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School buildings in Muktsar unsafe, students at risk
Two days later, NRI woman dies too
12-yr-old boy crushed to death under tractor-trolley
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Increase in prize money sought
Bathinda district Cong forgets Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary
Docs seek to dispel myths about sexual diseases
Two killed in separate accidents
Sweepers in Moga serving officials ‘unofficially’
Majithia is chief patron of Fazilka dist cricket assn
Tall claims, but fate of three power projects uncertain
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School buildings in Muktsar unsafe, students at risk
Muktsar, November 19 As per the details procured from the district education office, the structures of as many as 112 government schools have been declared unsafe in Muktsar district and it has been decided by the department to rebuild nearly 300 rooms. But so far, only 56 schools have applied in the prescribed manner to get the certificate of unsafe building from the Public Works Department (B&R). And only 13 of them have so far been given the certificate. Sources in the district education office said a number of schools heads only provided them the list of their requirements, but failed to furnish it in the required format, which caused the delay. They, however, partially blamed PWD officials too, saying, "The PWD officials are also causing undue delay in giving certificates to the schools with crumbling structures." Records revealed that the maximum number of 28 unsafe school structures were in Doda block, 23 in Muktsar-I, 18 in Malout, 16 in Gidderbaha, 14 in Muktsar-II and 13 in Lambi. The officials of the department said waterlogging was the major reason behind the crumbling buildings. "Besides the rooms, the verandahs of a majority of the schools are in a dilapidated condition," added the officials. Gurinderpal Kaur, District Education Officer, Muktsar, said, "The matter concerns the safety of the students and no delay on the part of any official will be tolerated. I will take stern action against all those responsible for the delay. I am also physically inspecting the condition of the schools." |
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Gas leakage from water heater
Faridkot, November 19 While the child was declared brought dead at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot on Saturday, the critically ill mother was rushed to the DMC, Ludhiana. Today, she was also declared dead. The deceased, Samarpreet and his mother Ravinder Kaur had reached Faridkot from the US some days ago to stay with his grandparents in Dogar Basti area of Faridkot. |
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12-yr-old boy crushed to death under tractor-trolley
Fazilka, November 19 Des Raj, a resident of Dhingra Colony, said he along with his son Momty (12) was going to see the doctor on a bicycle for the treatment of his sick son. When they reached the court road railway crossing, their bicycle got trapped between a tractor-trolley loaded with rice sheller ash, coming from the opposite direction and a scooter, as a result of which his son fell beneath the tractor-trolley. The rear tyre of the trolley ran over Monty who died on the spot. Monty was a student of class IV in Tinku Model School of Dhingra Colony. The driver of the tractor-trolley fled from the site of the accident leaving behind his vehicle. The postmortem of the body was conducted at the local civil hospital. Notably, after the construction of a railway overbridge on Malout Road, the flow of traffic increased considerably on the court road railway crossing causing inconvenience to the passersby. The level crossing has to close for over a dozen times for passing the trains resulting in traffic jam on both. As soon as the crossing is opened, the drivers of the vehicles try to cross each other in an unruly manner resulting in accidents. To overcome the frequent traffic chaos, the local Municipal Council had worked out an ambitious project of constructing an underbridge on the railway crossing some two year back. The proposal had been sent to the state government but nothing concrete has emerged so far. |
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Muktsar district livestock championship
Muktsar, November 19 Balwinder Singh, president, Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association (PDFA), Muktsar, said, "Holding of such competitions is good to encourage the dairy farmers and livestock owners, but the prize money is too meagre. It should be increased by the animal husbandry department." "The expenses that we incur amount to half of the prize money. So what is the fun in bringing the animals to such championships," added Balwinder. While giving the example of his own cow, which had participated in a milking competition, he said, "I have brought my cow from village Chauntra, which is just 5 km away from here. The transportation cost me Rs 1,000. Besides, two men hired for looking after the cow will be paid Rs 2,000. Some other expenses will also be incurred. Even the milk will go waste as nobody is willing to buy it here." He further asked that in case his cow wins what would he earn except for a certificate? Similarly, another livestock owner said the department must at least double the prize money so that the dairy farmers from villages located far away can also register their animals for the competitions. "The maximum prize money is Rs 10,000, but only in a few categories. It should not only be increased but also made equal for all competitions," said one Gurmeet Singh. However, Naresh Sachdeva, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry department, said, "We have already increased the prize money to Rs 5.5 lakh this year, which was almost half last time." He said nearly 500 animals had been registered for the competition till today. The championship was inaugurated by MLA, Malout, Harpreet Singh. |
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Bathinda district Cong forgets Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary
Bathinda, November 19 Not even a single sitting MLA or any other senior Congress activist turned up at the party office to pay tributes to Indira Gandhi who had remained the strength of the organisation. Harminder Singh Jassi, who lost the recent assembly election and was aspiring for the Lok Sabha ticket from here, also did not organise any function. General secretary Rupinder Bindra said the DCC did not receive any instructions from the state party headquarters for organising the function to mark the occasion. The birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi in August also was a lacklustre affair in the Congress office here. Most local leaders of the Congress that had routed the Shiromani Akali Dal in the Malwa region in the 2007 Assembly elections were reportedly not participating in the party functions here because of group rivalry. |
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Docs seek to dispel myths about sexual diseases
Faridkot, November 19 Besides educating the doctors about the new research in these fields, the participating doctors laid stress on the right diagnosis, treatment and also myths associated with the diseases. In the absence of a proper process to define sex-related diseases and the stigma attached to them, drugs worth billions are sold every year in the name of correcting sexual dysfunctions. "Misguided by quacks and pharma companies, people keep gulping down drugs for simple, non-fatal problems and these drugs potentially could have debilitating or fatal consequences," said Dr Prakash Kothari, a world renowned sexologist from Mumbai and founder professor of the department of sexual medicine at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai. "Proper understanding of the patient is necessary to resolve the problem in a majority of the cases relating to sex problems," said Dr Kothari, the winner of the Padma Shri Award in medicine for the year 2002. Many patients, even the educated ones, use wrong words or slang to explain their sex problems, said Dr Kothari in his lecture on "Common sexual problems and solutions." In the discussion on HIV and AIDS, Dr Rakesh Bharti from Amritsar and Dr Alok Vashisht from Haridwar said HIV can be suppressed by a combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) consisting of three or more antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. ART does not cure HIV infection but it strengthens the immune system to fight off the infections. The doctors said that post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is the use of ARV drugs within 72 hours of exposure to HIV in order to prevent infection. PEP is recommended for healthcare workers following needle stick injuries at the workplace. |
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Two killed in separate accidents
Ferozepur, November 19 In the first incident, three school going boys met with an accident when they suddenly lost control of the bike on which they were travelling. The bike hit a tree near Gandhi Garden area on the Jhoke road in the cantonment. All of them were rushed to a private hospital. One of the injured boys, Lovepreet, was later referred to the Government Medical College in Faridkot. However, he could not survive. The other two boys who sustained injuries were identified as Gurjant Singh and Varinder Singh. In another incident, a woman Ranjit Kaur died on the spot when the bike on which she was travelling along with her son Harpreet Singh was hit by a car on the Ferozepur-Moga road near village Machi Bugra. Harpreet and two others persons, identified as Jagir Singh and his son, were also injured in the accident. Just two days back, four persons had died when the Bolero jeep in which they were travelling collided head-on with a truck near Makhu on the Ferozepur-Amritsar road. |
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Sweepers in Moga serving officials ‘unofficially’
Moga, November 19 But inquiries reveal that more than 20 Class IV employees (sweepers) of the Moga Municipal Corporation are also 'illegally' working as 'personal help' at the residences of senior civil, police and judicial officials in the city. District magistrate-cum-administrator of the local body, Arshdeep Singh Thind, expressed his ignorance about the misuse of the manpower, which is actually meant for maintaining civic amenities in the city. "I am not aware of it but will definitely ask the executive officer of the corporation to look into the matter," he said. Efforts were made to contact the executive officer KS Brar for his version on the issue but he was not available. Ravi Sarwan, general secretary of the sweepers' union, said at least 20 of his colleagues are working at the residences of civil, police and judicial officers as 'personal help' and said the practice has been going on for many years. He revealed that after marking their attendance at the office of the local body, these employees go to the residences of the officials for work. "We have raised the issue many times and demanded an end to this practice but no one has listened to us," he added. It may be mentioned that there are a total of 461 sweepers in the MC, of which 221 are regular while 240 are serving on contract basis. On the other hand, heaps of garbage could be seen by the roadside in the city along with stagnant water, posing health hazards to the residents. There are many non-VVIP localities in the city where the sweepers have never come to clean the streets. "I have never seen a sweeper cleaning my street during my life time," claimed a resident of the Dashmesh Nagar in the city. |
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Majithia is chief patron of Fazilka dist cricket assn
Fazilka, November 19 Giving details, the newly-elected secretary of the association, Karan Gilhotra, said Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg has been appointed as the president of the FCA. Besides, Vijay Chhabra, Hemant Garg, Rajiv Bali, Ashok Pujara, Raman Kumar, Manoj Nagpal and Rajesh Kumar have been appointed the founder members. Pankaj Dhamija would be the cashier of the association. |
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Tall claims, but fate of three power projects uncertain
Patiala, November 19 While the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Lanco Infratech Ltd, Hyderabad, for the coal-based plant at Kot Shamir in Bathinda lapsed early this year, work on the much-publicised Rs 15,000-crore Gidderbaha project and the Gobindpura plant is yet to take off. For the 2,640-MW Gidderbaha Thermal Plant, an MoU was signed between the PSPCL and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in October 2010. Later in year 2011, the NTPC sent a letter to the power corporation, stating that it wanted to set up only two units of 660-MW capacity each and not four units as mentioned in the MoU. To this, the PSPCL replied that it could not deviate from the terms and condition of the MoU. Speaking to The Tribune, PSPCL Director (Generation) GS Chhabra said: "In a recent communiqué, the NTPC has stated that it will invest only after getting coal linkage." A senior PSPCL official, requesting anonymity, said: "The NTPC communiqué is ambiguous whether or not it will comply with the terms and conditions of the MoU. Considering the prevailing coal crisis in the country, it is unlikely that the NTPC will get coal linkage for the Gidderbaha plant by 2015." Work on the 1320-MW Gobindpura Thermal Plant in Mansa district is also yet to start. The power corporation had signed an MoU with Indiabulls Power on August 20, 2010, for the project that hit a controversy following an agitation by farmers whose land was acquired for the project. The MoU has been extended for a year. Though officially coal linkage is being cited as the main reason behind the non-initiation of work, confidential documents in possession of The Tribune show that a committee of power corporation technocrats had recommended that the corporation would require power from this project for just four months in a year. The matter was discussed at the PSPCL Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. "The developer will obviously not be interested in setting up the plant if the PSPCL is to procure power from the plant for just four months a year", said another PSPCL officer. |
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