Ferozepur, March 26
KK Yadav, District Magistrate (DM), today wrote to the principal secretary, home, Punjab, to cancel the corruption case registered against two officials working in his office by the Vigilance Bureau about two weeks ago.

Yadav while talking to TNS said that he had recommended the cancellation of corruption case registered against Dharampal and Baldev Singh (both officials) on the basis of report of the magisterial probe done into the case by the SDM Gurjeet Singh.

He added that Gurjeet Singh had found that Dharampal and Baldev Singh had been trapped into the net of Vigilance Bureau by another official Kulwant Singh due to their personal enmity and hence, the case registered against them should be cancelled.

Dharampal (Superintendent grade-1) and Baldev Singh (Establishment assistant), were caught red-handed by a team of the Vigilance Bureau led by the DSP Talwinder Singh while they were accepting a bribe of Rs 2,000 each from Kulwant Singh in lieu of making payment of his (Kulwant Singh) dues.

As the employees of various state government departments in the district went on strike to lodge their protest against the alleged implication of both the officials into false corruption case, Yadav ordered a magisterial probe into the case to bring the truth to surface.

Yadav also allowed these two officials to join their respective duties after they were granted bail by the court of law by revoking their suspension, which was automatically done after they remained behind the bars for more than 48 hours. However, Sajjan Singh Cheema, SSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ferozepur, has already said that the magisterial probe ordered by Yadav and its outcome would not affect the fate of corruption case registered against Dharampal and Baldev Singh.

He added that both Dharampal and Baldev Singh were arrested on the complaint of Kulwant Singh, who was another official of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that no official of the Vigilance Bureau joined the magisterial probe conducted by Gurjeet Singh.

Meanwhile, Raminder Singh, commissioner, Ferozepur division, had placed Dharampal again under suspension and his orders had been implemented today by Yadav. The headquarters of Dharampal had also been shifted out of this district. 

Fazilka, March 26
“We take pledge not to burn the wheat and paddy straw in future and would save our land and environment as well.” This oath was taken by 120 farmers of seven different blocks in a programme organised here today.

The awareness programme was organised to motivate the farmers not to burn the waste of wheat and paddy in the fields after harvesting the crops by Jawala Bai Nathu Ram Ahuja Charitable Trust and Zamidara Farmsolutions Fazilka.

Addressing the farmers, Zamindara Farmsolutions director Vikram Ahuja apprised the farmers of the consequences of burning the wheat and paddy straw.

“The farmers can sell the straw and waste of these crops as a fuel to the biomass power generating plants being set up in the state,” he said.

Being encouraged with the initial positive response, Ahuja revealed that the Farmsolutions has decided to extend the campaign in seven more blocks of Muktsar, Gidderbaha, Ferozepur, Ghalkhurd, Mamdot, Zira and Makhu on March 27.

Jagdish Narang, a farmer of village Singhpura was honoured for using straw as fertiliser after cultivating it in his fields.

Another director of Zamindara Farmsolutions, Anurag Nagpal, said that it has been engaged in organising seminars regularly for a decade to create awareness amongst the farmers to save water, power, and increase production. 

Bathinda, March 26
One person was killed while four other labourers sustained serious injuries when the roof of an under-construction warehouse collapsed today at the multi-crore Hindustan Mittal Energy Ltd. owned Guru Gobind Singh oil refinery, located at Phulokhari village in the district.

According to sources in the refinery, the incident took place in the evening, when many of the labourers, hired by a private construction company-Petron Civil Engineering Ltd--- were deployed to construct a roof.

Due to some unknown reason, the iron made pillars, raised to support the lintel, started collapsing one by one. It created panic among the labourers, who hurriedly made attempts to save themselves. However, five of labourers failed in their attempt to save themselves and were buried under the collapsed structure.

All of a sudden, the authorities of the construction company launched a rescue operation and after some time, pulled all of them out.

Giving first aid at the refinery, the medical team took one of them, namely Mithilesh (24) to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, where the doctors declared him brought dead.

The other injured, namely, Raj Kumar, Rajeshwar, Chandan and Shiv Ram were admitted to a private hospital. Observing their condition to be critical, doctors referred them to DMCH, Ludhiana.

Meanwhile, authorities of Petron Civil Engineering Ltd. announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased. They also announced to bear full medical expenses incurred on the treatment of the four injured.

Confirming the details, HR manager, Hindustan-Mital Energy Limited said, "We are deeply hurt with the incident. Besides giving compensation and bearing the medical expenses, we have initiated a probe to ascertain the actual cause of the incident."

Bathinda, March 26
To register their protest against the Punjab government for not agreeing to their demands, members of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union today observed pen-down strike in their respective offices not only in this part of the Malwa region but also in other parts of the state. However, ministerial employees were seen working in the offices at several places.

When this reporter visited some offices at the Mini-secretariat here, three women employees told TNS that they were observing pen-down strike as the state government had turned a deaf ear towards their demands.

At various places, employees gathered and raised slogans against the government and in favour of their demands.

Due to the pen-down strike by the employees, including clerks, senior assistants and steno typists, the functioning in several offices was affected due to which people, who had visited the offices for different works, had to suffer a lot.

Though the union leaders regretted the invonvenience caused to general public, they laid the blame entirely on the state government.

State president of the union Darshan Singh Bajaj claimed that he had received reports from various districts, including Mansa, Faridkot, Bathinda, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Ropar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Mohali and Barnala, that the pen-down strike was a big success at those places.

Bajaj also warned the government not to test the patience of employees as they were members of a disciplined employees' class.

The demands of the agitating employees included scrapping of government's decision related to passing of typing test in Punjabi or computer test by the clerks and stenos, and hike in pay-scale for clerks in the light of enhanced educational qualification from 10+2 to graduate.

Bathinda, March 26
To beef up the security of passengers as well as its property, the Railway is going to implement an integrated security system at six railway stations, namely Bathinda, Patiala, Chandigarh, Ambala, Kalka and Saharanpur, in the northern part of the country.

Under the proposed system, besides checking passengers at entry points and providing for a dog squad, the Railway will install CCTV cameras for surveillance and X-ray machines for checking of luggage to ensure no untoward incident occurs on the premises of these railway stations.

Chief signal and telecom engineer (CSTE), Railways, Delhi, AK Mishra disclosed this after inaugurating a route relay interlocking (RRI) system at the Power Cabin in the railway station here today.

Mishra said Bathinda was the second railway station in Punjab where the RRI system had been commissioned. He said now the Railway had planned to introduce the system at Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ferozepur. The Railway targets to commission the RRI system at Jalandhar railway station by the end of 2011.

He said under a policy of the Railway, the RRI systems would be commissioned at all major railway stations in a phased manner to coordinate different trains, enhance the efficiency of the Railway and safety of the passengers.

DRM, Ambala division, YP Singh said this year, the Ambala railway station had been chosen for providing world class facilities. Earlier, it was Chandigarh.

CSTE (Project) from Delhi Puran Singh, senior divisional operation manager (General) of Ambala Division Nar Singh and assistant traffic manager (ATM) at Bathinda railway station Sher Singh accompanied Mishra at inaugural ceremony. 

Bathinda, March 26
A flutter was created in the Kotwali police station here today when a sub-inspector “mistakenly” slapped a lady constable.

Police sources said the lady constable, after nabbing a woman with poppy husk, took her to Kotwali police station where the SHO asked her to slap the accused and ask her why she indulged in the illegal trade.

The lady constable slapped the woman but the impact failed to satisfy the SHO, who then asked his sub-inspector to teach the lady constable about the way the accused should be slapped.

Taking his order in high spirit, the sub-inspector “mistakenly” slapped his colleague rather than hitting the accused in question.

Feeling offended, the lady constable shared the matter with her lady colleagues, who thronged the office of SP (H) Sukhdev Singh Bhatti. However, the SP managed to forge a compromise between the two parties.

Talking to the media, the lady constable avoided divulging details and said being a departmental issue, she wanted no action in this regard. — TNS

Bathinda, March 26
The construction of Yatri Niwas for the pilgrims to Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo near here has been completed.

Giving this information here today during his maiden meeting with the media after assuming the charge of Bathinda Deputy Commissioner (DC), Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said the furnishing work of the Yatri Niwas would be completed before 'Baisakhi' and it would be inaugurated on the same day.

With regard to the construction of 'Adarsh School' in Bathinda city, the DC said the construction work of the school building would be completed by the PUDA by April 15. However, the admissions would be made from April 1. Till April 15, classes would be held at another site.

The DC also said transparency in the administration would be his priority. Besides, he would make efforts to check corruption. He said delivering prompt services in administration works would be of his concern and grievances would be redressed in a stipulated period. Regarding development projects in the city, the DC said the work on two road overbridges (ROBs) in the city would be completed as per schedule. The work on an ROB on the Badal road was getting delayed, for which matter was being taken up with the railway authorities, the DC added.

He said new ration cards had already been prepared by the District Food Supply Office and would be distributed after the paddy procurement season.

Ferozepur, March 26
The Joint Action Committee comprising 13 employees and official federations of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) held a demonstration in front of the office of the GM, BSNL, today against the top management.

Comrades Tarsem Singh and Makhan Singh said the issue regarding the absorption of the ITS officials has not been resolved even since creation of the BSNL almost a decade ago. They alleged that due to erroneous policies of the management, the BSNL was lagging behind in progress and growth as compared to other private telecom companies.

They alleged that though higher management has mooted a proposal regarding 10 per cent disinvestment while a committee headed by Sam Pitroda has recommended up to 30 per cent disinvestment.

Avtar Singh, district secretary National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) and comrade Srinivas said proposals were afoot to hand over the copper network of the BSNL into private hands.

The employees said if their demands were not looked into, a nationwide strike would be called from April 20 to lodge their protest.

Abohar, March 26
AICC president Sonia Gandhi would kick-start the year-long celebrations in connection with the 125th foundation day of the Indian National Congress by addressing mammoth rally in Amritsar on April 13, said AICC member Jagmeet Singh Brar. Party general secretary Mohsina Kidwai is visiting Chandigarh tomorrow to chalk out the detailed programme.

Talking to the media at the residence of former city Congress president Amrik Singh Thind here, Brar said he plans to lead huge cavalcade of the party workers from Ferozepur, Muktsar and Faridkot districts and has started the mass contact campaign from this sub-division today. — OC

Bathinda, March 26
The two-day 39th state-level athletic meet organised by the Punjab Technical Institutions' Sports (PITS) was inaugurated with much fanfare at the local Sports Stadium today.

As many as 600 athletes from 40 colleges across the state are participating in the meet, which comprises 19 events for boys and 14 for girls. The inaugural ceremony was performed by DC Bathinda Gurkirat Kirpal Singh by releasing balloons in the air. Starting with the march past, students performed some cultural events also.

Giving details of the events held today, the organisers said Gagan Deep and Taranpreet Singh of the RIMT (Gobindgrah) clinched top positions in 3000 M (boys) and discus throw (boys), respectively. Meanwhile, Anoop Kaur of GPC (Bathinda) and Sukhjinder Singh of MPC (Faridkot) won the first position in discus throw (girls) and triple jump (boys) categories, respectively. — TNS

Bathinda, March 26
Ignoring the objections of Indian visa authorities raised over the applications of Pakistan and Iran kabaddi teams, the host, Punjab government, is chalking out all arrangements for all 10 teams, which had accepted the invitation to participate in the World Cup Kabaddi, Punjab-2010.

As per the initial schedule, India, the US, England, Canada, Spain, Italy, Norway, Australia, Iran and Pakistan were slated to vie for the cup in an 11-day event to be held in Punjab from April 3-12. However, sources in the sports department today informed that Indian visa authorities had recently raised some objection over the application files of Iran and Pakistan, which could go up to debarring the duo.

Talking to TNS, vice-chairman of the organising committee of the World Cup Kabaddi, constituted by the Punjab government, Sikander Singh Maluka said, "The visa authorities had only one objection over their delay in applying for visa. But efforts are on to get the decks cleared for their participation. I spoke to the team members in Pakistan and observed they were busy preparing for their visit here. So, we are making arrangements to welcome all 10 teams contesting the championship."

The details procured from senior officials, states that the Word Cup is reportedly going to take place for the first time.

The teams will arrive in Punjab on April 2, while the event is scheduled to take start from April 3. The final match would again be held at Ludhiana on April 12.

As per the details of estimated expenses, a total of about Rs 5.16 crore is earmarked for the whole event, in which major contribution would be made by Punjab government, while the rest would be borne by the sponsors.

Receiving the strict directions for the state government to make fool-proof arrangements, all deputy commissioners of the respective districts, where the matches are going to take place, have started chalking out details, holding series of meetings with their subordinates. Though the players would be accommodated at hotels, sensing the arrival of other guests and VIPs, some DCs have passed orders to keep all government and semi-government rest houses, located in their districts, vacated on days of matches.

Schedule: April 2: Arrival of teams, April 3: Opening match at Patiala, April 4: Three matches at Sangrur, April 5: Four matches at Jalandhar, April 6: Four matches at Hoshiarpur, April 7: Four matches at Gurdaspur, April 8: Four matches at Amritsar, April 9: Rest at Bathinda, April 10: Two semi-final matches at Bathinda, April 11: Rest at Ludhiana, April 12: Match for third and fourth positions and the final match.

Abohar, March 26
Sultan Ram (60), a sadhu, who was allegedly attacked with lathi by a person yesterday, succumbed to head injuries while undergoing treatment in the district hospital at Hanumangarh today.

Circle inspector Bhagla Ram Meena confirmed that Vinod Kumar Nayak of village Silwala who had recently been released after seven years of imprisonment for having attacked his mother and a sadhu suspecting illicit relations had developed hate for sadhus even when his own brother happened to be a sadhu. — OC