NEIGHBOURHOOD

INLD opposes acquisition of fertile land
Our Correspondent

Patiala, May 26
While on one hand, the education department keeps on issuing new instructions everyday to its teachers to bring the standard of education in government schools at par with the private ones, on the other, it is ignoring the very interest of its employees. Government schoolmasters have been waiting since years for promotions as headmasters but the department has not taken suitable action in order to give them their due share.

A senior functionary in the department has confirmed that there are 1,665 posts of headmasters in government high schools throughout Punjab, out of which 1,147 are vacant, which means nearly 69 per cent seats are vacant. These seats have been divided into two categories- 75 per cent are those masters who would be promoted as headmasters and 25 per cent are those who have from direct recruitment.

Giving information in this regard, he said, “The seats for the post of headmaster by direct recruitment quota are almost filled but a majority of the posts that were to be filled after promotion of masters are vacant. Though the direct recruitments were done in 2006, last time the promotions were done on a large scale in 2001. As many as 247 teachers were promoted in 2008 and then in 2010, 108 teachers were promoted. These were those teachers who were left out in 2008 because of low percentage. By the time these teachers were promoted, many of them had already retired.”

As per the rules of the department, postgraduate teachers are eligible for the post of lecturers whereas BA BEd/BSc BEd teachers join the department as masters and can be promoted to the post of headmaster alone throughout their career. Now, many masters who are waiting for promotions are the ones who have a service of more than 30 years and many of them are nearing retirement within six months. “I have been teaching since 32 years and am still serving on the post of a master. The department has been delaying our promotions since long. We are being assured that we will be promoted within two to three months. I really don’t know when we should really expect one,” rued one of the teachers.

Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan and DPI (Secondary Education) Avtar Chand Sharma were not available for comments. 

Patiala, May 26
Thapar University has extended the last date for submission of applications for all courses till May 31. The earlier cut-off date was May 23. Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee, director of Thapar University, said the date had been changed due to the overwhelming response received for the courses.

“We also got repeated requests to extend the last date from parents and prospective students as a result of rescheduling of AIEEE examination. In light of these developments, we have decided to extend the last date of submission of the application for all the courses in Thapar University.”

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 26
Rising temperature has affected the milk production in Fatehgarh Sahib, which has reduced from 20 to 25 per cent in the past few days.

Dairy farmers and officials of the dairy department said cows felt more heat during summers as compared to buffaloes. High temperature led to stress and affect appetite of the animal and it affects milk production. Despite giving balanced diet and congenial atmosphere, most of the dairy farms fail to beat extremely high temperature, which affect performance of milk animals.

“While indigenous cows manage to bear high temperature to some extent, but exotic animals fail to do so and require continuous care and cool atmosphere,” said dairy farmer Devinder Singh of Kishanpura village.

A progressive farmer with more than 70 milk cattle, Devinder has continuously been adopting modern techniques to keep animals stress free. Besides installing modern carpets under animals he has also provided foggers to reduce temperature inside his cattle shed.

Dairy Development Officer Charanjit Singh admitted that 25 per cent fall in milk production was witnessed in Fatehgarh Sahib. He said though this phenomenon was common every year during summers, this time the temperature seems to have arisen bit earlier.

Daily production of milk in the district is 6 lakh litres and nearly 2.8 lakh litres of milk is used for domestic consumption. Dairy farmers of the district sell milk at milk plants of Mohali, Patiala, Ludhiana and a private milk plant in Mandi Gobindgarh.

Rise in temperature also affects health of milk animals as their ability to fight external diseases reduces to a great extent.

Though farmers have been advised to raise level of cattle sheds to at least 32 feet with 160 by 120 feet width and to use foggers and desert coolers, but only a few farmers adopt these techniques. Normally they keep iron sheds up to 10 to 12 feet high which get heated up and disturb animals.

Darshan Singh, a farmer from Khamano, said small farmers with less then 50 milk animals failed to achieve target of milk production.

Ravinder Joshi, a resident of Bassi Pathana said that milk adulteration increases manifolds during these days due to low milk production.

Ambala, May 26
The Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, has arrested a patwari for taking a bribe of Rs 3,000 from a farmer for issuing him the copy of his land record.

According to information, Raghuvir Singh, a resident of Kesri village, had filed a complaint with the Ambala Vigilance Bureau that Om Parkash, the patwari of the village, had been demanding Rs 3,000 from him for issuing him the copy of his land record.

SP, Vigilance Bureau, Mata Ravi Kiran had constituted a raiding party under the supervision of inspector Rajender Kumar. City Magistrate Rajesh Jogpal was included in the team as executive magistrate.

When Raghuvir Singh was handing over the amount to Om Parkash in his office this noon, the vigilance team raided there and recovered Rs 3,000 from his possession. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against the patwari.

The complainant, Raghuvir Singh, who was present in the vigilance office, said the patwari had been demanding Rs 5,000 from him for this work. Later, it was settled at Rs 3,000.

He said he owned only two acres in the village and was not able to give Rs 3,000 to the patwari for a genuine work.

Ropar, May 26
Notorious prisoners at Ropar jail will be shifted to other jails in order to maintain harmony, said IG Prisons Punjab Jagjit Singh during his visit to the jail this evening.

Jagjit Singh was on a visit to the jail following a clash between jail inmates last evening. He said the jail staff had acted swiftly, preventing the clash from taking an ugly turn. Terming the clash as a minor incident, he said anti-social elements when together tend to clash.

Talking about bringing reforms in the jail, he said different committees should be constituted in order to introduce better facilities for inmates.

Chandigarh, May 26
The UT Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has directed Oriental Insurance Company Ltd to pay Rs 12,66,160 to Micromation Pvt Ltd for the damage sustained to a wall of insured premises due to heavy rain.

The forum has also asked the insurance company to pay a compensation of Rs 7,000 to the firm for delaying their claim and causing harassment.

In its complaint, Micromation Pvt Ltd stated that in order to cover the losses caused to the buildings, land retaining wall and fixed assets, they took a standard fire and EQ special peril (material damage) policy from the insurance company for one year from July 3, 2008, to July 2, 2009.

The complainant stated that the boundary wall of the building was damaged due to heavy rain in July 2008. They immediately intimated the insurance company about the damage on July 16, 2008. For assessing the loss, the insurance company appointed Protech Engineers & Loss Assessor. The complainant also submitted the claim to the company through the surveyor on November 20, 2008.

However, the company repudiated the claim on the ground that the loss was due to normal cracking, settlement or bedding down of new structures, stated complainant. In its reply, the insurance company admitted that the complainant had taken the policy but as per the recommendations of the surveyor, the insurance company was not liable to pay the claim, as the loss was not caused due to flood.

The insurance company stated that as the damage falls under the Exclusion Clause VIII (a), (b) and (d) of the insurance policy, the same is not payable, therefore, the repudiation of the claim is absolutely in accordance with law.The forum comprising its president Lakshman Sharma and members Ashok Raj Bhandari and Madhu Mutneja observed that the contention of the insurance company that the loss was due to normal cracking, settlement or bedding down of new structures does not appear to be correct. As there was heavy rain constantly for a long period, it is natural that the loosened earth by the side of the retaining wall was washed away resulting damage to the wall.

The forum stated that the retaining wall was damaged due to flood caused by heavy rains. So, the repudiation of the claim is illegal and amounts to deficiency in service on the part of the insurance company. Thus, the complainant is entitled to the claim amount less 5 per cent in view of Clause (1) of General Exclusions along with interest.

Chandigarh, May 26
A lower court has issued notices to satirist Jaspal Bhatti and his wife Savita for hurting religious sentiments. Human rights activist Arvind Thakur in a petition demanded that Jaspal Bhatti and his wife should be restrained from holding any rally or play using names of gods and goddesses and hurting the sentiments of people.

The petition stated that on April 28, Bhatti organised a play in Sector 17 plaza where he used prefixes of gods and goddesses to show his hatred for corruption. When petitioners came to know about the play, they went to the spot and expressed their resentment. 

Panchkula, May 26
Special NIA court here today extended the judicial custody of Swami Aseemanand, the radical Hindu activist who is being tried for his involvement in Samjhauta Express blasts case in February 2007, till June 7.

Aseemanand was produced through video conferencing in the local court today. It was for the first time during the hearing of Samjhauta blasts case that Aseemanand was produced through video conferencing from Ambala jail.

The local court had granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) the permission to hold court hearings of Aseemanand through video conferencing from Ambala jail. 

Chandigarh, May 26
The crime branch of the Chandigarh Police busted an inter-state gang of motor vehicle thieves with the arrest of four persons. The police said it has solved 10 cases of vehicle thefts with their arrest.

The accused have been identified as 29-year-old Om Pal Singh, 25-year-old Manoj Thakur, 40-year-old Kesri Singh and 25-year-old Israr Khan, all residents of Uttar Pradesh.

Inspector Amanjot Singh, in charge of the crime branch, said the police has recovered an Esteem car, a Balero Pickup, a Maruti car, five motorcycles and two scooters from their possession.

The police said the accused have a tainted past and three of them, including Om Pal, Manoj and Israr, have earlier been arrested in separate cases of vehicle thefts, dacoity, robbery and burglary.

The four were active in Chandigarh since 2007. They have confessed to stolen old Maruti, Zen, Esteem cars and two-wheelers from Chandigarh. Describing their modus operandi, the police said they used to dispose of vehicles to different agents in Uttar Pradesh. The agents have been identified and raids are on to arrest these agents, the police added. 

Zirakpur, May 26
The Zirakpur police has arrested two minor boys and recovered a stolen Zen car from their possession. However, the main accused managed to flee from the spot.

The police official said the accused were produced in a Mohali juvenile court where they were sent to judicial custody at juvenile jail in Ludhiana.

Investigating officer ASI Shamsher Singh stated that he was patrolling along with a police team near Paras Down Town Square when they received a tip off that the suspects were on their way to Zirakpur from Panchkula. The accused were in a Zen car that they had stolen from Panchkula.

They laid a naka near Kalka traffic lightpoint to nab them but the accused fled away from the spot. Later, the police team managed to arrest two of them while the main accused Deep escaped in the dark.A Zen car (CHOIV-5248) stolen from Panchkula was also recovered from their possession, the investigating officer added.

Mohali, May 26
A total of 54 players from various districts were shortlisted by the Punjab state senior selection
committee for a seven-day preliminary camp, which started under Vikram Rathore, Punjab coach, at the PCA Stadium here today.

Apart from honing skills, stress would be on physical fitness of players in the camp. Sushil Kapoor, PCA spokesperson, said Rathore would be assisted by coaches from various districts.

Designated coaches from districts would look after players from their districts after they went back and keep in constant touch with Rathore.

The camp would conclude on June 1. Adrian Dias would look after training while Nikhil NP would be the physio.

Mohali, May 26
With the help of Sachin Sohal’s ton (110), Mohali scored 253 on the first day of their under-19 Dhruv Pandove trophy match against Jalandhar at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here today.

Mohali opted to bat first, but the decision backfired as they lost their first three wickets for just 30 runs in 9 overs. At this stage, Subeer Hayer was joined by Sohal and the duo took the total to 65 in 21 overs.

Hayer was caught by Anmol off Sahil for 38 runs. After that, Sohal and Gurpartap Singh put on 81 runs for the eighth wicket before Sohal was caught by Mansab Gill off Sahil for a well-struck 110 off 200 balls.

Shortly after the exit of Sohal with the score on 245, the Mohali innings was terminated for 253 in 84.2 overs. Sahil Malhotra was the main bowler, claiming 5 wickets for 39, followed by Arun Chauhan, who took 3 for 75.