Bathinda, August 20
With no frown on his face over the turmoil that occurred in the Punjab Ex-servicemen Corporation (PESCO) after four of its directors tendered their resignations today in protest, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, “If somebody runs away from his responsibilities, we have enough capable persons to replace him.”

The CM was here to lay the foundation stone of the PESCO Vocational Training Institute at the Industrial Growth Centre here this evening.

Though the dignitaries of the PESCO were seen a bit disturbed after the news of the directors’ resignation spread among the gathering, the Chief Minister denied that he was aware about the development.

When asked how the CM saw the sudden resignation of the directors, which they claimed was a step taken in protest as the corporation was drifting from its main aims and objectives like economic uplift of the ex-servicemen, he said, “We never created any hurdle in the positive activities of the corporation. Despite this, if somebody has a problem, we won’t mind if he leaves. The vacancy would be filled up by other persons, capable enough of tackling the situation in a better way.”

Replying to a query about the long-pending promises regarding the announcement of new sports and media policies, the CM said the government was committed to its words and the process was on to announce the policies.

Earlier, speaking about the objectives of the PESCO institute, the CM said the vocational training institute would run various courses to provide technical skills to enable hundreds of students find employment.

Major General (retd) US Sidhu, chairman and managing director, PESCO, informed that going by the directions of the chief minister, the Punjab Small Scale Industries and Export Corporation had allotted three acres of land for the cause at a nominal charge.

He added that the construction of the building would be completed within 18 months at a cost of Rs 12 crore, which would include the infrastructure. The minister of the information and public relations and the defence services welfare, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, and Rajya Sabha member Balwinder Singh Bhunder also addressed the gathering.

Malout, August 20
The abundance of stray animals, piles of garbage, overgrown weed, crumbling structure of waiting shed for passengers, accumulated rain water, floor that is not metalled and unchecked fleecing of shopkeepers at the bus stand of this town is apparently enough to expose the picture of official apathy.

The bus stand caters to a number of long route buses including inter-state buses moving towards Haryana and Delhi, the deep potholed entrance, foul smelling lavatories, lack of security, absence of parking facility, pathetic lighting system and fans and poster-covered walls are things which one finds at the bus stand here.

Malout is an important town of the chief minister’s home district (Muktsar) and the CM Parkash Singh Badal maintains special affection for this town. But thetown is yet to get its share of due attention.

The bus stand here is a property of a noted landlord of the town. Though the owners collect a handsome income generated through the ‘adda’ fee, charged from all buses, hardly any facility is being provided to commuters.

“The lavatories here stink a lot, despite this, the sweepers sitting there charges Rs five, which is unjustified,” rued one Parkash Kaur of Rupana village.

Surjeet Singh, a student of the MIMIT, Malout, said, “Fleecing is rampant here as bottles of cold drinks and packets of chips cost 50 per cent extra than the printed rate. We have raised the issue once but no official took the pain to get it checked.”

“If a person wants to quench his thirst, in the absence of any drinking water arrangement, he will have to depend upon the packed bottles, which cost dear at about Rs 15 per litre,” rued Sukhjeet Singh of Karamgarh village.

It is not only the commuters, bus drivers and conductors too rue the lack of facilities at the bus stand.

Ram Chand, the conductor of a private bus plying on the Patiala-Abohar route said, “We pay Rs 20 per trip as adda fee but there is no facility at all at the bus stand. The passengers’ waiting shed is in shambles and the place where we park our buses for passengers to board is inundated with rain water.”

When contacted, the manager of the bus stand, Partap Singh said, “We are aware of the facilities required at the bus stand and considering all aspects, a proposal of renovation has been prepared, which will be finalized soon.”

Despite repeated attempts, the SDM Malout, Parveen Thind, could not be contacted as he was busy attending official meetings.

Moga, August 20
A sub-inspector of the police, Raman Kumar, who was terminated from service after having been named as one of the accused by the CBI in a sex scandal, facing charges of allegedly extorting money, has been taken back in service.

However, he has been placed under suspension right from one of his joining back the service. A local court has also issued an arrest warrant against him and attached his half salary.

While confirming this, IG of the Ferozepur range, RP Mittal, revealed that the said SI field an appeal against his termination, which was pending before him. “He produced certain documents related to the investigations made by him in the cases of allegations of bribe taken by him along with a few rulings of various courts that point out that he was innocent,” he said.

The IG said after going through the appeal thoroughly, he has been taken back in service. However, for the time being he has been placed under suspension till the final disposal of the CBI case pending against him.

The scandal came to light in the year 2007, after two women Manpreet Kaur and Manjeet Kaur lodged a complaint with the police against a few persons, for allegedly kidnapping, intimidating, and raping them.

Later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court handed over the probe to the CBI. On the basis of the probe, a criminal case was registered him along with the then SSP, SP (H) of the Moga district and many others including local politicians and lawyers.

The modus operandi that emerged from the CBI investigation was that senior police functionaries, after booking innocents, accepted money, part of which was paid to the girls.

Later, one of the girls would not identify the accused. Or the police, after completion of legal formalities, would give the accused a clean chit. The demand ranged from anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, depending upon the status of the accused.

Meanwhile, the additional sessions judge of Moga, Raj Shekhar Attri, has issued an arrest warrant against the said SI and attached his half salary a couple of days after he was taken back on duty last week after he failed to record his statement as an evidence in the court in a separate case. 

Abohar, August 20
The media being the most powerful pillar in a democratic set- up, representing public interest and societal expectations, has the onerous responsibility and moral obligation to address the primary issue of empowering the masses as well as the society, not only by disseminating mere worldly knowledge and information, but also by projecting values, veteran journalist Madhukar Dwivedi (Bhopal) and Prof Kamal Dixit former HoD of the ML Chaturvedi National University of Journalism.

They earlier joined Vijay Sehgal, former editor of the Dainik Tribune in lighting the lamp to inaugurate the two-day national media seminar that has been organised by the Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College here to discuss the role of media in the changing scenario. Principal Dr Neelam Arun Mittu said in her welcome address that the day would be remembered as a golden chapter in the history of the institution as the University Grants Commission (UGC) had for the first time sponsored such event in the college. Students recited Vedic hymns on the occasion.

The speakers expressed concern over the trends being followed by the electronic media to compete in the TRP. The mushroom growth of the TV channels has virtually promoted programmes based on violence and obscenity. The news was losing its original form as this too was being coated with entertainment. The media has emerged as one of the seven top profiting industries since business houses had virtually commercialised it.

Dr Shashi Kala and Prof Vijay Grover from the DAV College of Education and Ravinder Gill from the regional centre of the Panjab University were among those who presented their papers.

Prof Usha Ranade conducted the proceedings of the inaugural session.

Fazilka, August 20
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Ajay Sood has launched an inquiry in connection with the cracks developed in a newly-made road in the local bus stand area.

The inquiry was launched after a section of shopkeepers of Mahajan market, led by former vice-president and SAD (B) municipal councillor, Satinder Singh, met Ajay Sood on Thursday. They submitted a memorandum to him.

In the memorandum, the shopkeepers alleged that sub-standard material was used in the road construction. The shopkeepers said they brought the matter to the notice of the MC authorities. However, the authorities concerned showed no concern about it.

They threatened to hold an agitation by blocking traffic in the city, if the road was not constructed again by August 26. The SDM said he had asked the MC authorities to submit records. He said he would examine the documents and take further action.

Abohar, August 20
Priyanka of DAV College here has topped in the Panjab University securing 1616/2000 marks in MSc (II) Physics, principal Dr BB Sharma informed.

The college makes hat-trick in clinching gold medals in PU postgraduation exams during its golden jubilee year as two students Amanpreet Singh and Nishu Rani had already topped in PG in Political Science and Hindi, respectively. — OC

Abohar, August 20
The National Cadet Corps (NCC) headquarters had submitted a proposal to the Central government for increasing the number of cadets from 13 lakh to 15 lakh, informed Colonel GPS Sawhney Group, Commander of the Corps.

Interacting with this correspondent during his official visit to the second Punjab (Independent) Company of the NCC in the DAV College campus here recently, he said that total number of cadets, including girls, in 131 educational institutions in the Ludhiana zone was little short of 11,000 at present.

He plans to visit schools and colleges to motivate the students to join the NCC. Meanwhile a training camp for the All India Thal Sainik Camp would be organised at Ludhiana on September 2.

The Shimla zone has been assigned the task of organising 10-day adventure camp for the cadets, he added.

Making a significant announcement, Sawhney said the NCC in collaboration with the local DAV College has launched free coaching programme for the students to compete in the Service Selection Board exams. The duration of the coaching will be of 4-5 hours per day for 7-10 days.

Lt Colonel KL Bishnoi, commanding officer of the NCC company here would conduct the programme.

A grant of 75 per cent is released for such programmes by the Central government while the rest has to be contributed by the state government.

Earlier, Colonel Sawhney was accorded a warm welcome on his arrival.

Interestingly, he was one of the senior army officials who were instrumental in developing Rock Garden in the military area here in 1991 with the help of world famous personality Nek Chand. He did not miss visiting the place of his previous posting.