Faridkot, July 13
Counselling for admission to the MBBS seats for the academic year 2011-12 in Punjab got underway on the premises of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) at Faridkot on Wednesday. As many as 135 students from the top order of the merit from the general category were given admissions in eight medical colleges of the state. Most of the students preferred Dayanand Medical College (Ludhiana) and Government Medical College (Patiala) where no seat for the general category in the MBBS course has been left vacant.

Tension prevailed during the counselling when the university authorities asked the top order students, who came in the PMET merit, to surrender their seats allocated to them in the Central Government-run medical colleges of the country, the pre-medical entrance test of which was conducted by the CBSE at the Central level.

It may be mentioned that most of the 150 students, who were called for counselling today, had also appeared in the merit-list of the pre-medical entrance tests conducted by the CBSE and other states and their aim was to get admission in the best colleges. Therefore, they wanted to reserve their seat here but in case they failed to get admission in other better medical colleges, they wanted to secure their seats at home.

The process of counselling was disturbed for quite some time until the university authorities agreed to grant time till July 27 to surrender their other seats, if they wanted to get admissions in Punjab. They were asked to give a written undertaking in this regard by the university. The second counselling would be held on August 6, this year.

Suresh Sharma, a resident of Jalandhar got Vth position in the PMET and also got 207th rank in the Central-level test. Here, he has been given a seat in the DMC, Ludhiana. Earlier, he has secured his seat in the medical college at Jaipur in the central test but he wants to get admission in Delhi or Chandigarh, for which, he will have to wait till the second counselling of the central test to get admission.

His father Dr Sanjiv Sharma, while talking to The Tribune, said it would be 'suicidal' for his son to surrender the Jaipur seat, which means that he would lose the claim at the central level in the second counselling to get admission in the best colleges of the country.

"This is quite unfortunate and ridiculous on part of the BFUHS authorities asking the top order students to surrender their claims for getting admissions in the best colleges of the country," Dr Sharma pointed out.

Meanwhile, Dr SS Gill, Vice-chancellor of the BFUHS, while talking to The Tribune, claimed that the university had asked the students to give an undertaking to stop corruption and avoid confusions in the admissions. "It has been observed in the past that some students who secure their seats in two or more colleges get into the hands of agents and indulge in bargaining in the second and third counsellings with other students to give their seats for monetary gains," said Dr Gill.

He clarified that by giving an undertaking here to surrender a seat at the central level one does not lose the legal right to get admission but it could help a long way in stopping the corruption in the admissions.

Meanwhile, in the general category, as many as 209 MBBS seats have been left vacant in eight medical colleges of the state after the first counselling, which includes 30 seats in the Government Medical College at Amritsar, 16 seats in Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot, 51 seats in Adesh Medical College at Bathinda, 28 seats in Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Amritsar, 28 seats in the Gian Sagar Medical College at Banur and 50 seats at Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences at Jalandhar. Besides, 83 seats of general category from the management quota side in the private colleges have also been left vacant as on today.

In the SC category, 145 seats are vacant for normal admissions and 59 seats in the management quota side. In the BC category, 22 seats are vacant for normal admissions while nine seats in the management quota side. In other categories of reservations, as many as 44 seats are also lying vacant in normal as well as management quota seats. 

Abohar, July 13
The nomination papers filed by four candidates backed by the Congress for the elections of the Board of Directors for the Fazilka Central Cooperative Bank here on July 17 were rejected during scrutiny by the returning officer in the evening.

Reacting over it, Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in September last year announced that over 20,000 cooperative institutions in the state would enjoy autonomy with the amended Cooperative Societies Act in compliance of the policy defined by the Central government. However, he observed, by creating terror by deploying hundreds of cops and sealing the national highway today, the CM had murdered all democratic values.

Surprisingly, the police force had been drawn from the district headquarter even when the total number of electorates was just 127.

Asserting that nominations of the Congress loyalists have been rejected on the flimsy ground, Jakhar said the Cooperative Department officers, who acted as puppets in the hands of the ruling SAD politicians and harassed the candidates, will have to face the music after the formation of the Congress-led Government next year. On the other hand, the officers concerned asserted that they had acted as per the law.

The officials confirmed that 18 persons had filed their nomination papers for nine zones in the election of Board of Directors. The SAD loyalists were accompanied by the senior functionaries as they entered the complex to submit papers. The directors are to be elected on July 17.

Abohar, July 13
While the officials of the Transport Department assisted by the police, on Wednesday issued challans to four school vans, three private buses and three overloaded tractor-trolleys for violating the traffic rules, hundreds of vehicles continued polluting the environment using pressure horns.

None of the peter-engine fitted un-numbered vehicles was challaned even when this ‘jugad’ vehicle had been completely banned by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

The HC had directed the Punjab Pollution Board as well the Deputy Commissioners all over the state to take strong measures to check the rising level of noise pollution.

But no visible steps have so far been taken in the sub-division in this connection; regret the Consumer Movement, Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat and some other NGOs.

Rickshaws fitted with loudspeakers keep moving through the city streets almost daily, religious places have fixed loudspeakers on the top of the roof causing noise pollution beginning in the wee hours.

Inquiries indicated that the users had seldom sought permission from the local administration. This results in financial loss to the exchequer also.

It was made mandatory to switch off the sound system while passing near the schools and hospitals but the rule was seldom followed.

The DJ system continued to be used at marriage palaces and night jagrans even after 10 pm, violating the rules notified by the district administration.

The NGOs said the pressure horns had been fitted on most of the private buses that were owned by ruling politicians besides the Punjab and Pepsu Roadways.

There was no dearth of the vehicles equipped with the alarming horns which were meant for the police and ambulances only.

Bathinda, July 13
The fate of five of the 14 BJP chairpersons of improvement trusts in Punjab is uncertain as a committee headed by a veteran Balramji Dass Tandon is understood to have substantiated complaints against them of "misconduct" with common people as well as the party activists of their respective areas.

The Tandon committee is learnt to have yesterday submitted its report to the state BJP leadership.

Keeping in view the coming Assembly elections in the state, the committee is also taking stock of the functioning of the municipal corporations and the boards and corporations headed by BJP nominees.

The two-year term of all the 14 BJP chairpersons of the improvement trusts expired on June 30 and the party leadership was in a dilemma on the issue of recommending another term for all of them or replacing the five against whom complaints had been pouring in from time to time.

The issue was reportedly discussed at a meeting of the core committee of the party this afternoon and it was decided to keep the case of the five chairpersons of Bathinda, Sangrur, Batala, Nabha and Phagwara pending. The matter might now be discussed with Shanta Kumar, who is looking after the BJP affairs in Punjab.

There are a total number of 29 posts of chairpersons of improvement trusts in the state that are shared by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP. Out of these, as many as 15 are headed by members of the SAD.

When contacted over the telephone, Tandon refused to give details of the report but confirmed that it has been submitted to the state leadership.

Of the disputed bodies, Ashok Bharti, Inu Singla and Bhupesh Aggarwal are the chairpersons of the improvement trusts of Bathinda, Sangrur and Nabha, respectively.

Sources said the BJP activists had from time to time made serious complaints against the five chairpersons. However, the Tandon committee confined its enquiry to the technicalities, functioning and public dealing of these chairpersons.

The Tandon committee has also been assigned the task of reviewing the functioning of the municipal corporations that have the party functionaries as mayors and also those in which its activists were senior deputy mayors and deputy mayors.

The committee had yesterday summoned its two mayors of Amritsar and Jalandhar and senior deputy mayors of the municipal corporations of Bathinda, Ludhiana and Patiala to review their functioning and also understand the problems they were facing vis-à-vis the SAD.

Sources said the committee was also compiling a report on the functioning of the 10 BJP chairpersons of various boards and corporations of the Punjab Government.

They were also summoned yesterday and the committee took stock of their achievements and the future plans to benefit the common people.

Ferozepur, July 13
The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has succeeded in building a peoples' movement to oppose the death sentence awarded to Devinder Singh Bhullar by the court for his alleged involvement in terrorisms related act.

While disclosing this here today, Avtar Singh Makkar, president, SGPC, said the beginning, which was made by the SGPC to save Bhullar's life, has now acquired a dimension of a big peoples movement and they have started hoping that Bhullar would not be hanged to death.

“The people and different organisations based in India and foreign nations have been coming forward to extend support to the SGPC in his mission, ” claimed Makkar. He added that the death sentence to Bhullar was against the law of the land.

Makkar inaugurated the Gurmat Training Institute in the town today.

To another question, he said the SGPC would not spend money for organising the political rallies of the SAD (B). The SGPC was indulging in activities like spreading of Sikh religion, campaign against drug addiction and spread of education.

"A section of so-called Sikh leaders, who were frustrated over the SGPC's performance for the Sikh Panth and society, were trying to defame its functionaries and the organisation as well. The people have come to know about their intentions and hence stopped taking notice of their malicious campaign," he said.

Makkar said about 13 institutes had been opened in different parts of the country by the SGPC for training the Sikh youth in various aspects of the Sikh religion.

A sizeable section of students of such training institutes were being given monthly scholarship. The local institute had been built at a cost of Rs two crores.

He said the university set up at Fathegarh Sahib by the SGPC would be inaugurated by CM Parkash Singh Badal shortly. 

Bathinda, July 13
It may sound strange but it is true that the Bathinda district health authorities have not received supply of anti-rabies vaccine from the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) during the past more than one and a half years to treat the dog-bite cases in its 12 hospitals and community health centres (CHCs).

Last time, 2000 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine were received by the office of the deputy medical commissioner (DMC), Bathinda, on May 1, 2009 for distributing the same in the hospitals and CHCs of this district. These vials were distributed till August 11, 2009.

According to information available, 500 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine were issued to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, while 300 vials were given to the Women and Children Hospital, Bathinda. Besides, 300 vials and 200 vials were given to the Talwandi Sabo and Rampura sub-division hospitals, respectively. As many as 150 vials were issued to the Goniana CHC and 100 vials each to the Sangat, Bhagta, Nathana and Raman CHCs. The Maur, Mehraj and Bhucho CHCs got 50 vials each.

The stock of vials given to the hospitals and the CHCs reportedly exhausted in three to four months. Since then, these government health units have not received any supply of the anti-rabies vaccine. Resultantly, the patients (dog-bite cases) have been buying the vaccine from the market. Every dog-bite case is administered three to five injections of the vaccine.

According to sources, the price of a vial of the anti-rabies vaccine in the market ranges between Rs 275 and Rs 330, which is almost out of reach of a poor person, especially those belonging to below poverty line (BPL) families. The vaccine is otherwise provided free of cost to the BPL families and the government employees. In other cases, the vaccine is provided to the patients at a cost of Rs 100 per dose.

It is learnt that recently, the PHSC has placed an order to a Hyderabad-based firm to supply thousands of vials of the anti-rabies vaccine to the PHSC’s hospitals and CHCs in the state. The supply is yet to be received.

Bathinda, July 13
A domestic help reportedly died while working at the residence of a government official in the Model Town area here today. At present, the official is posted at Ferozepur.

The wailing relatives of the deceased, Seema (27), alleged that she had died of electrocution while cleaning the floor at the residence of the official.

When contacted, SHO of Civil Lines police station Jaspal Singh said the police had initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. He said it could not be immediately known whether she died of electrocution or heart attack.

The post-mortem examination of the body of the deceased was conducted by Dr Parminder Bansal and Dr Dheera Gupta. Dr Bansal said that they had sent the viscera of the deceased for examination to the Pathology Laboratory, Medical College, Faridkot, and the Chemical Examiner, Kharar.

The cause of death could only be ascertained after the receipt of the report of viscera examination, he added.

Bathinda, July 13
The Army chief General VK Singh today called upon officers to be always prepared to take on any operational responsibility that they may be asked to perform.

Accompanied by Lt-General SK Singh, GOC-in-C of the South-Western command, the Army chief visited the Bathinda military station this morning. He was briefed about the operational preparedness and training of troops and also infrastructure developments by Lt-General Sanjay Chachra, commander of the Chetak Corps.

Addressing officers of the Chetak Corps, the Army chief expressed confidence in their operational preparedness. He also stressed upon creation of a congenial atmosphere for overall growth in the Army.

Singh’s wife, Bharti Singh, who is the president of the Central Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), inaugurated the Chetak Empowerment Centre established for the families and “Veer Naris”of Bathinda.

Chandigarh, July 13
The ban on export of cotton could cost the farmers dear. With cotton stocks from last year piling up in the domestic market and a bumper cotton crop expected this year, the farmers are unlikely to get a good price for their cotton produce.

It is learnt that 80 lakh bales of cotton are lying unsold with various traders, textile mills and the Cotton Commission of India (CCI).

Of these, 50 lakh bales are lying with private traders/ textile mill owners in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In Punjab, these private entities have stocks worth 50,000 bales, while the CCI has stocks of approximately 3 lakh bales.

With private entities carrying forward their cotton stocks from last year, it is unlikely that they will enter the market and purchase huge quantities of fresh produce.

The increased area under cotton cultivation this year has ensured that cotton production will be higher than last year’s.

“In Punjab, the area under cotton cultivation has increased by 60,000 hectares this year. This is because the cotton farmers got very high returns for their produce last year.

“The prices went up to Rs 7,000 per quintal (for narma), which has encouraged more farmers to shift from paddy to cotton. But unless the old stocks are used or exported, there will be few takers for this year’s produce. As a result, the farmers are unlikely to fetch prices higher than the minimum support price of Rs 3,100 per quintal,” said Bhagwan Bansal, president, Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners Association.

It is learnt that cotton prices in the international market have come down from 220 cents per candy of cotton last year, to 115 cents per candy. “Still the global prices are higher than the price in the domestic market. If the government were to allow exports, it could change the whole dynamics of the cotton trade and farmers could get a price of Rs 4,200 per quintal,” Bansal said.

Leaving aside the 2.30 crore bales consumed domestically, the remaining surplus should be brought under the open general licence and exports allowed, Bansal said, pointing out that though the extensive use of Bt cotton seed had improved cotton productivity, the Punjab Government should ensure more mechanisation in cotton farming so that labour pangs did not hamper production.

80 lakh bales of cotton are lying unsold with various traders, textile mills and the Cotton Commission of India

In Punjab, private entities have stocks worth 50,000 bales while the CCI has stocks of approximately 3 lakh bales

Cotton prices in the international market have come down from 220 cents per candy of cotton last year to 115 cents per candy

In Punjab, the area under cotton cultivation this year 
has increased by 60,000 hectares as cotton growers had received handsome returns last year

Bathinda, July 13
An anonymous caller today made several "objectionable and threatening" phone calls from a mobile phone on the landline phone of the office of the Civil Surgeon here and on the mobile of the assistant civil surgeon.

Maninderjit Kaur, a steno at the Civil Surgeon's office, said that while calling on their landline phone, the caller alleged that the entire health staff as corrupt. She said the caller called up about 10 times and also alleged that the health officials did not do the work of the people unless they (people) greased their palms. She said the caller even threatened the staff.

Assistant civil surgeon Dr Sat Pal said the caller also threatened him twice on his mobile phone. He said he could not understand the purpose behind making such phone calls to him and at the office of the Civil Surgeon.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said they had brought the incident into the notice of SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill. He said on the advice of the SSP, they had also informed the SHO of the Civil Lines police station to trace the caller. The number from which the caller had called him had been informed to the cops, he said.

When contacted, the SHO Jaspal Singh said they had sent the mobile phone number to the Cyber Cell of the Punjab Police at Mohali to locate the location and whereabouts of the caller.

He said the police would get the report from Mohali in two-three days, following which necessary action would be taken.