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AIEEE aspirants caught in utter confusion
Black buck case: MLA favours lodging an FIR
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tackling tuberculosis
State-level Kisan Mela
Seven stolen vehicles recovered, 4 arrested
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AIEEE aspirants caught in utter confusion
Bathinda, April 29 In Bathinda city, the DAV College had been assigned two centres. One centre was for 700 students and another for 800 students. Principal of the DAV College, Dr JS Anand said the college refused to be the centre for 700 students expressing its inability to conduct an exam for a total of 1500 students. “Around a week ago, we had told the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) authorities that we would not be able to the conduct the exam and hence, the centre for the remaining 700 students was changed to Mata Sita Ji Degree College,” he said. The students alleged that the CBSE did not notify the change of centre on its website. Consequently, most of the students rushed to the DAV College only to be told that their centre had been changed. “It was a tough situation for us. We had to convince the students and their parents that it wasn’t our fault,” said the college authorities. College authorities said the CBSE had even sent question papers and other material to DAV College, which was meant for Mata Sitaji Degree College. “We ensured that the material reached Mata Sitaji College,” DAV authorities added. Students like Arjun, from Pathankot, lost more than half an hour of exam time due to the mayhem. Parents alleged that cheating went on unabated at the Mata Sitaji College. Anil Sanan, a parent from Chandigarh, said the centre was mismanaged. He added that two students were allowed to sit on one desk. He also alleged that while the question papers were distributed late, the answer sheets were taken back early.
While the city students battled odds due to change of centre, those appearing at rural centres had an entirely different nightmarish experience. At village Ramnagar in Bathinda, students started writing the exam more than 45 minutes late. One of the parents, Suresh Bansal from Muktsar, said the admit card mentioned the examination centre as Government Model School, whereas it was Government Senior Secondary School. “From the bus stand to village, we covered seven kms of distance walking. There were no signboards or help boards marked to guide towards the village,” he said. When the parents and students reached the school, the school authorities refused to open the gates till 9:10 am. “As per the instructions on the admit cards, the students were supposed to be inside the examination centres by 8:45 am, but none of us were allowed inside before 9:10 am. Only after we raised a hue and cry, were we allowed to get inside,” added one of the students. Parents alleged that there were no arrangements for drinking water and villagers were also not aware of their village being declared as a centre. “Only after many of us gathered at the school, some kind-hearted villagers set up a langar and offered us mats to sit on,” the parents added. Problems galore
The AIEEE candidates faced a plethora of problems not only on Sunday but also on Saturday as well. 37 educational institutes in the district played host to 20,900 AIEEE candidates from all over the state. Already occupied by the guests at the Bathinda refinery’s inaugural ceremony, the city hotels could not adjust all the candidates. Consequently, many aspirants and their parents spent the Saturday night in dharamshalas, gurudwaras and even at the railway station. |
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Black buck case: MLA favours lodging an FIR
Bathinda, April 29 While the death toll reached 30 today, the MLA said every possible measure would be initiated to enquire into the exact reason behind the deaths. Proposing to lodge an FIR in this regard, Kotfatta termed the incident as unfortunate and added that anybody, department officials or outsider, found guilty would not be spared. The MLA spent more than two hours at the Deer Park, which was also declared a mini zoo by the Central Zoo Authority. He expressed concern over the sorry state of affairs in the deer park and termed it as an atrocity on animals by humans. Incidents of animal teasing, lack of expertise, medical health, modern gadgets and innovative ideas to liven up the monotonous life of these animals were also brought to the notice of the MLA by the forest department officials. The MLA informed the department officials that the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, was quite concerned about the animals and he had visited the zoo to show his concern over the demise of the helpless animals. “Though the CM is keen on increasing the population of peacocks in the zoo, the large number of deaths of the state animal too has hurt him immensely,” said the MLA. After having a look at the enclosure where the 29 black bucks were reportedly chased by a stray dog and later died due to internal injuries and shock, the MLA also visited the place where the animals were cremated. The department employees told the MLA that ten of the injured animals had received fractures and suffered haemorrhage. They added that while the bodies of the rest did not bear any injury marks, the animals might have died due to dehydration caused by running. Visibly upset over the deaths of the animals and the way they were cremated within hours after a quick post-mortem, Kotfatta said a case should be registered in this regard by the police and every possible action would be initiated to save the lives of the animals in future. The MLA also interacted with the lower rung staff and had a telephonic conversation with the District Forest Officer, SP Anand. He expressed his satisfaction over the investigations being done by the committee of three senior government functionaries. The DFO informed the MLA that apart from a written complaint to the police, the Deputy DFO would also submit a detailed inquiry into the incident. The department officials also shared their problems with the MLA and told him that there was only one watchman and five daily wagers were present during the day time in 135 acres of area. They said apart from two permanent watchmen, they also needed more than 20 permanent workers to look after the security, cleanliness, health, maintenance of stud books, inventory and surroundings of the area. They also informed him about the presence of an injured black buck. The survivor of the tragedy was being treated for a leg injury by the only doctor at the zoo. The doctor has been given additional charge of the zoo and takes care of more than 110 birds and animals in the Deer Park. Presently, the workers employed in the park get `185 per day to take care of the animals’ feed and cleanliness between 9 am and 5 pm. The employees said they required two permanent forest guards, one range officer, 5 to 6 forest guards, one block officer and guides to share the behaviour of the animals with the visitors. The department officials also demanded construction of quarters for the employees on the premises of the mini zoo itself.
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514 TB cases recorded in three months in Bathinda district
Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service
Bathinda, April 29 According to the district TB officer (DTO), Dr Ashok Monga, these 514 TB cases were registered at the district TB centre, Bathinda, TB treatment unit, Rampura and TB treatment unit Talwandi Sabo. Out of the 514 cases, 258 cases were registered at district TB centre, Bathinda, Goodwill Hospital, Bathinda and government health centre, Goniana while 129 cases were registered at Rampura and the designated microscopy centres at Ballianwali, Nathana, Bhucho and Bhagta. Likewise, 127 cases were registered at Talwandi Sabo and the designated microscopy centres at Raman, Maur and Sangat. During the sputum test of the patients, 178 were found to be new sputum positive cases. Of these 178 cases, as many as 66 cases were reported as sputum positive at the district TB centre, Bathinda, 58 at Treatment Unit, Rampura and 54 at Treatment unit, Talwandi Sabo. Barring 178 cases, the remaining cases were suffering from TB, but other than that of lungs. Dr Monga said for every one lakh population, they had to cover 180 to 257 TB suspects. However, during the first quarter of this year, they had examined 188 suspects per one lakh of population in the Bathinda district at the district TB centre, treatment units and designated microscopy centres. Dr Monga said during the last calendar year, as many as 1,999 TB cases had been registered in the district. Of these 1999 cases, 799 new sputum positive cases had been detected in the district while there were 372 cases which had been found suffering from lungs TB though their sputum test was negative. There were 314 such TB cases which were suffering from TB other than that of lungs, he added. Fact file
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Refuge crop can save BT cotton: Expert
Megha Mann Tribune News Service
Bathinda, April 29 Agriculture Minister Tota Singh was the guest of honour while the Director of Agriculture, Punjab, Dr Mangal Singh Sandhu presided over the fair which was inaugurated by Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishor Yadav. The fair focused on discussing and illustrating right method of farming Bt cotton seeds and the importance of planting refuge to maintain effectiveness of Bt cotton seeds so that farmers could reap benefits of improved seeds. Farmers from seven cotton growing districts of state were brought together for event. The technical session that followed focused on highlighting the effective ways of crop management, weed management and insect resistance management. Agriculture economist from the Punjab Agricultural University Dr GS Romana highlighted the wide acceptance of Bt cotton among 60 lakh Indian cotton growers, representing 88 per cent of cotton areas. "There is an ardent need to sustain success of Bt cotton through dedicated planting of non-Bt refuge by the farmers. Farmers should plant minimum 5 per cent of their areas with non-Bt cotton, as refuge, so as to minimise possibility of cross resistance," he said. He added the risk of resistance development was real and was a natural evolutionary phenomenon but could be managed with proper planning and implementation. The globally accepted and practiced method to preserve benefits and efficacy of Bt technology was to develop and implement an Insect Resistance management (IRM) plan. Quoting a study, he said in India, farmers were not planting 20 per cent refuge because they look at getting higher yields and earn higher income on maximum areas, which are short-term gains. "But refuge planting is important to preserve technology so that Indian cotton farmer can benefit from this technology year after year and can also pass on to the next generation. Speaking on the occasion, the director, agriculture, Dr Mangal Singh Sandhu discouraged the use of illegal seeds and assured of sufficient supply of seed for the kharif ensuing season. He claimed the government had arranged sufficient quantity of Bt cotton seed for the Kharif sowing season. "This seed should be purchased only from Markfed, co-operative societies and retailers and seed companies, which are approved by the state. Stringent action will be taken against illegal seed activities in the state under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. Any violation shall attract an imprisonment for five years or Rs 1 lakh in fine. We are also controlling black marketing through the deputy commissioners of respective districts," he added. He appealed to the farmers not to go for illegal Bt seed due to the high risk factor and the risk of cheating. Every farmer should ensure a pucca bill on every packet purchased from retailer. What is refuge plant?
Refuge plants are non-Bt plants. Every packet of cotton seed weighing 450 grams has 120 grams of non-Bt variety crop."When cotton seed is sown, farmers miss out corners and periphery. We recommend that farmer should sow non-Bt varieties on the corners or periphery in order to ensure that the bollworm does not grow resistance to Bt," Dr Romana said. Giving the example of mosquitoes, he said the over-use of DDT has led to mosquitoes growing resistant to the effect of DDT. "If the Bt plants are sown with non-Bt variety, it would stop the bollworm from developing resistance to the Bt gene," he added. In Bathinda, 62 per cent farmers are following this practice, while department is working to motivate another 48 per cent to use it. |
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Seven stolen vehicles recovered, 4 arrested
Bathinda, April 29 The accused have been identified as Ramesh Kumar alias Rocky, Satish Kumar Romi of Goniana road Muktsar, Pawan Kumar Pannu of Faridkot, Jagseer Singh Seera of Moga. A case under Sections 379, 473, 411, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against them at the Thermal police station. Investigating officer in the case, SI Rajinder Kumar, in-charge of the narcotics cell, Bathinda, refused to divulge any details about the incident and said Bathinda SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill will hold a press conference in this connection tomorrow. He said the information about the recovery and the modus operandi of the accused would be revealed by the SSP only. As per the daily crime report released by the Bathinda police, one Bolero, two Indigo cars, one Indica Turbo, Two Tata Safari and one Scorpio have been recovered from their possession. The accused were arrested from near NFL Chowk. Police has also registered a case under Sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act against two of the above mentioned accused, including Satish Kumar of Goniana road Muktsar, Pawan Kumar Pannu of Faridkot and Ramesh Kumar Rocky of Mansa. Police claimed to have recovered one kilogram of opium from their possession during a checking near Sivia T-point on Malout road, Bathinda. SI Rajinder Kumar, in-charge of the narcotics cell, is the investigating officer in this case as well. As per the daily crime report, the accused were travelling in a pick-up jeep bearing the registration number of Bathinda (PB-03-G-7995). Four arhtiyas booked for beating Markfed employee
Four arhtiyas, namely Vinod Kumar, Surinder Kumar, Ashok Kumar, all brothers, and Charan Das have been booked by the Sangat police for beating an employee of the Markfed today. A case under Sections 353, 341, 186, 332, 506, and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the arhtiyas at Sangat police station. The complainant in the case, Mahesh Ram, said he was deployed to issue exit slips to the truckers carrying wheat of the arhtiyas at the grain market. He was being forced to release the truck of the accused out of turn. It led to a heated argument and later, the accused beat him up. Investigating officer in the case, Subeg Singh, however, said the accused had got the employee transferred from the grain market a few months back. The employee was, however, again appointed at the place. Both the parties entered into heated arguments and the arhtiyas beat up the employee. Markfed officials said they had stopped the purchase in Sangat, Bandi, Kaljhalani and Jaisinghwala grain markets following the incident. The officials said other purchasing agencies, including the Warehouse and Punsup, may also stop the purchase in protest against the beating up of the employee. |
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Bathinda, April 29
The Forest Department’s claim that 29 black bucks died in a stampede caused by a stray dog in one of
the cages in the Deer Park, Bir Talab hasn’t gone down well with the Bathinda (rural)
MLA.
Bathinda, April 29
“The college principal did not allow us to meet the CBSE representatives. When we did not budge, two representatives came out but said it was too late to do anything,” he added.
