|
|
|
|
|
Congress has ignored inflation: Sukhbir
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dalits-Police Clash
Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant
World Cup on Cable Network
Cricket WC will ‘affect studies’
Allotting shops to arhtiyas
All vacancies of teacher to be filled : Sekhwan
To popularise VDS, power corpn to hold camps
Ration Scam
Nanakshahi Calendar Issue
Beant Singh remembered
Tarun Sharma Assault Case
Garg’s examination resumes in Harpreet murder case
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Congress has ignored inflation: Sukhbir
Goniana (Bathinda), February 19 He also flayed the UPA Government for its failure to control rising prices. He said the Congress was ignoring the issue of inflation as it had no concern about the financially backward sections of the society. The Deputy Chief Minister also criticised the Congress on various scams, which have taken place during the UPA Government’s regime. Sukhbir also enlisted various development works by the SAD-BJP Government, including thermal plants, the Bathinda refinery, RO plants, the Central University, the Adarsh schools and revamping of canals. He also announced that two Adarsh schools, at a cost of Rs 15 crore, would be built in the Bhucho Assembly constituency this year. Regarding his development agenda, Sukhbir said soon the state would see the growth of industrial hubs as several sugar plants, a rice park, a textile park etc were scheduled to come up in the state. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, area in-charge of the SAD for Bhucho constituency Lakhbir Singh Lakhi, district president of the Youth Akali Dal Balkar Singh Brar, district president of the BJP (Rural) Dayal Dass Sodhi and chairman of the Goniana Market Committee Iqbal Singh were present in the assembly. Rajay Deep reports from Bathinda: Accusing the Congress of scuttling justice to the victims of the 1984 riots, Sukhbir Badal on Saturday said the revelation about the massacre of 70 Sikhs during 1984 riots in Hond village of Haryana, that was suppressed by the investigating agencies for 26 long years, was a mockery of the system. “Touched by the issue, I have set up a fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of the Rajya Sabha member, Balwinder Singh Bhunder. After receiving the committee’s report, the SAD will fight for justice for these unfortunate families till the culprits get exemplary punishment,” he maintained.
|
|
Vohra for training courses to upgrade skills
Chandigarh, February 19 He urged educationists at the helm of affairs to not only look at the academic content of the courses but also carefully consider the market value of students who pass out of the universities. “There is also a need to have a specific cell in every higher education institution meant to look into what new prospects were emerging in the market and also in other sectors and avenues available for self-employment. Training courses for upgrading skills also deserve a due consideration,” he said. Emphasising the need of propagating marketable quality education, he proposed the introduction of applied multi disciplinary courses with better employment prospects, cautioning against mushrooming growth of institutes catering to an inept education. In lighter vein, he compared teachers of yesteryear and salaries offered to them at that time with the current generation of the teaching faculty. “Decades ago, lecturers in colleges at Hoshiarpur were paid Rs 225 per month and government college teachers got Rs 225 per month. The situation was different then and teachers were different as well. They were not paid as much,” said Vohra. Earlier, during his welcome address, Vice-Chancellor of the university RC Sobti exhorted the alumni to come forward to contribute for the cause of ‘Seniors’ Home’ (an old-age home on the PU campus). He also declared that the next alumni meet would be held on January 27 next year for the 1975 or previous batches. Bhupinder Singh Bhoop, Dean (Alumni Relations), Panjab University, delivered the thematic address, where he elaborated on various headways on the front of the PU Alumni Association (PUUAA) in terms of the enrolment of alumni into the folds of the PUUAA as life members or patron members. Meanwhile, 255 alumni members of the 1970 batch and previous ones were felicitated at the meet while nearly 600 alumni registered themselves for the university-level alumni meet today. This was in addition to the alumni meet held at the departmental level at the university.
|
|
Dalits-Police Clash
Moga, February 19 The Dalit activists clashed with the police at Mehna railway station in Moga district on Friday night when the cops tried to resume the rail traffic, which was blocked by them in protest against the state government’s decision to cancel their reservation in jobs as per the directions of the high court. As many as six cops and a few protesters were also injured in the clash. In a late night exercise, the Mehna police registered a criminal case under Sections 307, 332, 353, 186, 148 and 149 of the IPC against 40 activists by name and an equal number of unidentified persons, said Pushpinder Singh, SHO, of the police station. As many as 20 activists were produced in the court of Rakesh Gupta, this afternoon. The court has sent them to judicial custody till March 3 while one of them was still admitted to the hospital. The six injured cops were discharged from the hospital by doctors after giving them first aid. The SHO said the police had also taken into custody six more activists today who would be produced before the duty magistrate by tomorrow morning after completing legal formalities. The police was forced to open fire in the air and use tear gas to disperse the agitators when they started pelting stones on the cops. The cops managed to disperse the agitators, after which, the rail traffic was restored late in the night. They were demanding restoration of reservation in jobs, waiving electricity bills for their community and reservation in fixing of seniority/promotion in the Education Department.
|
|
Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant
Lehra Mohabbat (Bathinda), February 19 Meanwhile, the 210 MW unit-II of the plant also went out of operation on February 3 due to some technical snag in its generator that resulted in a daily shortfall of more than one hundred lakh units. The disruption had its effect on commercial and domestic consumers as the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has started implementing cuts on industrial and domestic supply. The CMD of PSPCL, KD Chaudhary, and the Director (Generation), GS Chabra, supervised the pace of progress at the plant. To prevent further damage due to power shortage, staff of the GHTP was directed to finish the overhauling work of unit-I ahead of schedule. Accepting the challenge, the staff reportedly completed the work in 34 days. The 210 MW unit had started running at a load of 200 MW by evening. After the unit became operational, Chief Engineer of the plant, RPS Saini congratulated the staff for restoring the unit in record time. Sources in the plant informed that the 210 MW Unit-II was expected to be operational by February 24 as the faulty parts were being replaced. The GHTP authorities claimed that while repairing the unit-II, they had initiated the overhauling of the unit on a parallel basis, which was otherwise scheduled on March 28 for 20 days. Now, if all goes well, the unit would not be stopped till the paddy season, they added.
|
|
World Cup on Cable Network
Chandigarh, February 19 All the states across the country except Punjab are enjoying the broadcast of the ICC CWC 2011 on ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket,” says the spokesman, maintaining that if viewers in Punjab and Chandigarh are being deprived of the coverage on their cable networks, blame lies with the multi-service operators of the region. “We have no problems either with multi-service operators or DTH operators anywhere in the country except for Punjab and Chandigarh,” the spokesperson added. In a communication to The Tribune, the spokesperson maintained that multi-service operator, Fastway Transmission Private Limited, that reportedly enjoys the backing of the top leadership of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab has not renewed its contract with ESPN Software India Private Limited this year. Further, the spokesperson maintained that Fastway Transmission had been a defaulter as “there is a huge pile-up of outstanding against the company.” Denying the charge that ESPN Software India Private Limited has asked for a substantial hike in its subscription from the cable operators, the spokesperson said “it was the other way”. “We have not sought any incremental for our signal from multi-service operators anywhere. Most of the DTH were doing good business in Punjab and Chandigarh by offering their services at a discounted price because of the ongoing ICC World Cup. Intriguingly, Fastway Transmission Private Limited has been asking for a 50 per cent reduction in the contract amount. Left with no alternative, we had no other option but to switch off their transmission,” the spokesperson said, adding that, “Like any other business, it is our aim to get the just value for our content while keeping interests of sports fans in mind.” The spokesperson further held that it has been ESPN STAR Sports’ endeavour to serve the sports fans in India and across the region with the most comprehensive, engaging and relevant programming. ESPN STAR Sports in India today has the most extensive line-up of programming across sports such as the ICC cricket events, domestic and international cricket from Australia and England, most popular football league - Barclays Premier League, Formula 1, Tennis majors - Wimbledon, Australian Open & French Open, Golf majors among others. Efforts to get in touch with the Fastway Transmission were unsuccessful as nobody responded to telephone calls.
|
|
Cricket WC will ‘affect studies’
Jalandhar, February 19 The school managements and parents are equally apprehensive of the cricket extravaganza as Class XII and Class X examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will commence from March 1 and March 3, respectively. Similarly, various state education boards will also conduct examinations in March. “The 45-day event coincides with the exams of nearly all school boards in the country, which will definitely affect the preparation schedule of cricket crazy students. “Especially, in India, where certain matches will symbolise as nothing less than a war, it will surely take a toll on concentration of students,” said Jatinder Singh, Principal, MGN Public School, Jalandhar. Parents and teachers see the World Cup schedule as a violation of the already set rules for organising such events. “There is some scientific logic with which sports calendars are framed every year by the Education Department after consulting education boards and sports bodies. Organising a major sports event at this juncture is illogical, unscientific and solely a business venture,” said Tarsem Goel, state committee member of the Democratic Teachers’ Front. The cricket mania will also overshadow preparations for crucial entrance examinations, including, IIT and AIEEE, scheduled to be held in April and May. “Students appearing for the entrance examinations need to do multiple revisions of their entire syllabus of Classes XI and XII during March-April. The government should lay down norms for sports bodies to get an NOC both from school boards and the Ministry of Human Resources Development before organising such an event,” said Rakesh Rani, a Ludhiana-based government teacher, whose son is also preparing for the
AIEEE.
|
|
Allotting shops to arhtiyas
Jalandhar, February 19 Nearly 7,000 shops in about 130 mandis of the state are lying vacant due to the difficult procedure of allotment of these shops to arhtiyas on reserve price. Actually according to the prevalent system, the arhtiya had to fulfil certain formalities to establish that he was a genuine arhtiya but in case of a tenant, the landlord avoided to give him in writing that he had given his shop on rent to the particular person in the mandi. The Mandi Board vice-chairman said now this norm had been relaxed by the CM on the former’s request. Now the Market Committee record would be considered as proof for establishing a person as arhtiya for the purpose of allotment of a shop in the market to him, he added. Cheema, accompanied by Punjab senior vice-president of the Arhtiya Association Harnam Singh and chairman of the New Grain Market Arhtiya Association, Jalandhar, Harjit Kalra, further stated that commercial complexes would also be built on a portion of the land of different grain markets to raise revenue. Cheema will take over charge as the vice- chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board formally during a function at Kisan Bhawan at Chandigarh on February 22 at 11 am.
|
|
All vacancies of teacher to be filled : Sekhwan
Speaking to mediapersons after convening a meeting of the Minority and Dalit Front at Gurdwara Dukhnivaran Sahib here today, Sekhwan said the Punjab Government was committed to uplift the education sector and had decided that no government school in Punjab would be without teachers. “The process for the recruitment of 7,654 teachers is almost complete,” he claimed. Sekhwan also said that the first instalment of a grant of Rs 10 crore for the Punjabi University, Patiala, had been released by the state government. When asked whether the Punjab Government transferred IAS officer Krishan Kumar from the post of the Director-General School Education ( DGSE) to end the tussle between him and Kumar, the Education Minister said, “Krishan Kumar is a competent officer and he has been transferred in the wake of the completion of his three-year tenure in the Education Department.” Sekhwan further said that complaints, pertaining to the posting of the teachers, recruited under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), at some stations, in violation of the prescribed norms, would also be looked into by
his office. Replying to a media query regarding the recent cane charge on teachers, who had gheraoed Sekhwan’s residence in Chandigarh, the minister said, “The teachers had trespassed into my house and that, too, in my absence, which is nothing but gross violation of the law.” Sekhwan said he was of the opinion that talks were the best way to resolve any issue. “All genuine demands of the teachers will be looked into but government will not allow anyone to take law in its own hands,” he added. Sekhwan was accompanied by Chairman of Patiala District Planning Committee Surjit Singh Rakhra and SAD (Rural), Patiala, president Ajaib Singh
Mukhmailpur.
|
|
To popularise VDS, power corpn to hold camps
Patiala, February 19 Giving further details, Chaudhri said the VDS camps had started from today and would be organised on every Saturday up to April 30, the last date for the scheme. “Information about the camps will be disseminated to the AP consumers through the public address system in gurdwaras and temples in all villages of Punjab. Besides, AP consumers can also get their unauthorised load extended from Monday to Friday in their respective subdivisions,” he said. Chaudhri stated that all AP consumers, whose tube well connections were released on or before July 23, 2010, will also be covered under the scheme. “A detailed circular regarding the scheme has been uploaded on the PSPCL website www.pspcl.in and can be viewed at any time by the consumers,” he informed. The CMD further stated that with the approval of the state government, the PSPCL had also simplified the procedure for the change of name for the connections of AP consumers. Elaborating, Chaudhri said, “In case some AP consumer has died, the connection will be transferred in the name of his/her legal heirs/claimants, duly authenticated by the Gram Panchayat of respective villages.” Chaudhri further said that after the scrutiny of documents, the connection would be immediately transferred in the name of the legal heir, in the presence of the Gram Panchayat.
|
|
Ration Scam
Jalandhar, February 19 Defence counsel of General Sahni, Maj Alok Sinha (retd), said they would like to avail the remedy available in law in terms of appeal. “We have the option to appeal against the verdict and various agencies and legal options are being considered at this moment,” he said. He said the sentence was yet to be confirmed by the Chief of the Army Staff and a legal opinion would be decided only after that. Sources claimed that after the announcement of the sentence, General Sahni remained in a state of complete shock and trauma. “We are aggrieved by the order of the court and are still recovering from this shock,” the defence counsel claimed. Earlier yesterday too, the Defence counsel had pleaded before the court to take a sympathetic view of the entire case as General Sahni remained under house arrest and attended the court in poor medical health. It is pertinent to mention here that General Sahni has been under house arrest since July 31 while the General Court Martial (GCM) started on August 6, last year. “Until further execution of the sentence by the Ministry of Defence, General Sahni will have to continue in military custody at Jalandhar Cantt,” he said. General Sahni is the first ever officer of this rank to have been cashiered from the service and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment. He was facing trial for irregularities in the procurement of dry ration during his tenure as Director General Supplies and Transport, Army Headquarters.
|
|
Amritsar Aviation Club joins group of elite flying schools
Amritsar, February 19 The AAC’s instructor, Capt Vikram Singh Toor, flew Hansa-3 aircraft in the air show. He was accompanied by another AAC team member, Capt Amit Dahiya. Toor said it was extremely thrilling and interesting exposure to have participated in one of the prestigious aviation shows in the country. Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu, who is also the manager of the AAC, said the Union government had allotted Rs 70 lakh Hansa-3 aircraft to the AAC keeping in view its performance. From possessing an outdated and out-of-order Pushpak aircraft before July 2008, the AAC now boasts of a fleet of five aircraft. Pannu said in the past over two years, the AAC had got five planes worth Rs 11 crore free of cost from the Centre. The sixth oldest Pushpak is being used for ground training. He said another aircraft, Cessna 172 R, and a multi-engine simulator would be included in the next financial year.
|
|
Nanakshahi Calendar Issue
Amritsar, February 19 In a statement released here today, Mann flayed SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh for releasing the amended calendar, turning a blind eye to the original calendar prepared by Pal Singh Purewal after hard work of 11 years. He said the calendar made by Purewal enhanced separate Sikh identity in the entire world. He alleged that the changes in the original calendar were made at the behest of the
RSS.
|
|
Beant Singh remembered
A Sarv Dharam Prarthna Sabha (prayer meeting of all religions) and a blood donation camp were organised on the occasion. The camp was organised by the legal cell of the PPCC. A galaxy of senior leaders of the Congress, over half a dozen legislators, senior functionaries of the PPCC, including leaders of different frontal organisations of the Punjab Pradesh Congress, district presidents and representatives of various social organisations, besides family members of the late leader, were present on the occasion. Prominent leaders present on the occasion included former minister Lal Singh and legislators Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, former minister Jagmohan Singh Kang and Ramesh Dutt Sharma, former Patiala Mayor Vishnu Sharma and Rajbir Singh Patiala. All family members of the late Chief Minister led by his son and former minister Tej Parkash Singh, Sukhwant Singh and grandsons, including Gurkirat Singh Kotli and Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu besides Bikram Singh Mofar were present.
— TNS
|
|
Tarun Sharma Assault Case
Jalandhar, February 19 Rode, son of Jasbir Singh Rode, who kept eluding the police for over 20 days, was nabbed by the CIA staff of the city police on February 16. However, his arrest was not shown on official records. The police had to show his arrest after The Tribune highlighted the case in its columns. A case under Sections 307, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against him. Sources said due to the alleged political pressure, the police might remove certain sections of the IPC during the ongoing investigation of the case. Rode had allegedly attacked Tarun Sharma, a city-based cloth merchant, on January 6. — TNS
|
|
Garg’s examination resumes in Harpreet murder case
Patiala, February 19 Defence counsel Satnam Singh Kler said during the court proceedings, the CBI counsel resumed the examination-in-chief of the then SP (CBI), Anurag Garg, who was chief investigating officer dealing with the murder case. “The examination-in-chief is yet not complete and the next date of hearing has been fixed for February 25,” he added. The main accused in the case, Bibi Jagir Kaur, and co-accused, Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur, Nishan Singh, Satya, Harminder Singh and Sanjeev Kumar, were present during the court proceedings.
— TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Patiala, February 19
Chandigarh, February 19