Bathinda, December 16
To tackle the stray dog menace in the city, the Bathinda Muncipal Corporation (BMC) has constituted the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which will work on the theories of animal birth control (ABC) and immunisation of the stray dogs.

The BMC authorities today arranged a meeting with several district officials. It was chaired by DC Rahul Tewari, who has been appointed as the president of the SPCA.

As per the details presented in the meeting, the BMC officials said there were about 5,260 stray dogs in the city.

Finding the mass killing of stray dogs in contravention of the Prevention of Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, the house unanimously approved the project proposal and sent it to the Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai.

According to the details of the proposal, deputy director, Animal Husbandry, will provide full-time doctors and other staff for sterilisation-cum-immunisation of stray dogs while the divisional forest officer would provide staff trained in catching dogs.

Officials said the total process would cost Rs 510 per dog.

As per the estimated expenditure, the total funds required for 5,260 dogs were Rs 26.82 lakh, out of which the AWBI, if accepts the project, would provide Rs 23.40 lakh (Rs 445 per dog). The BMC would bear the remaining expenditure.

Giving details, BMC commissioner Ravi Bhagat said, "The scheme is being launched keeping in view the great difficulty the stray dogs cause, including spreading rabies."

"Provisions like maintenance of records, separate bank account, separate books for the grants received from the AWBI under the project and preparation of quarterly as well as annual progress reports have been sorted out," he added.

Mansa, December 16
“Wrong policies of the SAD-BJP have badly damaged the Punjab economy,” said former CM Captain Amrinder Singh while addressing the media persons here on Wednesday. He said that industries were being shifted to other states as the state government had not adopted encouraging policies towards the industries.

Mismanagement of the state government was responsible for lack of revenue, he pointed out. He stressed upon the industrialisation in Punjab to boost the state economy.

Speaking on the atrocities of the state government against political opponents, he informed that nearly 14,000 false cases were registered against the Congress workers during the SAD-BJP regime.

He assured that all false cases would be taken back once his party comes to power and due action would be taken against those responsible for it. Blaming the Shiromani Akali Dal, he alleged that Parkash Singh Badal wants to rule by dividing the people on communal lines. He said that the Congress wants unity in society.

Speaking about unity in the state, Amarinder said that the Congress is a big party and every leader can have a right to express his personal views, which would be a healthy sign.

Due punishment should be given to all responsible persons for 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he demanded.

Criticising the anti-Sikh riots, he said that he had resigned from the Congress to protest these riots.

The Captain informed that he was touring the state for the purpose of encouraging the party membership enrolment drive and mass contact to hear the grievances of people and the party workers.

After visiting Majha and Doaba regions of the state, he was now touring Malwa region. To bring transparency in the management of gurdwaras, he said that every Sikh has a right to take part in the SGPC elections.

Later, he addressed an impressive public rally in the Grain Market at Mansa where he flayed the SAD-BJP government for the problems of the people.

Speaking on the occasion, Mangat Rai Bansal said that the Congress high command should be ready to face consequences, if right decision was not taken regarding the state president of the Congress party.

Raninder Singh, Congress leader and son of the former CM, also addressed the rally.

Among other Congress leaders, who spoke at the rally were Ajit Inder Singh Moffar (MLA), Sher Singh Gagowal (MLA), Ajit Mohinder Singh Sidhu (MLA), Jaswant Singh Faffre (former deputy speaker of Vidhan Sabha), Gurpreet Singh Vicky, Bikram Singh Moffar, Simarjeet Singh Mansahia and Rahul (advocate).

Ferozepur, December 16
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, leader of opposition, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, today said that the Congress would seek a CBI probe into the case of alleged siphoning of paddy worth about seven crores of rupees by owner of local Noor Rice Mill and his associates.

Paddy worth Rs seven crores, belonging to the Pungrain agency of state government, has allegedly been siphoned off despite the fact that it was stored in joint custody of the mill owner and officials of the agency.

A case in this connection was registered against Satwinder Singh, owner of the mill, Inderneel Singh and Devinder kaur (his associates), labourers and a section of truck operators in the Sadar police station on December 8.

Talking to TNS today, Bhattal said she would examine all documents connected with the scam and if it was found that the scam had taken place, the Congress party would approach the relevant authorities for getting a CBI probe.

She added that the Congress would not allow the paddy worth crores of rupees and belonging to Punjab government, eaten up by unscrupulous traders with the help of a section of ruling politicians and government officials.

On the other hand, the issue today took a new turn when district food and supply controller (DFSC), Sukhdev Singh levelled direct allegations that police authorities were not cooperating with them in recovery of paddy bags, taken away from the mill, despite the fact that they had disclosed the places to them, where the same paddy stock was still lying.

He added that he had also sought the help of deputy commissioner K. K. Yadav in recovery of paddy bags. The matter had also been brought into the notice of Punjab minister for food and supply and senior functionaries of the department in connection with non-cooperative attitude of police authorities.

Harjit Singh Pannu, SP (D), while denying the allegations of Sukhdev Singh, claimed that he (Sukhdev Singh) had not given record to the police for investigating the matter. He added that preliminary investigation revealed that paddy was never stocked in the Noor Rice Mill and a section of officials of the food and supply department were involved into the scam.

Even the letter issued by PSEB claiming the fact that Noor Rice Mill would be given power connection so that paddy could be allotted to it was also found fake.

He added that Sukhdev Singh had not been supplying relevant evidences to establish the fact that paddy bags lying at various places were the same paddy bags, which were lying in Noor Rice Mill and which had been siphoned off. He added that after these things, the police had added three new offences.

Yadav, when contacted, said that Sukhdev Singh had not sought any help from him so far. 

Moga, December 16
The initiative of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to shift out electricity meters of all the power consumers, outside the residential premises including the rural areas across the state to reduce transmission loses and power thefts, has gained momentum in the Malwa belt.

In many districts, the work to shift out meters had already been entrusted to the contractors. The work was also in progress in Ferozepur, Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Mansa and Bathinda districts of the Malwa belt. The idea was the brainchild of HS Brar (chairman of the board).

He did this experiment at Butewala village, situated on Ferozepur-Faridkot road, Dhanna Shaheed village in Zira sub-division, when he was posted as the superintending engineer (SE) of the Ferozepur division, a few years back. All the electricity meters of these villages were shifted outside the residences.

The SE of Ferozepur division, Surinder Singh Sandhu, while speaking to The Tribune revealed that this work had already been completed successfully in as many as 40 villages of this border district. “The rest of the work would begin from February 2010 and it would take at least one year to shift out all the meters from the houses,” he said.

The Board officials claim that as a result of these experiments the quality of power supply also improved in the villages and new connections were given to the villagers without any extra load on the transmitters.

Further, the move has resulted into three per cent increase in the sale of meters in the last fiscal years across the state and transmission loses were reduced by about 2.62 per cent. “In the central zone, Ludhiana and in west zone, Bathinda, the losses have been down considerably,” claimed a senior official of the Board.

In order to reduce the targeted transmission loss of 15 per cent, Brar called a meeting of all the chief engineers (operations) and superintending engineers in his office couple of days back and reviewed the progress of the ongoing work. All the officers were directed to expedite shifting of meters out of consumer’s premises.

Bathinda, December 16
While serving and retired soldiers assembled in the cantonment here this morning to celebrate “Vijay Diwas” in the memory of the valour displayed by troops during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the octogenarians of the World War II cried that they were being treated as step-children and denied facilities that the government extended to those who retired during the post-independence era.

Mohinder Singh of Deon village, walking with support of his wife and grandson, grumbled that he and other participants of the World War II were being given old age pension of Rs 1,000 per month by the Punjab government. The amount was received quarterly through the District Sainik Board. The Army was not paying any pension to him. He had fought the World War for three years from 1942 to 1945 in Iraq, Iran and Baghdad.

Another veteran Kartar Singh, who actively participated in the World War in Germany, Greece and Italy, said he had not received the paltry old-age pension for the past four months. He visited the bank several times but the amount was not credited to his account.

Kartar Singh retired from the Army in 1947 and is facing financial crisis.

Kohar Singh cherished memories of the partition period when he was assigned the task of ferrying groups of Muslim refugees from this side to Hussainiwala and Lahore and bringing Hindu refugees from Kasur, now in Pakistan, to Ferozepur.

He recalled that throughout the upheaval, he was shuttling between Kasur and Lahore with a military contingent.

Kohar Singh said carrying on with the old-age pension was tough.

Sepoy Bhajan Singh took part in the war in Aden and Egypt. He donned the medals that he had won.

District sainik welfare officer Colonel Amar Singh (retd) said the veterans of the World War were not entitled to pension, as they had not completed the full tenure in service. As such they were now being paid a monthly old-age pension of Rs 1,000.

A highly-decorated Major-General JS Herr (Retd) said the government should seriously consider the fact why young boys were shying away from joining the Army, as a result of which about 11,000 posts of officers were lying vacant.

It is a serious situation considering that had the Kargil war extended, only the “young hot” blood could have fought the battle. It was also a fact that a large number of young officers sacrificed their lives during the Kargil conflict.

Herr said it was appreciable that even 60 years after independence the government sanctioned hardship allowance for the military service. The government should be liberal in granting incentives to the Army that was “protector of freedom” and not only think of freedom fighters.

Meanwhile, Major-General RS Gujral, Chief of Staff of the Chetak Corps, and other senior serving and retired army officers laid wreaths at the Yoddha Yaadgar in the cantonment.

Major-General Gujral addressed the war veterans and presented gifts to them. He said with their dedication and disciplined way of life, ex-servicemen could contribute to the security environment by being vigilant in their respective areas. 

Bathinda, December 16
International basketball player and retired soldier Kala Singh is running from pillar to post for the past five years seeking an electricity connection for tubewell to irrigate his agricultural field at Chailanwali village in Mansa.

Subedar Kala Singh, who had come to participate in the Vijay Diwas celebrations here today, said he applied for the connection in 2004 and was still awaiting his papers to be cleared by the authorities concerned of the Punjab government.

He said ex-servicemen were entitled to the power connection on priority. He was not only an ex-serviceman, who took active part in the Indo-China war in 1962 and Indo-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971, but also made Punjab proud by being a member of the Indian basketball team that went abroad thrice.

Kala Singh said he played the basketball match against Pakistan at Lahore in 1961, at Sri-Lanka in 1964 and at Bangkok in 1965.

He joined the Indian Army in 1952 and retired as Subedar in 1981.

Fazilka, December 16
Brigadier Mahesh Yadav, commander, Army units at Fazilka, laid wreaths at the 1971 Indo-Pak War Memorial at village Asafwala, seven kilometers from here to observe Vijay Diwas.

Collective cremation of war heroes, who had laid down their lives in the war, was performed at the site of memorial, which was later raised by the residents of Fazilka area as a tribute to the great martyrs. Contingents of army jawans saluted the war heroes and sounded the last bugle.

Recalling the supreme sacrifices, Brigadier Yadav described Vijay Diwas as a day of reverence. “It is a day of pride for the Army as Vijay Diwas is celebrated throughout the country today to mark the victories of Army men in India. Even the victory in Kargil war is celebrated today,” said Brigadier Yadav.

Members of the War Memorial Committee led by its president Dr Rattan Lal Thakral, general secretary, Mohan Lal Paruthi, vice-presidents Amar Chand Bhateja, Umesh Chander Kukkar, project chairman Shashi Kant and Ravi Nagpal also paid rich tributes to the martyrs.

Havaldar Vir Abhimanyu from Rohtak and Partap Singh (driver of the erstwhile Army commander late Major General RK Suri) had also especially come to pay their tributes from Delhi on Vijay Diwas to their colleagues of VI Jat Regiment, who had participated in the Indo-Pak war in Fazilka sector and had suffered 82 casualties in the war here. 

Abohar, December 16
The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) will oppose fixing of CCTV cameras by the Panjab University at the table marking centres in the annual exams, warned state president Prof Iqbal Singh Sandhu.

While denouncing the move, he said here today that the PU should better concentrate on reforming its own administrative set-up than suspecting the integrity and professional fairness of the lecturers engaged for table marking. Asserting that CCTV cameras alone can’t bring in any revolutionary change in the system, Prof Sandhu demanded that evaluation of answer sheets for commerce and science faculties should be done at Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Abohar centres rather than the PU campus at Chandigarh to facilitate the lecturers concerned to evaluate the performance of the students locally. This, he said, would reduce the burden on the Chandigarh centre.

He also urged the PU vice-chancellor to implement the revised pay scales without further delay. 

Fazilka, December 16
A suspected case of swine flu is under treatment at a local private hospital. According to available details, Varinder (44), a resident of border village Sivana of this sub-division, was admitted to the Sachdeva Hospital with complaints of cough and breathlessness on December 13.

Varinder was suffering from cough and cold on December 9 when he had gone to attend a marriage at Sriganganagar. There after, he took some medicine but got no relief. Subsequently, he came for check-up to the Sachdeva Hospital here.

The patient also went to Sriganganagar for consultation with senior medical specialist Dr LD Bhardwaj on December 14 on the recommendation of Dr Vijay Sachdeva, Director of the Sachdeva Hospital. The blood samples of the patient were taken for test by Tandon Laboratory of Sriganganagar which in turn sent the blood sample for H1N1 (swine flu) testing to Dr Lal Path Lab Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

Varinder again returned to Fazilka on the same day from Sriganganagar and went for treatment at the Sachdeva Hospital. Meanwhile, according to report of Lal Path Lab received here today, Varinder has tested positive for H1N1 (swine flu).

When this correspondent contacted Civil Surgeon, Ferozepur, Dr Dalip Kumar, he said the report is of a private laboratory. According to Dr Vijay Sachdeva, Varinder was suffering from pneumonia. He has considerable relief from the problem.

On the directive of the Civil Surgeon, Dr YK Gupta, Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Fazilka, constituted a check-up team comprising Dr DK Bhukkal and chief pharmacist Shashi Kant of the Civil Hospital, Fazilka, to examine the patient. According to Dr Gupta, the condition of the patient is stable at present and he is out of danger. There is no need for panic regarding swine flu, the doctor said, adding that the health department is keeping a close watch on the situation. 

Abohar, December 16
The city police claims to have identified the woman who had allegedly abandoned the newly born female child in Nai Abadi locality during last week, sources said.

The female child that was found near a drain had reportedly died due to delay in providing medical aid. The police indicated that the deceased child had been delivered by a woman who originally belonged to Srikaranpur town of Sriganganagar district in Rajasthan and had been deserted by her husband about three years back.

She had arrived here for reconciliation bid. When questioned on her physical structure by the husband, she had lied claiming that she had tumor in abdomen.

She reportedly gave birth to the female child past midnight in the bathroom of her in-laws residence in Azeemgarh locality here and allegedly threw the same in upper street of Nai Abadi. Later, a para-medical worker advised her to get admitted at some hospital. The police has been planning to arrest the woman soon, sources indicated. — OC

Bathinda, December 16
Punjabi University cricketers will be hoping to take maximum advantage of home environs when the North Zone Inter-university Cricket Tournament kicks off at the Rajindra College ground here on December 20.

The last time when the Punjabi University qualified for the All India Inter-varsity Championship was in 1991. Then, the North Zone tourney was held at Patiala.

Thirty probables are slugging it out at the Rajindra College ground in preparation for the tournament- which is perceived to be one of the biggest tourneys to be played in this part of the region till yet. The only first class match played in the south-west Punjab was in 1974 when Punjab squared off against Haryana in a Ranji trophy match played at Muktsar.

That the sport has already managed to get a foothold in the region is evident from the fact that a team from Bathinda region — Baba Farid College, Deon — sprung a surprise by winning the title in the Punjabi University Inter-college Cricket Tournament that concluded at the Rajindra College ground in the last week of November.

Final trials to select the 16-member team will be held on December 16. The Punjabi University has been clubbed with the Awadh University, Firozabad, that came third in previous edition of the tourney.

Coach Harpreet Singh, himself a reputed cricketer, expressed optimism that his team will do well and turn the tables on fancied outfits like the Aligarh Muslim University and the Delhi University, both institutions are renowned for producing Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and even internationals stars. “Sixty per cent of cricketers who go on to play for India in Test cricket or in its abridged versions are products of inter-university cricket,” said Harpreet Singh.

The Punjabi University hopes to ride on their left arm tweakers Rajwinder Singh and Amaninder Singh to dent their opponent’s aspirations. The hosts also boast of having in their ranks right-arm leg spinners Bhavish Goel, who has mesmerised many a batsmen in junior cricket with his googlies.