Bathinda, May 1
A police party that went to Selbrah village yesterday to save a resident was attacked by a mob. Two policemen were injured and a police vehicle was burnt.

Led by Additional SHO, Rampura Phul, Avtar Singh, the policemen went to the village to rescue one Birbal from residents who had encircled his house. Birbal has given his shop on rent to a liquor contractor despite stiff opposition by the residents.

As the police personnel tried to persuade the residents to disperse, they were allegedly attacked with stones.

Some protesters snatched a self-loading rifle (SLR) from one of the fleeing policemen, who hid in a house. The policemen were rescued late at night by their colleagues.

Surjeet Singh suffered a head injury. Home Guard Darshan Singh had multiple injuries. They were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Rampura Phul.

A section of residents alleged that the policemen, who came to help Birbal, opened fire into the air, injuring residents standing on the roof of their houses.

They alleged that a section of residents had been missing from the village since last night and could have been taken into custody by the police.

They said they had made it clear to the civil and police administration that they would not allow the liquor vend inside the village.

Phul DSP Vinod Chaudhary said Surmukh Singh, a local leader, had ransacked Birbal’s shop a few days ago to stop him from renting out his shop to a liquor contractor. A case was registered against Surmukh on Birbal’s complaint.

Instigated by Surmukh, the villagers had encircled Birbal’s house and attacked the police party with stones.

He said a case had been registered against 15 identified and 200 unidentified persons under. None had been arrested, he added.

Patiala, May 1
In what may come as a relief for the state people, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited today released its power schedule for the month of May, as per which there will be no cuts in domestic, industrial and other sectors.

“There will be no scheduled power cuts on feeders feeding main cities, district headquarters, urban industrial category-1, UPS 3 wire, UPS 4 wire feeders and no weekly off for the industry,” reads the latest power schedule released by the PSPCL.

According to senior functionaries of the PSPCL, it would be for the first time in several years that the Power Corporation was not imposing any cuts during this time of the year.

“The credit goes to team work, visionary planning and the efforts being made for proper renovation and the repair of thermal plants,” said PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director KD Chaudhri.

PSPCL director (distribution) Arun Verma said: “If any power cuts are being imposed in any part of the state, it is because of the technical snag or necessary maintenance.”

As per recent figures, against the demand of 1,163 lakh units of power on April 28, the PSPCL was able to provide 1,146 lakh units. The gap of 17 lakh units was being managed through the three-hour peak load restrictions imposed on the large supply consumers. “In view of the fact that last year during summers both domestic and industrial category consumers had to face immense difficulty owing to long power cuts, this time the consumers are happy,” a PSPCL spokesman said.

Chandigarh: Punjab is expected to ride on a technology breakthrough by the Chinese, whereby straw can be used as cent per cent raw material for running boilers.

An experiment to produce power from straw was made at Jalkheri in Fatehgarh Sahib district in 1992, but without any success.

An attempt to revive the project by handing it over to a private firm in 2001 also did not succeed due to lack of adequate technology assistance.

Technology transfer will now be made by a Chinese company to TPS Turbo that is establishing four straw-based power plants. The Chinese partner has agreed to maintain these plants for five years.

The state has a capacity to generate 1,000 mw of power through natural resources. Straw-based plants will end the practice of burning stubble, besides ensuring attractive remuneration to farmers.

Punjab will also use its canals to generate power. Punjab is already producing 40 mw from mini hydel projects. The state will also go for solar energy in a big way. — TNS

Amritsar, May 1
Khalsa College teachers here today held a rally to protest the proposed conversion of the institute into a private university.

Also, it was decided by the faculty members that they would start chain hunger strike for an indefinite period near Bakshi Resorts, Putlighar, here from tomorrow onwards.

PCCTU general secretary Prof HS Walia said that to begin with, five teachers will observe daylong fast (from 8 am to 8 pm) daily, which may further be intensified into a 24-hour fast.

On the first day, the fast shall be observed by Prof HS Atwal, Prof SS Rangi, Prof Daljit Singh, Prof Navneen Bawa and Prof Jatinder Kaur.

The teachers’ association members stated that they would continue to protest till the time the Khalsa College management announced the scrapping of the college's conversion withdrew the police cases registered against their 20 colleagues and house evacuation notices served on another four. 

Chandigarh, May 1
Four senior Congressmen from the Majha region who have been made district coordinators by state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today offered to quit their posts to “accommodate” those objecting to their appointment.

They also indicated that Capt Amarinder Singh had the authority to constitute his team and that objections raised by a few senior leaders like MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee were bereft of any merit.

Kaypee had indicated yesterday that Capt Amarinder had not taken all senior leaders with him while appointing 25 district coordinators two days back. Kaypee and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Jagmit Singh Brar have been critical of Amarinder Singh earlier too. The four Majha leaders appointed district coordinators — Sukhjinder Randhawa, Ashwani Sekhri, Tripat Bajwa, SS Sukhsarkaria and Harpartap Singh Ajnala — have snubbed Kaypee for “sowing dissension” in the party.

Sukhjinder Randhawa told TNS that the party needed to be united to build a common platform against the SAD-BJP government. “ There should not be any objection to the appointment of Congress men to top posts.”

There is a feeling in the PPC that the appointment of district coordinators was necessary due to the delay in finalising the party’s organisational structure. The Amarinder camp maintains that appointing coordinators on the recommendations of various leaders would have made a discordant group.

Meanwhile, with 17 of the 25 coordinators being Jat Sikhs, a displeased PCC general Secretary Raj Pal Singh has shot off a letter to the state president as well as the central leadership. Raj Pal said while backward castes constituted more than 30 per cent of the state’s population, only one of their representatives, Malkit Singh Birmi, had been appointed district coordinator.

He claimed that the Scheduled Castes that formed 29 per cent of the state population had also not been given due representation.

Jalandhar, May 1
Even as a large number of politicians came to attend the bhog ceremony of Gurkirat Singh Sekhon here this afternoon, his family members didn’t allow the ceremony to become a political affair.

No politician present during the ceremony, held at the auditorium of the local Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women, was given a chance to speak from the dais.

From Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee to Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Jalandhar (North) MLA KD Bhandari, Congress leaders Amarjit Singh Samra, Rana Gurjit, Tejinder Bittu, Gurbinder Singh Atwal, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, PPP leader Jagbir Brar and other local political workers made it to the bhog ceremony. The politicians sat on the stage along with Gurkirat’s father Rajbir Singh Sekhon and his relatives.

Addressing the gathering, Rajbir Singh Sekhon said, “The day I lost my son, I thought I was left all alone in this fight against murders and atrocities, but Jalandhar residents proved me wrong. I am thankful to everybody for supporting me in this hour of grief and for expressing support to ensure justice for my son.”

Last Sunday, no politicians from the ruling SAD-BJP combine had come to participate in the candlelight march held at the local Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall. Gikki was murdered on April 21 allegedly by Ram Simran Singh Makkar, an Akali councillor and nephew of SAD MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar, and three others namely Amardeep Singh Sachdeva, Amanpreet Singh Narula and Jasdeep Singh.

Meanwhile, different organisations and personalities from across the country sent their condolence messages on the occasion. Among them were Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee President Paramjit Singh Sarna, SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann, PPP founder Manpreet Singh Badal, IMA Phagwara and Punjab and Haryana Bar Association.

Members of the Jat Sikh Sabha, Jalandhar, distributed stickers bearing Gurkirat’s photo during the ceremony.

Nakodar, May 1
India’s largest melon mandi at Rupewal village near Shahkot may have to bear the brunt of a fall in the production of the melon crop this season.

The crop in this area has been hit by various diseases primarily because of poor-quality seeds and inadequate water supply due to frequent power cuts.

Last year, the farmers had enjoyed huge returns from a bumper melon crop with traders from all over India, including Maharashtra, and Gujarat, visiting the melon mandi in Rupewal.

This season, the farmers’ expectations of a bumper crop seem to have been shattered with various diseases afflicting the crop.

Horticulture officials have been visiting the affected areas and educating farmers on how to stop this disease from spreading further.

Dr Paramjit Singh, Horticulture Development Officer, Shahkot, told The Tribune that two kinds of viruses had gripped the crop-downy mildew (it attacks the leaves) and masaic that sucks the stem sap. Whereas 10 per cent of the crop had been attacked by downy mildew, 20 per cent had been ruined by masaic. The virus symptoms if not controlled could spread to other crops within a radius of 40 km within 24 hours. He said 750 hectares of land in 55 villages was under the melon crop out of which 550 hectares fell under the Lohian block.

Paramjit Singh said poor quality seeds, lack of knowledge of insecticides/pesticides and unbranded sprays were the main reasons for the virus attack. Lack of water helped the disease to spread further.

He said a majority of farmers used “growth regulators” to ripen the melon crop quickly which at times led to diseases. Panicky farmers sprayed nitrogen fertilisers in excess to battle the disease further harmed the crop.

“ A majority of farmers use seeds known as Kesar and Golden Glory which cost between Rs 9,500 to Rs 11, 000 wheras the PAU recommends seeds such as Punjab Anmol, Punjab Sunairi or Punjab Hybrid which cost much less t(Rs 4,000),” the officer said.

Iqbal Singh of village Malupur who sowed melons in 80 acres laments said, “We are getting only three hours power supply, sometimes even less while melon crop needs continued six hours of power supply for adequate water feeding.”

Tarn Taran, May 1
Jawans of the BSF shot an unidentified Pakistani intruder last night near the Khalra sector, 45 km from here. The intruder after his post-mortem examination was buried today.

SSP Preetpaul Singh Virk said that a case under Section 3, 34, 20 Indian Passport (IP) Act, 14F Act has been registered on the information given by A Vasti, Commandant, BSF, F company. The patrol party comprised head constable Ram Roop Singh and constable Anil Kumar.

On hearing some noise from across the fence, the patrol party sighted the intruder and told him to stop. But when he tried to flee, the jawans opened fire and killed him on the spot.

No currency or anything incriminating was found on the intruder, said the police.

Bathinda, May 1
With nearly 45,000 fully grown trees and plants axed in the name of development works in Bathinda, the district may be heading for a major ecological crisis this summer. And to one’s surprise, the whole amount received against the sale of axed trees and plants was transferred to the account of the Punjab Forest Corporation, with immediate effect. However, the state government is reluctant to release the funds for compensatory afforestation, which is otherwise mandatory.

After the change in power in the state in 2007, Bathinda figured on the priority list of the ruling alliance. Being the home turf of the ruling Badals, a number of development projects were initiated in the district.

For giving all the projects better connectivity, various works, including the widening of roads, construction of overbridges and underbridges, were undertaken. For every development work, trees and plants were axed.

According to sources, since 2008 the state government carried 16 projects related to the widening of roads and construction of bridges, which led to the felling of nearly 45,000 trees. As per the calculation of the Forest Department, nearly 39-hectare area of thick forest was diverted into plains. In the process, the entire afforestation process has gone haywire.

It is learnt that the Forest Department is bound to compensate for the cutting of trees and plants in a ratio of 1:2 to 1:10 (varying upon the situation). After every cut in the forest, the revenue earned from the sale of wood was deposited in the account of the Punjab Forest Corporation and the divisional office of the Forest Department kept sending demand letters to the state government to release the funds for compensatory afforestation.

Sources said the void created by the clearance of 39 hectares of forest can be compensated only if more than 100 hectares were covered with saplings of different species, for which an estimated Rs 1.25 crore was required.

But in the absence of funds, the department was not in a position to plan the activities.

Divisional Forest Officer, Bathinda, SP Anandh Kumar said, “We are regularly communicating with the officials concerned and hope the funds will be released soon and immediately after that plantation drive will be launched.”

When contacted, Forest Minister Tikshan Sood feigned ignorance about the matter but assured that he would look into it and do all possible to get the funds released at the earliest.

Sangrur, May 1
The devotees’ efforts to bring about a change to a temple that has been badly managed by the government has started showing results.

The temple has started attracting a huge rush due to its changed look and improved facilities.

The government had ‘failed’ to manage the Mata Mahakali Devi temple after the priest there left it in 1986. Some denizens of Sangrur formed a registered body Mandir Shri Mahakali Sabha which took over the reins of the temple in 1991.

With donations from the people, the sabha has managed to improve the facilities at the shrine. “The temple building was not in a good condition and the floor was cracked at several places during the days when the government had the charge of the temple,” said Chand Magan, president of the sabha.

Magan added that there had been no proper water facilities, park, lighting arrangements, office, langar hall, shoe-keeping room and no satsang bhawan, but with the donations from devotees, all these facilities had been made possible. He added that to ensure transparency, the audit of the donations from the devotees was being done by the management annually.

Sangrur Deputy Commissioner couldn’t be contacted for the government’s version, but sources in the district administration said that government does spend money on the temple on a need basis.

Patiala, May 1
Eve teasing is a common problem for college-going girls and working women, particularly those using public transport and passing through the stadium road. Now, the Patiala police has started a special drive to check the menace in the city.

Many women refrain from lodging a complaint with the police unless eve teasing goes beyond a tolerable level. The target places are bus stops near Government College for Girls, YPS, the Government Mahindra College and women’s hostels.

Though the modus operandi varies, the most common is that mischief mongers board buses without fear of any authority to check them.

“The cops are never here, and in case they are here we have to seek the support of elderly women to get their help,” said a girl. Recently, two motorcycle-borne boys tried to stop her rickshaw and passed lewd remarks to her.

While the PCR wing of the city police is deputed in these areas, they are found ignoring the problem.

The TNS team visited the stadium road in the afternoon and found several youths fearlessly roaming around, hooting and passing comments on passing girls.

Senior police officials said a special drive to check the menace would be started to check this menace and strict action would be taken. “From tomorrow, we will depute more staffers and women cops to check the menace,” said a senior official. “We recently rounded up a few such boys and this will not be allowed,” they added.

Patiala, May 1
Taking cognisance of commercial establishments which are fast coming up on residential land in several city areas without depositing the mandatory change of land use (CLU) charges, Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dipinder Singh has sought a report from the Patiala urban local bodies authorities about all such commercial buildings that have come up in the violation of the norms.

According to sources in the district administration, the Deputy Commissioner, in the past many months, had received several complaints that throwing all rules to the wind, denizens are indulging in the illegal practice of constructing commercialcomplexes/showrooms and other commercial establishments, without getting the CLU certificate.

It is also learnt that the matter came up for discussion during the recently held grievances committee meeting of Patiala district. Speaking to The Tribune, Patiala Improvement Trust Chairman Inder Mohan Singh Bajaj said, “In every nook and corner of residential areas, commercial buildings are coming up. Nobody is taking any action against them. Even encroachments have been made near the Lahori Gate, but the civic authorities have not bothered to check these.”

DC Dipinder Singh has issued orders to senior functionaries of the Patiala Municipal Corporation to immediately initiate a survey of the entire city and draft a list of all the commercial buildings that have come up without obtaining a CLU certificate.

“Instructions have also been passed to make a list of all the encroachments and submit the same at the earliest, so that necessary action could be initiated against the violators. In case, any civic employee/ official is found guilty of conniving with the violator, strict action will be taken against him,” he said.

Patiala, May 1
The Punjab government has recently released a grant of Rs 400 per student for the purchase of summer and winter uniforms. This scheme, which is under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, extends to all girl students and Scheduled Caste boys from Class I to VIII.

In Patiala, a grant of Rs 3.84 crore has been received for 96,000 students. The amount has been transferred to the Pendu Sikhiya Vikas Committee (Rural Education Development Committee) accounts of the schools and they have been given the responsibility of purchasing the uniforms, informed DEO (Primary) Varsha Shukla.

The move has been appreciated by teachers and students. “Though a uniform was prescribed earlier as well, but many students could not afford it. We would often buy them a uniform with our money,” said a teacher.

The Principal of a local government senior secondary school said it was a good initiative, but the government must increase the amount as it was really difficult to buy all dress items within the allocated sum.

“The dress for boys includes a trouser and shirt, shoes, socks, ‘patka’ or cap and a sweater. For girls, there is a suit-salwar, dupatta, shoes, socks and a sweater. It is really difficult to purchase all these items in this amount without compromising on quality. That is the reason why few schools have not yet managed to get the uniforms despite getting the money,” she said.

Sources informed that this grant had been sanctioned last year, but was released this year. As a result, nothing could be done about the amount, but the authorities are planning to review it next year.

Another problem is that many boys from poor families but from the general category also cannot afford the uniforms. Therefore, many feel that instead of giving uniforms on the basis of category, the economic condition of students should have been the basis of distributing uniforms.

Patiala, May 1
While many states have awarded their Commonwealth Games medal winners with cash and jobs, Punjab players are yet to receive decent job offers from the state government.

Despite the fact that the state government had announced jobs and cash awards, they have not been offered any jobs.

In Patiala alone, there were three medallists- shooter Heena Sidhu, archer Gagandeep Kaur and athlete Harminder Singh. Gagandeep, who is doing her Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from Punjabi University, belongs to a middle class family and feels that finding the right job is very important as she wanted to grow further as a player. Harminder is working in BSF and Heena is doing her BDS from Gian Sagar College.All three are still awaiting job offers.

“There are just few months left for the elections and once the code of conduct is on, I am not very sure when we will get the jobs or whether we will get them at all,” said one of the players on the condition of anonymity.

Although she had approached the Diesel Modernisation Works of Patiala, for a job, they had offered her a Class IV post. This was unacceptable to the medallist.

Director Sports Punjab Government Pargat Singh, when contacted, said the proposal for their jobs had been sent to the Personnel Department as there was a proposal of education relaxation.

“As per rules, graduation is a must for getting the job of Class I officer. The government has already created 10 posts for gold medallists of the Asian and Commonwealth Games from 2006 and will soon offer jobs after this proposal is cleared,” he said.

Patiala, May 1
The alleged corruption cases against the Badal family, which were recently closed, would be reopened through legal procedure and various irregularities in their functioning would be brought out in the open.

This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs Preneet Kaur while addressing a gathering of farmers and employees organised by former MP Charanjit Singh Walia on the May Day, which was celebrated as Bhai Lalon Diwas.

Prominent among other present were MLA Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Nirmal Singh Shatrana, Surinderjeet Singh Walia, Pradeep Kumar Dewan and general secretary Punjab State Services Federation KK Sharma. Preneet Kaur demanded a through probe in the suicide case of ETO Ranjit Singh. She appreciated the declaration of Ghaggar as a national project by the Central Government stating that it would save farmers from the threat Ghaggar posed in Haryana and Punjab. She said in case the Congress formed a government in Punjab, the proposal of extending maternity leave of contractual female employees from 3 to 6 months and regular employees from 6 to 10 months would be seriously considered.

Amritsar, May 1
A Chinese girl was reportedly kidnapped by a taxi driver and his seven accomplices late this evening.

According to sources, the victim and her friend, also from China, hired a taxi to visit the Golden Temple. From there, they went to a hotel. The two girls shared a drink with the driver.

When one of the them went to the washroom, the driver allegedly took away the other girl.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amar Singh Chahal confirmed the incident. He said a hunt had been launched to trace the girl and nab the offenders.

Mansa, May 1
Eight Punjab police personnel were formally arrested today by the police for their alleged involvement in the fake arms racket which was busted by the police here a few weeks ago.

With the formal arrest of eight policemen, the fake arms racket, involving arms dealers and illegal arms manufacturers, acquired a new dimension today as most of arrested policemen were managing the affairs of the armouries of various wings of the Punjab police located in various parts of the state.

They were produced before the duty magistrate who remanded them in police custody for four days.

The police personnel arrested today were identified as Sukhwinder Singh, Harminder Singh, Manjeet, Sukhbir Singh, Vijay Kumar, Malkit Singh, Harmeet and Surjeet.

Whether these policemen were involved in the sale of fake arms to customers or they were involved in the forgery of the documents to get the fake arms registered as genuine arms in the official record and how many fake arms have been seized from them could not be known.

Apart from these eight police personnel, the local police has arrested six persons, including a woman, who are allegedly involved in this racket.

Mahesh, the owner of a local gun house, was arrested by the local police a few days ago. He was also remanded in police custody for two days. The others who have been arrested by the police were Kamal Kant, Ashwani, Neelam Rani, Ravinder and Anil Midha.