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Punjab to have Labour Welfare Board
Speculations rife as Badal visits estranged aide Mann
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City soaks in celebrations
Rural doctors observe ‘Black Diwali’
Stray incidents of violence mar Diwali celebrations
Bathinda Refinery
CM seeks views of Excise Dept
Gurta Gaddi Samagam
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Punjab to have Labour Welfare Board
Moga, October 18 This was announced by the CM Parkash Singh Badal, at a state-level function, to mark the birth anniversary of Baba Vishwakarma here, on Sunday. The demand for welfare board was put up by the Vishwkarma society. The CM also accepted another demand of the community to establish two chairs in the names of former President Giani Zail Singh and Sikh leader of the 18th century Jassa Singh Ramgarhia each, in the state universities. Badal assured the gathering that a proposal for naming Ropar IIT in the name of Baba Vishwakarma would be sent to the PM’s office by the Punjab government Lauding the role of the community, Badal said the Vishwakarma community not only developed new technology and prosperity for the people of the state but also always stood for peace, brotherhood and communal harmony. He said that most highly-skilled people and experts come from the Ramgarhia community. "They have made name, fame and everything for the state and they deserve great respect and attention," he added. Badal disclosed that three new centres were being developed in the state to improve the skills of youth to get jobs. He praised the mechanics of Moga for developing the first thresher for wheat harvesting during the period of green revolution, which brought prosperity to the nation. "Now, Talwandi Bhai is also earning name for making computerised land levellers," he said. Earlier, he paid rich floral tributes to Baba Vishwakarma and said he was the 'guru' of the labour and the engineering class and people around the world worship him with different names. Hira Singh Gabaria, the Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, who presided over the function, also paid rich tributes to Baba Vishwakarma. He mentioned the contribution made by the community towards the state’s progress. Former education minister and senior SAD leader Tota Singh strongly endorsed the demands of the Vishwakarma society and requested the CM to settle issues related to industrial focal point of the town. Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, local MP and veteran SAD leader Gurdev Singh Badal also spoke on the occasion. |
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Speculations rife as Badal visits estranged aide Mann
Ferozepur, October 18 Noticeable among others, who were present during the CM's visit today, were irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, former MLA Paramjit Singh besides SGPC members and SAD leaders. Badal had last visited Mann's village in 2005. Though, the visit was labelled as ‘personal’ and kept closely guarded from the media, it nevertheless generated a lot of murmurs regarding some secret understanding between the two families, which has also caused turbulence amidst Mann's rivals. MP Sher Singh Ghubaya and some other SAD leaders, whose differences with Mann are an open secret, had received the CM at the helipad today. But they did not accompany him to Mann's village. Three-time MP Mann has remained a trusted lieutenant of the SAD and the Badals in particular. Even in times of adversity, Mann always stood by the Badal family, who had rewarded his loyalty with a ticket for the Lok Sabha in 1997, which he won with a thumping majority. From being a village sarpanch to parliamentarian, Mann thereafter did not look back and went on to win the next two Lok Sabha elections comfortably. His closeness to the Badals had made him a man of immense political stature. However, changed political equations perhaps forced the SAD to ignore Mann, who had virtually gone into hibernation after denial of the Lok Sabha ticket. Earlier, Mann had developed differences with Badal family'ostensibly over the allotment of assembly ticket to his bete-noire Sher Singh. Owing to his opposition to Ghubaya's candidature, Rai Sikhs also developed dislike for Mann. Notwithstanding Mann's opposition during last assembly elections, Ghubaya won the seat with a record margin, which further dented Zora Singh's image in the party. Thereafter, bearing Ghubaya's mounting popularity amidst Rai Sikhs in mind, the SAD allocated him party ticket for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections dumping the sitting MP Mann, which proved virtually "a last nail in the coffin" for the octogenarian leader. Ghubaya's elevation as MP further eclipsed Mann's prospects within the party and his relations with Badals seem to have hit an all time low. Early this year, when Sukhbir Badal decided to contest the assembly bypoll from Jalalabad, speculations were rife that Akalis may coax Mann and bring him back into active party fold as he still wields a lot of influence in this area, especially amidst Jatt Sikhs. However, fearing a backlash by the Rai Sikhs, who constitute almost 50 per cent of the total electorate in this segment, the SAD preferred to keep Mann at an arms length and not to annoy Rai Sikhs. After having registered a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha and Jalalabad by-election, which Sukhbir won by over 80,000 votes, the SAD seems to be a in reconciliatory mood now. Political analysts feel the elder Badal wants to keep the senior party leaders in good humour so as to ensure smooth elevation of his son and Deputy CM to the top post whenever he decides to do so, which seems inevitable sooner or later. When asked, the CM refused to divulge into any details about his visit, and just said his relations with Mann's family were old and everlasting. When contacted, Mann, in a diplomatic tone, said it was Badal’s own house and the CM does not need to wait for any occasion or reason to visit him, adding that, "differences do take place within a family. however, it does mean that you stop meeting each other." |
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City soaks in celebrations
Bathinda, October 18 Sweets shops were open post 11 pm on Diwali eve and the city experienced a shortage of sweets by evening on Diwali. Chocolates disappeared off the shelves that made even small sweets shops earn good profit. People lined up at restaurants for the past few days making those in the hospitality industry earn big bucks. There were vendors all over the city selling earthen lamps, candles, things needed for Laxmi pooja, plastic flowers and fancy lights. Sweets and fancy lights were sold the most on Diwali as every household in the city was brightly lit and people exchanged packs of sweets. Children could be seen bursting crackers but it was not business as usual, thanks to the awareness created by environmentalists and schools regarding green Diwali. While people seemed busy with crackers and exchanging sweets there were some who celebrated Diwali by playing 'teen patti', a card game played on Diwali, followed by dinner at their homes making the festival more exciting. The city woke up to cracker shreds scattered on city roads but the quantity of this waste was less as compared to previous years making things easy for sweepers who clean the roads everyday. The festival went by with no major tragedy taking place in the city except one big fire case and two accidents where no casualty was reported. Cops guarded the main markets of the city throughout the day yesterday and Gurjeet Singh Romana, SHO, Kotwali police station, reined in some youth for eve teasing at Dhobi market here. Dr Vinod Garg from the Civil Hospital here said that no burn case was reported yesterday night but more than 30 patients were admitted to the hospital. These were cases related to accidents and clashes that took place in the city yesterday night. Brawl: Following a tiff between two groups on Diwali an FIR was registered against seven people at the Aggarwal Colony here on Saturday. The argument took place due to a car running over a cracker that was already lit by a group of boys. Some cases were admitted to the Civil Hospital here following the clash.
— TNS |
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Rural doctors observe ‘Black Diwali’
Bathinda, October 18 Dr JP Narula, advisor, Rural Medical Service Association, said that minister for rural development Ranjit Singh Brahampura had demanded an equal pay for the rural medical officers and the PCMS doctors of the state. He said the department had sent a proposal demanding a salary of Rs 35,000 for the rural and PCMS doctors three months back to the finance department. But the finance minister sent back the file containing the proposal after fixing a salary of Rs 27,000. Sources revealed that the file says that rural doctors were given more salary than the PCMS when the dispensaries were handed over to the zila parishads in 2006 to motivate the doctors to go to rural areas. Around 1193 dispensaries were given to contractual doctors and Rs 30,000 was fixed to run a dispensary. The fixed amount included wages of staff, electricity bill, sanitation and maintenance. This forced 400 rural doctors to leave their jobs and some moved to the neighbouring states also. The doctors also said that they would hand over their resignations to the finance minister itself. Dr Aslam Parvez from the association said there is no dearth of funds with the government for rural development as claimed by ministers concerned. "The government was getting funds from the Centre in the name of rural development and rural health and motivating rural doctors should be the priority of the finance minister if he is the deciding factor. A PCMS doctor draws nearly Rs 38,000 at the entry level while rural doctors were getting Rs 21,000 despite working for more than three years in the village dispensaries where there were no doctors available for last 20 years," he said. |
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Cloths worth lakhs reduced to ashes
Bathinda, October 18 According to the information given by Baldev Singh, assistant divisional fire officer, who was at the site of the mishap, the information received about a building engulfed with flames was given very late to the fire brigade. Piles of cloth and furniture kept at the building could have been saved had the fire brigade been informed on time. Baldev Singh said the fire took place short-circuit that probably occurred in a generator kept at the building. "It was 2:42 am when we got a call from a building near Goyal Cloth Store. The caller told us that the store was burning and a lot of smoke was being generated. We rushed to the spot within three minutes and found that the street was too narrow to accommodate 15 fire tender vehicles that were pressed into service. The street could accommodate only one fire tender at a time. While one fire tender was being used, the others were busy fetching water for fighting the fire. Twelve staff members were busy dousing the flames which took more than three hours," Baldev Singh said. The property loss was being estimated and there was no casualty during the incident. The last vehicle that returned from the spot back to the fire brigade location was at 7:50 am. Fire-fighters had to break the walls of the building to control the fire. The fire brigade received 11 fire calls yesterday with Goyal Cloth Store being the main task for the staff. In another fire incident, around 16 trolleys carrying remains left after extracting cotton from cotton plants also caught fire at Jassi Pau Wali near Bathinda. Baldev Singh said that he would write a letter to the Deputy Commissioner for giving letters of appreciation to all the members of the team who controlled the fire at the Goyal Cloth Store. |
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Stray incidents of violence mar Diwali celebrations
Abohar, October 18 Another case under the Act was registered against Duli Chand in the border town Anoopgarh. Meanwhile, an unidentified person got burnt alive in an accidental fire that broke out in village 5-G near Chunavadh. Miscreants smashed glass panes of over 12 cars that had been parked in different streets of the old walled city late on Saturday night, sources said. The affected owners rued that they celebrated Diwali till 12 pm, till then there were no signs of a trouble. It visibly appears that the miscreants went on rampage after midnight. By and large, it was an incident-free Diwali since all the fire works and cracker sellers had sold out the entire stock by 8 pm in the make shift market that had been created at the Nehru Stadium. As the customers thronged the stadium in the evening and fire-works fell short, some of the sellers allegedly charged up to hundred per cent more of the prevailing prices. Some had transported fire-works from neighboring town Malout using vehicles in the evening. "We were not expecting customers would visit the stadium since it was a new experience, so we had not stacked much," a stall owner was heard explaining. Parking arrangements had been made outside the stadium but many two-wheeler owners made side-door entries. "Centralising sale of fire-works was indeed a good idea, however, the sports persons, who had worked hard in developing the stadium without any state assistance during the last two years, fell shell-shocked over its condition now," said Dr Rajinder Girdhar, principal of the Homeopathic Medical College, who had been instrumental in organising most of the cricket tournaments. It will take another year to restore its glory, he felt. |
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Bathinda Refinery
Jalandhar, October 18 “It would be a bad economic decision as well as against the interest of the state to extend any further benefit to the owners of oil refinery,” said an expert. He said instead of giving Rs 400 crore per annum interest free for 15 years to the HPCL-Mittals for refinery, it would be better for the state to offer to cotton mills to set up a cluster of 10 cotton and garment units at Bathinda. The government should offer Rs 40 crore as subsidy to each of the units. In five years, at least 50 units will come up in the Bathinda region, which is known for producing quality cotton and making a huge contribution to the state exchequer besides improving the economy of the state. Giving off Rs 400 crore free of interest means accumulation of approximately Rs 11,000 crore (principal plus interest) in 15 years on behalf of the Punjab government towards the owners of the refinery. And the owners would start returning that amount after 15 years in instalments without any interest . “If the state government is to give the benefit of Rs 11,000 crore to the refinery owners in 15 years, a better option to it is to ask Laxmi N Mittal to sell some part of the equity to the Punjab government, which should float a public issue against the equity to collect money from the investors,” said the expert. The HPCL-Mittals have just invested Rs 6,000 crore and raised a loan of Rs 12,000 crore for the project. In the equity of Rs 6,000 crore, both HPCL and Mittals were equal partners. That means each of the two parties will invest Rs 3,000 crore in five years (2008-2012) from their own resources. Of it, the HPCL-Mittals were asking for Rs 2,000 crore, Rs 400 crore every year, from the Punjab government. That means both joint venture partners will invest only Rs 2,000 crore each from their own resources in five years. By giving Rs 400 crore each year to the PSEB for five years, at least five thermal plants of 500 MW each could be set up in Punjab. Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader said the party was studying the issue carefully and consulting experts on this issue. “Already our senior leader and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had made his views known on the issue. He had opposed extending of any fiscal benefit to the refinery as it would not be in the interest of the state,” said the Congress leader. |
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CM seeks views of Excise Dept
Chandigarh, October 18 The CM had given an oral nod to the HMEL’s proposal to extend the loan due to it from the state government from the earlier Rs 250 crore for five years to Rs 400 crore for 15 years. The Excise Department has now been asked to examine the issue and give its recommendations. However, the proposal has met with flak from the BJP. A senior minister of the party has claimed that he was not consulted on the issue. Industry Minister Manoranjan Kalia said he did not know about the oral agreement, as he was not involved in the meeting. Sources said doubts are also being raised on whether the concessions being sought by the HMEL can be extended by the state government. This is because the June 20 meeting, at which the concessions were discussed, was presided over by Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora while the earlier concessions had been freezed by the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting was attended by LN Mittal on behalf of Mittal Steel and Prabh Das on behalf of Hindustan Petroleum besides the CM and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who represented the state. Meanwhile, in view of the precarious financial situation of the state, serious doubts are being raised on whether the state can give a loan of Rs 400 crore per year to the HMEL. It has been suggested by the BJP that the HMEL could be asked to keep VAT collections instead of giving these to the state. Those suggesting this say other states have also followed this pattern. Even as the Industries Minister blames the confusion on a “communication gap”, CM Badal seems to be clear that the refinery has a just claim to an increase in the loan amount as well as delay in the repayment from the sixth year onwards to the proposed 16th year. The government is “happy” with the progress being made on the ground with 45 per cent of the project having been completed. Officially, however, the concessions have still to be extended with the CM claiming that the state will sit down with the refinery management and try to “cooperate” as much as possible. |
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Two hurt as truck rams into medical store
Bathinda, October 18 The injured, namely Rajinder Singh, shopkeeper of the medical store, and one Harbansh Singh, who was buying medicines at the time of the incident, are battling for life at hospitals, sources said. The condition of Harbansh is critical," sources said, adding, "He is still in an unconscious state," The driver of the truck, Surjeet Singh, did not try to escape the site of the mishap after the accident and was later detained by the police. According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place when a truck rammed into a medical store located in front of the Bharat Brain Hospital on Power House road causing the roof of the store to cave in. Shopkeeper Rajinder Singh who was inside the shop and Harbansh Singh who was at the shop for buying some medicines, came under the debris. They were rescued by the locals after about 15 minutes from the rubble, sources said. Most of the medicines kept inside the store were also buried in the debris. A car bearing registration number HR 25 8304, which was stationed in front of the shop also received a major dent as the truck also hit the same. Panic griped the entire area around the mishap site as a huge sound followed the impact of the collision and dust engulfed the area for several minutes. Following the information, police reached the site. A crane was also pressed into action to intensify rescue operation. Gurvir Singh, ASI in-charge, police post, court complex, on Sunday said that on the statement of injured Rajinder Singh, a case under sections 308, 427 of the IPC had been registered against the driver of the truck, Surjeet Singh, who was sent to judicial custody today. The blood sample of Surjeet had also been sent for examination to ascertain his condition at the time of the incident, the cop said. |
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Gurta Gaddi Samagam
Bathinda, October 18 In view of the occasion, the railway is running special trains between Nanded and Sriganganagar for three days from October 15. The train had a run from Nanded on October 15 and will also run on October 19 and 23 and will also make a journey from Sriganganagar on October 21 and 25. The 2715-C starts its journey from Nanded at 10.30 pm and reaches Sriganganagar at 9.30 am via stations including Bhopal, Beena, Jhanshi, Palwal, New Delhi, Rohtak, Jind, Jhakhal and Bathinda. The train reaches Bathinda at 6.25 am. The 2716 C begins its journey from Sriganganagar at 5 pm and reaches Nanded at 3.30 am. Demanding stoppage of the trains at important stations of the region, Hanuman Dass Goel, vice-president, Rail Passengers' Association, Northern zone, had written a letter to the Chairman Railway Board. Stating that the very purpose of running the trains would be served better, if the trains make a halt en route at some important stations in Punjab and Haryana, Goel said that other mail and express trains also stop at stations, like Malout, Abohar, Mansa, Narwana and others. He claimed that halt of special trains at the stations would be economically viable for the railways besides being beneficial of the residents living in the areas. |
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malwa diary
Punjab health minister, Luxmi Kanta Chawla, by choosing the Abohar-based Homoeopathic Medical College for hosting a state-level seminar-cum-workshop of the health department, had opined that experts and officials can learn and deliver much by visiting the remote areas.
Now, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) did a commendable job by assigning the task of organising two-day orientation programme on informatics practice for public schools, Panchkula zone, to the LRS DAV Senior Secondary School, Abohar. Chief guest for the valedictory session DAV College, principal Dr BB Sharma, an expert in computer network, while appreciating the idea said the whole world needs skilled workers. India too faces scarcity in it, he said. Universities are making efforts to meet the challenge through a variety of subjects. Youths must be motivated to share the challenge, he observed. He also honoured the resource persons and participants. Sharing their in-depth studies on information technology and open source software techniques, resource persons Anuj Sharma and Viplesh Bhadoo spoke about RDMS, exploration of SQL, using my SQL, programme establishing and data connectivity. They responded well to queries made by the participants on graphical user interface. Discussions and FAQs were also held on the IT applications besides discussing practical problems being faced in teaching. Rida, Qaify Gumber enthralled the gathering and the visiting teachers through their dance performance. The convener Kusum Khungar, principal of the host school, thanked the CBSE for such an important task and hoped it would help improve the standard of computer education in the region. — Raj Sadosh
Digital X-ray comes as a boon for patients
In this border town, specialised healthcare has always been one of the major issues before the local people, as for every advanced medical need, they had to often rush to bigger towns. However, fulfilling the long-pending necessity of the local patients, this town now boasts of the digital X-ray or the film-cum-radiography centre, which is the first of its kind in the region, set up here with the efforts of Dr Vikas Arora, a leading radiologist. "It was my long cherished desire to bring the latest medical technology to the doorsteps of the people of Ferozepur,” said Dr Arora, who has been providing quality radiology service in this backward belt for over a decade now. He said digital X-ray is the most significant breakthrough in X-ray imaging in the past 25 years. "Unlike the old X-ray process, in digital radiography, X-ray signals are converted to digital images in the form of pixels like digital cameras, and the image quality is unbelievably superb," he added. Dr Sheel Sethi, a noted paediatrician said it is a boon for patients as it protects them from radiation exposure by avoiding retakes. The digital image can be manipulated, zoomed, multiple images can be compared, and copies made without loss of image quality. — Anirudh Gupta |
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