Batala, December 23
The roof of an under-construction building of Government Elementary School, Shahabpura, here collapsed within two hours after it was laid.

However, officials claimed that no compromise had been made with the construction material but collapse of the lintel has proved the claim to he hollow.

The rooms were being constructed under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan for which a grant of over Rs 2 lakh was released. Besides two rooms, a kitchen and a corridor were also being built.

Ironically, school working committee chairman Jagjot Singh termed it a conspiracy and demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident. He claimed that he had got another room and a corridor built with funds from his own pocket.

Meanwhile, Subdivisional Magistrate Rahul Chaba, talking to The Tribune, said the prime facie evidence ruled out use of inferior material. He said that a PWD team led by SDO Harjot Singh had visited the spot and has, in his report, pointed out that the incident took place due to “weak wooden supports”.

Jalandhar, December 23
The claims of the government of making Punjab power surplus were “hollow” and the state was “directionless” in this vital sector.

Alleging that the much-touted upcoming power projects were just paper plans, executive members of the PSEB Engineers Association said the management too could not be absolved of its duty of protecting the commercial interests of the board.

Association president H.S. Bedi said the board had been a mute spectator in the face of repeated defaults by the government in lieu of subsidy to various categories of customers.

As per a recent tariff order, the state had to pay an yearly subsidy of Rs 3,144 crore through monthly instalments of Rs 294 crore from September 2009, but it had failed to do so till now, said.

Instead, the board approached the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) to defer the power hike, knowing well that such a petition was infructuous as only the state government could approach the commission, for which it had to pay a higher subsidy amount, he added.

Clarifying that there was no mention of unbundling of power boards in the country as was being projected in the media, he said vested interests had projected that unbundling was mandatory as per the Electricity Act, 2003.

Association patron Padamjit Singh said Clause 131 of the Act allowed the state electricity boards (SEBs) to create a company for generation, transmission and distribution and another for trading.

Singh said the proposed four power generation plants would be operational in the next four years.

Presently, the state was short of at least 15 per cent of the demand of power and it is expected that it will grow at the rate of 8 to 10 per cent per annum in the coming years. “How can one claim that Punjab would be a power surplus state in the next three years?” he added.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which monitors the installation of power generation plants, has not included even a single plant of Punjab in the list of power plants that were expected to be completed by 2012,” he revealed.

Nawanshahr, December 23
The Education Department has ordered promotions of as many as 183 vocational lecturers/masters as principals in the state. In district Nawanshahr, as many as five vocational lecturers/masters - Dinesh Kumar, Amarjit Singh, Gurdip Singh, Amarjit Lal and Janak Raj have been promoted as principals. They have taken charge as Principal at Government Senior Secondary Schools at Nawanshahr, Banga, Ratenda, Langroya and Soondh Maqsoodpur, respectively, on Wednesday.

Local MLA, Jatinder Singh Kariha, District Education Officer, Darshan Kaur, District Science Officer, Balihar Singh Bains, former District Education Officer, Swarn Singh, among others, were present at the local Government Senior Secondary School, when Dinesh Kumar assumed charge as principal here.

The MLA said the SAD-BJP government had fulfilled its promise of initiating the process of promotions, which had been lying pending for the past many years, with a view to bringing in qualitative improvement in education. — OC

Jalandhar, December 23
Lovely Professional University (LPU), under its faculty exchange programme, sent a four-member team, headed by Dr S.K. Bawa, Dean of the Lovely School of Education, on a week-long programme to the University of Wolver Hampton, UK.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wolver Hampton Caroline Gipps had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the LPU last year with an aim to foster the faculty exchange programme.

The motive of the visit was to have a first-hand experience about the various facets and models of education delivery followed in the UK. Emphasis was laid on exchanging ideas on developments in teacher training, classroom management and the use of new technologies in teaching and learning.

During their visit the professors observed teacher training programmes and visited partner schools and colleges in Walsall, Sandwell and Wolver Hampton. They also 
visited Stratford-upon-Avon and London.

LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal said, “We have tie-ups with 15 international universities across the globe and are looking forward to more foreign exchange programmes and visits in the coming times,” he added.

Jalandhar, December 23
In less than 24 hours of the murder of a dentist, the police has solved the case with the arrested of a partner of the victim in property dealing. The police has also recovered the weapon and the vehicle used by the assailant in the crime.

Talking to The Tribune, the DSP, Adampur, Manjit Singh, revealed that Surinder Singh, a dentist of Bhogpur, was murdered by Inderpal Singh Cheema, a resident of Dalla village. The dentist and Cheema were dealing in property and were partners.

The DSP revealed that Cheema was arrested by the police after he was questioned for his involvement in the case. The police rounded him up after getting the data of mobile phone calls exchanged between the victim and the suspect before the crime, he claimed.

During questioning Cheema admitted to have killed Surinder Singh in an inebriated condition following a tiff between them. The two had gone to Kartarpur to see some land and on their way they consumed liquor in Cheema’s car. In the car they had a tiff over the denture of Cheema’s mother. Cheema took out a dagger and killed him.

He then drove the vehicle to Kalhwan village, near Kartarpur, and dumped the body on the roadside, the DSP said.

Cheema even joined the family of the dentist in searching him and getting a report lodged with the police. A case under sections 364 and 302 of the IPC has been registered against Cheema at Bhogpur police station. Cheema will be produced before a local court tomorrow.

Jalandhar, December 23
Tarlochan Singh, resident of Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran district, has died of swine flu in the Civil Hospital here. According to health officials, Tarlochan Singh was admitted to the hospital two days back.

Pathankot: The Gurdaspur Civil Hospital has referred a confirmed Swine-flu patient for treatment to the Guru Nanak Hospital at Amritsar today. Dr. HS Batra, Civil Surgeon, Gurdaspur, said Gurpreet Singh (22), a student of Beant Engineering College at Gurdaspur, was tested positive for Swine-flu, before he was referred to Amritsar, where he was admitted two days ago.

He said this was the third case of Swine-flu in the district. He said another suspected Swine-flu patient, a 21-year-old youth, had been under observation at the civil hospital and his samples had been sent to the laboratory for Swine-flu testing. Dr. Batra said there was no need to panic as the district health authorities had sufficient stock of Tami flu medicines and other preventive equipments including triple ear masks to avoid Swine-flu.