NEIGHBOURHOOD

PSEB to repair thermal plants
Attar Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 12
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has got green signal from the Central Electricity Authority for repair and maintenance of the thermal plants in the state during 2009-2010 in order to step up the functioning of the thermal plants unhindered.

In this context, the PSEB has swung into action and has drawn out a concrete and effective plan to repair the thermal plants in the state.

Board chairman HS Brar said here today that the board had taken the concrete measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers by way of streamlining the functioning of the Board.

GS Sra, a member (Production), said here today that the electricity production of the PSEB had been 26 per cent in excess in the recent past during summer. The total yearly production cost has been Rs 1,400 crore.

For such an exercise, Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda (Unit No 1), was undertaken for repair from October 9 to November 7, Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant (Unit No 1) from May 14 to May 28. It was followed by Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (Unit No 1) from October 20 to November 8 and next in the plan is Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar (Unit No 2), from November 8 to December 22.

The Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant in Bathinda will be taken up for similar purpose from January 27 to March 12, 2010.

The PSEB chairman has assured that any fault in the thermal plants in the state will be removed within 24 to 36 hours for regular and uninterrupted power supply.

Bassi Pathana, November 12
Residents of local Cheema Colony have urged the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to shift patwarkhana (office of patwaris) being run from a private house in the locality to a government building constructed at Saheedgarh village for the purpose, as it causes inconvenience to them.

The residents led by councillor Gurdeep Singh said they had submitted various memorandums to the higher officials in this regard but of no use.

The residents alleged that the office had become a headache for the residents and a threat to their private life also. They are feeling insecure as a large number of persons, some of them in an inebriated state visit the office even at odd hours and park their vehicles in front of their residences.

It becomes difficult for the people, particularly women to come out of their homes and children to play in the streets. Sometimes suspicious people also visit the place and incidents of chain snatching have also been reported in the area.

They said the government had made the building of patwarkhana at nearby Saheedgarh village, but instead of going there the office is being run from a private building due to vested interest.

Dera Bassi, November 12
Due to negligence of the Dera Bassi Municipal Council, heaps of garbage can be witnessed in different parts of the area. Residents alleged that the authorities concerned failed to fulfill their duties efficiently.

A large chunk of garbage was witnessed on the court road, Mubarikpur road, Dera Bassi-Chandigarh Highway near Barwala road and other places.

Sources in the MC stated that more than 10 dustbins had been kept in various localities. The Dera Bassi Municipal Council spends nearly Rs 1.10 lakh on the sanitation work, he added.

However, one of the MC councillors stated that no MC meeting had taken place from the past few months affecting the development and other works of the area.

Mahesh Kumar, a resident of Dera Bassi, said it was difficult for schoolchildren to cross the tehsil road as piles of garbage were lying in open.

Sanjeev Bagga, another resident, asserted that the local bodies should try to solve the problem because the weather was changing and the city was already in grip of viral related diseases. However, MC officials claimed that the cleanliness drives were conducting on regular intervals.

Dera Bassi, November 12
The police seized around 400 boxes of liquor being smuggled from Chandigarh to Haryana yesterday.

On a tip off, the police set up naka on the Dera Bassi-Ambala highway, near Janetpur village, and intercepted the canter containing the liquor. The canter was driven by Tarlochan Singh, a resident of Dhakoli, Zirakpur.

The driver of the canter was arrested and a case has been registered.

ZIRAKPUR: The excise department yesterday seized six boxes of liquor and registered a case against Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Badal Colony, Lohgarh, Zirakpur, under provisions of the Excise Act for allegedly smuggling liquor from Chandigarh and selling in Punjab. The accused was running a confectionery shop on the Lohgarh road and liquor boxes were hidden under the counter of the shop.

On September 23, the excise department had raided the shop and recovered eight cartons of liquor from there. A case under the Excise Act was registered against Gurmeet Singh.

Chhat (Banur), November 12
The purpose of introducing electronic vehicles at Mahendra Choudhary Zoological Park seems to be defeated, as noisy and pollution emitting private vehicles has still not been banned.

In its bid to curb pollution and maintain the ecological balance, zoo authorities had introduced four electronic operated vehicles in October.

Each vehicle cost Rs 8 lakh and are battery operated, thereby, emitting no obnoxious gases, which can be harmful for the animals and green cover of the zoo. However, visitors to the place seldom use these vehicles and prefer to ride around the vast zoo in their own vehicles.

It was decided to phase out the use of private vehicles with the passage of time, which is yet to take shape. “Since we do not have enough electronic vehicles to ferry all visitors, we have not banned entry of the private vehicles as of now,” said zoo officials.

The fact that the entry fee of the private vehicles (Rs 250) is more than that of the battery operated vehicles (Rs 50) has done little to deter the visitors from using their own vehicles.

A section of visitors while talking to TNS said there were certain drawbacks in the electronic vehicles. These vehicles do not have a roof during winter or summer and the vehicles fail to provide relief to passengers who either have to sweat it out in the summer or shiver in cold. Moreover, the visitors also have to brave dust when the vehicle runs on dusty roads of the zoo.

One of the zoo employees stated that though the number of visitors using the electronic vehicles was not enough, however, on Saturday and Sunday’s these vehicles were mostly put to use.

Ropar, November 12
Rayat-Bahra College of Engineering and Biotechnology for Women organised an expert talk by Dr Amitabh Verma, vice- president, Scatec-Solar India, on solar photo voltaic.

Dr Piush Verma, director of RBCEBTW, gave an explanation of the mechanism of photo voltaic cells, their working, electrical characteristics and efficiency.

He detailed how infinite junctions could be connected to provide highly increased efficiency like tandum junctions. The company has electrified two villages - Rampura and Gopalpura near Jhansi with solar energy.

He presented a video illustrating changes that have come in the lives of villagers with the arrival of electricity through solar energy.

He enlightened that industry based on solar energy is set for a high growth rate of 55 per cent to 56 per cent annually in European countries. The Indian government is also promoting the use of solar energy by putting forward a mission named Jawahar’s National Solar Mission to be announced this month. The session ended on interaction between students and Dr Amitabh Verma on the future prospects of solar voltaic.

Chandigarh, November 12
A resident of Sector 27D, Rohit Chauhan, filed a complaint with the police that four laptops, a mobile phone, an Ipod and some clothes were stolen from his rented accommodation on November 4. A case has been registered.

Mohali, November 12
Director-cum-secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, department of industries and commerce, who was arrested by Punjab Vigilance Bureau officials on alleged charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh, was remanded in judicial custody till November 26 by a court here today.

Vigilance Bureau officials, SP SS Mand and DSP Tejinder Singh, brought Janjua, a senior IAS official, to the court. A request for an extension in the police remand was made, which was declined by the court.

The public prosecutor pointed out that Janjua was not cooperating in the police investigations. He did not give his password and as such the computer seized by the vigilance officials could not be used for gathering information.

However, the defence counsel had opposed an extension in the police remand saying that the IAS official had been falsely implicated. It was also alleged that Janjua was tortured by the vigilance officials, who allegedly pressurised him to sign some blank documents. Janjua was taken for a medical examination before being produced in the court.

The IAS official was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau officials on November 9 from the Udyog Bhawan, headquarters of the industries department in Sector 17, Chandigarh.

Panchkula, November 12
In a major development in the case related to a bank fraud and a liquor smuggling network in which local as well as Punjab police officials were found to be involved, the authorities have served a show cause notice on Sector 5 SHO Baljeet Singh. The Vigilance Bureau has also been sent a list of entries found in diaries of the accused.

Sources said the Panchkula police had in a letter written to the DGP (Vigilance), Punjab, informed him about the matter and had even assured the Punjab police of full cooperation if asked.

Last month, with the arrest of Lovelesh Aggarwal and Amardeep Singh Thakur, who were accused of selling vehicles that were already mortgaged with lending agencies, the district police had stumbled upon a bank fraud and a liquor smuggling network involving police officials from Panchkula as well as Punjab.

The name of Baljeet Singh, Sector- 5 SHO, also figured during the investigation in whose names an entry worth Rs 2 lakh was found in the documents seized from the accused.

Entries worth lakhs were also found in the name of numerous police stations of Punjab.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that there were indications that a few bureaucrats and bankers were hand-in-glove with the accused.

The authorities have asked Inspector Baljeet Singh to explain the circumstances under which his name was found in the books of the bad elements with entries worth Rs 2 lakh.

When asked Inspector Baljeet Singh confirmed that his name was found in the documents and he had got money from the accused. He, however, claimed that the money was against a loan for one of his friends.

“One of my friends who happens to a retired Army officer had entered into partnership with the accused,” added Baljeet. “ I sought a loan worth Rs 2 lakh from the Army officer who directed me to pick the amount from accused on September 16, and he entered my name in his books,” explained Baljeet adding that the money was meant for another friend of his. The money was, however, returned on September 30, he added.

Chandigarh, November 12
A cyclist was killed while a motorcyclist was injured in two separate road accidents that occurred in the city. In a third accident two cars were damaged.

Hari Sahai of Bihar was badly injured after the bicycle he was riding was knocked down by a CTU bus (registration no: CH01 G5786) near the Fun Republic in Manimajra early this morning. He sustained multiple injuries and was rushed to the Sector 16 Government Multi Specialty Hospital, where he later died. The police has arrested the bus driver, Labh Singh of Chunni Kalan village in Fatehgarh Sahib district, on charges of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. In another incident, Sunil Kumar of Sector 52 alleged the driver of a Toyota Innova vehicle (PB11 AD0105) sped away after hitting his motorcycle near Ekta market, Badheri in Sector-41 on Wednesday evening. He suffered injuries in the mishap and was admitted to the PGI. A case has been registered against the unidentified driver.

Similarly, Vikash Mohan Gupta of Sector 8 filed a complaint with the police alleging that Manmohan Singh of Amritsar, who was driving a Mahindra Scorpio jeep (PB11 AC1544) rammed his vehicle into his car (CH03 1856) near the traffic lights at the Sectors 34-35 intersection on Wednesday afternoon. Nobody was injured in the accident, which left both vehicles damaged. A case has been registered. 

Chandigarh, November 12
Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 42, Chandigarh, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali, Jalandhar, and Dhudial Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Patiala, have entered semifinal of the 38th ATS Nehru Junior (U-17) Hockey Tournament to be held at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium tomorrow.

The first semifinal will be played between Dhudial Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Patiala, and Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar, at 5 pm, while the second one will be played between Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 42, Chandigarh, and Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali, Jalandhar, at 7 pm.

Both the matches will be played under floodlights.

In the first match played today, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar, beat Bright Scholar Senior Secondary School, Sonepat, (2-0) in the Pool M.

Both Jalandhar and Sonepat while displaying fine stick work attacked their opponents, however, both the teams failed to score any goal and the score remained nil till first half of the game. At the start of the second half, Jalandhar team’s captain Satbir Singh scored the first goal for his team in the 36th minute through field goal. In the 57th minute, Akash Deep Singh of Jalandhar scored the field goal giving 2-0 lead to his team. Jalandhar and Sonepat got 11 and three penalty corners, respectively, but both the teams failed to convert any of them.

The second match between Government Model High School, Sector 42, Chandigarh, and Army Bodya Sports Coy BRC, Danapur, was drawn, as both the teams scored one goal each in their Pool L match. Danapur’s Niyaran Mundu scored the first goal in the second minute of game by converting the penalty corner and gave one goal lead to his team in first half of the match.

However, in the second half, Chandigarh boys kept on attacking their opponents and were successful in equalising the score in the 49th minute through Gagandeep Singh.

Chandigarh boys got four penalty corners but failed to convert any of them, while Danapur team converted the only penalty corner, which they got in the second minute of the match. 

Chandigarh, November 12
Chhattisgarh defeated Uttar Pradesh by 50 runs in the Junior National Women’s Cricket Championship at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium here today.

The Chhattisgarh bowling trio of Deepti, A Khan and Vijaya Laksmi, who took three wickets each in today’s match, wrecked the innings of Uttar Pradesh team and did not allow their opponents to settle at the crease for long.

After winning the toss, Chhattisgarh elected to bat first and were all out in 35 overs scoring 100. Manjit Kaur and Vijay Laxmi scored 29 and 26 runs, respectively, for their team. Naina of UP was the highest wicket taker with five wickets.

In reply, UP eves could not face the accurate line and length bowling of Chhattisgarh bowlers and were all out in 19.5 overs with just 50 runs on the scoreboard. Deepti, A Khan and Vijay Laxmi took three wickets each.

Chaya and Naina of UP were declared the best batswomen and best bowler, respectively, while Chhattisgarh’s Vijay Laxmi was declared best all-rounder in the women’s championship. Dr Rajinder Setty gave away the prizes to winners and runners-up.

Prizes were also distributed to Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, and Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 56, for claiming top positions the State Women’s Cricket Tournament (U-19) for Pt Kedar Nath Memorial Trophy.

Brief scores: Chhattisgarh: All out for 100 runs in 35 overs (Shakira 0, Sangeeta 0, Premin 2, Priya 9, Anupriya 0, Vijay 26, Manjit 29, A Khan 10, Deepti 0, Sunita 0, Priya 2, Naina 7-0-24-5, Pooja 7-0-16-1, Rachna 7-1-17-2 and Farhat 7-0-20-2); Uttar Pradesh: All out for 50 in 19.5 overs (Shubhra 12, Pooja 13, Chaya 6, Deepti 7-1-25-3, Vijay Laxmi 7-2-13-3 and A Khan 5.5-2 12-3).

Chandigarh, November 12
Saupin’s School-32 beat St Soldier’s School, Sector 28, by 93 runs in the 20-20 match during the U-16 Inter-School Cricket Tournament being held at DAV-8 here today.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Saupin’s School scored 172 runs for the loss of three wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Pavleen (64), Siddarth (37) and abhishek (34, not out) were the main scorers for Saupin’s, while Rahul (1 for 25) and Rishab (1 for 26) were the main wicket takers for the St Soldier’s team.

In reply, St Soldier’s were all out for 80 runs in 19.4 overs. Vivek (18) and Rishab (14) were the main scorers for their team, while Simerdeep (3 for 10) and Jasinder (3 for 12) were the main wicket takers for the Saupin’s.

Brief scores :

Saupin’s School-32: 173 for 3 in 20 overs (Pavleen 64, Abhishek 37, Sidarth 34 , not out, Rahul 1 for 25 and Rishab 1 for 26 ); St Soldier’s-28: 80 all out in 19.4 overs ( Vivek 18, Rishab 14, Simerdeep 3 for 10 and Jasinder 3 for 12 ). — TNS