Tarn Taran, September 4
Cracking down on ETT teachers on the eve of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s proposed visit to the area tomorrow, a number of ETT teachers were taken into custody last night by the police. The teachers were freed today when the ETT Teachers Union threatened to gherao the SSP’s office.

Badal is coming here to lay the foundation stones for the overall development schemes of historic townships of Khadur Sahib, Goindwal Sahib and Chohla Sahib.

Ranjit Singh Bath, state general secretary of the ETT Union, Navroop Singh, district president, and Rajdeep Singh, block president, Khadur Sahib, in a joint press statement issued here today said that the police raided their houses last night to arrest them in order to restrict them from holding any possible protest during the Chief Minister’s visit.

The union members said that their leaders, Baljit Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Gaurav Kumar and Surinder Singh, who were detained by the police, were freed today when the union threatened to gherao the SSP’s office in protest against the detention of their leaders.

On the other hand, the workers of the five closed Co-Operative Sugar Mills have already served a notice that they will hold protests against the state government during the Chief Minister’s proposed visit to the area tomorrow.

The workers of these sugar mills have been demanding their monthly salary that has not been paid to them for the past 28 months besides pressing others demands.

Some other employees organisations have also been up in arms against the state government regarding their demands. The unrest among the employees has posed problems for the civil and the police administration.

In an official press note issued here today, the administration claimed to have made all necessary arrangements for the Chief Minister’s visit.

Nangal, September 4
As water level in the Bhakra reservoir has touched danger mark (1,680 ft), the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) will open spillways at 9 am tomorrow to retain water in the reservoir to the level of 1,680 ft.

BBMB officials said they would continue to release water into the Sutlej. “If state rivulets too swelled, we will have to retain water in the reservoir,” they added.

Today, the river has 11,250 cusecs of water, which will rise to 24,850 cusecs on Sunday after water is released from the spillways.

On August 22 too, the BBMB had opened the spillways leading to the flooding of villages situated on the banks of the Sutlej. The spillways remained opened till August 27 causing damage to property and crops.

The earlier floods had also damaged a dhussi bundh near Lodhipur village flooding fields. The breach could not be plugged due to heavy rains. The Irrigation Department has told the state government that the bundh was designed just to stop 30, 000 cusecs of water, whereas during the monsoon, water crossed 65,000 cusecs in the Sutlej.

The department will now re-design it,” said Ropar Deputy Commissioner 
AS Miglani.

Chandigarh, September 4
The Punjab Government today issued a revised list of transfers and postings of senior IPS officers of the state making some changes in the list it had issued early this week.

The orders posting RP Mittal as IG Amritsar range-cum-Commissioner, Amritsar, were revoked and the post has been given to Parampal Singh. Mittal has now been posted as IG Jalandhar range-II .

Sources said the shift comes in the wake of a reported rift within the BJP leadership on Mittal joining as the Commissioner, Amritsar. They added that Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu had objected to Mittal’s posting as he is considered to be close to BJP general secretary Kamal Sharma. Following a meeting of BJP leaders yesterday, it was decided that Mittal be shifted out of Amritsar.

Kuldeep Singh has now been posted as the IG, Economic Offences Wing ( Vigilance Bureau). He had been posted as the IG (Special Narcotics), three days ago. BK Uppal will be the IG (Special Narcotics Cell).

Rohit Chaudhry has been posted as the Director, Punjab Police Academy (Phillaur). Three days ago, he had been posted as the IG (Operations). Harpreet Singh is the new IG (Operations) now. BK Garg has been posted as the IG (Crime) while Ishwar Chander is the IG (GRP). Paramjit Singh Sarao is the IG-cum-OSD to the ADGP (Rules).

Among the DIGs, Surinder Singh has been made DIG (Admn), PAP, Jalandhar; Kartar Singh is the DIG (IRB-II and training) Jalandhar; and Tejinderpal Singh is now the DIG (Admn) Commandoes Bahadurgarh.

Amritsar, September 4
The President of India, Pratibha Patil, will visit here on October 6 to take part in a function to be organised at the local Khalsa College by the “Nanhi Chhaan” movement, spearheaded by the Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Meanwhile, Harsimrat Kaur has targeted the UPA-led Central Government on the issue of food scarcity in the country and has said that Punjab was ready to take a lead by disbursing foodgrains among the poor free of cost the moment it was directed to do so by the Central Government.

Harsimrat Kaur was accompanied by Majitha MLA Bikram Singh Majithia and other senior leaders of the SAD.

Chiding the UPA-led Central Government, Harsimrat Kaur alleged that it had done nothing to restore the confidence of the minority Sikh community in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking about the success of her “Nanhi Chhaan” movement, she said it had gained momentum. “Now, people have started celebrating the birth of the girl child and celebration of Lohri of girls was an indication of the change,” said Badal.

Balianwali (Bathinda), September 4
A labourer was killed while another sustained injuries when they got buried while repairing an over 25-ft-deep borewell that caved in here today. The deceased has been identified as Rajinder Singh.

According to villagers, Nimma Singh, in whose fields the incident took place, had hired Gurjeevan Singh to repair the borewell on a contract basis and the latter had further engaged more labourers for the task.

Gurjeevan Singh along with Rajinder Singh went inside the borewell to remove old bricks while another two were pulling the bricks out when the borewell collapsed and Gurjeevan and Rajinder buried under a heap of mud.

Other labourers, who were out of the well, screamed for help and a large number of people assembled and launched rescue operation. Meanwhile, someone informed the district authorities and officials also reached the spot.

A number of tractors were deployed for digging but even then rescue teams could not locate the two. Help was then sought from more people through announcements made through loudspeakers of the village gurdwara. Receiving information, volunteers of the Green-S brigade of the Dera Sacha Sauda also reached the spot and took part in the rescue operation.

After five hours, rescue teams managed to pull both workers out. They rushed them to the Civil Hospital, Rampura, where doctors declared that Rajinder Singh had succumbed to his injuries. Gurjeevan Singh’s condition is also stated to be critical.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Jagdeep Singh Nakai said he would do his best to help the bereaved family. Till the filing of the report, no case had been registered.

Chandigarh, September 4
In an effort to bring about transparency in tender allotment, the Punjab Government is all set to introduce online tendering for its works.

In the first phase, e-tendering is being introduced in eight state government departments--- Industries and Commerce, Water Supply and Sanitation, Local Bodies, Health, Power, Housing and Urban Development, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board and Punjab Police Housing Corporation. As a pilot, two of the state government departments/ corporations--- Irrigation and Punjab Mandi Board---have already started with e-tendering, while the above-mentioned will go online in the coming week. The rest of the state government departments will be covered in the second phase. This move at moving towards online tendering is part of the initiatives in governance reforms being brought in by the state government.

A common web portal has been designed by India Telecom Institute Ltd (ITI), in association with Punjab Infotech (www.etender.punjabgovt.gov.in <http://www.etender.punjabgovt.gov.in/>), wherein all tenders by various departments will be floated. Vendors will have to register themselves on this portal in order to participate in the tendering process. ITI Ltd is a pioneer in initiating e-tendering initiatives for various state governments, and has also helped Punjab Infotech in designing the portal. However, the portal has been customised according to the needs of various departments by Punjab Infotech.

Talking to TNS, Rakesh Verma, Managing Director, Punjab Infotech, said that e-tendering would rule out any kind of favoritism, as the process does not involve human intervention. “Once the vendor submits a tender, he cannot make any change in his bid. The system will aid in the shortening of the procurement cycle,” he said.

Multania (Bathinda), September 4
In an age when values have changed, a small school in a Bathinda village has set a shining example.

When one begins to wonder whether the word 'honesty' has lost its meaning these days, one should visit the Government Senior Secondary School in the village as the students here live by an age-old adage, “Honesty is the best policy.”

There is a stall in the school, called 'Imandari Di Dukan.' A number of stationery items of regular use besides literature books have been put here for sale. Each item is mentioned on the wall behind the shop with its price.

Nobody keeps a vigil over the stall. If a student wants to purchase anything, he puts the required amount in a collection box placed there. Further, if the price cannot be paid immediately, students write their names on a slip and put these in the box, intending to repay the debt as soon as possible.

The 'Imandari Di Dukan' was set up first in the early 1990s but due to some unknown reasons it was closed after a couple of years. However, with the initiative of a lecturer in Punjabi, Manjeet Singh, it was restarted in 2006. Since then, Manjeet Singh, assisted by his colleague, a lecturer in English, Jaskaran Singh, is managing the shop.

Setting up the shop every morning with five pieces of each article, the teachers concerned check the accounts during the last period. The average sale at the shop is around Rs 500-700 per month.

Sharing their experience with The Tribune, teachers said the idea was to inculcate honesty among the students. The result was satisfactory. They claimed that during the past four years, no major case of dishonesty had come to their notice.

"In the initial stage, we recorded the level of honesty among the students at about 65 per cent, which has now reached about 95 per cent. Moreover, now students have become so sincere that if they find any coin lying unclaimed on the school premises, they put it in the collection box, which recoups the little losses that we incur," said the teachers.

Students said they had adopted the concept in its true sense. "We are thankful to our teachers, who through this ‘Imandari Di Dukan’ made us realise that honesty is the best policy."

Nabha, September 4
Maharani Gaytri Devi Girls School, Jaipur, has won the 10th JK Kate Memorial All-India Public School English Debate hosted by Punjab Public School, Nabha. A team of Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar, won the runners up trophy. The topic of the debate was “Red terror is the single biggest threat to internal security”.

Vanishka Choudhary of Maharani Gaytri Devi Girls School, Jaipur, got the first position while Gulshan Parmar of Bhawan Sawan Public School, New Delhi, and Manreet Khara of Welham Girls School, Dehradun, got the second and third positions, respectively. Teams of MNSS Rai, Sri Dashmesh Academy (Anandpur Sahib); Bhawan Sawan Public School (New Delhi); Army School (Dagshai); Sainik School (Kunjpura); RMS (Chail), MGD Girls School (Jaipur); Vidya Devi Jindal School (Hisar); YPS (Mohali); YPS (Patiala); Lawrence School (Sanawar); Welham Girls School (Dehradun); Sainik School (Kapurthala) and Punjab Public School (Nabha) participated in the debate.

Samik Ghosh, Principal of Scindia School, Gwalior, who was the chief guest on the occasion, motivated students to participate in such debates.

Patiala, September 4
A two-day conference of the Society of Endoscopic and Laproscopic Surgeons of India (SELSICON), organised by the Department of Surgery of the Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, got underway here today.

Eighty-four renowned surgeons from places like Chennai, Goa, Chandigarh, Shimla, Muzzaffarnagar, Amritsar, Dehradun, Jalandhar, Rohtak, Agra, Ahmadabad, AIIMS, New Delhi, etc have come as faculty. About 1,000 delegates have registered for participating in the live workshop on laparoscopic surgery.

Principal of Government Medical College and organising chairman of SELSICON Dr Surinder Singh said laparoscopic technique was becoming very popular, as it reduced hospital stay for patients, besides reducing many other complications.

“The conference will be beneficial for medical students, as renowned surgeon from all over India will perform live surgeries in different operation theatres of the hospital and the participants will be able to watch live video of the operations, sitting in the college auditorium,” he said.

On the first day of the conference, experts elaborated on new laparoscopic techniques. Head of Surgery Department, Government Medical College, Patiala, Dr Surinder Singh performed lap cholecystectomy surgery (removal of gall bladder with laparoscope). It was followed by an operation on hernia by Dr MC Mishra, lap appendicectomy by Dr Pavindra Lal and removal of hydatid cyst by Dr Rajindar Prasad of AIIMS, New Delhi. In the afternoon, Dr KK Kothari from Ahmedabad performed esophagectomy (removal of food pipe in case of cancer of oesophagus).

SAD to counter move on  gurdwaras

CHANDIGARH: The SAD has taken serious note of an ultimatum issued by some Sikhs of Haryana to capture gurdwaras in the state and described it as “most unfortunate”. Party secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said the SAD and the SGPC would not allow this to happen at any cost.

He said the Haryana government must realise its constitutional duty and should not allow these mischievous elements to take control of gurdwaras in the state. He said a meeting of senior party leaders was being convened. — TNS

Jalalabad, September 4
Even as two close kin of Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubhaya allegedly misbehaved with the SHO of the city police station, Mohinder Singh, late last evening, he was made to pay for recording a daily dairy report (DDR) in that connection as he was sent to the police lines.

Ferozepur SSP Kaustab Sharma said Mohinder had been sent to the police lines after receiving a complaint that he did not address the MP in a respectful manner yesterday. He, however, said they were inquiring the whole matter.

The SSP further said Jalalabad DSP Paramjit Singh Parmar had also been transferred adding that he, however, did not know reason behind it.

Mohinder said he was called by the MP in a house where he held his durbar. He alleged that when he reached there, the MP’s two close kin, Makhan and Joginder, who also assist him in his political activities, started misbehaving with him on the pretext of a criminal case registered a few days ago.

Mohinder said sensing danger to his life, he left that place and came to the police station where he recorded the whole incident in the DDR. Mohinder further said he also recorded that a few months ago, Sher Singh had misbehaved with Sampuran Singh, who was the SHO of the city police station at that time.

However, denying the fact that Makhan and Joginder had abused Mohinder Singh, the MP said he had called Mohinder Singh to advise him to do his work properly as there were many complaints against him from the public.

The MP said as he was an elected representative of the area, he had to take up public issues with the police as well as the civil authorities. He added that Sampuran Singh was also not doing justice to the people.