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Service lane of GT Road turns parking lot, dumping ground
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SMO’s son tests +ve for dengue fever
Parho punjab
DRDA employees up in arms
52 ITI students recruited during campus placement
Eye surgery camp on Nov 26
Boy killed in road mishap
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Power dept upgrades systems
Bathinda, November 24 The executive engineer, Punjab Power State Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Hardeep Singh said winters were the best time to carry out all kind of repairs and maintenance works so that people do not feel the heat of exercise. “In winters, imposition of longer cuts also does not trouble people,” he said. Studying the demand of different areas and problems encountered during the last summers, various pockets in the city have been identified where immediate technology upgradation or installation of new transformers was to be done. Last summer, the department had to impose cuts to shed some power load off overloaded transformers. Around 100 new transformers are being installed in the city. Areas of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, Balla Ram Nagar, Kamla Nehru Colony and Model Town Phase-II, which have been facing problem of frequent tripping or overloading in summers, would get relief soon. Apart from transformers, around 200 km of old conductor wire in the city would be removed and replaced with superior wires. These changes would not only be brought in the main lines but also in the low-tension wires used in the city. Under the zero-tolerance policy towards power theft, the department is also shifting out 31,000 electricity meters installed inside the houses. The power department had initiated a drive to ensure that all electricity meters were installed outside the houses of consumers so as to check power theft. As many as 75,000 electricity meters have been installed in Bathinda city, of which 44,000 have already been shifted out. The meters would be moved out and installed on poles in a batch of four or 20 depending upon the space available. In areas like Hazura Kapura, Vishal Nagar, localities trans-railway lines like Paras Ram Nagar, the meters would be installed in a batch of 20 each to be placed inside specially-made boxes. By the end of February or the beginning of March, all these works would be completed. Besides moving the electricity meters outside, the old mechanical meters would be replaced with electronic meters. “The electronic meters retain the record of power consumption for 70 days. Even if someone tries to tamper with these meters, it would be easily detected,” Hardeep Singh said. He added that of the 31,000 meters to be shifted outside the houses, around 8,000 to 10,000 were mechanical meters.
Fact file
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Service lane of GT Road turns parking lot, dumping ground
Bathinda, November 24 Earlier, a state highway, the road was upgraded to national highway, NH-64 extension, around two years ago. Its service lane runs from near the Police Public School till Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk. The lane is full of potholes near the Civil Hospital and serves as a parking zone for the rickshaw-pullers and auto-rickshaws. A little ahead, the lane retains its parking lot character till the Vishwakarma Chowk near the Government Rajindra College. On both sides of the roads, heavy vehicles, four-wheelers and two-wheelers are parked. These vehicles belong to the visitors and workers at various commercial establishments. "The problem is because none of these establishments have their parking lots separately allotted. Consequently, when people do not find space, they park their vehicles in the service lane," said Surjit Singh, a bank employee. The stretch running along the Government Rajindra College provides sole respite. This portion of the service lane exclusively caters to the college's traffic. However, from the end of the college boundary wall till Namdev Nagar, the service lane is non-existent. "This is due to the fact that the road was laid years ago when it was not under the National Highway Authority of India," said the NHAI officials. Besides vehicles passing haphazardly, heaps of garbage and temporary encroachments mar the service lane. In the absence of a stringent policy regarding the use of service lanes, the local Municipal Corporation (BMC) has failed to check its misuse. No one's baby…
The service lanes running parallel to the GT road in the city are nobody's babies. XEN, NHAI, Ranjit Singh said ensuring a hassle-free service lane is the joint responsibility of the BMC, PWD and the NHAI. However, Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman said the road was solely the responsibility of the NHAI. "We have nothing to do with the road," he said. The XEN, PWD, Manjeet Singh was not available for comments. |
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SMO’s son tests +ve for dengue fever
Bathinda, November 24 On that day, he was one of the four persons, who had been tested positive for dengue fever from Bathinda city. The young son of the SMO Dr Satish Goyal has reportedly been suffering from fever since November 12, but he was tested positive for dengue
on November 22 when the Mac Elisa test was conducted. He is a resident of Basant Vihar locality (near Gauriya Math). When contacted, Dr Satish Goyal also confirmed that his son had been suffering from dengue, adding that he was now okay clinically and was taking meals normally. He also said that due to the dengue fever, his son’s CA examinations had been affected as he could not study properly. He said not only his son, several other dengue cases, including that of his nephew, had come to light from the area, where he is residing, during the last one month. Dr Goyal said he had treated his son at home while he had brought the boy to the hospital a couple of times for administering drip. He said it was also good that his son did not have the problem of vomiting while he was down with dengue fever. Dr Goyal said due to a fall in the temperature, during the past about 10 days, the number of dengue positive cases in the city had come down
drastically. According to official figures, the total number of dengue fever cases in the city has reached 635 this season so far while the total number of dengue cases in the district is 742. After Bathinda city, the maximum number of cases have been reported this season from Talwandi Sabo block (53 cases), followed by Goniana (21), Sangat (13), Nathana (9), Bhagta (6) and Ballianwali (5). Of the total 742 cases, 548 cases have been reported to the district health authorities by the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, 167 by the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, and 23 by the DMC Hospital,
Ludhiana. |
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Over 20,000 vehicles add to traffic chaos each year
Bathinda, November 24 Apart from private vehicles, the number of commercial vehicles too has jumped up in view of hectic construction activity in and around the city as well as due to setting up of Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Phulokhari village. In the past two years, over 40,000 vehicles have been registered with the District Transport Office (DTO). These include 1,537 commercial vehicles which were registered in the just nine months i.e. between February and October 2011. City traffic officials admit that traffic goes beyond their control on many busy roads where vehicles remain parked in an unorganised manner. The employees of the DTO said registration of commercial vehicles started rising ever since the construction of the Bathinda refinery began. District Transport Officer Bhupinder Singh said the registration numbers of vehicles are issued in alphabetic series and 9,999 vehicles are registered under one series. Officials at the DTO said last year, it took nine months to complete a series of registration numbers, but now it takes less than five-and-a-half months. Joginder Singh, an instructor of Guru Nanak Dev driving school near Bus Stand, said the number of vehicles was on the rise but the roads, parking area and the number of traffic policemen remain the same. "The number of people learning driving has increased considerably and so has the number of driving schools in the city," said Surinder, another driving instructor. He said there was a dearth of space to teach driving, as hardly any road in the city was sans traffic these days. Jagmel Singh, owner of an auto rickshaw, said, "An auto costs around Rs 2 lakh and one could easily earn between Rs 200 and Rs 400 a day after deducting the cost of fuel." He added that number of autos in the district was increasing. One of the reasons for the same could be unavailability of jobs. Fact file
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Parho punjab
Bathinda, November 24 “That remained a problematic zone not only for the teachers but students as well. It had practical problems. It was found that while some teachers just rushed through the exercise, students could not keep up with the pace. In order to overcome this, we have been directed to ask flat multiplication tables,” said one of the primary school teachers. Students of classes II and III would be told to recite tables from 2 to 5, while that of classes IV and V would recite tables from 15 to 20. Last time, the students of Class I were asked questions related to addition and subtraction up to two digits, which has now been brought down to single digit. Similarly, earlier those children, who answered questions on division correctly, were not assessed for multiplication. “But this time it will be checked to assess their competency. Those children, who cannot solve both the problems, will be kept at the multiplication level. They would be taken to the next level of mathematics only when the multiplication concept is clear,” added another teacher. District coordinator for the Parho Punjab, Harpal Singh, said the change had also been introduced in assessing students’ command of English language. “More emphasis is being laid on conversational English. The department has given teachers conversation manual that includes more questions pertaining to the day-to-day happenings in the life of a child. These are presented in a set of 30 questions with semester-wise demarcation,” he said. Also, this is the first time that students would be evaluated for Hindi language owing to introduction of the subject this semester. The district coordinators were informed of the changes during a meeting held at Chandigarh on November 9. Later, they were issued a set of instructions on November 11 in order to avoid commotion and clear the changes introduced. The districts have been directed to complete the evaluation from November 14 to 30 and submit their respective reports by December 1. However, the exercise in Bathinda district may take longer as it has a large number of students.
Fact file
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DRDA employees up in arms
Bathinda, November 24 National president of the association Sadhu Ram Kusla said today that over 18,000 employees, working in 627 DRDAs of the country, would go on mass casual leave to stage a dharna at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on December 19. He said a notice in this regard had also been sent to the Prime Minister, Union Minister for Rural Development and the Planning Commission of India. Kusla said if the Government of India implemented its move, then thousands of employees would face problems in getting their salaries and other financial benefits as after the merger, the DRDAs would be given some percentage of the SGSY grant for making payments of the salaries and other benefits to the staff, which would be insufficient. He said the merger process would be completed by March 31, thus the DRDAs would be wound up from April 1, 2012. He said the Union Ministry for Rural Development had invited the association leaders on October 4 at New Delhi for talks, where it had been agreed that before implementing the recommendations of the V. Ramachandran Committee, the DRDA employees would be merged by making a separate wing in the Panchayati Raj institutions, and the DRDA Administration Scheme would not be wound up. But this assurance had not been implemented so far by the Centre, he added. He said the employees, working in the DRDAs, had been recruited as per the recommendations and instructions of the Rural Development Ministry, and they had been working in the DRDAs for the over 35 years. If the government implemented its proposal, then the security of jobs of the DRDA employees would be in danger, he added.
Protest proposed
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‘Binding faith in Constitution only hope for today’s India’
Bathinda, November 24 He was at the Central University of Punjab (CUP), Bathinda to deliver lecture on the Constitution Day. The lecture was organised to commemorate adoption of Constitution of Independent India in 1949. Prof. Mool Chand Sharma is known for his eminence in constitutional jurisprudence and human rights, has been associated with the top educational institutes of the country as Secretary, UGC and Director, National Law University, Bhopal. Quoting various scholars and data from different sources, Dr. Sharma appreciated the success of constitutional democracy in India, while in most of its neighboring countries experiment with democracy has not been successful. He, however, highlighted the fact that economic and social disparity between different sections of Indian society is a dangerous sign for the future of democracy. “At one side we have obese children who are result of consumerism being promoted at break neck speed and on the other hand we have children dying of malnutrition,” he said highlighting the disparity. Prof Sharma also highlighted changed global scenario saying that the multinational corporations and economic interests are compromising with economic and political autonomy of every nation. He expressed need for a more equalitarian and just economic and political order. Vice chancellor, Central University of Punjab Bathinda Prof Jai Rup Singh said that the varsity had been conducting seminars and extension lectures by inviting
scholars and intellectuals of great repute to its campus. This lecture is a part of that series. He welcomed Prof Mool Chand Sharma. Dean of the Centre for Environmental Law Prof Paramjit Singh Ramana introduced the speaker and Dean Academic Affairs Prof P Rama Rao proposed the vote of thanks. Scholar speaks
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Anganwari workers, helpers honoured
Bathinda, November 24 These workers and helpers were also given certificates in recognition of their services, rendered towards the union. Besides, Hargobind Kaur was also honoured by the union for her services towards the union and her role in getting the monthly honorarium of Rs 800 for the Anganwari workers and Rs 400 per month for the Anganwari helpers enhanced by the state government. On the occasion, Hargobind Kaur said that enhancement of Rs 800 and Rs 400 for the Anganwari worker and helper respectively was the big victory of the union. However, he announced that despite this victory the union would not sit idle and would continue its struggle for the regularisation of their services. She said one of their main demands is granting of pay scales to them. She also said that for the past 35 years the Anganwari workers and helpers had been working on a meager honorarium while the government was taking hard work from them. She announced that about two lakh workers and helpers across the country would continue their agitation till the acceptance of their demands by the government. Other leaders of the union gave assurance to the president of the union that they would extend their support at all levels to her for getting their demands fulfilled. They also said that they would also not hesitate from making any type of sacrifice for achieving
their goal. Among others who were present or addressed the function included senior vice president of the union Chhinder Pal Kaur, district president Mohinder Kaur Bhagta, a state committee member Harmeet Kaur Chak Ruldu Singh Wala, Sarbjit Kaur Mehraj, Jaswinder Kaur Talwandi, Jasbir Kaur Bathinda, Veer Pal Kaur and Kirpal Kaur
Rampura. Recognition to the service
About 30 Anganwari workers and helpers from Bathinda district, who had spent time in the jails for different periods during the agitations by the All Punjab Anganwari Mulazam Union in the past, were honoured by the president of the union Hargobind Kaur |
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52 ITI students recruited during campus placement
Bathinda, November 24 In a press statement issued here today, the principal, ITI, Balbir Singh said that the department’s officer Huzaifa Hussain and the assistant general manager G. Bahskar Gupta from Maruti Suzuki, selected 30 students from the fitter, turner, machinist, motor mechanic, tractor mechanic, diesel mechanic and welder categories respectively, from the institute. Similarly, Digambar Joshi from the human resources and production department of the Hero Group, Haridwar, chose 22 students from these trades.
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Eye surgery camp on Nov 26
Bathinda, November 24 The executive manager of the PACL India Limited Avtar Singh Samadh Bhai will be the chief guest on the occasion. Secretary of the club Suresh Bansal said at this camp, a team of doctors, after the examination of the eyes of the patients recommend the needy one for operations. He said the patients would also be given medicines free of cost. |
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Boy killed in road mishap
Bathinda, November 24 The driver of the jeep could not be identified. After the mishap, the boy was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. A case in this regard has been registered under sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC against the unidentified driver. The police has started investigation, however, no arrest has been made so far. Car stolen
A Swift Dzire was stolen from the old industrial area near the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) on Monday. In his complaint to the police, Vishal Singla of Maulviya Nagar, Bathinda, said that his car was worth Rs 5.5 lakhs. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered in this regard at the Cantonment police station. Motorbike stolen
A motorbike was stolen from Ramsara Gate of the refinery on Monday. In his complaint to the police, Sandeep Singh of Bangi Nihal Singh Wala said that the bike was worth Rs 25,000. A case under section 379 of the IPC has been registered at the Rama police station. One held for gambling
A resident of the Amarpura Basti in Bathinda has been arrested for gambling. The police also recovered Rs 750 from his possession. A case under Sections 13-A, 3, and 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused, Karan Singh, who was later granted bail. |
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