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Cops gear up for traffic management on highways
SAD seeks over 4000 buses to ferry supporters
Pensioners hold protest march
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After DGP Gill, now retired constable in race for
SAD ticket
Fazilka girl dons olive cap
Arrested vet inspectors released
Ex-councillor killed in road mishap
Aggarwal community forms panel to decide Garg’s move
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Cops gear up for traffic management on highways
Moga, December 17 A senior official of the police claimed that measures have been taken for the safe journey of all those who are coming to attend the rally on the Moga-Ludhiana national highway and the daily commuters. Since the Akali Dal has hired almost all the private buses in the state to ferry people from all over the state, the daily commuters may have to adjust their journey schedule as per the timings of the Punjab Roadways and PEPSU buses. And all those who want to pass through the Moga district on their personal vehicles would have to follow the route map. Otherwise, they may get stuck in the traffic jams and face harassment. The health department has set up mobile health care units and deployed ambulances on major routes in and around the Moga district as a preventive measure. The traffic police had already started patrolling on motorcycles on the Moga-Ludhiana highway. The SAD leadership is expecting the arrival of about one lakh people tonight in the Moga district for whom all the banquet halls, hotels, gurudwaras and other public places have been reserved for a comfortable stay. The President of SAD and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who reviewed the preparations of the rally along with senior party leader Jathedar Tota Singh, today claimed that more than five lakh people are expected to attend the rally, which would add a new chapter in the history of the state. His brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia who is the President of the Youth Akali Dal, has claimed that he rally has been properly managed and would be of a different kind, which the people of Punjab have never witnessed in the past. |
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SAD seeks over 4000 buses to ferry supporters
Faridkot, December 17 The SAD (B) had directed the state transport department to arrange 4350 buses to ferry Akali party workers and supporters for the December 18 Moga rally. With plummeting temperature, the SAD (B) leadership preferred only the covered vehicles for party workers and supporters to reach Moga, unlike the tractor-trolleys and trucks as these were used earlier. Besides the low temperature, the upcoming elections are an important reason for the Akali leadership to choose a comfortable and covered journey for the party supporters. Sources in transport department revealed that the bigger districts like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, have been allotted 400 buses each. Bathinda, Ferozepur, Sangrur have been asked to provide 250 buses each, Barnala, Kapurthala, Ropar have a target of ferrying 200 fully loaded buses with workers to Moga. Gurdaspur has been asked to arrange for 300 buses. Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Taran Tarn, Mohali, Mansa, Moga, Muktsar and Nawan Shahar have a target of bringing along 150 bus-load of people to the venue of the rally to make it an impressive show. In Faridkot district, that has 164 villages, 150 buses have been allotted and every bus has an Akali supervisor to keep a tab on the number of workers in his bus. The bus operator has to be reportedly paid Rs 5 per kilometer as charges. Every Akali leader has been given a target of his supporters to reach the Moga rally. Perhaps this is the reason why some of the Akali leaders in the rural areas have already engaged daily wagers so that they di not fall short of their target. To arrange for the required buses, the transport department first of all approached various private educational institutions in the area to provide the vehicles used for the transportation of students. December 18 being a Sunday, most educational institutions have readily agreed to provide the buses. Every bus operator has already been told about the name of the village or the locality from where they have to pick up the party workers. The buses reportedly reached the villages on Saturday evening and would leave for Moga at around 8 am on Sunday. In Faridkot, out of a total of 23 buses registered with the transport department, 19 buses belong to Kushaldeep Dhillon, a PPP leader. So finding no support from Dhillon, the transport department relied on Abohar, Fazilka and Ferozepur areas to hire the passenger buses. |
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Pensioners hold protest march
Abohar, December 17 Scores of pensioners assembled at the Teachers’ Home wearing black badges. They marched in procession carrying black flags, braving the cold wind through the main roads of the town that were found partially submerged with sewage. The pensioners shouted slogans and held corner meetings on the way. Association chairperson Captain SK Dutta, former District Education Officer and president Radhey Shyam Sharma said the state had announced a few months back that their demands had been accepted but no notification has so far been issued. They demanded that the old pensioners should also be offered benefits as per the grades revised with effect from January 2006 at the national pattern. They also demanded fifty per cent concession in the bus fare. The Pensioners’ Association also submitted memorandum to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate here at his residence. |
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After DGP Gill, now retired constable in race for
SAD ticket
Moga, December 17 Aiming to make his presence felt before the senior leadership of the party in the Sunday’s rally, both Gill and Sahoke, in particular, have set up huge hoardings along the national highway leading to the rally site and on the rally venue to catch the fleeting look of senior party leadership. The constable took pre-mature retirement from the police department in 2007 after serving for 20 years and joined the SAD, eying electoral politics. He successfully contested the Moga Municipal Council elections from ward number 24 and is also a member of the local Improvement Trust. He was made the district president of the SC wing of the SAD in 2009, which has also strengthened his claim for the party nomination. Claiming to have worked hard to strengthen the ruling party in Nihalsinghwala, one of the most backward areas in the state, he said that his family has been loyal to the Akali Dal for the past three generations. Adding that his elder brother was elected sarpanch of Sahoke village on an Akali ticket for three terms and his father was also a firm supporter of the Akali Dal, Bhupinder Sahoke hope that loyalty to the party would definitely pay for him. He said that Nihalsinghwala was the citadel of Left parties, which is presently represented by independent MLA Ajit Singh Shant, but he has strengthened the roots of the SAD in the area in the past four years making his presence felt in politics. “People in every village of this constituency know me well and they support me in politics. I am bringing 10,000 people to the rally to put forth my claim for the party ticket”, the former constable claimed. |
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Fazilka girl dons olive cap
Fazilka, December 17 A student of the local Army school, Sandhya got attracted to the olive green uniform. She later graduated as a Bachelor of Technology from the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Indore. "In the university, during the final year, Army officers came to inspire the students to join the Army. This was a turning point in my life as I got the right opportunity at an appropriate time to fulfill my desire," said Sandhya. "Besides, my maternal aunt Navneet, a teacher at Central School, Bathinda, also inspired me to sit in the qualifying test," she added. Sandhya was selected after clearing the test conducted by the Services Selection Board, Bhopal, on July 3 last year. She completed her one-year training at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. She was commissioned as an officer on September 17 this year after the passing out parade. She was posted as a Lieutenant in Electronic and Mechanical Engineering at Jodhpur and got the promotion as captain on account of her technical qualifications. The daughter of Rajinder Kumar Kataria, a pharmacist and Ankur, a teacher, Sandhya loves studying the lives of great people. Kishore Chand Punchhi, her grand-father, said, "My attempt to join the Indian army in 1964 failed but I have realized my dream with my grand-daughter joining the Army." |
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Arrested vet inspectors released
Malout, December 17 Kishan Chander Mahajan, the spokesperson of the Association, said
the state governmentnot only accepted their demands, but also released their activists. On December 3, the police had arrested 138 activists of the Association, when they allegedly tried to barge into the CRM's residence at Badal village, demanding pay parity with the staff of the state health department and to get promotions, just like in other government departments. |
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Ex-councillor killed in road mishap
Abohar, December 17 Family sources said Tinna, along with his wife Baljit Kaur, daughter Gurvinder Singh, a relative Kuldeep Singh and his wife Manjit Kaur left the town for pilgrimage to Dera Beas on Saturday morning. As the car tried to overtake a heavy vehicle near village Dangarkhera, about 8 km from here on the Abohar-Fazilka road, the driver lost control over it and rammed the vehicle into a tree on the roadside. The highway emergency ambulance was informed but Avtar Singh was found dead on the spot. The others have been referred to Amritsar by the local Civil Hospital. — OC |
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Aggarwal community forms panel to decide Garg’s move Faridkot, December 17 Speaking on the occasion, Garg said though the Aggarwal community was the biggest financial donor to the political parties in Punjab, they were getting minimal political representation in the political affairs. The Aggarwal community has 16 per cent vote share in Punjab but their voice in political arena in the state is negligible. “So we have constituted a seven-member committee to take a decision about the community's political move in the ,” said Garg who was awarded the title of “Sher-e-Punjab” today. The Aggarwal community will decide its political move as per the recommendation of the seven-member committee, said Garg, who is himself facing a credibility crisis in the SAD (B) after he raised a banner of revolt last month and showed his inclination towards Manpreet Badal's PPP. It is believed that to prove this support base in the Aggarwal community, Garg is flaunting his being the president of the Sabha to get the SAD (B) ticket from the Bathinda assembly seat. |
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After former DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill openly desired to contest the assembly election on SAD ticket from the Moga constituency, now, a retired constable Bhupinder Singh Sahoke has thrown his weight for seeking the ruling partys ticket from the nearby Nihalsinghwala (reserved) constituency.
Fazilka, December 17
If you are travelling through Punjab on Sunday morning, don't get surprised by the ‘friendly cops’ and at some places even the executive magistrates standing on the roadsides to guide you with a handy route map for your journey.