Breach in Dhingi village plugged
Nabha, June 28
Acting on the complaint by Congress leader Balwinder Singh Bittu and sarpanch Tarsem Lal of Dhingi village, the administration today plugged the breach in the tributary passing through the village.

Jambholi choe wreaks havoc in Sangrur
Sangrur, June 28
The overflowing Jambholi choe in Dirba subdivision wrecked havoc with the recently transplanted paddy crop on over 900 acres in more than 20 villages near here this evening.

POLITICS

Ferozepur, June 28
Breaches have been taking place in the Mamdot distributary of the Eastern Canal system despite the fact that it was brick lined at the cost of crores of rupees by the Irrigation Department last year.

The two breaches, which took place in the Mamdot distributary in the past 24 hours, have raised questions over the quality of brick lining of this 80 km-long channel.

About 500 acres of farmland in Matted Hitad, Gajni Wala and Chugge Pathana Wala villages was inundated, though paddy had not been sown in the entire area.

Authorities of the Irrigation Department claimed that a breach of about 50 ft width, which had taken place in the Mamdot area, had been caused by some unscrupulous elements. They allegedly tried to draw extra water from the distributary by tampering with an outlet.

The other breach, which had taken place at 202 RD (reduced distance) in Jalalabad area, was caused after rats made a hole in its bank.

However, the farmers of the region, while countering the claims of the Irrigation Department, alleged that as substandard material was used in the brick lining, hence breaches had been taking place continually. They added that breaches in the Mamdot distributary were a common occurrence last year too.

They pointed out that four breaches had taken place in the distributary at different places this month and these had caused huge losses to the recently sown paddy crop in the area.

They demanded that the Punjab Government should make arrangements to give adequate compensation to the affected farmers.

Jaswant Singh Sandhu, Executive Engineer, Eastern Canal division, said as one of the breaches in Mamdot distributary had been caused due to tampering, hence a police case had been registered.

He said that when about 100 cusecs of water was released in the Mamdot distributary a few days ago, it got breached at its tail-end as the farmers, on the way, did not use the water for irrigating their fields and water collected at the end point.

He added that the breach took place in the distributary despite the fact that its capacity was 350 cusecs.

Bakhshish Singh Cheema, SDO, Irrigation, claimed that breaches in the distributary in Jalalabad area had been taking place due to three reasons.

First, the demand of water being raised by farmers was not uniform and hence, they found it difficult to control the water properly.

Secondly, the distributary was at a considerable height from the ground level in Jalalabad area and hence, rats made holes in the banks which ultimately leads to breaches.

The third reason was that the distributary lacked an escape channel to divert its water in case the demand came down drastically, especially during the monsoon.

Baljeet Singh Sandhu, SE, Irrigation, said that all these things were being taken care of and efforts were on to do the needful. He added that breaches in the Mamdot distributary would be plugged by evening tomorrow.

Patiala, June 28
Following the recent spell of heavy rain, paddy saplings in the low-lying areas of the district were damaged and the farmers are demanding a special girdawari to estimate their losses. While the district administration is yet to calculate the exact loss, the farmers are getting ready to sow again despite threat of more rain.

Patiala DC Dipinder Singh said, “There are not many losses as the rains were not that heavy, but I have sought a report from the respective SDMs. There could be minor damages, but total loss is yet to be ascertained.”

The paddy saplings were damaged on an estimated paddy area of over 3,000 acres due to the downpour in Nabha, Samana and Ghagga. “The paddy saplings procured from nurseries for transplantation are damaged due to excess water in the fields and it needs to be taken out and sown again,” claimed the farmers of these areas.

“I will have to buy paddy saplings all over again for transplantation on six acres of land and bear the cost of labour,” said Samana farmer Jagtar Singh Grewal.

As per reports villages in Ghagga that suffered losses include Dedhna, Kakrala, Nagri, Kalara, while in Nabha, the crops were damaged in Kherhi, Tunga, Nauga, Todarwal.

Chandigarh, June 28
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today took a dig at PPP chief Manpreet Badal saying the former Akali minister had himself allegedly unleashed reign of terror against thousands of Congress workers in his Gidderbaha assembly segment.

Notably, Amarinder Singh's allegations have come a day after Manpreet Badal approached the State Human Rights Commission against alleged foisting of false cases on his partymen. “The former Finance Minister like his erstwhile Akali colleagues had himself done the same thing with thousands of Congress workers in his Gidderbaha assembly segment… Now that the shoe is on the other foot, it has started pinching him,” the PPCC president alleged.

The PPCC president said it was good that Manpreet had woken up and realised that the police and vigilance heads were allegedly acting like Akali Jathedars. “That is precisely what we have been maintaining for the last four and a half years.”

Jalandhar, June 28
The Punjab Technical University (PTU) has approached Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to resolve its dispute with the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) regarding a building in which its administrative office was located earlier in this city.

The building, on seven acres and adjacent to the Education College, is in the heart of the city.

Before shifting its administrative office to its main campus near Kapurthala, the PTU authorities had functioned from the building for many years.

The Guru Nanak Dev University had recently shifted its University College to the building.

Official sources said that the issue would be discussed with the Chief Minister on June 30 at a high-level meeting convened by him to discuss issues related to higher education.

On the insistence of some senior officials of the state government, the PTU had handed over the building to the GNDU some months ago. However, the PTU had not surrendered its claim over the building.

Sources said that the Chief Minister would be told that the PTU wanted to set up a training institute for teachers of various engineering colleges in the building.

The CM would be urged to give at least half of the seven acres to the PTU.

Sources said that the CM would be convinced that the piece of land is big enough to cater to the needs of the GNDU as well as the PTU.

The PTU is also keen to start evening classes for skill development at the building besides starting professional courses there.

The new campus of the PTU is about 15 km from Jalandhar city. It will not be easy to start evening classes at that place.

Moreover, in the PTU Act, the university is located at Jalandhar, but actually it is in Kapurthala district.

A senior official of the PTU said that the GNDU has a big campus at Ladhewali in Jalandhar city. It could utilise that space for its academic activities.

Sources said that at the June 30 meeting, it would be decided whether a second independent technical university should be set up at Bathinda or the second campus of the existing PTU should be opened there

Another option that would be discussed is whether only engineering courses should be retained with the PTU and for other non-technical professional courses, a separate university should be set up

There is an impression that the PTU cannot take the load of all the existing technical and non-technical courses in about 100 engineering colleges. The proposal to set up an exclusive University for Management and Commerce is also likely to be discussed

Punjab has no university for business management and commerce courses for which the demand is very high in the academic world

Chandigarh, June 28
The rising cost of fuel, hike in interest rates of home loans, and with food inflation heading north, the common man is struggling to make both ends meet.

In the past year, the cost of petrol has gone up by Rs 16 per litre and that of diesel by over Rs 8 per litre. The price of cooking gas has increased by Rs 85 per cylinder since June last.

To add to it, food inflation is showing no signs of abating and interest rates on home loans have increased by almost two per cent in the past year.

On the other hand, the incomes of most households have remained static. As a result, most households have been forced to forgo their entertainment allowance and now remain restricted to the three basic necessities — roti, kapda aur makaan.

Manikaran Singal, a financial planner from Moga, said that with the hike in food and fuel prices and with rates of home and auto loans going up, over 90 per cent of their household budget goes in catering to basic necessities. “The remaining 10 per cent goes as savings for the rainy day. As a result, entertainment is now a luxury for us,” he informed The Tribune.

It may be mentioned that food inflation is now hovering at a two-and-a-half-month high of 9.13 per cent on the back of costlier fruits, milk, onions and protein-based items.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 8.96 per cent during the previous week. It was almost 23 per cent during the second week of June 2010.

Though it is now much less than the inflation rate of 17.03 per cent in February, high food prices continue to burn a hole in the pocket of the common man.

Surinder Bhatia, an employee of a private factory in Ludhiana, said that because of higher food and fuel prices, healthcare needs of his family have taken a backseat.

“I could not save enough for my health insurance premium this year,” she said.

Many youngsters who have availed home loans, especially when teaser home loan rates were announced last year, are now finding it difficult to pay their enhanced equated monthly instalments.

Dhiraj Garg, a resident of Chandigarh, said that in the past two years, the interest on home loans has gone up by 2 per cent.

“For a loan of up to Rs 50 lakh, the interest on home loan was 8 per cent for the first year and 9 per cent for the second year. Now, the interest rate is hovering at 10.50 per cent.

“Since additional allocation has to be made for my home loan instalments and our household income has remained static, we are cutting into our savings to pay back the loan,” he rued.

Bathinda, June 28
Members of the Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners Association would be participating in a meeting called by the All India Cotton Ginners Association in Ahmedabad tomorrow.

According to information, the agenda of the meeting would be to pressure the Union Government to lift the ban imposed on the export of cotton.

The association would also try to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bring to his notice “how the ban had hit the cotton business”.

Notably, the ban imposed on the export of cotton by the Centre has triggered off a crisis in the cotton business leading to the crashing of the prices of processed cotton in the domestic market as supply exceeded consumption.

In last season, the Union Government only allowed the export of 55 lakh bales of processed cotton despite the fact that the country was having surplus stock of 90 lakh bales. The cotton ginners fear that as the next crop was expected to hit the market by October, they might have to face losses owing to the carryover stock of 35 lakh bales.

Questioning the government strategy behind not allowing the export, Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners Association president Bhagwan Dass Bansal said response in their favour would help bring the ginners out of financial crisis on one hand and earn foreign exchange for the country on the other.

lThose in the cotton business rue that the Union Government only allowed the export of 55 lakh bales of processed cotton despite the fact that the country produced 90 lakh bales

lThey fear that as the next crop, expected to be a bumper, would hit the market by October, they might have to face losses owing to the carryover stock of 35 lakh bales

Chandigarh, June 28
Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan's plans to get the Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) examination for private institutions conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) have suffered a setback, with his own department advising against the practice saying it could not be done as per law.

Sekhwan, as per sources, had to revert the decision after the Secretary, Education, pointed out that the PSEB did not have the mandate to conduct any other test than those pertaining to school education.

Following this, it is learnt, the Minister agreed that the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) should conduct the test. But how the test would be conducted was still unclear as the Education Department had earlier recommended that an affiliation policy be formulated before the SCERT granted affiliation to 51 private ETT institutes.

Notably, Sekhwan was instrumental in allowing these 51 private institutes to admit 5,000 students for the ETT course even though these institutes lacked the mandatory affiliation from the SCERT. He had directed the PSEB to conduct the test for the ETT students and also told the SCERT to grant them affiliation.

Meanwhile, the Minister has also revised his earlier order regarding the cancellation of the entire ETT examination. Now, only the paper that was allegedly leaked would be held again. Four exams, including the one that was "leaked" and the three that were yet to be conducted, would be held on July 7, 8, 9 and 10.

The decision came as the Education Department failed to prove that the ETT paper had been leaked.

An inquiry conducted by Additional Secretary Sanjay Popli, which formed the basis for the suspension of SCERT director and two other employees, also claims that it was impossible to determine how and from where the paper was leaked. The department has also not seen it fit to register a police case in the matter. The suspended employees, for their part, targeted the Minister saying action was taken against them to thwart them from appearing in court to oppose affiliation to the private institutes.

Meanwhile, department officials disclosed that many of the private institutions have admitted more students than they were eligible to do so. Some have enrolled students in 2010 but have shown them to be of the 2009 batch. Many institutions have also not been recognised by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), which is mandatory before approaching the SCERT for affiliation.

More than 250 unemployed teachers were arrested by the police in Bathinda district on Tuesday. A majority of them were arrested in Bathinda city while the remaining were held at different places when they were on their way to Bathinda from various districts of the state to take part in the state-level "chakka jam" in Bathinda in protest against the holding of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said they had arrested around 250 protesters as part of a preventive measure to maintain law and order as they had been blocking roads.

The protest call was given by five unemployed teachers (B.Ed, ETT, PTI, D.PEd, Art and Craft) organizations.

Jalandhar, June 28
The Union Home Ministry has sought a report from the state government regarding the progress in the case pertaining to the death of a Mizoram student during a soccer match at the Lovely Professional University, Phagwara.

The Home Ministry has questioned the state government about the action that was taken in the case that created ripples in Mizoram.

Hailing from Lunglei district in Mizoran, Johny F. Lalhmangaih Zuala (22), a student of B.Tech (civil engineering), was allegedly kicked with spiked shoes by Sudanese and Tanzanian students during a friendly soccer match on the university campus on April 26.

DGP PS Gill said the Punjab police had submitted a report on the issue. 

Amritsar, June 28
As many as 14 Pakistan prisoners who were lodged in various jails of the country and completed their terms today were repatriated to the neighbouring nation. They were handed over to the Pakistani rangers at Attari-Wagah border near here.

Of those let off, two were undergoing imprisonment in Jammu, one each in Sangrur and Mumbai and five fishermen each in Kachh and Bhuja jails of Gujarat. Of the 10 fishermen, five were children in the age group of 10 to 15.

During repatriation to their native country, authorities from the Pakistan Embassy were also present.

Before crossing over, Qamar Ayub, a resident of Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, said that he had illegally sneaked into the Indian territory in 2001 to participate in “jihad”. However he was caught in Kashmir and was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. He said the foreign secretary meet of the two nations in Pakistan came as a blessing for them as it facilitated their early release.

Mohammad Imran Khan, another terrorist who also illegally crossed over to participate in “jihad”, served his jail terms in Balwal in Jammu and Jodhpur jails.

“There are a number of prisoners who have completed their jails terms a long time ago but are still languishing in jails owing to various reasons. Now, the governments of India and Pakistan have initiated a number of steps to strengthen the bilateral ties, so they should initiate steps to identify and release these prisoners,” he said.

Mohammad Aziz (10) said that as there were vacations in his school, so he accompanied his father for fishing. But as their boat entered Indian waters, the father-son duo was arrested and later lodged in Gujarat jail. 

Chandigarh, June 28
Commuting in public transport may turn costlier in Punjab, with State Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) proposing to raise bus fare from 3 paise a kilometer (km) to maximum of 6 paise per km following the hike in diesel rates.

“We have proposed to the state government to increase normal bus fare by 3 paise per km in view of the hike in fuel rates,” PRTC MD Manvesh Singh Sidhu said today.

For super deluxe buses, the fare could go up by 6 paise a km, he added.

Similarly, Punjab Roadways has also proposed similar hike in bus fare to state government. — PTI

Mohali, June 28
Protesting against the proposed privatisation of cooking of mid-day meals in the government schools of Punjab, hundreds of members of the Democratic Mid-Day Meal Cook Front, Punjab, staged a dharna at the YPS chowk here today.

The agitators pointed out that privatising the cooking of the meals would render about 50,000 cooks employed in the government schools jobless. “The quality of cooking ensured by the cooks could not be maintained by a private contractor whose aim will be to pocket the profit,” said president of the front Harjinder Kaur. It was pointed out that the cooking job offered employment to woman in the villages across the state.

While demanding minimum wages, the cooks pointed out that they were being paid Rs 30 for seven hours of working. The government should pay minimum wages to the cooks.

In a memorandum sent to the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, it has been mentioned that against 300 children there were just two cooks and instead one cook should be appointed for every 25 students.

The front has also sought adequate facilities for cooking of the mid-day meals and medical insurance for the cooks. Later the agitators blocked traffic on the Mohali-Chandigarh road and insisted on giving the memorandum to the OSD to the Punjab CM. When the OSD did not turn up for a long time, the leaders of the front hanged the memorandum on a tree to register their protest.

Patiala, June 28
To do away with the established “sifarish” culture prevalent in the Police Department for the posting of the Station House Officers (SHOs) and ranks below that, the Government Railway Police (GRP) today held a distinct-wise draw of lots.

The eligible candidates for the posts were given equal opportunity for the postings. DSP, GRP (additional charge) Manjit Brar said the system was introduced by IG (GRP) Rohit Chowdhary in a meeting held recently.

“We discussed the entire system in detail and were of the opinion that all the deserved should be given an equal chance,” said Brar.

“This system is foolproof as the eligible officers get an equal chance to get a plum postings as GRPs or SHOs without approaching the senior officers or politicians. Though I was not lucky in this draw, but I wish luck to the incumbent as there was no sifarish used to bag the post,” said a candidate.

The selected candidates would be posted as SHOs, ASIs and munshis in the GRP police stations at Jalandhar and Amritsar. As many as eight senior and 150 junior officers benefited from the draw that was held at the GRP headquarters in Patiala. Earlier in May, instead of posting the SHO on the basis of their preferred areas and their clout in the department, a test was held at the railway headquarters in Patiala, where all the interested GRP officers were called for an examination. Those who scored highly were shortlisted for the postings.

The written test consisted of questions based on general knowledge, law, police procedure rules, situation tackling and response to different law-and-order situations. The 40 mark test was followed by an interview for inspectors and ranks below that.

“The candidates admitted in the draw of lots were the same who qualified after the written test. We will follow this for all other future postings, so that the officers concerned need not approach anyone,” he said. 

Rajpura, June 28
In a raid conducted by a team of the Health Department officials and police at a chemist shop here today, 22 boxes of injections, with each box containing 10,000 oxytoxin injections, 17,000 tablets of lomotil, 32, 000 microlit, 10,000 alprex and large amounts of parvon-spas-capsules were seized.

According to information, the raid was conducted at Jaggi Medical Hall situated in the trunk market and is run by Jagdish Kumar and Naveen Kumar.

In charge, CIA, Patiala, Sukhminder Singh said, “Drugs worth 2 to 2.5 lakh were seized. The raid was conducted after the department got several complaints that the shopkeeper was selling intoxicants.”

He said the medicines would be produced in the court tomorrow. “Jagdish is already facing three cases and Naveen, too, was booked once for selling illegal drugs,” he added.The police officials said dummy customers were sent to the shop before conducting the raid.

22 boxes of injections, with each box containing 10,000 oxytoxin injections, 17,000 tablets of lomotil, 32,000 microlit, 10,000 alprex and large amounts of parvon-spas-capsules seized