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Non-teaching staff stage dharna
Patiala, February 8 The protest was registered in the form of a five-hour dharna and a full day stay in strike. Modi College non-teaching employees’ union press secretary Vinod Sharma informed that the union was disappointed with the Punjab government’s attitude towards the non-teaching employees of the private colleges. Both college unions threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not fulfilled. Modi College union president Ravinder Kaur informed that the Central union was planning to boycott all Board and university final practical and written examination in all private colleges. In addition to this, a state-level rally would also be held at Jalandhar on February 15.
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NCC camp
Patiala, February 8 By this evening, students had given the drops to almost 650 children. |
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Rise in VAT
Bassi Pathana, February 8 The Beopar Mandal condemned the state government decision, said District Beopar Mandal president Varinder Rattan, while addressing the meeting here today. He said earlier there were two slabs of VAT, 4 per cent and 12.5 per cent, but now the first slab had become 5.5 per cent and second 13.25 per cent, maximum in any state. He said Sukhbir Kalia Committee recommendations were against the interests of the people. He said it was a matter of shame that all other recommendations except roll back of electricity bills had been implemented. —
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PRTC may go in for bus fare revision
Patiala, February 8 The levying of 10 per cent surcharge on VAT has resulted in an increase in prices of petrol and diesel in the state. While the prices of petrol have gone up by Rs 1.06 per litre, the prices of diesel are up by 26 paise per litre. Sources in the PRTC revealed that the recent increase in price of diesel by 26 paise per litre was bound to put an additional burden of Rs 15 lakh per month on the corporation. It has a fleet of over 1,000 buses that covers a distance of about 3 lakh km. On an average, a bus covers 4.5 km in one litre of diesel. PRTC managing director Manvesh Singh Sidhu said the PRTC would be saddled with additional financial burden on account of revision of the diesel prices. The corporation may have to resort to increase in the bus fares for its fleet of buses. He said for this purpose the corporation would knock the doors of the Punjab government seeking its permission for an upward revision of bus fares to make good the loss that the corporation would face on account of diesel price hike. PRTC sources added that even if the corporation decides not to revise the bus fares immediately, it may be constrained to go in for bus fare revision if the prices of diesel get revised again, as speculations are rife that another price rise was in the offing. These sources said the Punjab government had recently allowed an increase of bus fares by seven paise per km and this had come as a major relief to the PRTC. Managing director of the PRTC Manvesh Singh Sidhu said the corporation had drawn up ambitious plans for the coming year, which among other things included replacement of old and worn out buses and construction of a modern bus stand at Patiala.
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Norway academy lift kabaddi cup
Patiala, February 8 Baba Deep Singh Academy defeated Punjabi State Electricity Board (PSEB) team in a close match scoring 31 points against PSEB’s 28 points. For Norway academy, Sandeep Lalia, Sucha Dhauni and Gurnam Singh were the top raiders whereas Hardeep Tau did remarkable defence. In the girls’ section, Jagatputa eves beat Sandhu Sports Club. The tournament was organised by Maharaja Ranjit Singh Sports Club. Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khatra, state president of Students’ Organisation of India (SOI) Gurpreet Singh Raju, Khanna, chairman of Youth Development Board and SP (vigilance) Shiv Kumar gave away the prizes to the winners. The winning team was also awarded a cash prize of Rs 1.1 lakh by India Kings Transport Company president Amrik Singh Pandher whereas the runners-up were given a cash prize of Rs 75,000. Harinderpal Singh Tikka was awarded the Kabaddi Ratan Award, while cricket coach Talwinder Singh, Punjabi University football coach Dalbir Singh, boxing coach Harpreet Singh and Kala Afghani were bestowed with the “Pride of Punjab Awards.”
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Employees union lashes out at Education Minister
Bassi Pathana, February 8 They demanded removal of education minister to fix the responsibility of the officials present. They also lashed out at the state government for not considering their genuine demands. They demanded Rs 20 lakh and a government job to her family member as compensation. Hari Singh Tohra, state president of Karamchari Dal, said ESG teachers had been struggling since long for their genuine demands, but education minister never bothered to consider their demands. He said she forced the teacher to take this extreme step. Earlier, a teacher committed suicide in the office of director general SSA, he added. He said a balance of Rs 4,800 crore of Pay Commission report had not been paid the services of 89 days and daily wage employees had not been regularised. The annual increment should be increased from three per cent to five per cent. Sucha Singh Railon, Kirpal Singh Sethi and SS Virdi were also present. |
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Bachelor of Healthcare Services
Ropar, February 8 IMA president Dr RS Parmar said the council criticised the Government of India’s proposal of bachelor of healthcare services degree to serve in rural areas. “IMA agrees that rural people are under served and need better care and services. There had been shortage of doctors in the rural areas. But compromising on the quality of healthcare will prove disastrous in long run,” he said. Dr Parmar said the council felt real problem in the rural areas was shortage of paramedical staff in sub-centre and PHC level. MBBS doctors are available to serve in the rural areas, yet service conditions, lack of infrastructure, intellectual starvation, lack of social interaction at the village level for newly wed couples and study of children are real cause of the doctors not reaching out to villages. It was observed that similar scheme introduced in Chhatisgarh area of Madhya Pradesh had failed and was later withdrawn. “Even the National Human Rights Commission has advised not to discriminate between the rural and urban people. While GoI is contemplating the introduction of Clinical Establishment (regularisation and registration) Bill to improve the standard of medicare at the national level, introducing substandard doctors at the village level is a retrograde step which in addition to being discriminatory is totally devoid of logic and drafted without understanding ground realities,” IMA council members reasoned. It was resolved that IMA should approach the state government to discuss in details all these aspects and inform about basic flaws, in case the Punjab government wished to introduce such bill. It was also approved to establish IMA cancer registry in Punjab and had a cancer awareness cell which would help its early detection and timely treatment of cancer patients. It was also discussed to approach the government to abolish quackery and implement orders issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard.
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Construction of foot overbridges mooted
Patiala, February 8 According to the plan, three foot overbridges will be constructed and invertors will be installed at all traffic light points in order to avoid traffic chaos. The plan will be implemented soon. The plan, which has been formulated after a lot of brainstorming sessions by the officials of the district administration, municipal corporation and the district police, will be implemented in various phases. Patiala Deputy Commissioner Deepinder Singh said the main objective of the plan was to ensure that commuters did not face any inconvenience. Three foot overbridges would be constructed near Gurudwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib, Kali Mata Temple and bus stand. Besides, in order to regulate the traffic movement within the municipal limits, roads to get one way include the stretch between Tabkali and Anardana Chowk and the District Court-Mata Kaushaliya Hospital stretch. The main highlight of the plan is the installation of the battery-operated invertors on traffic lights. The plan also proposes to penalise those, who park their vehicles on roads or no parking areas. Recovery vans of the municipal corporation will challan violators.
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Horticulture dept sans basic facilities
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 8 Senior officials claimed that the department lacked basic facilities, including vehicles and manpower, to make people aware of various developmental schemes of the government and to promote horticulture. “There are only two field workers in the district and we need at least five more of them at present. Besides, there is also requirement of one horticulture development official each in five blocks of the district,” said assistant director of the horticulture department, Dr Jagdev Singh. He claimed that the horticulture department in Fatehgarh Sahib was doing well as compared to other districts. “We have maximum number of green houses, more area under flower cultivation and area under vegetables is also increasing every year,” said the assistant director. “So far we have 18 green houses near Sampli village adjoining Chunni Kalan with scattered green houses in other parts of the district. Two green houses have been completed and eight more will start functioning in the Bassi Pathana block near Nandpur Klaur village,” he added. Farmers have been informed about various Central and state government schemes and are urged to adopt diversification. “Since the farmers fail to get electricity between April and June, we encourage them to grow vegetables, which consume less water,” said the department officials. However, the basic necessities like vehicles and manpower discourage them. Even the assistant director does not have a vehicle of his own and a Matador van serves the purpose of all vehicles in the department. The van needed regular repairs and the officials failed to reach at their desired destinations on time. The officials of the department rued that despite repeated requests to seniors, no action had been initiated in this regard.
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Sangrur farmers under agrarian distress: Report
Patiala, February 8 These are the findings of the Human Development Report of the Sangrur district, prepared by the Economics Department of the Punjabi University, Patiala. The report has suggested that there is need for the Punjab government to constitute a State Farmers and Agricultural Labour Debt Relief Commission on pattern of the Kerala government. Giving a detailed account of the problems and remedial measures required to be taken for proper human development in Sangrur, this first ever report of human development of any district of Punjab, drafted by professor, Economics Department of the university, Sucha Singh Gill in assistance with some other professors of the department, had already been submitted to the Punjab government. The project to study the subject and make a report was assigned by the state government to the Punjabi University. The report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, mentioned that since the larger part of the indebtedness belongs to the informal lenders, therefore, the debt relief must be provided to the rural poor (agricultural labour, marginal, small and semi-medium farmers) as a short-term measure. “An elaborate registry of the debt burden and suicide cases needs to be prepared and a viable preventive socio-economic mechanism needs to be established by providing them financial assistance and employment,” the report reads. Another recommendation of the report is that unemployment insurance scheme should be introduced as the displaced agriculture labour, distressed farmers and retrenched work force from informal sector needs to be compensated. “Besides, there is a dire need to alter the occupational structure of the district from agriculture to other remunerative non-farm economic activities such as manufacturing, repair, trade and service sector,” the report pointed out. The report also found that economically backward regions in Sangrur are also poor in terms of the health services. It mentioned that health and medical care services in Sangrur are not only “inadequate” but also unequally distributed across different blocks and municipalities of the district. The report recommends that there is urgent need to introduce a health insurance scheme for Below Poverty Line people. It also suggested that there is a need to strengthen healthcare system, made affordable and more inclusive, through strengthening of the government hospitals and dispensaries. “An elaborate drinking water census is required. Also, there is need to undertake a comprehensive survey to prepare the registry of HIV/AIDS cases in the rural areas of Sangrur”, the report recommended. Pertaining to education, the report ascertained that all the indicators of literacy and education in Sangrur district are below the state average and many primary schools in the district have single teacher for all the classes. It pointed out that in areas of universal elementary education- education for disabled children, free and compulsory education up to 14 years, eradication of dropout from the schools and equity in education, Sangrur has not been able to achieve the desired targets. The analysis in the report pointed out wide gap in literacy in the rural-urban areas. “To remove these gaps and for balanced and high human development, all necessary physical and intellectual infrastructure should be in place, especially in the rural areas,” the report recommended.
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Rice for Central Pool
Bassi Pathana, February 8 He said the decision was taken at a meeting of the state presidents of the Rice Millers Associations of Punjab, Karnatka, Haryana, Gujarat, UP, Uttranchal, Maharashtra and other states. He said millers had decided not to replace the accepted rice stocks in future as the local technical staff of the FCI accepts the rice after verification. He said it was unfortunate that higher officials of the FCI from Delhi inspect the godowns and reject the accepted stacks of rice even after months, which is not the responsibility of millers. He said it breeds corruption, as millers have to suffer huge financial loss in replacing the stacks. He said the FCI was fleecing the millers as transportation charges more than 8 km were given as per slab instead of contract rate by rejecting the Union government directions. He said the FCI doesn't have adequate space for keeping rice, which affected the working of the rice millers as well as quality of rice. He said due to space constraints, millers had to work even after March 31 by paying extra charges. Meanwhile, Nakesh Jindal, press secretary of the Punjab Rice Miller's Association said the Union Food and Supply Ministry was discriminating between Punjab and Haryana. He said in Punjab godowns, 40 lakh mt of rice was still lying for 2008-2009, where as in Haryana the food grain stocks of 2009-2010 have been cleared.
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Career guidance centre inaugurated
Patiala, February 8 The college principal, Dr Dharminder Singh Ubha, said the centre would hold classes for IAS, PCS, national-level banking exams, PMT, CET, UGC-NET, remedial classes, career consultancy, placement consultancy and personality development. Stressing upon the need to make students professionally sound, Dr Ubha said the centre would also concentrate on interview skills, communication skills, soft skills, personality development and confidence-building measures. The chief guest congratulated college principal Dharminder Singh Ubha and Jathedar Avtar Singh, President, SGPC, on taking the initiative, which
would bridge the gap between what was being taught and what was actually required. Dr Walia said the college had received a grant of Rs 15 lakh for remedial classes and Rs 15 lakh for preparing students for the entry-level civil services,
while a grant of Rs 7 lakh was issued for the establishment of Career Guidance, Counselling and Placement Centre. He said the collegewas soon going to introduce many innovative, job-oriented courses in finance, commerce, tourism
and journalism.
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Kin practising in same HCs
Chandigarh, February 8 Information available on the Internet suggests that in 2004, Justice BK Roy had issued an administrative order barring a group of 10-12 judges from hearing any case argued by their relatives. In his order, Justice Roy said: “It was generally believed that A, B, C and D (all judges) constituted a mutual cooperative society in the sense it was believed that each of the four judges (A, B, C and D) would protect the sons of the three other judges.” The order had led to widespread protests. As of now, there is nothing to substantiate the assertion. — TNS
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Baba Pritpal Singh sent to 2-day police remand
Dera Bassi, February 8 According to sources, the advocates of Baba had filed a bail application before the court but the judge had refused and sent Baba to two days police remand. On January 2, he was nabbed at Macchiwara in Ludhiana by the Special Crime Investigation Cell (SCIC) of the Chandigarh Police. Baba had been absconding for five months since July 21, 2009, when his last bail plea in a cheating and forgery case was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Baba had allegedly forged signatures of one Kamaljit Kaur and sold her property for Rs 1.2 crore on basis of a fake general power of attorney, for which he had been booked in the case on May 20, 2008. Baba along with wife, Charan Kamal Kaur, and a follower, Paramjit Kaur, had been named as the accused in a complaint filed by Rajpura resident, Paramjit Singh.
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Babla Custody Issue
Chandigarh, February 8 Municipal councillor and Congress leader Babla was market committee chairman. He was booked in a case of cheating in the grain market shed allotment case. He surrendered on December 28 last,and after remaining in police remand, Babla was sent in judicial custody. Also an accused in another case of forgery registered against him in the Sector 26 police station, he had moved an application before trial court on January 7 for surrendering in the second case. The investigating agency had strongly objected to it and held that Babla’s application was not maintainable. The investigating agency, in its reply before the trial court, said it was not for the accused to dictate. After hearing the arguments, the trial court allowed Babla’s plea for the issuance of his production warrants for
January 9. The prosecution agency moved an application before trial court, stating that the administration had decided to challenge the court orders and expressed inability to take the custody of Babla in the case. The petition filed by the Chandigarh administration against the trial court orders in the HC termed the orders as violative of the provisions of Cr PC, even as Babla’s counsel justified the move. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the court dismissed the UT’s plea.
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2 get 3-yr jail for duping
Panchkula, February 8 The accused identified as Havwan Saini and Jaideep had attempted to sell the property to the complainant, which was not registered in their name. According to the police, the two had received Rs 1.2 lakh as advanced money from complainant Anand Gulati for sale of a house in 2001.When the complainant came to know that the house was not registered in their name, the accused returned the money in two cheques worth Rs 60,000 each that were dishonoured by the bank. Both the accused were acquitted by the trial court and Gulati, challenging the decision of the trial court and filed the petition for revision of decision. — TNS
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Two held in fraud case
Zirakpur, February 8 A case of fraud has been registered against them on the complaint of Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Zirakpur, who hailed from UP. Investigating official stated that the complainant alleged that on November 1, 2009, when he had gone to deposit Rs 17,500 in the SBI, two youths asked him to help them for opening a new account. One of the accused, Babloo, told him to give him some money to buy food items. The accused told him to deduct the money from the depositing amount. They handed over two bundles of Rs 500 each to him. While Mukesh had entered the bank for depositing the money, he saw the notes were fake. He immediately rushed out, but could not find them. Mukesh told the police that he searched for the accused but did not find them and at last left for his native village for two months. The complainant said he had gone to the bank for depositing the money here this afternoon where he saw the accused and immediately informed the police. The police team led by Baltana Chowki in charge Gurwant Singh raided the place and arrested the youths along with bogus notes. During preliminary investigation, the police said the accused had committed forgeries in Ludhiana also. Zirakpur SHO Jogi Raj stated that a case had been registered on the complaint of Mukesh Kumar and started further investigations.
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DJ booked for playing loud music
Zirakpur, February 8 The police stated that a case has been registered against the DJ on the complaint of advocate Sartaj Singh Cheema, a resident of Silver City. In his complaint, Sartaj alleged that loud music was being played at Richmond Gardens till late night on Sunday. After receiving the complaint, the police reached the spot and stopped the music. SHO Jogi Raj said the DJ had been booked under the Noise-Violence Act. Youth found dead
A 20-year-old waiter was found dead under mysterious circumstances at AKM Marriage Palace on the Zirkapur-Patiala highway today.The deceased, identified as Parmod Kumar, was a resident of Industrial Area Phase-I,
Chandigarh.He worked as a waiter with a Chandigarh-based caterer. According to the police, cleaners found Parmod lying unconscious in a corner of the palace after which they informed the police. He was then rushed to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, where he was declared brought dead. The police stated that the deceased had died due to excessive consumption of alcohol. An inquest proceeding has been initiated.
Man run over by train
Rahul, a resident of Lalru village, died after he was run over by a train near the Dappar Railway Crossing at Lalru last night. The police said a passerby informed it about the body. The inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC have been initiated.
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Man held for raping 2-year-old
Panchkula, February 8 A woman heard the girl’s cries and reached the spot. The accused managed to flee from the spot.Later, he was nabbed at Surajpur. He was badly thrashed by the area residents.
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Man injured inassault case
Chandigarh, February 8 He got injured and was admitted to the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16. A case has been registered. Liquor seized The police arrested Khanai, a resident of Colony No 4, with 12 pouches of country wine from the Industrial Area, Phase I, yesterday. A case under the Excise Act has been registered. Theft Abhishek Kalsi of Mohali reported to the police alleging that someone had stolen his Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle (PB-70-B-0482) from Mani Majra on January 20. While in another incident, Suresh Kumar had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that someone had stolen a gas cylinder from his residence yesterday. Two separate cases of theft have been registered.
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Murder suspect
arrested
Mohali, February 8 Lakhwinder over Rs 200. After stabbing the victim, he was thrown on the Chandigarh-Morinda level crossing and he died on the way to a hospital. A murder case has been registered at the Phase-XI Police Station.
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Orchestra dancer’s husband found dead
Chandigarh, February 8 he police has sent the body for post -mortem examination after registering a case under relevant sections of the IPC. The sources said that the victim, who hadbeen identified as Bhushan Kumar, was married to orchestra dancerRitu Gill and had three children. The victim had returned to his house about two days ago after serving the sentence in a forgery case in Bathinda jail. Giving details DSP (East) Jasbir Singh Cheema said the victim had taken liquor along with meals before going to sleep andwhen his wife came back this morning from a function, she found her husband dead. Cheema said the police had also found some clothes and other articles burnt from the site of the incident. However, the policesaid that the possibilityof a third person being involved could not beruled out.
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Man dies in scuffle
Chandigarh, February 8 The accused, identified as Vikas and Harjit Singh, both residents of Sector 23, were arrested under Sections, 322, 523 and 304 of the IPC. According to the police, it was around 12 midnight when the accused hired an auto-rickshaw driven by Ranjit Singh (51), a resident ofSector 38, fromSector 37 for Sector 23. There were two other passengers inside the auto. The victim had told the accused that he would first drop the otherpassengers inSector 24 near Saini Bhawan and would drop them later. However, the accused argued with him for dropping them first and in anger gave several punches to Ranjit. The police said the accused felt unconscious after the incident and was rushed to a hospital where he died.
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Priya bags top spot in44 kg category
Chandigarh, February 8 Priya of PU and Gursharan Kaur of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, had grabbed the first and second position, respectively, while Jyoti Sharma of Punjabi University, Patiala, and Suman of MD University, Rohtak, had bagged the third position in the 44 kg weight category. In the 52 kg category, Seema of Kurukshetra University and Komla Saini of Panjab University grabbed the first and second position, while the third position was bagged by Sazida Chana of Punjabi University, Patiala, and Monika of Delhi University. In the 78 kg weight category, Sneha Tadyal of Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Rekha of Kurukshetra University had bagged the first and second position, while the third position was bagged by Jaybhay Swapnali of Pune University and Latika Sharma of Delhi University had managed to secure the third position.
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