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Surprise checking at 73 schools in Bathinda
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Burdened by taxes, hoteliers hold protest march
Unemployed linemen stage dharna
Students urged not to lose sight of their aim
Bathinda rural MLA Darshan Singh Kotfatta (in blue turban) was the chief guest at the school function. A Tribune photo
Five injured in mishap near thermal lake
BFCET wins medals in youth fest
15 kg poppy husk seized, 2 women held
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Surprise checking at 73 schools in Bathinda
Bathinda, October 25 Twelve teachers were found absent, 11 were found reaching late to their schools while 10 teachers were found to be on leave for a long time. Under the headship of the additional state project director (ASPD), Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), Satpal Sharma, and SSA additional director Parampal Kaur Maluka, a meeting of all the heads of high and senior secondary schools was conducted to discuss the shortcomings and achievements of the schools visited. Most of the schools reported low attendance of students, poor upkeep of school and students' records, mathematics, sciences labs and libraries in schools not being utilised properly, shortage of staff, acute shortage of clerks leading to administrative mismanagement and lack of cleanliness in schools. At the Chauke senior secondary school, the attendance register was found incomplete and the teachers had given undated leave application inviting ire from the DGSE officials and the members of the team visiting the school. The team apprehended that the teachers and the head of the school were habitual of "helping" each others. The in-charge has been personally summoned to the Chandigarh headquarters. Similarly, at the senior secondary school in Ballo, the visiting team came across an irregularity with answer sheets of maths of class IX students were not being checked and found piled in the staff room. "None of the answer sheets were checked and the students have been given result. When we enquired from the students, they said they were verbally told the marks that they had scored in the exam," said the team members. The teachers of the school, however, claimed that the students were not given any marks as answer sheets have not been checked. The in-charge of the school has been personally summoned to Chandigarh headquarters. The Jeonda high school was tagged the worst wherein class time table was not being followed. "On seeing the team arriving, the teachers standing nearest to the classroom entered it without realising whether it was his or her period or not. The students said it was a regular feature at their school," said one of the team members. He added that during the recently-convened parent-teacher meeting, the class X monitor took the signatures of the students' parents, instead of the teachers. At the Teona high school, the visiting team found that mathematics notebooks of class X students were not checked. More than 50 per cent of the students had not brought their maths notebooks. The school in-charge said due to paddy harvesting season, students were not attending the classes regularly, but could not justify the issue of copies not being checked. The middle school at Bir Talan reported 50 per cent staff on leave while the middle school at Singho reported 60 per cent staff on leave. At the high schools in Golewala and Natheha, the team noticed that there was only one maths teacher who worked three days each at the two schools. At the high school in Laleana, the visiting team found that the mid-day meals prepared was not tasty. The team tried to seek an explanation from the head of the self-help group preparing the meals, but did not get any response. At the primary school in Nathana, students were found assisting the school sewadars in cleaning the surroundings of the school. Teachers were seen helping each other Good schools to get appreciation letters
* The high school in Bir Talab was appreciated for its good science lab. *
The high school in Nathana was appreciated for good notebooks in maths and Punjabi. *
The issues of shortage of classrooms and playground were discussed. Maluka directed that a proposal be prepared to shift the school on the premises of a primary school
in the vicinity and vice-versa. * The senior secondary school in Dhelwan was appreciated for discipline. Bathinda schools have the best mid-day meals in the state: Maluka
* Commenting on the mid-day meals served at the schools in Bathinda villages, Parampal Kaur Maluka said Bathinda had the best mid-day meals in the entire Punjab. *
"In winters, our village children get steaming hot food, which is not even available at the convent school where my daughter studies," Maluka said. *
She said the meals prepared in the city schools were being monitored and there was a great scope for improvement. |
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Burdened by taxes, hoteliers hold protest march
Bathinda, October 25 Owners of hotel, resort and marriage palaces across the state took part in the rally. They also took out a protest mach in the city and handed over a memorandum to the government through Bathinda Deputy Commissioner. In their speeches, members of the associations vent their anger against the Punjab Government. The Bathinda Hotel, Restaurant and Resort Association's president Satish Arora said marriage palaces were on the verge of closure as the government had imposed heavy taxes and fees like the Change of Land Use (CLU) and External Development Charge (EDC). "We are unable to pay such charges," he said, adding that 106 marriage palaces had already shut down due to the 'non-cooperation movement' started by the government. "The government is minting money by imposing heavy penalties, taxes and fees by using new methods and under various policies," Arora said. The speakers from Mohali, Patiala, Ludhiana and other districts of Punjab accused the state government of keeping double standards. On the one hand, it claims that it was promoting businesses in Punjab and blames the Opposition or successive governments for emptying the state coffers while on the other, the ruling SAD-BJP alliance seems to have adopted an autocratic behaviour. If the government failed to withdraw these taxes and charges, then thousands of workers engaged in the industry as waiters, cooks, managers, receptionists and others, would be rendered jobless and the onus for their losing their jobs would be on the state government. The members of the associations said despite meetings various members of the Badal family and their assurances, and repeated meetings with the senior government functionaries nothing had been done to resolve their problems so far. Jasvir Singh Dhillon, Ramesh Sardana, Anil Thakur, J Rajawat, Sikandar Goyal, Tirlok Kumar, Choudhary Partap Singh, Vijay Katia, Nand Lal Chhabra, Vikramjit Bahia, Rajesh Gupta, Varun Gupta, Tarun Gupta, Saurav Katia, Kuldip Aggarwal, Bobby Amantran, Rahul Arora, Manoj Kumar, Jagdish Grover, Pawan Garg and Ravinder Tanny were among those present on the occasion. Fact file
* People from various districts of Punjab reached the Chhabra Palace in the city where the Marriage Palace Association and the Bathinda Hotel Restaurant and Resort Association held a state-level rally. *
Police force was deployed at the venue of the rally and traffic remained disrupted for over half an hour as the members of the association took out a protest march from near the sports stadium to the District Administrative Complex. *
While addressing the gathering, various speakers lashed out at the Badals and the Punjab Government allegedly for working against the interests of the hotel, restaurant and marriage palace owners by imposing various taxes, fees and duties. *
The speakers said that they did not belong to any political party but they were fighting for their rights and against the alleged wrongdoings of the Punjab Government. |
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Jaspal Bhatti’s death comes as shock for city residents
Bathinda, October 25 “I was out for a morning walk and was taken aback when my wife called up to break the news. I asked her to confirm the news from TV if he actually died or was injured. It was difficult for me to believe the news of his death as I had seen the satirist in Dhobi Bazaar just last evening. He was full of energy, smiling at people and shaking hands with everyone,” said Balkaran Teena, a resident of Ajit Road. He said Bhatti was stopped by youngsters in the market yesterday who asked him all sorts of questions. They had a hearty laugh on getting the replies. Bhatti did not even frown as some people sought to squeeze his smiling cheeks. “Those who saw the humourist moving in the city yesterday, were upset with the news of his death. The news has not sunk in yet. I went to buy the CD of Bhatti’s earlier movie — Mahaul Theek Hai — in the evening”, said Pushpesh, a government lecturer. He said there was no other way to pay tribute to the comedian but to keep in mind the message he wanted to give to society. The principal of the DAV College Dr JS Anand recounted Bhatti’s visit to the college three years ago. He said he came in contact with Bhatti with the launch of his Mad Arts and while promoting his campaign against drugs. “Bhatti planted a sapling in the college to give a fillip to the campaign. Following this, the college management planted a large number of saplings in and around the city to reduce the pollution level,” Anand said. Anand remembered Jaspal Bhatti saying, “Comedy is a serious art.”
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Unemployed linemen stage dharna
Bathinda, October 25 The members of the union said the recruitment of 5000 linemen in the Powercom has not yet been done. The agitators said so far, only 1,000 linemen have been recruited in the Powercom by the government. The protesters alleged that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had not taken any steps to recruit the remaining 4000 linemen. They said the government is unwilling to give jobs to the linemen who are eagerly waiting for work. By sending the young agitators to jails, the Punjab government is trying to suppress the anger of the youths who will not rest until they get the job, the union said. Instead of giving jobs, the government is arresting the unemployed youths by slapping various cases. Accusing the government of wrongly labelling the linemen as Congress workers, the union said despite regular meetings with the government officials and the SAD-BJP leaders, nothing has been done. Leaders of the union like Bhola Singh Gagarpur, Sema Singh and others said despite an assurance by the government to release the linemen lodged in jails, nothing has been done by the government. The officials had assured of releasing the linemen who launched a hunger strike in jails at Bathinda and Faridkot, but in vain. The union said the family members of the linemen too would join the protest to get their demands accepted by the government if their appeal in this regard went unheeded by the powers that be. It will be the responsibility of the state government if anything goes wrong after the unemployed youths intensify the agitation to get the appointment letters from the SAD-BJP government in the state, the union warned.
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Students urged not to lose sight of their aim
Bathinda, October 25 Darshan Singh Kotfatta, MLA, Bathinda Rural, who was the chief guest at the function, appealed to the students to devote more time to studies and said the government was committed to the development of rural areas. He added that the parents should supplement the efforts of the teachers by encouraging their wards to perform better in studies. Hardeep Singh, District Education Officer (Secondary), who was the guest of honour at the function, said in his address that the department was working hard to provide quality education to all the sections of society. Veer Singh, a lecturer in commerce, read the report highlighting the achievements of the school during the last academic year which included winning gold medals in sports events, participating in the Virasat Mela organised by the Malwa Heritage Foundation and winning the second prize at an event organised by the Bio Diversity Board. He also listed the students who were selected in the Punjab Police and the Indian Army besides other government organisations. The function was dotted with performances including giddha, bhangra and poetry recitation. The drama, "Niroe Samaj Di Sirjana" (Making of a healthy society), written by biology lecturer of the school, Kulwinder Kaur, was also staged. The drama had represented the Bathinda district recently at a competition in Amritsar. Pushpesh Kumar, principal of the school, informed that the school was started during the pre-independence period. However, no concrete date as to when the school began functioning was available. He said records available with the school (written in Urdu) had signatures and stamps of 1930s. The principal said the village was then a part of Ferozpur district and the then Deputy Commissioner JN Thandani, IAS, had laid the foundation of the high school on October 25, 1957. He said the function was held to commemorate this day.
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Five injured in mishap near thermal lake
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, October 25
Man looted near railway track in Parasram Nagar A man, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was looted and then dumped near the railway lines in Parasram Nagar last night. Volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa said the man was noticed by some passersby who informed the NGO. An ambulance was sent to pick up the injured man who was admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital. Police officials said nothing could be said about the incident until the man regains consciousness and gives his statement. Three including ASI hurt in clash near Teachers’ Home Three persons including an ASI were injured last night near Teachers' Home. As per the reports, two relatives of the ASI, who were in an inebriated condition, entered into heated arguments and clashed with passersby last night. The injured were rushed to the hospital and heavy police force was rushed to restore order. The ASI is deployed at the Kotwali police station. Local residents also beat up the ASI's relatives.
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BFCET wins medals in youth fest
Bathinda, October 25 Engineering colleges from all over Punjab, divided in four zones, participated in the youth festival. BFCET won gold medals in bhangra and poem recitation competitions. Manpreet Kaur from the third semester in electrical engineering stood first in poem recitation while Phankar Sharma from the fifth semester (computer sciences) stood second in light vocal Indian. BFCET won a silver medal in skit also. The students of Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology bagged two gold and two silver medals in this inter zonal youth festival. Principal, Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology , Manish Goyal congratulated the winners. Chairman, BFGI, Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal lauded the students on their outstanding achievement.
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15 kg poppy husk seized, 2 women held
Bathinda, October 25 Two kg opium seized, drug peddlers arrested Police have arrested two drug peddlers with two kilograms of opium. The accused have been identified as Gursewak Singh and Kala Singh, both residents of Laleana village. Police said a naka was laid on Talwandi road from where the accused were arrested. According to the police, Gursewak was driving a motorcycle and Kala was riding the pillion holding black polythene from which the opium was recovered. A case under sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against the accused at Rama police station. Policemen said the accused had purchased the opium from Jandawala village in Haryana at a cost of Rs 40,000 per kg and were trying to sell the contraband in different areas of Punjab for Rs 60,000 per kg. Kala Singh had earlier also been arrested by the police for selling opium and is said to be a habitual offender. Policemen said a case in this connection has been registered and further investigation is on to enquire into the involvement of other people in the case. One arrested with smack near Bhagu road Police have arrested one person with five grams of smack. The accused has been identified as Rajmahinder Singh who was arrested by the police from near Bhagu road. A case under sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Civil Lines police station. Gold, cash stolen Police have registered a case against an unidentified person for stealing a bag containing gold, Rs 500 in cash, an identity card, two mobile phones, and a bank passbook besides other material. The complainant said the thieves took away the bag from Shakti Resort at Lehra Dhurkot. The total cost of the stolen material is estimated to be nearly Rs 40,000. A case under section 379 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Nathana police station. Three booked for assault Police have registered a case against three persons for beating up a resident of Seengo village. In a complaint to the police, Sarvan Singh said the accused, Bahadur Singh, Ratan Singh and Mewa Singh, all residents of Seengo village, beat him up over a property dispute. The victim was rushed to the hospital where he is being treated for multiple injuries. A case under sections 452, 323, 324 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Talwandi Sabo police station. One arrested with opium Police have arrested a man with 200 grams of opium. The accused has been identified as Kewal Singh of Chak Bhaika village. The accused was brought to the police station where a case under sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at Maur police station.
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The Punjab Marriage Palace Association and the Bathinda Hotel, Restaurant and Resort Association today held a state-level rally at the Chhabra Palace here.
Owners of hotel, resort and marriage palaces across the state took part in the rally. They also took out a protest mach in the city and handed over a memorandum to the government through Bathinda Deputy Commissioner.
The Unemployed Linemen Union today staged a dharna outside the district administrative complex
(DAC) wherein they reiterated their demands and threatened to intensify the agitation.
The members of the union said the recruitment of 5000 linemen in the Powercom has not yet been done. The agitators said so far, only 1,000 linemen have been recruited in the Powercom by the government.
Government Secondary School, Jhumba, today celebrated its foundation day by organizing a function in which the students presented cultural items and staged a drama that laid stress on building a society imbued with rational and scientific temperament.
