Bathinda, June 5
Darshan Kaur, mother of Malika, a first year student of the Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM) course, who allegedly committed suicide, along with her other kin staged a dharna in the premises of the Civil Hospital here today.

Darshan Kaur and her associates staged a dharna to protest against the failure of the police to arrest Kamal Kaur, principal of the Multipurpose Health Workers Female School, who allegedly abetted the suicide.

Malika, who was reportedly humiliated by Kamal Kaur in front of her classmates yesterday, committed suicide in her room in the hostel located in the premises of the Civil Hospital here.

Malika was allegedly rebuked by Kamal Kaur when she was trying to copy from a book while taking her test at the examination centre. Kamal Kaur also asked her to leave the examination hall and denied her the chance to complete her test.

After leaving the examination room, Malika went to her room and hanged herself with her stole (duppatta) from the ceiling fan. The incident came to light after her classmates found her hanging when they came back to hostel after the tests.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that Darshan Kaur and her kin also refused to take the body of Malika after her postmortem. Darshan Kaur also demanded that the Punjab government must promise that a kin of Malika would be given a government job. She also demanded that Kamal Kaur be placed under suspension.

Karnail Singh Bhullar, Naib Tehsildar, who reached the spot, persuade Darshan and others to end their agitation by promising them that Kamal Kaur would be arrested soon as police parties had been pressed into service to nab her.

Meanwhile, Neelam Bajaj, Civil Surgeon, Bathinda, said that the state health authorities were entitled to place Kamal Kaur under suspension, which would be done after following proper procedure. 

Moga, June 5
Transplantation of paddy seedlings is yet to begin in the plains of the Malwa belt in Punjab but power cuts have already started making their presence felt during the day as well as at night in Moga, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Muktsar districts.

Normally, power cuts begin after the transplantation of paddy seedlings as much electricity is consumed by the water pumps to pull out underground water for irrigating the fields, thereby putting an extra load on the power supply feeders.

However, unscheduled power cuts have become the order of the day, which the state power corporation officials attribute to the shortage of power in the northern grid. The other reasons are downfall in frequency resulting in tripping and a large number of faults occurring in the power distribution network.

In domestic areas, particularly in the towns of Moga, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Jaito, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Malout and other townships, power cuts are being imposed for 40 to 60 minutes more than two times a day.

The authorities of the power corporation attribute this to the increasing gap between demand and supply, which is likely to add to the duration of the power cuts, in the coming days once paddy transplantation begins from June 10 onwards.

The residents complain that the complaint centres of the power corporation do not respond to their calls and if they pick up the phone once in a while, those on duty express ignorance about the reasons for the cuts and also about restoration of supply.

"Power cuts have become a normal feature these days and remind us of the sleepless nights we faced last year when power cuts were imposed continuously for hours,” said Jasbir Singh, a resident of Moga.

The rural areas in these districts have also started facing the power crisis. People say that cuts are imposed for four to seven hours in a day on the domestic supply.

"Power cuts have become a matter of routine this summer and everyday, there are unscheduled power cuts three to five times," alleged Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Takhtuwala village of the Moga district.

People have demanded that unscheduled power cuts should be stopped and the state government should ensure a regular supply for a fixed period.

"The scheduled power cuts should be notified from time to time well in advance and adequate publicity should be done in this regard so that people can adjust their routine chores accordingly," said Balwinder Singh, a resident of Faridkot.

There have been reports that the shortage of power has also resulted in a shortage of drinking water in the urban areas of the Malwa belt.

People further demanded that the government must take steps to improve the power situation immediately in the summer season.

Sriganganagar, June 5
The Akhil Bharatiya Jangid Brahman Sabha today exhorted the community not to serve sumptuous meals at the meetings that are organised to perform the last rites of the deceased.

The call was given during the function organised by the Sabha to celebrate the World Environment Day, president Hari Shankar Jangid informed.

The chief guest Farukh Afridy was joined in planting saplings by eminent poet Tau Shekhawati, RC Sharma, former state president and general secretary Kailash Sharma.

Afridy also spoke on the occasion about the various measures which need to be taken to protect the environment.

A student Vishnu Jangid, who had excelled in class XII exam in the commerce stream was honoured during the function.

Harike (Ferozepur), June 5
Hundreds of people including students of schools and colleges, panchayats of various villages, volunteers of social organisations were asked to contribute their mite to protect the environment and conserve the wildlife and biodiversity by the functionaries of the state Wildlife Department in a function organised here to mark the World Environment Day here, today.

The Wildlife Department also organised a painting competition, skit performance, water testing programme, storytelling and other items for them.

Besides the lectures delivered by the Wildlife Department officials including Sanjeev Tiwari, district wildlife officer, Ferozepur and others, a documentary based on the Harike wildlife sanctuary was also shown to the audience. The WWF-India also associated itself with the district wildlife authorities in organising the function.

Tiwari said the students were apprised of the methods for preserving the environment, wildlife and wetlands.

He added that students as well as villagers were motivated for launching ‘Better Management Practices’ (Agricultural) and ‘Water School Programme’ as these were sustainable.

Under storytelling programme, the students and other participants were told about Indus river dolphin. The other activities at today's function included art, theatre, field trips, water testing experiments, interaction with parents, family members and neighbourer.

Tiwari said later that in the seminar, speakers laid stress on the importance of conserving wetlands, environment, forests and wildlife.

He added that a weeklong function would be held to mark the World Environment Day. 

Fazilka, June 5
Fazilka BJP MLA and Transport Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani observed one-day fast along with his supporters at the Clock Tower today to protest against the alleged atrocities on Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and his followers in Delhi last night.

The fast was organised by Jagdish Setia, president of the local BJP Mandal. Circle President SAD (Rural) Charan Singh and SAD steering committee members Sandeep Gilhotra also joined in dharna.

Abohar, June 5
A sum of Rs 90 lakh that had been released recently by the Rajasthan irrigation department to its counterparts in Punjab to repair the damaged lining in the Ferozepur Feeder was not being fairly utilised, rued Rajasthan Kisan Sangharsh Samiti.

The Gang (Bikaner) canal had been closed for five days on June 1 to take up the repair project but work may defeat the specifications as it was being done in haste. The Samiti team led by spokesman Subhash Sehgal today visited the canal sites in the district to monitor the ongoing work that was to be completed within 4-5 days.

The members of the team including progressive farmers Bhupinder Singh of Mohanpura and Angrej Singh of Srikaranpur and Sehgal interacted with the media here before returning home.

They regretted that no official from Punjab or Rajasthan was found present at the construction sites during the four-hour drive.

Efforts to contact some of the officials on their cell phones too remained unsuccessful. It was found that the repair was by and large being done by daily wage earners instead of availing the services of masons.

Notably, a mason gets Rs 300 per day while labourers are available for Rs 180 only. Even junior staff of the department concerned was not monitoring the quality of work or standard of the material being used, they said.

Rajasthan Feeder and Ferozepur Feeder provide irrigation water to Rajasthan along with parts of Punjab.

With the passage of time, certain gates of the barrage have gone out of order while others are not working properly. The result is substantial quantity of water going waste downstream of the barrage.

Mansa, June 5
The police achieved a major success when it managed to arrest six of the eight persons, planning to commit dacoity by looting traders and commission agents at gunpoint.

The accused were overpowered by a police team led by Sulakhan Singh, SHO, city police station, from a place near the New Grain Market. Two of the accused, however, managed to flee.

SSP Hardyal Singh Mann said Sulakhan received a tip-off that some persons were trying to commit crime in the city. When the police raided that place, the six accused, identified as Kulwinder alias Kala, Sandeep Kumar alias Judi, Sandeep Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Nanakfal and Ravi Kumar, were arrested.

Two pistols of .315 bore along with live cartridges, two motorcycles and other sharp-edged weapons were recovered. Two of the accomplices, Jiwan Kumar and Parsa Ram had escaped, he added.

He said a case under sections 399 and 402 of IPC was registered against the accused. The accused were remanded to police custody till June 7 after being produced before a judicial magistrate today. — TNS