Bathinda, August 8
Even after working for 24 hours on different theories, none of the investigative agencies, including the Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and forensic teams of the state police could ascertain the cause of the blast, which claimed six lives and left several injured at Jogi Nagar locality here on Saturday.

However, speaking to TNS, Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill ruled out the possibility of sabotage and disclosed that he was suspecting that the blast could be the result of a vacuum created due to LPG leakage, as one of three families residing in the house where the blast took place used to refill LPG cylinders illegally.

“We have been working on different aspects but the prime focus is on the LPG leakage that would have created a vacuum and further led to the blast that led to the collapse of the building. But before reaching any conclusion, we will discuss it thoroughly with experts,” said the SSP.

About the possibility of explosion in the powder being used to prepare country-made fire crackers, as the reports had indicated that one of the affected families was in the illegal trade of making firecrackers at home, the SSP said, “We studied the incident and collected various samples but there was nothing that led towards that theory as no fire was reported during the blast.”

Replying about the initiation of legal proceedings, the SSP said, “We have launched inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC. Going through the facts, as of now, there is no scope of booking anybody for the whole incident.”

Deputy Commissioner Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, speaking about the grant of compensation to the affected families, said, “Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is scheduled to visit the bereaved families on Tuesday and we hope he would announce some compensation on the spot.”

However, some residents of the locality informed this correspondent that they had started holding meetings in the locality to collect money for the bereaved families, which would be spent in reconstructing their damaged house.

Meanwhile, all six deceased, including a Muslim girl, were cremated today as per their customary rituals. A number of civil and police officials along with hundreds of people attended the mass cremation. Earlier, the administration got the post-mortem of all bodies conducted at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

It was informed that Shamshu alias Nisha, mother of the deceased Arshila, who was referred to Government Hospital, Faridkot, last night, has been brought back to a private hospital in Bathinda for treatment where her condition is still stated to be critical.

Moga, August 8
The local bodies department has failed to take departmental action against the authorities concerned of the local Municipal Council for ‘illegally’ passing bills of the contractors.

The contractors flouted norms by not paying the VAT at the rate of 13.75 per cent on the purchase of interlocking tiles and other materials, being used in the construction of streets during the past two years. It has caused loss to the state exchequer.

Even the inquiry initiated by the excise and taxation department to recover the tax has also so far not yielded any results.

The Tribune in its news report ‘Purchase of tiles: Moga MC contractors evade VAT’ published in these columns on May 15 had exposed a nexus of contractors, manufacturers and suppliers who earn profits by evading tax.

The MC allotted tenders of over Rs 3 crore to at least eight contractors for the reconstruction of streets with interlocking tiles in the new/old town, Bhim Nagar Camp and other localities, early this year.

The excise and taxation department had issued notices to the executive officials of the local body and got records of Johal Concrete Block Industry but its checking has not yet been completed so far. This industry is said to be owned by a close relative of a senior official of the excise department.

Malwa Construction Blocks, another company manufacturing tiles, has also got a contract of the construction work in the local body and is using tiles manufactured in its own company. The department is yet to check the records of this company whether tax was paid on tiles used in the construction work.

The contractors had also not yet been questioned by the tax department so far.

Bathinda, August 8
Discarding the belief that food cooked in microwave are not healthy for consumption, principal of the Institute of Hotel Management, Bathinda, Kamal, said, “It is far healthier than food made through other mediums.”

Since nowadays doctors are emphasising the need for taking food containing less fat and oil, microwave is a medium that minimises the requirement of oil for preparing dishes, the principal said while talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a cooking contest organised here on Sunday.

About other benefits of microwave, Kamal said besides being handy to women, particularly working woman as it takes less time to cook food, it helps in retaining the essential nutrients in food. Citing an example, he said Vitamin C generally gets lost during handling of food. But with microwave, such chances got minimised as it takes less time to cook, he added.

Moreover, it has not been scientifically proved that food prepared in microwave was not suitable for consumption, the principal said.

Earlier, cooking buffs of the city displayed their culinary skills during a contest titled ‘Mallika-e-Kitchen’ that was organised by LG Electronics at hotel Sun City today. Nearly 38 participants displayed their microwave cooked dishes during the contest.

Kamal, who was the judge of the contest, found a dish ‘chicken with rice’ prepared by Pawan Deep as the best. Vandana Garg with her stuffed ‘idli’ secured the second position. Several others were given consolation prizes.

Yashveer Chaudhary, area sales manager of LG Electronics, and others were present.

Bathinda, August 8
District health authorities are organising nine special medical check-up camps in slum and under-covered areas of Bathinda and all blocks of the district. The camps would be held on August 13 and August 14.

In Bathinda, the camp would be held on August 13 in Tarun Public School, Partap Nagar, where along with medical examination of the patients, including pregnant women and children, the HB and the urine tests would also be conducted. Besides, medicines will also be given free of cost to the patients. Injections to the children will also be administered for respective diseases.

On August 14, the camps would be held at Goniana, Nathana, Bhagta, Sangat, Talwandi Sabo, Ballianwali, Maur and Raman to serve the rural folk in these areas.

District family welfare officer Dr Dharam Pal Singh Sekhon said these camps were being held for the healthcare of general public, especially slum dwellers. Besides other doctors, the patients would be examined by gynaecologists and child specialists.

Bathinda, August 8
Pushed almost to the brink of extinction by mobile telephony, the yesteryear’s fastest mode of message transferring - telegram - has got some saviours in 
Bathinda.

While the men in armed forces have been proving instrumental in keeping the service alive, those involved in marketing medicines too have provided a whiff of fresh air to the service, which has virtually been put on ventilator with the onset of the cyber age.

The local telegraph office, which had been a witness to hectic activities in the distant past, hardly has had an opportunity to relive such experience of late. “The office is no longer a place where varied emotions used to be on display. Mobile has replaced telegram as a mode of message transferring,” said sources in BSNL, adding that however, there were some takers still left. People from military services and medical representatives make up most of the telegram customers in Bathinda,” BSNL sources added.

Gone are the days when a team of nearly 20-25 operating staff used to find it difficult to take time off for meals during the eight-hour duty slot. Nowadays, the service was being run even by three operating staff, sources said and added that it was enough to suggest the nature of workload. The condition, however, is not conducive for the smooth functioning of the service as the office is facing a staff crunch and at least five staff members are required to conduct the operation smoothly.

Unlike in the past, on an average, about 50 to 60 telegrams are handled at Bathinda office everyday, which means about 3,000 telegrams a month. And a major chunk is related to tenders from military services, information concerning leave of military men and others, sources said.

Further, the length of most of the tenders goes up to about 150 words, so it equals three telegrams to elaborate the nature of work. A telegram consists of nearly 30 words, sources said.

People belonging to marketing of medicines and allied products were also major customers, said BSNL officials.

Secretary of Bathinda unit of the Punjab Medical Representatives’ Association Harmeet Singh validated the claim by saying they had been using the service since 1974. “It is still advantageous to us,” Harmeet said. He added that their messages comprising information about visits to doctors are sent to seniors and to share information among colleagues etc. “We have been continuing with the service as it is to our benefit. Importantly, the mode for transferring message is more suited to our profession,” Harmeet said.

BSNL officials ruled out that a hike in telegram charges expedited the demise of the service. Earlier, a telegram of 30 words used to cost Rs 4-5 while presently, it may cost around Rs 28. “The ever-advancing technology in message transferring, led by mobile phones, is actually resulting in the service being written off,” said BSNL officials. “But everything is not lost. For some, it is still useful,” said a BSNL official.

Ferozepur, August 8
Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical Society of the Dev Samaj College for Women organised a seminar on the theme ‘Honour Killing’, which was presided over by MR Manchanda, secretary of the managing committee and chaired by the college principal Madhu Prashar. President of the organising team, Ambuj Sharma informed that the girls raised strong voice against the recent events related to honour killings.

Prabhpreet and Amrit demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty in such cases. Amandeep giving an account of the recent death of 25-year-old student of the department of Punjabi, Panjab University, Dr Shama Shukla under mysterious circumstances at her house near Chamkaur Sahib, said, “Seemingly it also appears to be another case related to honour killing, as she was ostensibly in relationship with a boy belonging to another caste.” Ramanveer said her untimely death has already led to a massive protest by the students of the Panjab University.

Abohar, August 8
The SAD-BJP alliance government may face an embarrassing situation over failure in releasing funds under the pre-matric scholarship scheme for students of the other backward classes (OBC) since April 2007. Quoting the information received from the SC BC Welfare department joint director today, Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar said the department had forwarded the proposal for releasing Rs 18 lakh to give scholarship to the OBC students during the academic/financial year 2007-08 but not even a single rupee was received.

The proposal for releasing Rs 1534.85 lakh was submitted during the period April 1, 2008- March 31, 2009. Again no funds were released. A proposal was submitted for releasing Rs 248.70 lakh for the period April 2009 - March 2010. Its sanction was received so late that the amount could not be drawn from the treasury office. The MLA said again proposals for Rs 1.26 crore for pre-matric scholarship for backward classes and Rs 62.94 for the OBC students have been submitted to the state government. He urged the Chief Minister to get the same released.