be conscious of the possible exploitation of the provisions of the Act but not approach every case with suspicion,” he said. He added that the future belongs to reformative criminal justice system and the age-old tradition of “prayashchit” should be the cornerstone of observation homes and jails. He said no state in the country had bothered to set up commission for child rights and a dedicated children’s court. The chairman of the monitoring committee, Justice Ranjit Singh, related his experiences of his visits to the various observation homes in Punjab and Haryana. He added that there was an urgent need for the judicial officers to speed up hearing the cases that deal with children in conflict with law. Justice JS Khehar, Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Adarsh Goel, all of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, also spoke on the occasion. During the technical sessions, Dr Harpreet Chabbra of the Department of psychology, Panjab University, Dr KD Singh of the Haryana police also spoke on various aspects of the Juvenile Justice Act.
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PSEB’s global tenders get good response
Patiala, October 10 PSEB Chairman Harinder Singh Brar informed that the board was making all out efforts to enhance the availability of power in the state. The seven companies, which submitted their technical bids include Reliance Power, which is ready to sell 600 MW, Power Trading Corporation 550 MW, OPG Gujarat 270 MW, Vandna Power 100 MW, Jai Parkash Powers 90 MW and Veena Power 90 MW. “In total, 2,300 MW of power has been offered on sale to the PSEB. The bids will be evaluated and the agreement would be signed only after cost per unit offered by companies is approved by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission”, disclosed Member (Generation), PSEB, Gurtej Singh Sra. He also said bidders would start supplying power to the PSEB in next three to four years, which would help in bridging gap in demand and supply to a great extent. The 1320 MW Rajpura Thermal Power Project also recieved a good response as the Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP) were submitted by firms at a conference held in Patiala, here today. Aggarwal said the conference had got tremendous response with seven companies, including Larsen & Toubro Power Development, Mumbai, GMR Urja Limited Bangalore, and others submitting their documents.
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Adulterated Milk Products
Jalandhar, October 10 The Baba today said it was a matter of satisfaction that persons like Chawla had dared to take on those who were serving poison to people in the form of adulterated milk products. “My full support is with her and I would like that she should intensify the campaign,” said Seechewal. “To sell synthetic milk and impure milk products to people is a crime,” he added. Chawla has set up several teams to conduct raids at various places to seize adulterated food products and synthetic milk. In the past few days, synthetic milk, adulterated milk products and sweets were seized at several places and samples drawn were sent for testing. As the Diwali festival is approaching, Chawla has told officials to increase the frequency of raids.
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ETT teachers stage dharna
Sangrur, October 10 On the occasion, district president Sukhvir Singh accused the SAD-BJP government of not fulfilling its promise, made with the ETT teachers during the previous Assembly elections. They had been promised that they would be shifted to the Education Department after the formation of the SAD-BJP government. Sukhvir said though the SAD-BJP government came to power more than two and half years ago, but nothing had been done in this direction so far. He also asked the government to implement 10,300-34,800- pay scale plus 4,200-pay band on ETT teachers without any delay as the Haryana government had already implemented the same. The state committee member of the union Kulwinder Singh Jahangir warned the state government that if it failed in fulfilling the demands of the ETT teachers soon then they would be compelled to intensify their struggle. Among others who also addressed the dharna included Rajinder Kumar, Jaswant Singh, Jatinder Saggu, Angrej Singh, Rupinder Sharma, Kamaljit Lehra, Gaganjit Malerkotla and Paramjit Sunam.
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NRI to invest in power project
Mukerian, October 10 Environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, laid the foundation of the mini project in Hoshiarpur district yesterday. The state government has allocated the project to Atlantic Power Private Limited, a company, owed by Gill on built, own and operate (BOO) basis for 30 years. The project has been designed by the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), a nodal agency, of the state government. PEDA director Balaur Singh said the project had been allotted to the company under the New and Renewable Sources of Energy policy. The contract of the company could be extended beyond 30 years, he added. He claimed that the company would be given 20 per cent of the power generated to the state government as “royalty”. Balaur Singh said the government had to discharge water in the Kali Bein but setting up of a mini hydropower plant at the site would help in yielding some power for the state. Talking to The Tribune, Gill claimed that the company would construct the project in less than a year and start generating power by releasing 350 cusics water discharge in the Kali Bein. He, however, claimed that the amount of water discharged in the Bein could spread in village down stream unless the state government cleaned the drain for uninterrupted flow of the water.
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Saanjh Peace Festival
Amritsar, October 10 A Vienna (Austria)-based mime artist and director theatre group Andreas Ceska from Teatro Buffo was the director of the play. He said the play in mime form conveyed the meaning of peace symbolically. Five child artists from Lahore and 22 from India, of the Spring Dale Senior School, featured in the presentation. The concept of mutual harmony between India and Pakistan was through a mime presentation under the banner of Indo-Pak Children’s Theatre Production. The
SAF-Peace festival aimed to bring people of both the nations together. Though, the relations between the two nations were marred by inconsiderate acts of vested interests, but serious attempt must be made to cement the ties.
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City Centre Scam
Ludhiana, October 10 Special Public Prosecutor Mitter Sain Goyal advanced arguments for framing charges against accused persons. The court acceded the demand of Captain Amarinder Singh's counsel defence lawyers for adjouring the case. His counsel had submitted that that a revision petition again was pending before the high court and would come for hearing on October 14. In view of that, the case be adjourned. The revision petiton was filed against the order of dismissal of application moved by the ex-Chief Minister for deferring the hearing till the prosecution complied with the provisions of Section 207 of the CrPC. The Ludhiana City Centre (CC) project was the dream project of Amarinder Singh, ex-CM, which later ran into rough weather with the change of government in the state. Several defence lawyers objected to the appearance of a private lawyer with the prosecution lawyers’ team. They questioned his authority for being with the prosecution. The Special Public Prosecutor, however, maintained that they had not received any orders or notification regarding the appointment of any private lawyer as the Special Public Prosecutor. But he termed the ploy as a delaying tactic by converting a non- issue into an issue.
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Cops fail to arrest rape accused
Gurdaspur, October 10 Ajit Singh, one of the five accused involved in the rape of Sunita (name changed), few months ago, has been preparing for his marriage to be solemnised tomorrow, at his village Dhup Sadi. The police at the Kahnuwan police station has so far not taken any action despite of knowing that Ajit Singh is in his house. “The file pertaining to the case related with the rape of Sunita is lying in the court concerned in which the trials have been going on and hence Ajit Singh and other accused cannot be arrested, “ said Jaswinder Singh, Munshi, Kahnuwan police station. However, Balwinder Singh, SHO, Kahnuwan police station, said the police was sympathetic with the victim. But he failed to explain the reasons as to why Ajit Singh could not be arrested. He added that so far the court had neither granted bail nor stayed the arrest of Ajit Singh. Meanwhile, Sunita along with her parents has been running from pillar to post to get justice after she was allegedly raped by the accused five persons at various places, including Chandigarh and Patiala. Information gathered by TNS revealed that Sunita was taken away from her village to Chandigarh by five youths identified as Ajit Singh, Jagtar Chand, Kuljit, Ajay Pal and Babbi. She was taken to Chandigarh first and then to Patiala. She was repeatedly raped by the accused after she was administered intoxicant in a cold drink. However, she managed to escape from their clutches and reached Jalandhar bus stand, she contacted her father and reached her village. After she lodged a complaint to the police, a case under Sections 376, 420, 467, 468, 471, 328, 341 and 506 of the IPC was registered at the Kahnuwan police station on September 20, 2009 and only one accused Jagtar Chand has been arrested so far. Balwinder Singh, SHO, said that police would arrest all accused without any delay.
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Five killed in road mishap
Sangrur, October 10 The killed persons were identified as ambulance driver Sukhwinder Singh from Wazidke village (Barnala), Surinder Pal from Sehna village (Barnala), Kallu, Suraj and Kanta Parsad (all from Uttar Pradesh). Bablu from Uttar Pradesh and one Rajesh also sustained injuries in the road accident. After the mishap, the driver of the truck fled from the scene while the police has registered a case against him. According to information, Kallu, resident of Para Bihari (District Banda in Uttar Pradesh) was seriously ill, so the occupants of the ambulance were taking him to Patiala from Barnala for treatment. A post-mortem examination was conducted on the bodies of all five deceased persons at the local civil hospital today. However, the police was making efforts to arrest the absconding driver.
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2 held for selling animal skins Mansa, October 10 According to information, the accused Surta Ram and Jeewan Lal of Namunda village of Haryana were living in slums of Joga village along with their families. Getting a tip off, a team of CBI officials under the leadership of CBI inspector Vijay Shukla, reached Mansa and nabbed the accused. Producing the accused duo in the court of judicial magistrate, the CBI sleuths got three-day transportation remand. The accused would be presented in the courts of Jaipur on October 12. — TNS
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