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Status of mercy plea petitions
Govt owes Rs 453 cr to PowerCom
Shashi Kant refuses to return official vehicles |
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VIP number for scooter
Power from two thermal plants likely to cost more
Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service
Nita Ambani to visit Jalandhar orphanage
Farm credit bodies under threat
Haryana blasts: Aim was to terrorise not kill, say cops
Awaiting dues, operators start selling buses
Dr Khush gets Krishi Shiromani Samman
CMCH to conduct study on effect of pollution on stroke patients
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Status of mercy plea petitions
New Delhi, February 22 A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya passed the order while hearing the plea of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, sentenced to death for the 1993 bomb attack on the then Youth Congress president MS Bitta, for commuting his sentence in view of the over 10 years of delay in rejecting his mercy plea. The Bench had sought details of the mercy petitions to ascertain the reasons for the delay and decide whether the affected convicts were entitled to commutation in view of the years spent in jail, agonizingly waiting for a decision on their mercy pleas. Earlier, the apex court had expressed its displeasure over the fact that some of the death row convicts were able to get political or community support for their pleas, while others suffered in silence. Listing Bhullar's case for next hearing on March 1, the Bench clarified that the Home Secretaries of the states were responsible for providing the details. The Bench is simultaneously hearing a case relating to three convicts -- Santhan, Murugan and Arivu - sentenced to death for their involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991.
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Govt owes Rs 453 cr to PowerCom
Patiala, February 22 Brar, who has been consistently taking up matters pertaining to power tariff, has also pleaded the commission that the payment of Rs 453.65 crore should be made in cash and not through any kind of book adjustment. Notably, in its tariff order dated May 9, 2011, the PSERC had clearly mentioned that the amount of Rs 453.65 crores (Rs 329.01 crore on account of non-refund of the excess interest paid by the PSPCL in the past and Rs 124.64 crore for balance subsidy for 2010-11) is due towards the government. However, with just six weeks left of the current fiscal, probability of the SAD-BJP government clearing the dues seems bleak in wake of the poor fiscal health of the government and also the fact that the government is not even able to pay the advance monthly power subsidy payment of Rs 349.08 crore to the Power Corporation on time. Though the PSPCL authorities are tightlipped over the matter, highly placed sources said the PSPCL had also brought it to the notice of the PSERC that the government was yet to clear dues amounting to Rs 453.65 crore. Meanwhile, the petition filed by Brar, a copy of which is with The Tribune, reads, "The PSPCL in its annual revenue requirement (ARR) petition for fiscal 2012-13 filed before the PSERC has mentioned that an amount of Rs 453.65 crore remains due towards the state government". Brar said the PSPCL had also approached the PSERC on September 12, 2011, stating that re-call/adjustment of the state government loans and the non-disbursement of the excess interest paid by the PSPCL to the government had significant adverse impact on the short-term capital requirement by the power utility. The petition further mentioned that non-payment of Rs 453.65 crore was adversely affecting the financial health of the power utility, which was already in a vicious debt trap, with quantum of loan interest payments showing an increasing trend. Mounting dues
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Shashi Kant refuses to return official vehicles
Patiala, February 22 Sources said the Principal Secretary (Home), DS Bains, today summoned DGP Anil Kaushik and DGP Shashi Kant to his office in the afternoon. "However the meeting lasted a few minutes. Perturbed over the withdrawal of his official vehicles, Shashi Kant left the meeting after Kaushik refused to elaborate on
the reasons for withdrawing the vehicles", the sources said. The meeting holds significance as it comes days before the scheduled Cabinet meeting on Friday.Talking to The Tribune, Jails Minister Hira Singh Gabria said he would ask the Home Department to submit a report and would comment on the matter only on Friday after the Cabinet meeting. Efforts to contact Bains proved futile and DGP Kaushik refused to comment. The Punjab Government had last week withdrawn the three official vehicles allotted to Shashi Kant, leaving him and his security officials without any vehicle.
Jalandhar: Several non-government organisations have expressed support for DGP (Prisons) Shashi Kant for his fight against the drug menace. Criticising the withdrawal of official vehicles to the officer, president of the Nayay Morcha, Arun Sharma Pappu, said: "He should have been rather patted on his back for his fight against the drug mafia." He said his organisation would hold a demonstration in support of the DGP.
President of NGO Kapurthala Heritage Foundation Tejinder Singh Sahai said: "Despite the fact that the state government is trying to clip his wings, the Punjabis are with Shashi Kant in his fight against the drug mafia." He said the NGO was shortly opening a vocational training centre on the premises of the Modern Jail at Theh Kanjla in Kapurthala. — Dharmindra Joshi
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Police traces another frequent caller
Chandigarh, February 22 The police is now trying to trace the caller. Police sources said preliminary investigations had revealed that the address given to the telecommunication company by this caller was that of a bank. "This is yet another riddle that will be solved within a day or two," said an official pleading nonymity. He refused to comment whether the caller was a man or a woman. The clue comes as a ray of hope for the police that has been groping in the dark so far. Under pressure for its inability to achieve a breakthrough, the police is now working on every lead available. It has been 22 days since DSP Balraj and Monica were found brutally done to death. The police does not rule out the involvement of contract killers.
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A TRIBUNE SPECIAL
Faridkot, February 22 The difference in the cost in underground and overhead transmission lines is the main reason that some colonisers are violating the terms. Underground transmission lines are five to 10 times more costly compared to overhead ones. Residents of Park Avenue Colony in Faridkot invested their life-time earnings to build houses in this
PUDA-approved colony. They are now feeling cheated. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited
(PSPCL) has declined power connections to the colony residents as the owner has not laid the power distribution system in the colony as per
the PUDA and PSPCL specification. In an agreement with PUDA and PSPCL, the coloniser had agreed that parking areas would have an underground cable but much to the dismay of the residents, overhead electric lines run across the middle of the colony. Parshotam Betab has filed a complaint against the coloniser in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum. The promoter of Park Avenue Colony was issued a licence by PUDA on May 27, 2005, to raise the colony in 21 acres. But in the past seven years, he has failed to lay the power distribution lines in the colony. “As the colony promoter has failed to comply with the terms and conditions, PowerCom has the right to deny power connections to colony residents,” said Inderjit
Garg, Superintending Engineer.
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Web of wires in Ludhiana
Ludhiana, February 22 In
Ludhiana, a web of high-tension wires run through localities like new Chander
Nagar, Kundan Puri, Haibowal and Chandar Nagar. Swatantar Kumar of Chandar Nagar constructed his house 17 years ago. "I was aware about the overhead wires but the plot was cheap and I constructed my house on it. I haven't found any difficulty so far", he
said. Heera, also of Chandar Nagar, said: "The MC staff approached me when construction work on the second floor was on. They asked us to stop work but everything was settled over
chai-paani. We face difficulty only in the rainy season". High-tension wires pass through the playground of a well-known school at Kitchlu
Nagar.
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Power poles on stadium premises
Moga, February 22 The Punjab Urban Development Authority
(PUDA) has constructed an indoor stadium on the national highway within the municipal limits, ignoring the six towers with high-tension wires that stand on the stadium premises.
Barjinder Singh Brar told The Tribune that the MC has no role in building the stadium, except for providing land to
PUDA. It was for PUDA to get the high-tension towers removed before approving the building plan. “I brought this matter to the notice of Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh
Badal, who visited the site a few months back and asked the authorities concerned and PowerCom to shift the towers, but nothing has been done so far”, he said. Power lines also pass through a
PUDA-approved private colony located on the Kotkapura bypass. Dwarka Bansal, Citizens’ Welfare Council chief says the state government should formulate a policy on power transformers and power lines in cities and towns to safeguard the lives of the people.
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Shops under power poles
Bathinda, February 22 “The shopkeepers have made concrete shades merely half a metre from the wires. We have brought the matter to the notice of the MC several times,” said Powercom XEN Hardeep Singh.
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Living in fear of calamity
Jalandhar, February 22 At least 15 persons have been electrocuted in the city in the past few years due to the overhead wires. On January 7 this year, an 11 KV high-tension wire snapped during heavy rainfall and fell on the roofs of several houses in Globe Colony in the Jalandhar North assembly constituency. “Luckily, there were no casualties,” said local resident Vinod Sharma. Another resident Asha Rani said she has not constructed a staircase in her house fearing a mishap because of the overhead wires. Both Asha and Vinod demanded that the wire be shifted. BJP legislator KD Bhandari said: “There were several areas in the Jalandhar North constituency where high-tension wires pass over houses. I succeeded in sorting out the problem in several such areas after getting the required funds from the CM. Now, localities like the Globe Colony are on my priority list if re-elected.” Those living in Karol Bagh and Guru Nanak Pura said they had met local MLA Manoranjan Kalia several times for removal of high-tension wires. Kalia said: “The process for removing the wires in Guru Nanak Pura is on”.
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VIP number for scooter
Muktsar, February 22 During the auction of fancy numbers at the District Transport Office (DTO) here today, Gurmangat Singh, a government employee and local resident, who did not come in person but had sent someone else to bid on his behalf, successfully got the number. Interestingly, the man who was bidding for the same number wanted it for his Mercedes car. But he preferred not to go beyond Rs 10 lakh and the number went to Gurmangat Singh for his scooter. Gurmangat’s friend, who was bidding on his behalf, said they considered the number lucky and wanted to get it at any cost. Meanwhile, the number 0001 of PB-30-J series went to Barinder Singh Brar for Rs 3.91 lakh; 0002 was sold for Rs1.11 lakh; 0004 for Rs 18,000; 0005 for Rs 80,000; 0006 for Rs 12,000; 0007 for Rs1.1 lakh; 0008 for Rs 60,000; 0009 was auctioned for Rs 1.12 lakh and 0010 fetched Rs 40,000. Sandeep Rishi, DTO, said, "The bidder for 0003 has deposited Rs 5,000 to take part in the auction and if he failed to deposit Rs 12 lakh within a week, the fee will be forfeited and the bidder of the second highest amount will be called”.
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Power from two thermal plants likely to cost more Patiala, February 22 Experts in the power sector said in case the developer gets imported coal, the cost of the power generation would go up. "If the power generation cost will go up, power tariff would be affected", said a senior Power Corporation officer. Notably, Sterlite Energy Limited (SEL) and L&T are developing Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura thermal plants, respectively. M/s Mahanadi Coalfields and M/s South Eastern Coalfield Limited, the two subsidiaries of the Coal India Limited, are to supply the coal to the Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura thermal plants, respectively. It is pertinent to mention that the FSA is a statutory requirement for the assured supply of coal for the entire life of the plant. Inquiries made by TNS brought to light that the FSAs between the developers and the suppliers of the coal for the Talwandi Sabo and the Rajpura thermal plants are yet to be signed. At the time of bidding, the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) had assured the bidders 7.72 million tonnes of coal per annum for the Talwandi Sabo plant. Similarly for the Rajpura plant, the PSEB had assured 5.55 million tonnes of coal per annum. It was also assured to both the developers that the coal supply would be domestic only. "Based on the assurances, the bidders have quoted tariff of Rs 2.83 per unit and Rs 2.89 per unit for the Talwandi Sabo and the Rajpura thermal plants, respectively", disclosed a senior Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officer, preferring anonymity. Director Generation, PSPCL, GS Chhabra confirmed that the FSA has not been signed, while adding it would be wrong to comment further on the matter, as nothing has been finalised yet. However, officers of the generation department, PSPCL, confirmed that due to some issues pertaining to the availability of domestic coal, there has been a move, wherein the Coal India subsidiaries have conveyed it to the developers that they should accept the induction of a clause in the FSA that the supply of the coal would be domestic and if required imported as well. "However, there has been no final word over the quantum of coal (domestic and imported) to be supplied to the developers", said a senior PSPCL officer, while adding that Power Corporation had already apprised the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) about the matter. The officials added that in case the FSA is signed by including the clause of supply of imported coal, the power generated from the two thermal plants would definitely be costlier.
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Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service
Amritsar, February 22 In the last almost six years, the bus service has reduced to just a confidence building measure between the two countries with no real benefit to the people. The service was aimed at facilitating a hassle-free ride for Sikh pilgrims to the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev. However, it never served the purpose primarily due to lack of visa centre at Amritsar and requirement of security clearance from the police for the passengers. Any passenger who wants to board the bus from Amritsar needs to undertake a 500-km journey to New Delhi to get the visa, besides taking security clearance from the police. Interestingly, the criterion for security clearance doesn't apply to those boarding Lahore bus from New Delhi. Though India and Pakistan governments have initiated various measures to cut the losses being accrued by the bus service, but nothing has been done to remove these two major hurdles. Many a times, the bus undertakes the journey with less than 10 passengers on board. Besides, there have also been instances when an empty bus plied on the route. Less than a year after its launch, Pakistan proposed to club the two bus services, Amritsar-Lahore and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib, in January 2007 to cut the losses. Subsequently, the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus started taking a halt at Lahore from February 2008. At present, the bus plies from Amritsar to Lahore on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, while it travels to Nankana Sahib every Friday with a halt at Lahore. Last year only, distressed over heavy losses incurred in running the bus on a lease basis, the state government had introduced its own buses on the route. The bus, having a price tag of Rs 78 lakh, was purchased by the Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC). Prior to it, the state government had hired a Volvo bus from Ludhiana-based Libra transport company for Rs 1.7 lakh per month. The state exchequer had suffered a financial dent of around Rs 1.5 crore on this count from 2006 to 2011.
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Nita Ambani to visit Jalandhar orphanage
The affable socialite, also known for her initiatives in education and looking after the premier Mumbai Indians cricket team, will interact with Bibi who runs an orphanage, Unique Home, for abandoned girls at the local Model House. She had not only promised to visit the orphanage but also to do all that she could to help her in the noble endeavour. Sources said Nita was likely to fly in at about 11.30 am and meet the inmates before leaving around 3.30 pm. The unassuming but gritty Prakash Kaur is a mother to 60 abandoned girls of various ages and she is not only providing a safe and cozy environment to the girls but also somehow manages to arrange for their food, clothing and education.
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Availability of accomplished artisans coupled with astronomical rise in the prices of gold, the holy city is fast becoming a hub of imitation jewellery industry. Imitation jewellery made here, especially earrings and nose pins are a hit among customers all over the country. City-based manufacturers and traders supply the jewellery made here not only to various parts of the country and the district but also abroad. Artificial Jewellery Association secretary Satnam Singh Kanda said owing to a rise in the gold prices, more and more people are opting for imitation and gold-plated jewellery, which is why the sale of the jewellery has gone up significantly. Five held with drugs Jaskaran Singh and his brother Raj Karan, hailing from Ramdass village and a resident of Maqbool Road area, where he lives on rent, were arrested by the police for possessing 220 gram of narcotic powder each. Baldev Singh, investigating officer and in charge Rani Ka Bagh police chowki said both were arrested separately when they were trying to sell the same. He said a number of cases have been registered against them on similar charges. They were notorious drug peddlers and habitual offenders, he said. Teachers and students boycotted classes. They assembled for a meeting at 10 am on the campus and decided to block the DAV College railway overbridge (ROB). The students and staff shouted slogans against political leaders and MC officials. The MC demolished an unauthorised construction on the third floor of a building at Chowk Kade Shah in Attari Bazaar here on Wednesday. Owner of the building Nand Lal Bahri had reportedly fought a legal battle against the MC for over 11 years till the judgement was finally pronounced in 2009. Then onwards the MC continued its correspondence with the building owner for two years and finally took action. The MC took along a heavy posse of police force from Division numbers 3 and 4 police stations for the demolition. The ADCP-1, RK Sharma, also went along the MC team, which was led by Assistant Town Planners Ramesh Chhabra and Param Pal. The operation, however, went on peacefully. Officials said the owner had covered more area than permissible. A task force constituted by the Civil Surgeon, Dr Subhash Batta, today raided Mr Beans Hukkah Bar at Sarabha Nagar and challaned 25 youngsters and fined them Rs 200 each under the Tobacco Product Act for smoking "hukkah". The task force included District Health Officer Kulwinder Singh, Dr Jasbeer Singh, district epidemiologist, and Food Safety Officer Manoj Khosla, besides an ASI of the narcotics cell of the police department. Youths snatch Rs 7 lakh from dairy worker In yet another incident of snatching, two motorcycle-borne youths snatched Rs 7 lakh from an employee of a dairy in Dashmesh Nagar near Gill Road here today. The incident took place this afternoon when the employee, identified as Rajesh Kumar, was returning to the dairy after withdrawing Rs 7 lakh from a bank. According to his statement to the police, he was outside the dairy when two youths riding on a motorcycle came from behind and snatched away the bag containing the cash. Rajesh raised the alarm and chased the motorcycle, but the youths sped away. The dairy owner, Jagdish Kumar, informed the police about the incident. The police has launched a search operation to nab the accused. Virasat Mela will be held at Jaipalgarh village from February 24 to 26. Its organisers said this year's event would be dedicated to the legendary singer from Bathinda, Kuldeep Manak. On February 24, a heritage walk will begin from Gurudwara Haji Rattan and culminate at Jaipalgarh village. In the evening, a poetry session will be held. On the final day, a concert by singer Jazzy B will be held. Family members and friends of Kuldeep Manak will also be honoured on the occasion. The heritage fest will have numerous stalls showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Malwa. Mock drill fails to move people
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Farm credit bodies under threat
Chandigarh, February 22 In his study on the role of cooperative institutions in agriculture credit in Punjab, noted agro-economist HS Shergill has said that the extensive network of rural/semi-urban branches of commercial banks and the ubiquitous commission agents are posing intense competition in the farm credit market and the cooperative credit institutions have already been relegated to the third position among the three major farm credit suppliers. To survive in this intensely competitive environment of farm credit market of Punjab, the cooperative credit institutions have to become more dynamic and efficient to thrive and even to survive in the long run. For this, there is an urgent need for an intervention of the state by redrafting structural changes in the system that include merger of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Land Development Banks with Central Cooperative Banks, according to Shergill. The study has suggested that the specialised institution of Primary Cooperative Agricultural Land Development Banks providing only long-term finance to farmers that played an important role till recently are no longer competitive and viable. For long-term credit for purchasing tractors and agricultural machinery is easily available from commercial bank branches present in every town and big villages. For survival in the long run, the existing Primary Cooperative Agricultural Land Development Banks should be merged in the respective Central Cooperative Banks and should operate like other branches of these banks. These should perform all those functions and provide all those banking services that the existing branches of central banks are performing. Further the study conducted at the behest of the Institute for Development Communication (IDC) suggest that a sizeable number of cooperative credit units in the state are operating at a loss and chances of their turning the corner are bleak. The loss making Primary Agricultural Societies, (about one-fifth of total), may be either disbanded or if possible merged with the nearest profit making Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. At present, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies are mainly involved in short-term lending to farmers. They should diversify into other lending business such as loans for dairying, housing, vehicles and consumer durables. A beginning has already been made in this direction, but it remains half-hearted and marginal. The marketing of farm produce by members of Cooperative Credit Institutions needs to be integrated with credit provided to them by these institutions. The members of Primary Agricultural Credit
Societies should be required to sell their farm produce through the societies. For this purpose, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies may be granted commission agent licenses at concessional fee and the societies renamed and reorganised as Primary Agricultural Credit and Marketing Societies. Such an integration of marketing of farm produce and credit is already successfully working for the last 40 years of Punjab in the case of commission agents of Punjab. The study
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Haryana blasts: Aim was to terrorise not kill, say cops
Patiala, February 22 The Patiala police claimed that the arrested five youths had masterminded the bomb blasts. On the contrary the Haryana Police claimed that the accused were misled by Sagar and Rejesh Kumar, who were moved by some Hindu fanatics. "They attended a religious congregation and on seeing that they were concerned about Hindu issues, some gaushalas (cow protection houses) heads motivated them to act against certain Muslims", they added. "We have quizzed Sagar and Rajesh Kumar in detail. They agreed to their involvement in the blasts, but they never wanted to kill anyone. Both of them said that if they wanted to kill people they would not have planted bombs in bathrooms of a mosque or a cow slaughterhouse and instead could have chosen places with large gathering of people," Jind SP Ashok Kumar told The Tribune. "They just wanted to create some terror and the accused repented after the death," said, adding that they were trying to arrest some more persons. A senior Patiala police officer, who had interrogated the accused, also confirmed that the five accused had accepted that they were lured by easy money and brainwashed by certain religious leaders. The five accused, currently with the Haryana Police, were produced in a court in Jind yesterday. The court sent three accused, Sham Niwas, Praveen Sharma and Gurnam Singh, to judicial custody and Sagar Azad alias Kala and Rajesh Kumar were remanded to police custody in connection with the 2009 blast in Safidon. Names of some five more persons have also cropped up during investigations. "We are questioned them and now, the Haryana Police has taken these accused on remand and hand them over to us once their investigations are complete," said Patiala SSP Dinesh Partap Singh. Last week, the Patiala police had arrested five persons in connection with a series of bomb blasts various districts of Haryana. The police had claimed that they planted bombs to stop cow slaughter, which perturbed them.
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Awaiting dues, operators start selling buses
Patiala, February 22 Sewa Singh, president of the Km-scheme Bus Owners' Union, said there were around 283 buses under the km-scheme, but the PRTC has failed to make payment for more than six months now. "As per the contract between the PRTC and the km-scheme bus owners, the management is supposed to pay Rs 6.59 per km to the bus owners every fortnight, but it has been six months the management has not made any payment. Despite repeated complaints, the management is not paying any heed to our genuine problems. All of us have purchased buses on loan from banks and most of us have not been able to pay installments. As a result, seven owners have already sold their buses in Haryana," he added. He further said that buses on road were a major threat to people's life. "Due to financial crisis, owners are not being able to get timely service done and are using sub-standard tyres in buses which may prove fatal," he said. He said owners in Sangrur, Bathinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana and many other districts had already filed a case against the PRTC for violating the contract and soon Patiala district would also do the same. Manvesh Singh, MD of the PRTC, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
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Dr Khush gets Krishi Shiromani Samman
Ludhiana, February 22 A plant breeder and geneticist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, Dr Khush has visited more than 60 rice-growing countries and has been a consultant in rice improvement
programmes.
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CMCH to conduct study on effect of pollution on stroke patients
Ludhiana, February 22 Dr Jairaj Pandiyan, professor and head of neurology department of the CMCH, said, "It is a 'Task Force Project' funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and will be completed in two years and an amount of Rs 35 lakh will be spent on it. We have tied up with the PPCB, Ludhiana for this. Through this research project we will find out effect of pollution on occurrence of stroke and effect of pollution on suffering of stroke patients, like whether their condition deteriorates or improves in coming years." Dr Pandiyan further said that effects of changed weather would also be observed on stroke patients. He said, "For this, Chandigarh Metrological department will assist us by giving us weather data on day-to-day basis. While levels of different types of pollution including soil, air, noise, water and industrial pollution etc would be provided by the PPCB. "About stroke cases, we will coordinate with all the major hospitals, general practitioners and physicians of the city and scan centres where stroke patients are admitted, checked or carried for scan etc. However, the Municipal Corporation will provide data related to stroke deaths. To reach the results, all the data will be co-related with the information gathered under this project," he added.
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Perturbed by Punjab Government's failure to pay Rs 453.65 crore, pending towards the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for fiscal year 2011-12, Gurnek Singh Brar, a retired superintending engineer, has filed a petition with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), requesting it to direct the government to clear the dues by March 31.
The Home department today intervened and tried to resolve the standoff between two serving DGPs, advising them "not to publicly air their views on any inter-departmental matter".
Unable to pay bank loans due to delay caused by the PRTC management in releasing their payments, a few owners of the buses running under the
kilometre-scheme of the PRTC have already sold their buses in neighbouring Haryana state and many others are looking for suitable deals so that they could get rid of their buses.
Jalandhar, February 22
The police has arrested five persons in as many cases for alleged possession of narcotic powder. The police has also seized one kg of narcotic powder from the possession of the accused.
Up in arms against the Municipal Corporation's move to demolish a wall of the girls' hostel yesterday, students and staff of DAV College today blocked traffic on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway for nearly two hours.
An emergency siren failed to move people out of the district administrative complex here on Wednesday. The hooter was used during a mock drill organised at the mini secretariat by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The drill was aimed at sensitising people during made-made or natural disasters. However, the employees and visitors were unaware of the emergency siren and left their offices only after the intervention of NDRF officials.