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President to honour 5 teachers today
Illness fails to dampen her teaching zeal |
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Eye on Sehajdhari votes, Capt pokes Sukhbir
‘Operation High Court’ a Capt stunt: Dy CM
High returns lure rice growers to
PUSA 1121
Web surfing made easier for those alien to English
EC urged to take action over paid news
Buses enter, cops exit Gobindpura
38 months on, Rakhra Sugar Mill staff yet to get salaries
Govt fails to get response from pvt sector
Misuse of Funds
Teachers criticise promotion policy
Asst prof suspended for ‘sending’ lewd messages to student
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President to honour 5 teachers today
President Pratibha Patil will give the awards to them tomorrow as part of Teacher’s Day celebration in Delhi. The Punjab Education Department, in a meeting held on March 28 this year, had recommended the name of these teachers for the award. However, no name was recommended for special award. Shaffi Mohammad Mungo’s name has been chosen from the elementary teachers’ category. Mungo is posted at the Government Elementary School, Ladha Heri, near Nabha. Kamajit Kaur is posted at Shaheed-e-Azam Sukhdev Thapar Government Girl Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, and Simrat Kaur is posted at Government Senior Secondary School, Harchowal (Gurdaspur). Ravinder Randhawa is posted at Govt Senior Secondary, Jagdev Kala, Amritsar, and Kailash is posted at Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar. Besides certificate of the merit, these teachers will get Rs 25,000 and a silver medal each.
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Illness fails to dampen her teaching zeal
Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 4 From fighting cancer and poverty to performing her father’s last rites and being the sole bread-earner for her family, Jatinder’s story speaks volumes about her grit, determination and self-belief. Suffering from breast cancer, she is an alumnus of Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib. She has always carried a fighting spirit towards life. “I became a teacher by choice and not by incident. Teaching was always my cup of tea and I used to dream of becoming a guru since my childhood,” says the Sirhind resident who wants to dedicate her life to her students. “I was diagnosed with breast cancer and the doctors told me to go in for injections that cost Rs 1 lakh per dose. As it was unaffordable, I shifted to homoeopathic treatment as I had to save money to marry my two younger sisters,” she recalls. “I still remember when I used to go for treatment and later rush to school to teach my students despite pain. There was never a moment when I felt pain inside my classroom, as once amongst my students, the pain vanished,” says the science teacher. Though her disease came as a shocker, Jatinder recalls how encouraging words of her school vice-principal Manvinder Kaur lifted her spirits to fight the disease. “Manvinder’s words were really helpful for me and whenever I was felt low due to my treatment and pain, she supported me immensely,” Jatinder Kaur told The Tribune. “Now that my two sisters are married, I do not fear death and can concentrate solely on my students.” In August, her father, who was a retired Punjab State Electricity Board employee, died and Jatinder stood up like a true family head, performing the last rites and even carrying her father’s corpse to the cremation ground on her shoulder. “I have been like a son to my family and instead of shedding tears, I have been taught by my teachers to fight situations,” says Kaur, who has lost her hair due to her treatment. Despite her woes, Jatinder has refused any kind of grant or help from anyone and says that she wants to live with her head held high. “I know that without proper treatment, I would not live long, but I cannot beg from anyone for financial support and would continue teaching students till my last breath as now all my family responsibilities are over,” she says.
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CM calls Barnala Congress agent
Jalandhar, September 4 “What does he have to offer to the Panth after remaining out of the political scene for more than a decade,” he asked. “Who is he to talk about corruption? The fact is that the SAD made him a Governor only once. Thereafter, he has hobnobbed with the Congress and others to seek gubernatorial assignments,” he pointed out. Earlier, Badal went to former SGPC member Ranjit Singh Daroli Kalan’s house. The latter was helping the Panthic Morcha candidate. After a discussion, Ranjit Singh announced that his grievances being redressed, he would now canvass for official candidates Paramjit Singh Raipur and Devinder Kaur Kalra. Not mincing words, the usually affable CM, addressing a rally at Mehatpur, warned that detractors would have to go, no matter what their contribution to the party in the past. He talked of the nefarious designs of the Centre in trying to subvert the election process by raising the Sehajdhari and Anand Karaj row issues at this juncture. He expelled Mehatpur circle incharge DS Kahlon for working against the official candidate and senior SAD leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala. Also shown the door was Dunger Singh, brother- in- law of sitting Nurmahal MLA Rajwinder Kaur. Sources said Badal was irked at the absence of Revenue Minister Ajit Singh Kohar from the meeting. An infuriated CM is said to have called up Kohar to express his displeasure. He is said to have directed him to work “selflessly” for Wadala’s victory, reminding Kohar of Wadala’s sacrifices for the party. Kohar is president of the rural unit of the party besides being the election incharge for the Jalandhar constituency. Wadala has all along maintained that he was defeated in the last assembly poll by insiders, an oblique reference to
Kohar.
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Eye on Sehajdhari votes, Capt pokes
Sukhbir
Chandigarh, September 4 He said he was proud to stand up for the rights of the Sehajdharis who were “more Sikhs than the Badals.” The issue of denial of voting rights to the Sehajdharis in the SGPC poll is obviously being used by the Congress to create a wedge in the Sikh votes in the coming assembly elections. The Congress is hoping it will have the Sehajdharis on its side in the coming assembly elections. With the Panthic Morcha seen inclined towards the Congress, the party hopes to get a section of votes of Keshadharis and most of the votes of Sehajdharis. Sukhbir Badal has already said that the term Sehajdhari does not exist in Sikhism, their being only Keshadhari and ‘patit’ Sikhs. The SAD is focusing on the Keshadhari Sikhs, whose votes count in the SGPC elections. The Deputy CM has accused Amarinder of “being behind the attempts to get the SGPC elections postponed.” By claiming Amarinder is taking active part in the SGPC elections, the SAD can later claim a victory over Amarinder if it wins the elections convincingly. Seeing through this game, Amarinder has claimed said the SGPC poll is no barometer for SAD’s popularity. He has challenged the SAD’s right to represent the Sikhs in the apex body while “denying” more that half of the Sikh voters the right to franchise.
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PPP chief Manpreet backs Sehajdharis too
Amritsar: Former Finance Minister and PPP supremo Manpreet Badal today advocated voting rights for the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC elections.Addressing a press conference at the party office here today, Manpreet said: “The Sehajdharis also believe in the Sikh religion and should be given the right to exercise franchise in the SGPC elections.”
On the possibility of forging an alliance with the SAD (Longowal), he said no one from the party had approached them till now. He clarified that an alliance with the Left parties was on the cards and deliberations were on over a common minimum programme (CMP) for the coming assembly elections. He said the picture would become clear within a fortnight. On the CM’s statement that the SGPC elections were like a “semi-final”, Manpreet said his party was against participating in the SGPC elections as it was a religious body and the sanctity of the body could only be maintained if political parties did not meddle in the day-to-day affairs of the religious body. The PPP president claimed that the coming assembly elections would throw up surprising results as the people were fed up with corruption. He said the common man had to make numerous rounds of government offices to get work done and no file moved unless the “palms of officials were greased”. Later, addressing a rally, Manpreet said Punjab needed a strong government and he was trying to acquaint himself with the problems faced by the people in the state.
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‘Operation High Court’ a Capt stunt: Dy CM
Chandigarh, September 4 Sukhbir, in a statement here, asked PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh to get a CBI or judicial inquiry ordered by his party's government at the Centre to prove his sincerity on claims about his non-involvement in the “drama” in the Punjab and Haryana High Court over the SGPC elections. The SAD president scoffed at Amarinder's “self-contradictory” claims on having no interest or stakes in the SGPC poll outcome. He said the Congress leader must explain to the Sikh masses why he was so hell-bent on siding with the Panthic Morcha if he had no interest or stakes in the SGPC polls. About who was really the force behind the High Court conspiracy, Sukhbir said: "Does Amarinder really want everyone to believe that his personal favourite and former Advocate General Harbhagwan Singh was acting on our instructions? And will the man who likes to be addressed as a Maharaja explain his sudden fondness for the Sehajdharis right in the thick of the SGPC poll campaign. If he is not interested in the SGPC poll or has no stakes in its outcome, then why is he losing his sleep on the subject and issuing hourly statements on the Sehajdhari issue.” Sukhbir said Amarinder was even contradicting his own party high command's claims that the Congress was a “secular” party and would stay clear of all religious issues. Meanwhile, Amarinder said it was strange that the Chief Minister and the Deputy CM first wanted a CBI inquiry into the Sehajdhari voting issue and when he endorsed their demand, they were asking him to use his influence for getting a judicial probe done. He said he would welcome a judicial probe provided it probed his role as well as that of the CM and Deputy CM.
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High returns lure rice growers to
PUSA 1121
Chandigarh, September 4 The area under PUSA 1121 has risen sharply this year. In Punjab, the area under basmati cultivation (all varieties) has increased by over 50,000 hectares. In Haryana, the area under PUSA 1121 alone has increased by 50,000 hectares. Officials in the Punjab Agriculture Department said over 6 lakh hectares area is under basmati cultivation (of the total 27.5 lakh hectares under paddy cultivation). BS Sidhu, director, Agriculture, said though they had not calculated the area under PUSA 1121, field reports suggested that more than 50 per cent area under basmati constituted the PUSA 1121 variety. “Because of a higher yield and good market price, more and more farmers are shifting to PUSA 1121 ,” he said. In Haryana, the area under basmati varieties has increased from 7 lakh hectares to 7.5 lakh hectares this year. BS Duggal, Assistant Director, Agriculture, said this increase was mainly because of an increase in the area under PUSA 1121. “Since this variety yields almost double than that of traditional basmati varieties like CSR 30 and HBC 19, more and more farmers are opting for it. This year, inspite of a somewhat deficient rainfall (rainfall is 24 per cent deficient in Haryana), the crop condition is very good and basmati growers are looking forward to good returns,” he added. Last year, PUSA 1121 fetched an average of Rs 2500 per quintal in the open market. The better quality produce of this variety fetched as high as Rs 3500 per quintal. In the export market, this variety fetched $ 1051 per tonne in 2010-11, and is now fetching $ 1115 per
tonne.
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Web surfing made easier for those alien to English
Bathinda, September 4 The website, www.atoall.com, is developed by a Bathinda-based company, the Atoall Cyber Research Company Limited. “One can read all the information related to web, science, mathematics, history, entertainment, jobs, news, health, computer and agriculture, besides general information about any language,” said director of the company Sanjeev Kumar. He informed that one had to go to the address bar and press twice any three keys placed diagonally on the keyboard. Then, press the control and the enter keys together i.e. 55ttgg and then control+enter. Following this, a new page would be opened and one could select the language one was familiar with, he added. It took three years for his company to prepare the website and still there were lot of changes yet to be made to meet the requirements of the users, he said. “Efforts are being made to popularise this website among school children, especially students of government schools in rural areas,” Sanjeev said, adding that his company was trying to take up the matter with the Education Minister, the Punjab Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister. He said the website was launched in 2007 and since then, it was being upgraded. Efforts were being made to add more words of every language, he added.
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EC urged to take action over paid news
Chandigarh, September 4 A written complaint in this regard was filed by the SAD Secretary Dr DS Cheema to the ECI today. Dr Cheema said this unethical move of issuing misleading advertisements in the form of paid news, along with photo of a social activist Anna Hazare, would also embarrass Team Anna, who were advocating electoral reforms. — TNS
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Buses enter, cops exit Gobindpura
Gobindpura, September 4 Due to farmers' agitation around a month ago, the police was deployed in strength in the village and the bus service was suspended. Farmers had been agitating against the acquisition of agricultural land to set up a thermal power plant in the private sector. The police had laid nakas at nearby Sirsiwala road, Dharampura road, Jalvehra road and Phulowala road. Cops in large numbers had been camping in the temporary camps near these nakas in the light of the agitation by farmers. Now, only a handful of policemen are deployed in and around the village. Mansa SSP SPS Parmar said nearly 50 per cent of the police strength around the village had been withdrawn. Villagers said the two buses were pressed into service to ferry cops from one naka to another a few days after the agitation began. “While the police engaged the two buses to ferry cops, villagers had to walk at least five km to board a bus to reach nearby villages or towns,” said Gurmeet Singh Moni, a villager. He said schoolchildren and elderly were at the receiving end, who failed to come out of the village due to heavy police force and lack of transportation facility. Even the school vans were not allowed to enter the village. Villagers said the two buses take passengers from Gobindpura village to nearby Bareta and Budhladha towns after every two hours between 9 am and 6 pm.
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38 months on, Rakhra Sugar Mill staff yet to get salaries
Patiala, September 4 With government paying no attention towards the numerous requests made by the employees of the mill, the employees are not able to provide three meals a day to their family members. On account of acute financial crisis, the families of these employees are passing through extreme difficulties but no one in the state government seems to be bothered. "Unable to cope with the financial stress due to non-disbursal of salary, Harbhajan Singh, one of the employees of the mill had allegedly committed suicide in January this year. The situation is becoming worse with every passing day", said Balwant Singh, secretary-general of the Cooperative Sugar Mills Employees Action Committee, Rakhra (Patiala). Accusing the government functionaries of adopting irresponsible attitude, he said, "The treatment being meted out to the employees of the Rakhra Sugar Mill by the state government is inhuman and highly condemnable." As per the information, there are about 192 employees of the Rakhra Sugar Mill that includes the clerical staff, supervisors, skilled and unskilled labourers. Besides other allegations, the employees claimed that the mill was lying defunct since past seven years and so far the government has not taken any step to revive it. "Prices of essential commodities, particularly foodstuff, are skyrocketing, medical treatment is getting expensive and hefty fee is required to provide quality education to the children. It is really unfortunate that despite all these issues, the government has turned deaf ears towards our demand of disbursing the salary", said Gurbir Singh, Yadwinder Singh and Manjit Singh - all mill employees. Another mill employee, Jagtar Singh Sandhu said a delegation of the mill employees had requested Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to accommodate them under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). "But the response of Badal was that the government can give them VRS only after arranging the required funds, once the Jagraon and Budhlada Sugar Mills are sold off", he rued, while urging the human rights activists to help the affected employees in getting their salaries released at the earliest.
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Govt fails to get response from pvt sector Sometime ago, the Punjab Cabinet had given its nod for giving the defunct sugar mills to the private sector on long-term lease and on BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis. However, the government failed to get positive response from the private sector. Proposal to accommodate the employees of the defunct Rakhra Sugar Mill, under the VRS, is yet to see the light of the day.Even the Punjab State Human Rights Commission had taken the cognisance of the matter and had sought a report from the Punjab Government about the non-disbursal of the salary of the employees but still the poor employees are running from pillar to post to get their salaries released.
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Misuse of Funds
Dera Bassi, September 4 On the basis of a report of quality control cell of the Mandi Board, a junior engineer, Malkeet Singh, was suspended, Nirmal Kumar, SDO, was chargesheeted and XEN, Nirmaljeet Singh, was issued a show-cause notice. Notably, Balwinder Singh, village sarpanch, had received an information under the RTI Act that the department had spent Rs 2 lakh on the repair of the link road. But the village panchayat had alleged that road was not repaired for the past few years. The village panchayat had written letters to the Vigilance Department, the Mandi Board and other departments concerned. The Tribune had raised this issue and the department had started action on the basis of The Tribune reports. Now, the chairman has taken action on the basis of the departmental inquiry. The chairman had asked the Director, quality control, to see the repair work of the link roads in Punjab. If any employee is found not performing his duty properly, then a departmental action would be taken against the employee concerned, he added.
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Teachers criticise promotion policy
Patiala, September 4 It is worth mentioning that as per the policy of the Punjab Government, anyone who has spent one year in any discipline after graduation, can do post graduation in any subject. Now, it so happens that masters who enter government jobs after doing their Bachelors in Science (BSc) generally do their MA in languages rather than an MSc in order to get promotion. This is the biggest bone of contention now. Language teachers allege that many of them don’t get promotions despite years of experience because these teachers get promotion on the basis of seniority, oblivious of the fact that they did not do their post graduation in their subject. Talking to The Tribune, one of the teachers, said ethically one should be a lecturer of the subject in which he did his graduation. He said, "Science masters teach science subjects for years together but once they do their MA in languages, they get promoted as language lecturers and have to teach languages of which they actually do not have any experience." "Despite the fact that I have done my MA in Punjabi and have been teaching for more than 30 years now, I have not been promoted as a lecturer yet because many science masters who are senior to me and just in order to get promotion, they did their MA in Punjabi, instead of an MSc. Interestingly, now they teach Punjabi of which they actually have no thorough knowledge nor experience," rued another Punjabi master. One of the senior functionaries of the department, when contacted, said this policy certainly needs improvement. "Teachers have time and again been objecting to these promotions, which seems just also but the government has not yet considered this demand. Actually, the problem is that the scope of MSc is limited in government schools. There are very few science students due to which posts of science lecturers are limited. Therefore, science masters prefer to do MA in language so that they could be promoted as art lecturers. Moreover, one cannot do an MSc as a private candidate and the Education Department does not give two-year leave to pursue an MSc. But I still feel that the government must frame a new policy to stop this practice," he added.
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Asst prof suspended for ‘sending’ lewd messages to student
Patiala, September 4 The girl, in her complaint to Vice Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh, had alleged that assistant professor Rajwinder Singh had sent her lewd messages. The university students had boycotted classes in support of the girl and demanded immediate suspension of the teacher. In the wake of her complaint, the VC had formed a six-member committee, including head of the MBA Department Dr Pushpinder Singh, Dean Students Welfare Dr Kulbir Dhillon, Provost Balwinder Tiwana, Head of Political Science Department Dr Jagroop Kaur, Dr Ritu Lehal and Chairperson of the Women Harassment Cell Dr Harbhajan Kaur. The VC of the university confirmed that the assistant professor had been suspended as he had been found guilty during the preliminary investigation. "Rajwinder says that he had sent the SMS to his wife which however was delivered to this girl. But they were three SMSs not just one. Therefore, he has been found guilty during initial investigation and we have suspended him," he added. He further informed that the university would form another committee on Monday for detailed investigation and once its report was submitted, suitable action would be taken within a week.
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Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 4
Chandigarh, September 4
Patiala, September 4
Chandigarh, Sept 4