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Poll panel focus on young voters, migrants
Woman held with 5 kg poppy husk
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Engg students unemployable, say industrialists
Bathinda, August 29 Industrialists in the district today complained that engineering colleges were churning out unemployable engineers. The feedback came at an interaction held with the Germany-based GIS International Services Company and the state's industries department for setting up a Multi Skill Development Centre at Bathinda.
Farmers unaware of failed samples
Teenaged girl killed on spot as pvt bus hits her bicycle
Lecture on Indo-Japanese cultural interaction at
BFGI
Jassi demands rollback of taxes
Local Congress leaders lead by former MLA Harminder Singh Jassi held a press conference on Wednesday to decry the move by the
SAD-BJP government in the state to levy fresh taxes. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon
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Poll panel focus on young voters, migrants
Bathinda, August 29 She laid special emphasis on enrolling the young girls as voters. "It is usually seen that young boys manage to get themselves enrolled but the task becomes difficult for the girls. For enrolling girls, the help of Aanganwari Kendras, colleges and ASHA workers will be taken," she said. In the city today, Sidhu convened a meeting of election officers of Bathinda and Mansa district where the revision of voters' list is to start in October. She directed the election officers to ensure that every person above the age of 18 years has photo identity card meant for voters. During the meeting, Sidhu said the Election Commission of India (ECI) is aiming at including all eligible voters during the revision and a new voter enrollment exercise would begin soon. She enquired about the current status of voters' lists in various constituencies. She also dwelt on issues related to the service voters, NRI voters, booth-level officers and other aspects. The Chief Election Officer said educational institutes, registration kendras, farad kendras, suvidha kendras, aanganwari kendras and other such organizations can be roped in to enroll the youngsters as voters. All these organizations would be provided with forms for enrolling a new voter. District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Kamal Kishore Yadav, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, Amit Dhaka, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Mohammad Tayyab, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Prashar, SDM Bathinda Ramvir, SDM Budhlada Varinder Kumar, SDM Sardulgarh Rajdeep Singh Brar and Tehsildar Bathinda Harphool Singh Sohal were also present at the
meeting. Fact file
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Woman held with 5 kg poppy husk
Bathinda, August 29 Manjeet Kaur, 43, was caught travelling with the bag containing poppy husk in a bus from Rajasthan. She tried to flee after dropping the plastic bag containing the drug but was caught by the policemen. Investigating officer in the case, Narinder Kumar said Manjeet Kaur is married and has two young children. She is hooked to poppy husk and had been smuggling the drug for the last many years. Manjeet Kaur has been caught several times and sent to jail but managed to come out on bail. Cases against her were registered at various police stations. "Earlier, the quantity of poppy husk that she was carrying was not more than 5 kg. It was because of this that she was let off with lighter sentences," said Narinder Kumar. He said that due to the absence of women constables during patrolling and search operations, the police usually fail to frisk such women. She was, however, caught red- handed carrying poppy husk near the bus stand area and was brought to the police station for questioning. A resident of Dhanka Mohalla in Jaitu, she is presently residing on Bathinda road in Jaitu itself. A case under sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against her at Kotwali police station. Manjeet Kaur purchased poppy husk from Sangria district in Rajasthan where there is no ban on its sale. She would purchase the drug for Rs 600 per kg and after sparing a few kilograms for her own consumption, sell off the remaining quantity for Rs 1,000 or Rs 1,100 per kg to other addicts. After leaving her husband, she is now residing with another man who is also a drug addict and consumes poppy husk. The policeman said this is the second incident in the last two months where they have managed to arrest a woman carrying poppy husk from near the bus stand. Two months ago, a woman, around 45-year-old, was caught carrying poppy husk, again from near the bus stand. The police said the woman had tied a polythene bags around her thighs and legs in which she was carrying the poppy husk. Police had a tough time frisking the woman as it took some time to arrange for lady constables to carry out the search. Fact file
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Engg students unemployable, say industrialists
Bathinda, August 29 Industrialists from the power and transformer sector, petrochemicals, textile industry, fertilizers, ginning and other sectors, participated in a free-wheeling discussion that continued throughout the day. GIZ-IS project manager Jax Antonious and Kuldeep Mathur spoke to the different industries about the kind of skilled employees they require to fulfill their demands and take industry ahead in the region. Additional Director, Technical Education and Industrial Training, Mohanvir Singh also discussed the issues with them at the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology. Based on the requirement of each industry, the courses would be tailor-made and run at the Multi Skill Development Centre (MSDC), which would be set up on 10 acres of land of the Government Industrial Training Institute, Bathinda. It is supposed to create a win-win situation for the unemployed youth and for the industries. A majority of the industrialists were of the opinon that the engineering colleges were not producing employable engineering graduates. "Colleges are only providing certificates. Students do not have any knowledge of the concerned sector, leave aside hands-on experience. The rot needs to be stemmed at the college level itself and a sense of work culture needs to be inculcated. There are so many opportunities but not enough takers for the same," the industrialists observed. Already, the GIZ-IS is running such MSDC centres at Gujarat. In Punjab, these centres are being established at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda. Rs 240 crores will be spent and every year, around one lakh youngsters would be imparted job-oriented industrial education and skills. Refinery to need only 15-20 new people every year
While interacting with the officials of Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, the team asked for the kind of professionals required for it. Officials replied that every year, not more than 15 to 20 new people are required. "Since the project has been just commissioned and the machineries are new, the onus of operation and maintenance (O&M) lies with the service providers. We have tie-ups for a period of 5 to 10 years and hence, we do not require anyone for these purposes," refinery officials said. They added that three institutes in Punjab are teaching chemical engineering and pass-outs from these institutes would be enough to meet with their demands as the refinery is not a labour-intensive industry. Mathur added that if more allied industries come up for processing refinery products, it would require skilled labour. "The end product of refinery is pet coke, which can further be processed into graphite. More industries should come up," he said. However, refinery officials reasoned that for the allied industry, Punjab government will have to give land on subsidy and introduce a single window clearance system, as is done in Gujarat. Yarn testing lab demanded for textile industry
The textile industry, which Punjab plans to make into a textile hub of Asia, demanded that they be given yarn testing lab - a basic requirement for the textile industry. Industrialist JS Randhawa said Bathinda's textile industry had to visit Ludhiana for getting the yarn tested. "Here, we can have power looms, knitting and garment industry and all of them would require yarn testing," he said. GIZ-IS officials proposed that Giani Zail Singh College's textile engineering can be provided with these labs, which would help the industry to which Randhawa agreed. He also proposed that a six-month course be run for the lab invigilators wherein +2 pass students can be trained. "When turned into a hub, every industry would require at least 15 to 20 lab investigators for yarn, thereby generating enough employment," he added. He added that earlier, all machines used in the industry were mechanical, which have now become electronic. Hence, courses should be crafted keeping the latest technology in mind. Prominent among those present on the occasion were the Director, Harpal Singh, General Manager, District Industries Centre, Chaman Lal Garg, principal, ITI, Bassi Pathana, Balbir Singh, PHD Chamber of Commerce chairman, Raman Watts, Deputy Chief Engineer,
PSPCL, Inderjit Garg and Deputy Secretary, PSPCL, MP Jain, among others. Fact file
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Farmers unaware of failed samples
Bathinda, August 29 The Agriculture Department collects the samples of agro-chemicals that are used by farmers to increase soil productivity and combat various diseases and bugs. These samples are collected by the Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) from the retail shops in a district. Special teams from the Agriculture Department, Chandigarh, collect samples from wholesale dealers. The Agriculture Department, Bathinda, has got a target of collecting 240 samples of fertilisers and 420 samples of insecticides. Six samples of fertilisers and two of insecticides that were collected during the past six months in Bathinda district have failed the quality tests. The names of the manufacturing companies are, however, yet to reach farmers. While demanding immediate release of the names of companies that have failed the quality tests, the state vice-president of the BKU (Lakhowal), Ramkaran Singh Rama, accused the Agriculture Department officials of having vested interests in hiding the list of manufacturers. "The list should be pasted outside the Agriculture Department office, provided to sarpanches in every village and should be pasted outside the shops selling fertilisers and chemicals so that the farmers could be made aware of the failed samples," Ramkaran said. He said the authorities failed to take stringent action against people involved in adulteration. "Our organisation had once caught a man for selling adulterated fertilisers and the authorities cancelled his licence to sell chemicals. Intriguingly, he managed to obtain a licence sometime later. At least, a case under Section 420 of the IPC should be registered against such offenders," Ramkaran said. After making few rounds and repeated requests, this correspondent was provided with a list of fertilisers that have failed the quality test. The list was given on a plain paper by the CAO. The CAO, Rajinder Brar, said the fertilisers that failed quality tests were Zinc Sulphate 33 per cent (Jai Sri Rasyan Industry), Zinc Sulphate 33 per cent (Nagarjan Fertilisers and Chemicals), Zinc Sulphate 33 per cent (Nandi Chemicals and Fertilisers, Meerut), Micronutrient Mixture Grade-II (Ganesh Chemicals & Fertilisers, Bhawanigarh) and Zinc Sulphate 33 per cent (Nagarjuna Fertilisers & Chemicals). The insecticides that failed the quality tests are Imidacloprid 17.8 per cent EC of Mesghmani Organics and Cartap Hydrochloride 4 per cent G of EI Dupoint. These samples were collected between April 1 and August 28 of the current financial year. Brar said the samples of fertilisers that fail the quality tests at state-run laboratories in Bathinda, Ludhiana and Amritsar were further sent to a laboratory in Delhi. Before resending the samples, the shop owners whose samples are collected are told to appear personally for their statements. If the samples fail tests at Delhi laboratory also, permission is sought from the director, Agriculture Department, to get a case registered under various sections of the IPC against the manufacturers or sellers involved in adulteration. The CAO denied the allegation of deliberately hiding the list of manufacturers whose samples fail quality tests. He claimed that the fertilisers and chemicals were not allowed to be sold in the market once they fail the quality tests. When contacted, Nirankar Sra, joint director- input-of the Agriculture Department in Chandigarh, said efforts would be made to pass instructions to all the CAOs in the state to release the list of companies whose products fail the quality tests. "The fertilisers and chemicals usually do not fail by a huge margin and only few of them completely fail the quality tests," he claimed. Quality test for fertilisers
Quote-unquote The list should be pasted outside the Agriculture Department office, provided to sarpanches in every village and should be pasted outside the shops selling fertilisers and chemicals so that the farmers could be made aware of the failed
samples. — Ramkaran Singh rama
vice-president, Bku (Lakhowal) Efforts will be made to pass instructions to all the chief agriculture officers in the state to release the list of companies whose products fail the quality tests. The fertilisers and chemicals usually do not fail by a huge margin. Only a few of them fail
completely. — Nirankar sra
Joint Director, Agri dept The losers Fertilisers
Insecticides
— Samples of the above fertilisers and insecticides were collected between April 1 and August 28 of the current financial year |
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Teenaged girl killed on spot as pvt bus hits her bicycle
Bathinda, August 29 The girl was residing along with her maternal grandfather and mother at Talwandi Sabo. The investigating officer in the case, Avtar Singh, said the parents of the girl were residing separately due to a family dispute and ongoing police enquiry by the woman cell. The father of the girl was residing in Nangla village. The cop said the girl’s father was accompanying her on a separate bicycle. While he stopped after noticing the approaching bus, the girl thought that she may cross the road. But the bus hit her killing her on the spot. A case under Sections 304-A and 427 of the Indian Penal Code
(IPC) has been registered against the unidentified driver of the bus. The bus belonged to the New Deep Bus Service, Rama
Mandi. Jajjal resident arrested with 15 kg poppy husk
A resident of Jajjal village near Rama Mandi has been caught with 15 kg of poppy husk. The accused has been identified as Raja Singh, who was caught near Jassi Baghwali village. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
(NDPS) Act has been registered against the accused at the Sangat police station. Elderly murdered over land dispute
An elderly man residing in Katar Singh Wala village was murdered over a land dispute. The deceased,
Harbhajan, had entered in a brawl with some other villagers who had land next to his. In a complaint to the police, Sukhpreet Singh said his father was murdered by Darshan Singh, Kaka Singh and Jeewan Singh, all residents of Katar Singh Wala village. A heavy iron agricultural tool was used to commit the crime. He said the accused had a brawl with his father around a year ago after a dispute over a pathway near their agricultural fields. The police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC against the accused persons at the Kotfatta police station. No arrest has been made yet.
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Lecture on Indo-Japanese cultural interaction at BFGI
Bathinda, August 29 Dr Kaburagi delivered a lecture on Indo-Japanese cultural interaction over the last 1000 years to the students of MA (History). He deliberated on various spheres of the Indo-Japanese history such as religion, commerce, art and architecture etc. Dr Pardeep Kaura, deputy director (Academics), Baba Farid College, said the students benefited from the lecture. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, chairman, BFGI, promised to organise such lectures in future also. Contests held
The English Literary Club of the Baba Farid College organised an inter-college debate and declamation contest on August 23. The topics for the declamation contest were 'Corruption' and 'Nuclear energy' while the topics that saw debate were 'Anna Hazare's movement politically motivated' and 'English Language as a mode of communication'. About 40 students from different departments participated in the contest. In the declamation contest, Aarti Tomar of BBA-IInd year stood first, Ramandeep Kaur of BCA-Ist year came second and Amanveer Kaur of BSc stood third. In debate, Ramandeep Kaur of
B.Sc-II stood first, Ramandeep Kaur of BCA-I stood second and Harjinder Singh of MBA-I came third.
— TNS
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Jassi demands rollback of taxes
Bathinda, August 29 Addressing mediapersons at the District Congress Office here today, Jassi said the government ministers were putting extra burden on small traders, businessmen and the common man for their own interests. He said instead of holding a debate in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the decision over levying of new taxes was reached at by the ministers in cabinet meetings. Jassi threatened to launch a string of dharnas in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner after one week if the taxes were not rolled back. He said state-level dharnas too would be consulted with the party high-command and people would be urged to support their dharna against the Punjab Government. The district president of the party, Ashok Kumar, KK Aggarwal, Suresh Bansal, Mohan Lal Jhumba, Iqbal Dhillon and Rupinder Bindra were also present with the former MLA.
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Bathinda, August 29
