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Survey for door-to-door power bill generation begins
Man gets life term for killing brother
Round-the-clock ticket counter sought at Railway colony side
3 held for loot at Civil Hospital
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Jail inmate succumbs to prolonged illness
Karnail Singh, the jail inmate, was undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital in Bathinda. A Tribune photograph
Relief from chill not to come soon
Eight file Nomination papers
Expenditure observers hold meeting with officials
Expenditure observers hold a meeting with the district officials in Bathinda on Monday.
A Tribune photograph
Voter awareness drive in slum areas of city
Conference on innovations in science & technology held
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Survey for door-to-door power bill generation begins
Bathinda, January 9 A door-to-door survey was conducted in the Model Town phase-III and Jujhar Singh Nagar areas today. However, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials said they were yet to get an official intimation about the project. “The work order for all five sub-divisions of Bathinda was passed recently. We have come to know that the company concerned has started holding a door-to-door survey of all 85,000 consumers in the city,” said XEN Hardeep Singh. It may be mentioned here that the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) had launched this facility for bigger cities like Ludhiana and Amritsar in 2009. Few months ago, it was started in nearby cities of Faridkot. Once started, the facility would enable public to take benefit of on-the-spot billing and payment collection service at their doorstep. The employees of a private company would be assigned the job of carrying out field operations that would include electricity meter reading, preparation of bills, delivery of bills to the consumers and collecting the payments in respect of domestic and non-residential consumers having a connected load up to 20 KW. Earlier too, the company had held a survey in Bathinda, but did not succeed in starting the facility. “Due to technical glitches and set of problems with the employees of the private firm, the scheme faced a lot of resistance from the department itself,” PSPCL officials said. They added that at Ludhiana, there had been problems of hand machine generating wrong bills. “If the hand machine generates one wrong bill, the error in the first bill creeps into all the other bills so generated,” added an official. Officials said all these issues were being dealt with and emphasis was being laid on ensuring that private company officials visiting the households were professionally trained. The procedure
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Service personnel visiting the consumers shall carry identity cards duly authorised by senior Xen/Deputy Superintendent,
PSPCL.
n He shall record the meter reading in the machine and prepare a bill.
n The bill will be delivered to consumers and they shall be requested to make the payment.
n The making of payment on the spot is optional on the part of the consumer. The consumer retains the right to deposit the bill by the last date of the grace period as mentioned in the bill. However, for their convenience, the consumer may make the payment to the service personnel then and there.
n Service personnel shall generate a receipt for the bill payment made and deliver a receipt to the consumer on the spot. |
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Man gets life term for killing brother
Bathinda, January 9 According to the details available, Makhan Singh, a resident Naruana village, killed his brother Gurmail Singh on April 2, 2011. Makhan was allegedly envious of the prosperity of his brother with whom he had parted ways and property two decades ago. A case against Makhan was registered on the statement of Gurmail’s daughter Sandeep Kaur. In her complaint before the court, Sandeep had stated that Makhan often used to demolish ridges of their land and often used to convert the flow of water towards his fields forcibly before his due turn. Whenever Gurmail stopped him from doing so, he used to pick a quarrel. Sandeep said on April 2, 2011, her father left home on bicycle to deliver milk to one of the villagers. Makhan followed him and fired several rounds of bullets at him from his .32 bore licensed revolver. Gurmail was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, where doctors declared him brought dead. The court today sentenced Makhan Singh to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 under Section 302 of the IPC. He was also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years under Section 27 of the Arms Act along with a fine of Rs 3,000. Both the sentences will run concurrently.
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Round-the-clock ticket counter sought at Railway colony side
Bathinda, January 9
It is said over a lakh population reside in several localities situated at the side. Seeking attention from the railways, passengers claim that they go to the city-side of the railway station by using stairs for buying tickets as counters are there. “Buying tickets turned into an ordeal for thousands of passengers everyday as first they cross all the platforms climbing stairs and using foot-over-bridge and then repeat the same exercise to reach on the platform for boarding the trains,” said passengers. Demanding 24-hour ticket booking counter at Parsaram Nagar-side, president of the Pul Banao Sangarsh Committee, Vijay Kumar said that the existing counter at the Parsaram Nagar-side was not serving the purpose. “The counter opens only for a few hours, that is insufficient for 1.25 lakh population residing in several localities in the area,” Vijay said. As per railway sources, the counter opens between 7 am and 3 pm. “The counter with its limited opening-time has been failing to cater to the need of such a huge population,” Vijay said. Moreover, Vijay also demanded that besides being a 24-hour counter, there should be the facility of reservation booking counter. It may be mentioned here that under the facility of the Jansadharan Ticket booking Sewak (JTBS), the railway has deployed a private vendor for issuing ticket at the Partap Nagar. Echoing similar sentiments, Jasvir Singh of passengers’ welfare association said that the timing of the counter must be extended to make it the 24 hours counter. Senior railway officials said that to make the counter functional round-the-clock, the railway needs to increase the number of staff. “The passengers’ particular demand may take time to be materialised, the railway, however, has started process to begin Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) at the counter,” officials claimed. The passengers has also been demanding to open extra counter at the city-side in morning hours around 6 o’clock when passengers thronged to take tickets for grouping trains as the three counters have been proving insufficient considering the rush. Railway officials, however, have a different view. They termed the three counters sufficient in the backdrop of availability of the computerised UTS. “It takes less than a minute to issue a ticket with the UTS,” railway officials claimed, adding that the counters see rush for only 10 to 15 minutes in the morning everyday and with the UTS, the railway handles the rush well. Taking the rush in morning hours at city-side counter into account, a section of passengers also demanded to open the railway colony-side counter an hour early. “If the counter is open at 6 am instead of present timing of 7 am, the arrangements would come as big relief for passengers as the passengers from the Parsaram Nagar-side in particular and others in general as they would get another counter and the rush would be divided,” passengers reasoned. Fact file n Over one lakh people reside in several localities situated on the southern side of the railway station. n Apart from a 24-hour counter, the residents also seek a reservation booking counter. n There is also a demand to open an extra counter at the city-side during the morning hours, at around 6 am, when passengers throng to buy tickets for grouping trains as the three counters have been proving insufficient considering the rush.
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3 held for loot at Civil Hospital
Bathinda, January 9 The police has reportedly recovered two mobile phones, allegedly looted by them from the victims. When contacted this evening, the SHO, Kotwali, Bathinda, Jagdeesh Lal said that the police today got information from its sources that the persons, who had allegedly looted the patients and their attendants in the Civil Hospital, were roaming in the city. On this, the police sprung into action and arrested the trio. The SHO said sub-inspector Madan Lal along with a police party rounded up the three and arrested them from the city. He said those arrested were Jaskaran Singh of Gehri Bhagi village, Jagseer Singh, Bathinda, and Sunil Kumar, Bathinda. He said they would now be produced in the court here tomorrow. The SHO further said the police had also recovered two mobile phones that had been looted by them, from their possession. A case under Sections 382 and 34 of the IPC had been registered against them. It is recalled that on January 6, when the local residents came to know about the loot at the Civil Hospital, a wave of shock had spread across the city. People felt that when the patients and their attendants were not safe even in the Civil Hospital then what should they do for the security of their kith and kin in the hospital. On that day, it was told that the looters had snatched two mobiles from a person and Rs 2,500 from two persons on knife point. Besides, the looters had also fled after bolting the door from outside due to which the patients and their attendants remained confined to the room during the night and got the door opened in the morning. After the looting incident, Senior Medical Officer of Civil Hospital Dr Satish Goyal has also sought setting up of a permanent police post on the premises of the hospital.
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Jail inmate succumbs to prolonged illness
Bathinda, January 9 Karnail Singh was undergoing an eight-year term along with his son Darshan Singh in a dowry death case. A resident of village Sheikhpura, he was booked under Section 304 B of the IPC at Talwandi Sabo police station on October 23, 1992. Earlier, he was imprisoned on November 16 1992 and then on March 1, 1994, as undertrial. He was awarded sentence on October 2000 and was released on bail on February 16, 2001. He appealed in the High Court and was again imprisoned at the Bathinda Central Jail on August 19, 2011. He fell ill on January 7 this year and was admitted to the Civil Hospital. Karnail breathed his last this morning and his body was handed over to his family members.
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Relief from chill not to come soon
Bathinda, January 9 Chill further intensified on Monday morning as mercury touched 2 degrees Celsius at 7.30 am, as per the agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) regional station, Bathinda. The days’ high was 16 degrees Celsius that was not proved enough to provide respite from the cold to the residents. The sun though appeared bright throughout the day, the cold waves forced many residents to keep themselves indoors. As per the weathermen, the wind speed recorded today was 4 km per hour. “The bright sun kept on inviting us to enjoy the sunlight but chilly wind prevented us to do so,” said residents. Weathermen said the chill would continue in the region as sun warmth may elude the residents for few more days.
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Assembly Elections
Bathinda, January 9 According to the information, eight candidates today filed nomination papers in the district. There are six Assembly constituencies in the district, Bathinda (Urban), Bathinda (Rural), Talwandi Sabo, Rampura Phul, Maur and Bhucho. Besides the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) supremo Manpreet Singh Badal, two other candidates of the PPP and a candidate of the CPI as candidates of the ‘Sanjha Morcha’ today filed nomination papers here. As the PPP candidates, Manpreet Badal filed nomination papers for Maur Assembly constituency, Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder for Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency, Harwinder Singh Laddi for Bhucho constituency while Surjit Singh Sohi (CPI) filed nomination papers for Bathinda (Rural) constituency. The Congress candidates, Makhan Singh for Bathinda (Rural) Assembly constituency and Gurpreet Singh for Rampura Phul constituency filed nomination papers while Sukhpreet Kaur, wife of Gurpreet Singh, also filed nomination papers for Rampura Phul. Besides, independent candidate Jagjit Singh filed nomination papers for Maur Assembly constituency. Fact file n The candidates of different political parties and the independent candidates on Monday started filing nomination papers in Bathinda district. n Eight candidates filed nomination papers in the district. There are six Assembly constituencies in the district: Bathinda (Urban), Bathinda (Rural), Talwandi Sabo, Rampura Phul, Maur and Bhucho. n People's Party of Punjab (PPP) supremo Manpreet Singh Badal, two other candidates of the PPP and a candidate of the CPI as candidates of the 'Sanjha Morcha' on Monday filed nomination papers here. n The PPP candidate, Manpreet Badal, filed nomination papers for Maur Assembly constituency, Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder for Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency, Harwinder Singh Laddi for Bhucho constituency while Surjit Singh Sohi (CPI) filed nomination papers for Bathinda (Rural) constituency.
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Expenditure observers hold meeting with officials
Bathinda, January 9 Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sukhchain Singh Gill, the returning officers (ROs) and the assistant returning officers (AROs) of all six Assembly constituencies also attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the expenditure observers asked the teams, on election duty, to perform their duties in a proper manner to ensure free and fair elections. They also said that one more video team should also be added in each constituency. The observers also stated that all the teams should perform their duties in such a manner so that no violation of the election code of conduct could occurs. Besides, no black money could be used in the elections. They also asked the officers and employees to know about the instructions of the Election Commission minutely. Additional Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha gave information about their duties to the members of various teams, including surveillance static teams, video teams, flying squads, accounting teams, media certification and monitoring team, complaint cell. He also said as per the new instructions of the Election Commission, the vehicles with red and blue lights would also be checked.
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Voter awareness drive in slum areas of city
Bathinda, January 9 Organisations like the Sahara Jan Seva, Sewa Bharti and the Swami Vivekananda Study Circle also contributed to it. According to Rakesh Narula of the Bathinda Vikas Manch, the aim of the drive was to make people aware about the importance of their voting rights so that on the day of the elections, people exercise their right to franchise because each voter plays a role in the building of the nation. Speaking on the occasion, MM Behl said that votes must be cast without fear or favour because greed can spoil our future prospects. In his speech, Radhey Shyam Bansal said hundred per cent voting is essential to take the nation forward on the path to progress. Meanwhile, Bathinda Vikas Manch organised a langar at the Ajit road with the cooperation of the family of Suhagwanti Devi. This information was given by Sewaram Singla and Ramesh Kumar Singla. On the occasion, clothes collected from the households were distributed amongst 200 people to save them from the biting cold. Among those who took part in organizing the programme were Neeraj Kumar, Krishna Kumar, Radhey Shyam Bansal, Prakash Garg and Deepali Singla. The organizers thanked those who cooperated in organizing the langar.
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Conference on innovations in science & technology held
Bathinda, January 9 The conference was inaugurated by the chief guest Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, principal, Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology (GZSCET), Bathinda. Principal Dr HS Sandhu welcomed the chief guest and other dignitaries. Convener Daljit Singh said more than 300 papers have been received, of which 140 have been selected for presentation. Chinderpal, vice-chairman, Satpal Singh, Navjit Singh, Deepak Kamra Dhillon, Harmeet Singh were also present.
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A survey for on-the-spot billing of power consumption has started in the city. Employees of the KLG Systel Ltd., Gurgaon, are tabulating the data from various power consumers in the city.
A door-to-door survey was conducted in the Model Town phase-III and Jujhar Singh Nagar areas today.
Bathinda, January 9
Bathinda, January 9
