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20,000 engineering seats likely to remain vacant
Farmers protest govt move to displace them
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Poor visibility hits maiden Amritsar-Chandigarh flight
Punjab, Haryana may get monetary help
Centre seeks feasibility report on metro project
RTI: Sangrur EO fined
Rs 10,000 for losing application
Industrialists threaten state-wide stir
Teachers await transfer orders
Schools not teaching Punjabi warned
Violation of building by-laws Officials of the Municipal Corporation seal a showroom on the Upper Mall Road in Patiala on Monday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
Green Mission: Punjab to plant 40 crore saplings in 8 years
Pollution board staff remove bio-medical waste from roadsides
Unhygienic conditions in
GOVERNMENT Hospital
Tewari speaks up for Baddowal residents
Neo-natal care unit sans staff, equipment
Train between Sriganganagar and Ferozepur sought
10-year-old girl drowns Cancer camps on July 26, 27
SDM slapped Rs 1 lakh penalty for misleading HC
XEN held for stealing power from streetlight
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20,000 engineering seats likely to remain vacant
Jalandhar, July 23 Apart from the 32,789 seats that are to be filled through centralised counselling by the PTU, the 108 engineering colleges in the state have 33 per cent (16,000) management quota seats, which they have to fill on their own. After the first round of counselling, 12,749 students deposited their fee while 11,676 filled up choices. Of them, 10,146 have been allotted seats. During the second round that concluded recently, 9,143 students got themselves registered; 5,911 were allotted seats. The number included only about 2,000 new students. The rest were those who had participated in the first round as well, but wanted upgradation in their trade in the event of candidates ahead of them in the merit list opted out of admission. Once the PTU counselling is over, the unfilled seats would also be passed onto respective engineering colleges to be filled by them at their own discretion. Therefore, the colleges would then have to fill 36,000 seats at their own end. After the first counselling, the PTU had kept the entire data of admissions under wraps. It even issued letters to the officials concerned not to reveal the count of vacant seats in the media. The step was taken as the university officials purportedly felt that news reports about less admissions in engineering colleges were dissuading potential B.Tech candidates from taking admission. Unlike previous years, the PTU has also not put any information regarding filled and unfilled seat matrix of each college on its web portal. The only information available for each college in public domain is the cut-off rank in each stream and each category of every college. PTU Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora said, “We will hold a Press conference one we are over with counselling and admission. For the time being, we cannot share any details.”
problem of plenty *
There are 32,789 seats in 108 engineering colleges in the state that are to be filled by the PTU through centralised counselling *
But once the counseling is over, 20,000 seats are likely to fall vacant, which would be passed onto respective colleges to be filled by the on their own *
These 20,000 seats would be in addition to 16,000 management quota seats that these colleges already have to fill by themselves *
Therefore, the total number of vacant seats is likely to mount to 36,000 after the PTU counselling gets over
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Farmers protest govt move to displace them
Ajnala, July 23
Addressing the protesters, Punjab CPM secretary Mangat Ram Pasla said the then state government had allotted the land to these farmers in 1960s for producing foodgrain and promised them that they would be given the ownership rights. The farmers had made the barren land fertile after years of hard work and the government now wanted to take away their livelihood, he added. Kirti Kisan Union leader Datar Singh said it was injustice with farmers of the border belt as they had had been cultivating this land for over five decades. He claimed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had promised the farmers the ownership rights of this land after the formation of the SAD-BJP government, but now he was “backtracking”. Jamhuri Kisan Sabha president Satnam Singh Ajnala and Border Area Sangharsh Committee general secretary Ratan Singh Randhawa also lashed out at the state government for initiating the move, which they claimed would deprive over 2,000 small and marginal farmers of their livelihood. Later, the farmer leaders handed over a charter of demands to the SDM.
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Poor visibility hits maiden
Amritsar-Chandigarh flight
Amritsar, July 23 Slated to fly twice a day, the flight was supposed to land at the Chandigarh airport at 8.20 am. The return flight from Chandigarh, scheduled at 8.50 am, also got cancelled. The evening flight, however, successfully landed in Chandigarh at 6.50 pm with 15 passengers on board, an Air Mantra spokesperson said. The return flight (to Amritsar) had 16 passengers. “We are expecting a favourable response to the flight as both the cities are important for the people of Punjab. While Chandigarh is the seat of power, Golden Temple makes Amritsar one of the most sought-after destinations not only for Punjabis but also for the people from other parts of the country,” the spokesperson said. He said they would soon be launching flights to Dharamsala and Jammu. Air Mantra’s 17-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft (see picture) flying between Amritsar and Chandigarh has also become the smallest aircraft to operate in north India. The aircraft has nine seats in one row and eight in the other. There are three crew members, including a pilot, a co-pilot and an air hostess. CII National Council on Public Policy member Gunbir Singh, who travelled in the inaugural flight, said, “It is like a charter service and makes you feel as if you are in your own car. But, the success of the flight will depend on the pricing of tickets. Gunbir said filling 17 seats each in morning and evening should not be a problem if the pricing was right. Bikram Singh, another passenger, said the flight would benefit domestic fliers. “The fare should be low so that maximum people can avail of its benefit,” he said. Airport director Suneel Dutt said Air Mantra had also made Amritsar airport as its base. He said the airline would park its aircraft at the Amritsar airport during non-operation hours. This shall be the first time in the airport’s history that an airline had chosen it as its base.
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Punjab, Haryana may get monetary help
New Delhi, July 23 The two key grain producers are already getting an additional 300 MW each of the unallocated power quota for the sowing season.They are now demanding an interim monetary package plus 1,000 MW of additional allocation. A top government official said the demand for extra power was likely to go unheeded. He said the two states had received additional power “far less than 300 MW” in 2009, the year that saw one of the worst droughts in four decades with rains 23 per cent below average. “But productivity in these states that year was an all-time high”. “Arguments have to be backed with facts and logic. Ideally, every state should be power surplus but beyond our given capacity, we “The two states have been demanding an additional 1,000 MW without providing any specifics. There are other states facing a similar situation or even worse. Punjab and Haryana are already getting 300 MW out of the unallocated power quota. They will be provided 300 MW till they receive good rains,” he said. The country is struggling against a power shortage with outages averaging over 36,000 MW, roughly 18 per cent of the country’s installed generating capacity of 2,02,980 MW. Against the slated eight-hour power supply, farmers are getting six hours of power to run tubewell motors and are being forced to rely in diesel to irrigate their fields. With the country staring at a deficiency of 22 per cent, the situation in Punjab and Haryana is even worse with a shortfall of 69 per cent each. Generally, a drought is declared when a state sees a crop loss of 50 per cent or more. But even though Punjab and Haryana may register scanty rainfall, being well-irrigated, the states are unlikely to see any crop loss. The Centre had given Rs 800 crore to Punjab and Rs 400 crore to Haryana in 2010 as drought relief. Sources in the PMO said approximately 300 MW of unallocated power was being given to Punjab and Haryana. In addition, the Petroleum Ministry had been asked to ensure availability of diesel in these states.
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Centre seeks feasibility report on metro project
Chandigarh, July 23 The project was discussed at a meeting convened by the Union Urban Development Ministry in New Delhi today. Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar were among the states that made a presentation on their metro projects to officials of the ministry. Principal Secretary for Local Bodies Suresh Kumar led the Punjab team at the meeting. The Ludhiana metro project will be built under the PPP mode. The initial estimated cost of the project is Rs 10,300 crore but it could come down after competitive bidding. The state government will contribute about Rs 2,000 crore towards the project cost. The first phase is likely to be completed by 2018.
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It’s pointless having a working
president: Capt
Chandigarh, July 23 In a candid talk with TNS, Amarinder said attempts were being made to give the impression that he was ready to quit office. “This is far from the truth. But it is up to party president Sonia Gandhi to take a final decision on the matter,” he said. There are indications that the Amarinder camp is not ready to take Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi’s statement (that he would continue in office till the corporation elections) as the final word on the subject. The civic poll ended on June 5. The Amarinder camp is buoyed by the fact that there is no consensus on the main contenders for the PCC post, Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa and Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Singh Brar. When questioned on the issue, Amarinder said: “ Whenever such an issue will arise, the Congress president will call me. She knows my capability as well as my strong and weak points. I am in office till my president decides otherwise”. Apparently referring to the Dasuya byelection, Amarinder admitted that the party had suffered some setback in the last one month. He, however, said the party was functioning normally. “We are holding a dharna tomorrow at Jalandhar against the punitive taxes being imposed by the SAD-BJP alliance”. Amarinder made it clear that he was not in favour of having a working president under him. He said Punjab was a small state and it would not be feasible to have a president as well as a working president. “A better alternative would be to change the president if he is not up to the mark”. The PCC chief said he had joined the Congress when it had 12 legislators in the state assembly in 1998. “We won the next elections and even now have 47 MLAs”. He said earlier in 2009 when he was made poll campaign committee incharge, the party had won eight of the 13 parliamentary seats. He said the loss in the assembly elections early this year was not due to “bad performance” but because of the 22 rebel candidates financed by the SAD. “But for this, we could have won”, he emphasised. Amarinder said the Punjab Congress would take on the SAD-BJP Government on the the issue of “punitive taxes” and lack of investment in the state despite the claims by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to the contrary. He said he would be out of action for two weeks after July 28 as he was flying abroad. . “I have taken permission from the Congress president for the same”, he said.
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RTI: Sangrur EO fined
Rs 10,000 for losing application
Chandigarh, July 23 Applicant Bhagwan Dass had sought information regarding the change in address of a house in November 2011. He received a reply two months later, saying “the relevant record is not traceable yet”. The letter admitted that the original letter for change in address was submitted way back in September 2009 and that too had gone missing. The Information Commission order said: “The respondent is an executive officer (EO) who has intentionally misplaced the documents and not provided the applicant information which he is legally bound to provide to him... The EO should be penalised with exemplary costs so that no one can dare to play hide and seek with the law even when he holds a high responsible post.” The commission was told that the dealing clerk had admitted to procedural lapses and the department had recommended action against another clerk too. But the commission remained unconvinced. “It also emerges that the respondent PIO has failed to take any action against the official concerned in whose custody the relevant record was lying and who has failed to maintain the same.” The commission has written to the Principal Secretary/Secretary, Local Government, to take appropriate action in the case.
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Industrialists threaten state-wide stir
Jalandhar, July 23 Capt Amarinder Singh, PCC chief, has already announced that he would lead a state-level dharna against the tariff hike and the VAT on sugar in front of the District Administrative Complex here tomorrow. “We are not ready to accept the hike. Gursharan Singh, president of the Jalandhar Industrial and Traders’ Association, and Ashwani Kohli, vice-president of the Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, said: “The state has no raw material, all of which is imported from other states. Finished goods are either sold in other states or in the international market for which the industry has to bear a cost difference of 8 per cent to 10 per cent on account of freight charges. “Labour charges have gone up by 40 per cent. If this was not enough, the government has again burdened us with the power tariff hike.” Industrialists Charanjit Mehngi and Ravinder Dhir said they had nothing to do with Tuesday’s Congress dharna. But it was strange that the SAD-BJP Government had decided to raise the power tariff immediately after the MC poll even though it had made several promises to the industry during the assembly elections.
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Teachers await transfer orders
Muktsar, July 23 But for Muktsar, transfers in the nearby districts of Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Fazilka have already been done.The District Education Office has forwarded the teachers’ applications to the minister after scrutiny. “At least 400 teachers have applied for transfer across the district and we have submitted the applications to the higher-ups. The file is pending in the office of the Education Minister for approval,” said the District Education Officer.
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Schools not teaching Punjabi warned
Chandigarh, July 23 It said all private institutions must ensure that Punjabi is used for all official work.The Education Department had been directed to issue warning the erring schools to implement the order within 15 days or face the music. It said the government had already promulgated two legislations to ensure proper implementation of Punjabi in all government offices, boards, corporations, subordinate courts and educational institutions.
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Violation of building by-laws
Patiala, July 23 Accompanied with the police, a team of the Patiala MC today sealed as many as 14 showrooms and commercial establishments on the city’s posh road - the Upper Mall. Despite the resistance from the owners of the commercial establishments, the MC completed the exercise to seal the commercial establishments on the Upper Mall Road. At around 9 am, the MC team started the operation and by 2 pm, 14 showrooms were sealed. Municipal Commissioner GS Sidhu along with senior MC officers, SDM GS Chahal and police officers themselves went to the spot and the operation to seal the illegal showrooms was conducted under their supervision. Officials of the civic authorities said action against other illegal commercial establishments would also be initiated in due course to comply with the High Court orders. One of the commercial establishments against which action has been taken by the civic body is Juneja Realtors, which is owned by relatives of recently elected Municipal Councillor from Ward Number 31 Harpal Juneja, who is one of the probable for the post of Patiala Mayor. Besides, a club, which has been sealed, was set up by a relative of former Punjab policeman. Some of the other violators were also having political influences but the MC did not spare anyone because the High Court had issued directions to take action within 72 hours. The establishments that have been sealed include a hospital, marble showrooms and retail outlets. What is interesting is that since some of the categories, including advocates and educational institutes, that have been exempted from sealing, the illegal showroom owners had put up boards of advocates and coaching centres in name of their family members yesterday evening to evade action but the civic body was having complete details about the violators and no one was spared. In blatant violation of the building by-laws, illegal commercial establishments have mushroomed on the Upper Mall Road. Without bothering for getting building plan sanctioned, paying any Change of Land Use (CLU) charges and in sheer defiance of the building by-laws, several persons had constructed multi-storeyed commercial complexes on this road, leaving the area residents high and dry. Speaking to TNS, residents of the area pointed out that the illegal buildings had come up by throwing all building norms to the wind. It was a long- pending grievance of the area residents that because of the commercial activities in the area, the residents were facing extreme difficulty on account of parking of vehicles outside their houses. Almost one and half years ago, the Defence authorities had written to the Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) that allowing the commercial establishments on the Upper Mall Road from Thikriwala Chowk to YPS Chowk and Cantonment Area would be compromising with the security of vital defence establishments in Patiala. The defence authorities had apprised the then DC Dipinder Singh that road from Thikriwala Chowk to YPS Chowk and Cantonment Area was vital from defence point of view, as it provides route to vital defence establishments.
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Green Mission: Punjab to plant 40 crore saplings in 8 years
Devigarh (Patiala), JULY 23
Speaking to The Tribune, Bains said the Punjab Government had set a target to increase the forest cover in the state from existing seven to 15 per cent in the next eight years. He further said as per a satellite survey of the country, while in other states either the area under the forest cover has decreased or increased marginally, in Punjab, the area under the forest cover has increased by 100 sq km. About the project, Bains said apart from the plantation of saplings, special emphasis would be given to ensure minimal mortality rate. “In order to ensure that the saplings nurture into trees, we have decided to get saplings planted on the institutional lands. Educational institutes like schools, colleges, varsities and health institutes will be on the priority list for the plantation of saplings because at these places, proper upkeep of the sapling till it grows into a tree is possible,” he said. Quoting an example, Bains said, “If there are 500 students in a college, we want that each student should adopt 10 saplings, which means 5,000 trees in an institute. The saplings and the information required to ensure proper growth of the trees will be provided by the Forest Department.” He further said all the districts had sent the lists of the number of the saplings required, while adding that the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the respective districts would be monitoring the mission. Bains also said in order to make people aware about the need for the enhancement of the green cover, special campaign through the print media and hoardings with eye catching slogans would be initiated soon. bare facts *
Punjab's area under forest is 5.04% compared to the * Punjab has 4,336 hectares of reserve forests and 1,13,738 protected forests * Punjab is the only state where forest cover had increased by 6.01% Mission Possible
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Pollution board staff remove bio-medical waste from roadsides
Patiala, July 23 During the visit, the PPCB authorities spotted bio-medical waste dumped on roadsides. Perturbed over dumping of waste, the authorities took the officers concerned to task and directions had been issued to fix the responsibility of the PPCB staff responsible for the laxity. Immediately after the visit, a team of the PPCB employees was asked to clear the bio-medical waste from the roadsides. “During the preliminary investigations, it has come to light that major chunk of the violators are the clinical laboratories, where various types of the tests are being conducted. We have issued instructions to the concerned staff to conduct surprise checking of the labs and whosoever is found violating the prescribed norms, they should be sealed on the spot,” said Ravinder Singh.
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Unhygienic conditions in
GOVERNMENT Hospital Patiala, July 23 “Sweepers do not bother to clean the floor properly and dump the waste in various corners of the hospital. It is difficult to stand inside the hospital due to foul smell coming from various wards,” said Satnam Singh, a relative of a patient. The hospital lift is also non-functional and even the bio-medical waste is being dumped in an unscientific manner outside the hospital. However, after five days, the number of gastroenteritis patients from the Badungar Colony witnessed a decrease. Today, only two gastro cases were reported from the colony. Meanwhile, Government Rajindra Hospital Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Harshinder Kaur said the unhygienic condition in the hospital was due to shortage of Class-IV employees. "There are 611 posts of these employees in the hospital, which includes 344 regular and 267 contractual posts. From the sanctioned regular employees, 41 have been declared medically unfit for duty. We can't assign them any heavy duty and they can be deputed on sitting job only. Out of 267 contractual posts, as many as 149 posts are lying vacant," she said. Punjab Health and Family Welfare Director Dr JP Singh today visited Badungar Colony and took stock of the health services being provided in the colony. He also met patients admitted in Model Town dispensary and enquired about their health.
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Unhygienic conditions in Rajindra Hospital
Patiala, July 23 In her letter, Preneet has mentioned that she had visited the hospital to enquire about the health of patients suffering from gastroenteritis and was shocked to see unhygienic conditions in the wards wherein the patients were admitted. Preneet’s letter reads, “It has come to my knowledge that the government has not provided any medicines for the treatment of patients in emergency and whatever little quantity of essentially required medicines, injections, dressings, etc was given to the patients in the emergency ward, was procured through donations.” The Patiala MP further pointed out that the sewerage system in the hospital had been blocked for the past six months because of which the drainage system in majority of the bathrooms was chocked. Preneet says no phenyl or any other cleansing substance has been procured for the hospital in the past five years. “I have also learnt that a portion of the prime land of the hospital has been sold by the government. The sale-proceeds, I believe, will be spent on the development of the hospital, in addition to funds to the tune of Rs 150 crore that you had committed for the purpose during your recent visit to Patiala,” mentioned Preneet, while requesting Badal to intervene so that corrective measures could be taken. Meanwhile, a visit to the hospital brought to light that more than 100 gastroenteritis and diarrhea patients and their relatives were struggling a lot on account of unhygienic conditions in the hospital. “Sweepers do not bother to clean the floor properly and dump the waste in various corners of the hospital. It is difficult to stand inside the hospital due to foul smell coming from various wards”, said Satnam Singh. The hospital lift is also non-functional and even the bio-medical waste is being dumped in an unscientific manner outside the hospital. However, after five days, the number of gastroenteritis patients from the Badungar Colony witnessed a decrease. Today, only two gastro cases were reported from the colony. Punjab Health and Family Welfare Director Dr JP Singh today visited Badungar Colony and took stock of the health services being provided in the colony. He also met patients admitted in Model Town dispensary and enquired about their health.
staff Shortage: Dy MS Government Rajindra Hospital Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Harshinder Kaur said the unhygienic condition in the hospital was due to shortage of Class-IV employees. "There are 611 posts of these employees in the hospital, which includes 344 regular and 267 contractual posts. From the sanctioned regular employees, 41 have been declared medically unfit for duty. We can't assign them any heavy duty and they can be deputed on sitting job only. Out of 267 contractual posts, as many as 149 posts are lying vacant," she said.
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Tewari speaks up for Baddowal residents
Ludhiana, July 23 Tewari said the minister had also assured him that he would sort out the issue of one rank, one pension and introduce parity in the pension of emergency commissioned officers during the 1962 and 1964 wars. "These assurances were made by the Defence Minister in Delhi yesterday to a delegation of ex-servicemen who met him for settling various long-pending demands." Tewari said the ammunition depot had virtually halted development in the surrounding villages with construction banned within a radius of 1,000 yards of the depot. The Ludhiana MP also insisted on shifting the firing range in the Sidhwan Khurd area as it was causing physical and mental discomfort to the residents.
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Neo-natal care unit sans staff, equipment
Bathinda, July 23 Sources in the hospital said there was a dire need to start this special neo-natal care unit at the earliest so that special care could be provided to newborns and their mothers on the same premises. There are only two hospitals in the state which are exclusively built to treat only sick women and children. One is situated on the Civil Hospital premises in Bathinda while the other is the Mata Kaushalaya Hospital at Patiala. According to information available, due to non-posting of resident doctors, trained staff and non-availability of required equipment, the functioning at the special neo-natal care unit here is yet to start despite the fact that the building for this unit was completed and handed over to the hospital authorities in December last. The building was constructed at a cost of `20 lakh under the National Rural Health Mission programme. It may be mentioned here that after the implementation of the Mata Kaushalaya Kalyan Scheme of the state government during the last one year, number of deliveries have increased at the hospital. Besides, the incidence of newborn babies needing special care at the time of birth has also been increasing in several cases like pre-mature birth, birth asphyxia, jaundice and respiratory distress syndrome. In such circumstances, the setting up of the special neo-natal care unit here was the need of the hour. When contacted over the phone, the deputy medical commissioner (DMC), Dr Vinod Garg, said the staff was to be provided by the Health Department while the equipment would be provided by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC). However, the staff and equipment were yet to be provided by the authorities concerned, he said, adding that the special neo-natal care unit would start functioning only after receiving the staff and the equipment. The special neo-natal care unit will provide special care to newborn babies weighing above 1,500 grams and up to the age of 28 days. For the purpose, the facility needs equipment, including pulse oximeter, radian warmer and phototherapy machine. In the special neo-natal care unit, a paediatric intensive care ward for 10 babies, a neo-natal ward for six babies, a six-bed ward for mothers and a nursing station have been made.
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Train between Sriganganagar and Ferozepur sought
Fazilka, July 23 In this year’s railway budget, the proposed train had been announced. Besides, during the inauguration of the Fazilka-Abohar track last week, the Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa had announced that the train between Ferozepur-Sriganganagar would run soon. The Sanjha Morcha organized a special prgramme today to felicitate the representatives of those organizations who sat on dharna during the agitation. Sanjha Morcha office-bearers, Dr Amar Lal Baghla, Raj Kishore Kalra, Shakti Singh, Raj Pal Gumber and Sushil Gumber, president of the Bar Association, Fazilka, presented certificates of commendation to the representatives of 45 organisations who joined the chain hunger strike from June 1 to July 16. President of the Northern Railway Passenger Samiti, Dr Baghla, demanded that a new train from Sriganganagar to Delhi via Abohar, Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda should be started to enable the passengers have a direct link to the national capital. — OC
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10-year-old girl drowns Ludhiana, July 23 While Neha was drowned, passersby managed to rescue her brother. They rushed him to a hospital where his condition was stated to be serious. The children’s father, a daily wager, was away to work when the incident took place. The mother too was not at home.
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Cancer camps on July 26, 27 Moga, July 23 Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, the global ambassador of the trust, said stress would be on detecting cancer at an early stage so that it could be treated in time. “Early detection of the disease can make its cure possible,” he said. Further, he said a special awareness drive to educate people about getting their medical check-ups done on regular basis, would begin on July 31, the death anniversary of Shaheed Udham Singh. The sixth mobile unit to detect cancer cases would be introduced. A mega camp would also be organised on the occasion. “We have also got printed 16 lakh pamphlets, which would be distributed among people in remote rural areas. The pamphlets will educate them about the cancer diseases, in simple words and in the local language,” he said. Besides, the Roko Cancer is also coming out with audio-visual documentary films that would show
various aspects of the cancer ailments and some simple ways to diagnose the disease, particularly the breast cancer, at home.
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SDM slapped Rs 1 lakh penalty for misleading HC
Faridkot, July 23 The High Court has also directed the Chief Secretary, Punjab, to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report within six months. While setting aside acquisition of 103.4 acres of land in Faridkot by the Punjab Government in September 2009 for setting up a flying training academy, the court said the SDM, who was the land acquisition collector, published and announced the acquisition without considering objections filed by the trustee of the land. Maharawal Khewaji Religious and Charitable Trust, a caretaking body of the land, had challenged the land acquisition in the court. In its petition filed before the High Court, the Trust had accused the SDM of not hearing its objections. The state counsel made a statement in the HC on January 21, 2011, that no objection was filed by the Trust. When the Trust claimed that the objections were handed over to an assistant of the SDM, the state counsel, in a volte-face, on February 15, 2011, said the objections were filed, but these were incomplete and returned to the Trust. Displeased with the changing stance of the counsel, the HC summoned the SDM, telling him to bring the original record. On March 1, 2011, the original record was produced in the court and it was found that the objections were filed, but the SDM returned these for “being incomplete”. In its decision on July 17, the HC had said: “The returning of objections filed by the Trust in such a manner is wholly illegal, defeats the purpose of filing the objections and abuse of power of eminent domain conferred on the state government under provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. “It amounts to abdication of authority by the land acquisition collector”. Reacting to the HC orders, Bhupinder Singh said he would comment on the matter only after getting a copy of the orders. “I did my job as a government servant for acquisition of the land,” he added.
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XEN held for stealing power from streetlight
Amritsar, July 23 PSPCL Superintending Engineer Amarjit Singh said: “It is a case of unauthorised use of electricity. A report has been sent to the authorities for taking further action”. One of the raiding team members said they also found a changeover switch. The arrangement was made to give an impression that it was installed to run a generator set whereas no generator set was found in the house. Subhash alleged the exercise was planned by his colleagues due to professional jealousy. “The changeover switch was kept there because I had hired a generator set some time ago, which is not an offence. The raiding party also claimed that an air conditioner was on whereas an AC cannot be run on a streetlight connection,” he said. Amritsar MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said he was aware of the case. “I am out of the city. Necessary action will be taken after I get the report,” he said.
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Jalandhar, July 23
Following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Patiala Municipal Corporation (MC) has swung into action and initiated a drive to seal the showrooms and commercial establishments, which had come up in the residential areas in violations of the prescribed norms and without sanctioning of the building plans.
Taking cognisance of a news item highlighting the issue of dumping of bio-medical waste by hospitals and healthcare units in
Patiala, appeared in The Tribune today, top brass of the Punjab Pollution Control Board
(PPCB) inspected various areas in the city. PPCB chairman Ravinder Singh himself went to Badungar
Chowk, Leela Bhawan area and other localities from where hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare institutes are located.
After taking off from Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport in Amritsar at 7:30 am, the flight, being operated by Air Mantra, was forced to fly back to the holy city as poor visibility didn’t allow it to land in Chandigarh.
“Already, the industry is gasping for life.The power tariff hike with retrospect effect from April 1 will kill the industry,” said representatives of various industrial associations.
