|
|
|
|
|
Poor visibility has BSF on its toes
Ferozepur in the thick of drug menace
‘Govt job can wait, hang rape accused first’
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indian-Carnatic Jugalbandi marks Harivallabh sammelan
Erratic power supply hits normal life
Capt hails move to depoliticise police
Youth Cong counters DGP on law & order
Panchayats have huge task of utilising small grant
Govt trips on law & order front
Private participation increased, but reach limited to few sections
Labourer buried alive in Fazilka
From curfew to 42 gastro deaths, Gurdaspur saw it all
Safai sewaks seek safety at work
PSPCL orders probe into Ropar explosion
Firearm injuries more in rural areas
PU’s Muktsar regional centre cries for care
Retired teachers to meet DAV Managing Committee today
Missing Bathinda girl recovered
Five killed as jeep collides with bus
|
Poor visibility has BSF on its toes
Amritsar, December 30 "We have been using electronic devices besides installing special equipment to check anti-national activities from across the border," he said. Round-the-clock vigil has helped the BSF authorities confiscate about 280 kg of heroin worth crores of rupees from the border this year. Besides contraband, the BSF also seized a huge cache of arms and counterfeit currency from smugglers this year. During this time of the year, Pakistan-based drug smugglers step up their attempts to push contraband and counterfeit currency into the Indian territory to take advantage of decreased visibility due to dense fog. Earlier, the BSF authorities had to face a lot of problems in curbing the menace in view of the low visibility. Recently, the BSF authorities have installed special equipment which has helped in checking the problem to some extent. This year, the force has witnessed unprecedented seizure of narcotics besides killing seven Pakistan-based smugglers and one Indian smuggler.
|
|
Ferozepur in the thick of drug menace
Ferozepur, December 29 As many as 390 cases were registered under the Act this year against 131 last year.
A total of 478 drug peddlers were nabbed in 2012 while last year, 171 persons were arrested on similar charges. Another alarming fact that has come to the fore is that this menace is not only confined to farmers and rural populace alone but it has also taken its toll on urban youth. The police has seized 46.28 kg of heroin, 56.2 kg of opium, 7,034 kg of poppy husk, 690 gm of smack, besides over 6 lakh intoxicating tablets and injections this year. The worth of seized contraband is estimated to be crores of rupees in the international market. Ferozepur being a border district has become one of the biggest transit points as well as consumers of narcotics, drugs and controlled psychotropic substances. Before the dark days of insurgency in Punjab, drugs used to be openly smuggled through the porous Indo-Pak border. A large number of drug carriers popularly called "snakes" used to operate in this border belt. But after the border was sealed with cobra fencing, though the cross-border smuggling of drugs has been reduced considerably, attempts to push drugs into the Indian territory are being reported every other day. A drug peddler, Gurtej Singh (name changed), said he had worked in a factory whose owner used to give him a dose of drug per hour for working overtime. Intelligence officials say this is not an isolated case as several factory owners, contractors and businessmen have been exploiting their workforce by giving them drugs to get better output from them. Besides, some politicians also reportedly provide drugs to their workers, especially during elections. The officials say every time they nab a drug addict, they face political pressure. It was high time stringent measures were initiated against the kingpins of this trade, else it would become very difficult to prevent the younger generation from falling prey to this peril, they added. Alarmed by this abnormal rise in drug abuse, though the police has launched a massive drive against the menace, a lot needs to be done in terms of spreading awareness about this scourge. Senior Superintendent of Police Varinder Pal Singh said besides tightening the noose against drug peddlers, the police had also been actively involved in community based effort with support of some NGOs to root out this evil. Under this initiative, several drug de-addiction camps had been held in various sub-divisions of the district, he added.
|
||
|
‘Govt job can wait, hang rape accused first’
Badshahpur (Patiala), December 30
Four days after the suicide of their teenage daughter Daljit Kaur (name changed), her family today turned down the government offer of a job for a family member. "No job is acceptable if it comes at the cost of our dignity," the family said, demanding registration of a criminal case not only against Sub-Inspector Nasib Singh (already arrested) but also against SHO (Ghagga) Gurcharan Singh. Punjab Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra had earlier met the family in their house in Badshahpur and announced a job for a member of the victim's family following directions from the Punjab Chief Minister. The family members thanked the government for the gesture but also warned that instead of a job assurance, their priority was to ensure strictest possible action against the guilty policemen. "The accused raped my sister once and left. But, the police offended her time and again by asking her indecent questions. Their behaviour drove my sister to suicide," said Harvinder Kaur, a cousin of the victim. "All she saw was how even after the registration of an FIR, the SHO summoned her to the police station, sometimes at night pressing us for a compromise and even raising fingers at her character," she said. Daljit's elder sister Charanjit Kaur alleged that if the victim was accompanied by any male family member to the police station, the policemen would cast aspersions over the relation between the two. "The policemen would time and again tell Daljit to enact how she was raped, which left her embarrassed," she said. The dismissed SHO had allegedly turned up drunk when the body of the 18-year-old rape victim was brought to the village for cremation after a post-mortem examination. National Commission for Women Member Shafina Shafiq, who visited the victim family last week, said, "The SHO delayed action for over a month and then turned up drunk when the girl was already dead! Still, the government only ordered his dismissal instead of having ordered his arrest." The family members also alleged that the local police was trying its best to help the Ghagga SHO get a clean chit in the probe.
|
||
|
Indian-Carnatic Jugalbandi marks Harivallabh sammelan
Jalandhar, December 30 The sammelan, which started on Friday, had earlier seen the piano debut and the Benarsi musical wit of Pt Channu Lal Mishra on Friday. On Saturday, things were taken to yet another level as Jalandhar responded to artistes Shanshank and Pt Majumdar with a packed house, which rung with constant applause. Shashank’s flute flowed and beckoned while Pt Majumdar’s soulful 'meendhs' charmed. Samsi and Venkatesh’s swift rhythmic intricacies beguiled. The performance was marked with superlative wit and rhythmic brilliance. Even as the performance asserted the individual distinctness and exuberance of the Carnatic and Hindustani disciplines, it was also marked by a profound, soulful unison of the two. The quartet performed Raag Charukeshi and a bhajan. After them, Bhai Baldeep Singh, the 13th generation scion of the Gurbani Kirtan Maryada tradition, presented Punjab Dhrupad Ang in Raag Basant and a composition in Raag Naat Narayani. He ended the recital by presenting a shabad in Raag Bageshwari. He was accompanied by Santosh Mishra on sarangi and S. Parminder Singh on tabla. Earlier in the evening, vocalist Shobha Chaudhary performed Raag Madhuwanti and ended the recital with a thumri. Other artistes to perform during the day were the father-son duo of Sudhanshu and Sarang Kulkarni (harmonium), followed by vocalist Shashwati Mandal Paul, who presented compositions in Raag Bageshri and Raag Durga, ending with a tappa. Paul’s dexterous taans set the stage for the classical warmth ahead. Yesterday, artiste Utsav Lal ushered in piano sounds at the Harivallabh with his fine renderings in Raag Bihaag and Baageshri. He was accompanied on the tabla by Shailendra Mishra. A superlative performance on Friday was from legendary vocalist Pt Channu Lal Mishra, whose Benaras wit and intricate, wise vocals were endearing. He illustrated classical versatility by employing different styles on how the various ‘sakhis’ (lady friends) would playfully tell Krishna not to play the ‘bansuri’ (flute). He presented renditions in Raag Darbari and Carnatic Raag Hansdhwani and then presented a thumri in Raag Jhinjhoti, ending the recital with a Chaiti and a bhajan. Before him, the auspicious strains of the shehnai (and folk instrument Sundri) by brothers Suryakant Khaladkar and Sharad B. Khaladkar and the Dhrupad recital by Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick and his sons Prashant Kumar Mallick and Nishant Kumar Mallick mesmerised all.
|
||
|
Erratic power supply hits normal life
Chandigarh, December 30
They attributed frequent technical snags in state-owned plants and not receiving power from Mundra power project to the current crisis. Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) has resorted to buying power from other sources for the first time in this winter season to bridge the gap between demand and supply. PSPCL is facing a gap of 20-25 lakh units against the supply of 900 lakh units per day, official sources said. Because of the shortfall, power cuts were being imposed in almost all parts of Punjab since Thursday. “We have been facing frequent technical snags, which have led to less generation of power supply in the state," a senior PSPCL official said. Currently, one unit with capacity of 210 MW of Ropar thermal power plant was not generating power because of technical snag, he said. The crisis in the state also worsened because of the utility not being able to get power from Mundra project located in Gujarat. PSPCL director (distribution) Arun Verma said, “Punjab is not getting 190 MW of power daily due to tripping in the units of the Mundra power project. It also compounded our problems.” Power officials informed that they were sourcing power from other sources in order to meet the power demand in the state. “We are purchasing power at Rs 5.50 per unit from outside so as to match demand and supply," he said. Officials also pointed out that increase in demand for power supply from industry and farm sectors had also put strain on the availability of power, forcing the power utility to impose power cuts.
|
||
Capt hails move to depoliticise police
Chandigarh, December 30 Amarinder said, “It is good that the government has finally realised the urgency to depoliticise the police and do away with the practice of making its various ‘halqa’ (constituency) in-charge all powerful in terms of the police functioning.” The Pradesh Congress chief maintained that the line of command in police must be ensured according to the rules. Once the police was allowed to function independently without being made to report to any halqa in-charge, things would certainly fall in line, he claimed. He said it was a long overdue measure, which would go a long way in ensuring good police working and better law and order.
|
||
|
Youth Cong counters DGP on law & order
Jalandhar, December 29 In a statement issued here, PYC president Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary said: “How can the senior most cop justify such unprofessional statement? According to him, incidents like drug hauls, shooting of police personnel, gang rapes and assaulting officer of AIG-rank officer do not amount to law and order problem”. “How can the government boast of suppressing attempts to revive terrorism when the ruling alliance conferred titles like ‘zinda shaheed’ to Beant Singh assassin Rajoana and construct a memorial to keep the simmering wounds of insurgency days of Punjab gaping,” he added. The PYC reiterated its commitment to take these issues to public to “expose the double standards of the ruling alliance”. The government should stop politicising and demoralising the police force and stop patronising Youth Akali Dal (YAD) workers, Chaudhary added. The BSP has also hit out at Saini. Addressing a press conference, Narender Kashyap, general secretary, BSP, said the incidents of attacks on police personnel and on general public by ruling party workers indicated the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
|
|
Panchayats have huge task of utilising small grant
Faridkot, December 30 Despite this little budget allocation of about Rs 5,100 per village, the panchayats are soliciting advices on how to make the good of this grant as they have to submit the utilisation certificate to the department within two months. Faridkot district has received a grant of Rs 11.07 lakh to improve drinking water and sanitation facilities in 171 villages of Kotkapura and Faridkot block. As the distribution of this amount among 171 villages will hardly bring Rs 6,000 per village, the local authorities are facing a big problem in using the grant. Even as the panchayats can't do even a little with this amount, the department is looking forward to see the outcome, said an official of the District Development and Panchayat Office (DDPO), Faridkot. Similarly, 352 Moga villages have received Rs 29.06 lakh, Muktsar district got Rs 23.07 lakh and Bathinda received Rs 32.21 lakh. The utilisation of such meagre amount for drinking water and sanitation project is a cruel joke, said a Panchayat Secretary in Faridkot. It is not only the officials in district who feel that the grant will not be suffice even for administrative expenses even the higher authorities have similar views. Balwinder Singh, Director, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, admits the amount provided to the villages is too little. It would end up in the paper work itself, delivering nothing on ground. "After this amount was sent to the district units of the department, we got dispirited response about its use. We will re-examine its workability," he said.
|
|||
|
Govt trips on law & order front
Chandigarh, December 30 The seeds which caused problems to the government were sowed in the run-up to the last elections. The SAD allegedly adopted a soft attitude towards radical groups as well as appointed hundreds of youth with suspect affiliation to the party as its Youth Akali Dal (YAD) officer-bearers. The nexus between Akali workers and police functionaries came back to haunt the government at the fag end of the year with Akali workers taking the law into their own hands on several occasions. Immediately after the election victory, the government was tested when under pressure it allowed radical groups a free run to protest to demand commutation of the death sentence of former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana. Even as the Punjab Police controlled the situation with difficulty, the SAD gave the go-ahead to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to construct a memorial at the Darbar Sahab in Amritsar to commemorate those who were killed in the Operation Blue in 1984. This resulted in fanning the radical cause and there were reports from central agencies that militants were regrouping to revive terrorism in the state. Besides these two issues, the Punjab Police was faced with controlling a flare-off between radical groups and followers of Dera Sachha Sauda after clashes in Sirsa in Haryana. A compromise between radicals and the Dera Beas over pulling down of a gurdwara in Amritsar district was also affected. At the fag end of the year, incidents of Akali workers taking the law into their own hands rocked the state assembly. First there was a case of an Akali worker allegedly forcibly abducting a minor girl from her house in Faridkot, followed by the killing of an ASI by another Akali worker in Amritsar and finally an attack on an AIG (Assistant Inspector General of Police) by Akali workers in Ludhiana. These attacks put the entire system of policing under the scanner in the state. The police, which defended itself by claiming that it had responded promptly and effectively in all the three cases, was left red faced when a rape victim allegedly committed suicide nearly two months after the incident when the local police failed to take cognisance of her complaint. However, the state performed well on the terrorism watch front under DGP Sumedh Singh Saini. There was no major case of terrorism even as the state arrested several persons on charges of trying to revive terrorism. Naxal activities, which were on the rise earlier, also saw a down trend with the police getting tough on their sympathisers. While individual cases of violence remained in the limelight, the year could also be seen as the year of reform in the police force under Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the Home portfolio. In an attempt at scaling down needless security cover given to VIPs and even former police officers, the Deputy CM withdrew more than 2,000 personnel from security duty following a statewide review. For the first time ever, a message was sent to the force that dereliction of duty would not be tolerated with several police officers being dismissed. Senior-level officers were also suspended. Police recruitment was also done in the state after more than 10 years with around 18,000 personnel as well as 3,000 women personnel being recruited into the force. Community policing took hold with the Sanjh Kendras attracting 13 lakh applications in the last one year. Modern police stations and control rooms were also established.
|
|||
|
Private participation increased, but reach limited to few sections
The government, this year, had introduced permanent schedule for doctor interviews, particularly specialists. However, the response has remained subdued. The Education Department is itself skeptical about the quality of education in government schools. Healthcare Private hospitals are coming up in big cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda. But smaller towns and rural areas are being neglected. The state has 2,950 sub-centres, 1,336 rural dispensaries, 395 primary health centres and 129 community health centres. Most government hospitals are facing the shortage of specialists particularly gynaecologists, paediatricians and radiologists. Specialists are not interested to join the government sector because of poor pay scales. They demand a separate cadre. A sizable number of doctors are not interested in postings in rural and backward areas. Due to this, many government doctors do private practice. Sting operations by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu showed how government doctors were indulging in private practice during duty hours. Incidence of cancer in the Malwa belt continues to grab headlines because of varying figures between government agencies and private bodies, particularly NGOs. The state has recently initiated a fresh count of cancer patients through direct interviews with all families to tabulate an "authentic data". The agencies concerned have failed miserably in upgrading the water supply lines leading to sewer water mixing with drinking water. There has been outbreak of gastroenteritis in Batala and Patiala.
State of education
The Vidhan Sabha session earlier this month witnessed the government giving approval to two new private universities. However, nearly 12 legislators of the ruling alliance gave a true account of the abysmally poor quality of education. The state has no institution in any stream of education that figures even among the top 20 in the country. A majority of the new private university are lacking in quality education because of lack of qualified teaching staff. This is leading to poor academic standards for the pass-outs, thus poor placements. Hiring teams do not even call candidates from particular colleges for interviews. There has been no addition in the number of government medical colleges in the state since long. The state also lacks government institutions for other professional courses like engineering, architecture, bio-sciences etc. Government schools in the state are handling the bulk of the student rush. The quality of education in such schools can be best checked from the fact that no teacher admits his ward in a government school. Besides, most government schools lack basic infrastructure. The Education Department’s list of circulars shows its desperate attempt to get the system back on the track. These included telling employees that no leave will be sanctioned through smses or phone calls; dismissal of nearly 600 teachers who went on foreign tours and did not return; settling the issue of medically unfit teachers who could not take their classes; and action against teachers reporting drunk Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was one of the six universities in the country that was sanctioned a grant of Rs 50 crore under the scheme of "University with Potential for Excellence". Punjabi University, Patiala, and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, completed 50 years of their establishment. Punjab Agricultural University introduced a wheat variety PBW-644. The university also introduced paddy varieties of PR 122 and PR 121 as alternatives to the controversial PAU 201. (With inputs from GS Paul from Amritsar, Gagan K Teja from Patiala and Charanjit Singh Teja from Ludhiana)
|
|||
|
Labourer buried alive in Fazilka Fazilka: A labourer, Chiman Lal (35), was buried alive when a mound of earth caved in while he was digging the foundation of a house in local Basti Hazoor Singh. He was digging the foundation of the house of one retired teacher. When he cleaning the foundation after having dug up to five feet deep, a portion of the earth caved in, burying him underneath. — OC
|
|||
|
From curfew to 42 gastro deaths, Gurdaspur saw it all
On the development front, two important buildings --- the District Administrative Complex (DAC) and the Judicial Complex --- finally saw the light of the day after much delay.
No more SAD-BJP hub
The year began with Gurdaspur district no more being a SAD-BJP hub. The results of the January 30 assembly elections saw five Congress legislators winning their respective seats, thereby, undermining the authority of the ruling combine. After delimitation, the district was left with nine seats, out of which five were bagged by these Congress MLAs giving the jitters to senior SAD leaders. However, these senior Akali leaders were not the ones to admit defeat easily as they named all the losing candidates as ‘halqa’ constituency in-charge of the very assembly seats they had lost. These halqa in-charge are now giving a tough time to the district administration officials who have been allegedly instructed not to listen to the democratically elected Congress legislators. Instead, they have been asked to “redress the grievances of these losing candidates in double quick time”, in the process throwing democratic norms to the winds. No official is willing to go on record on the issue but everyone admits on the sly that they have been caught in a political quagmire of sorts.
Curfew in March
In March, residents had a harrowing time when curfew was imposed in the town following clashes between Hindu organisations and Sikh fundamentalists. Frayed tempers were smothered only after the intervention of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh. The three-day curfew left a young engineering student dead in police firing. In the aftermath of the violence, the state government suspended the Gurdaspur SSP Varinder Pal Singh while simultaneously transferring Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth in an attempt to appease a section of the powerful Sikh clergy.
Police chief shifted in 100 days
A new phase in policing surfaced when Ravcharan Brar was appointed the new police chief. He was reckoned to be an upright officer who did not heed to the beck and call of his political masters. Irked, some senior Akali politicians finally had their way when they managed to get him transferred after the officer spent just 100 days in office. This infuriated the residents, shopkeepers and trade unionists as they called for a shutdown to protest against Brar’s “unceremonious” exit. New SSP Raj Jit Singh, soon after joining, had to deal with a tragedy when 17 persons died in Johal Nangal village after consuming illicit liquor. On August 5, the villagers woke up to see 17 residents, all of them belonging to below poverty line families, succumbing to home-produced liquor. Officials later said the tragedy could have been averted had the Excise Department kept a hawk’s eye on the trade of illegal liquor, which was thriving in the villages for the past several decades.
Much-delayed DAC completed
The new Deputy Commissioner, Dr Abhinav Trikha, successfully brought in a series of administrative reforms much to the relief of the residents. It was due to his efforts that work on the proposed District Administrative Complex (DAC), in which all government offices will function under one roof, finally began with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal laying its foundation stone on December 10, the day the kabaddi world cup matches were played in the floodlit government college stadium here. Likewise, much to the relief of the lawyers fraternity, a new five-storeyed Judicial Complex is also coming up, which will be the new abode of these advocates by March next year.
Gastro claimed 42 lives in Batala
The neighbouring steel town of Batala saw the dreaded disease of gastroenteritis striking the Gandhi camp area in September, following which 42 persons, a majority of them belonging to the lower strata of society, lost their lives. Cutting across party lines, politicians made a beeline to the area. Local MLA Ashwani Sekhri distributed bottles of water and issued some statements while Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal gave cheques of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of the victims. BJP ticket contenders for Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat --- film star and former Union Minister Vinod Khanna and industrialist Swaran Salaria --- also visited the affected families.
Slugfest in BJP for Lok Sabha ticket
On the political front, Khanna’s wife, Kavita Khanna, also a member of the BJP national executive, kick-started her husband’s campaign by managing to reign in BJP dissidents in Pathankot, Sujanpur and Bhoa assembly seats, all of which have a substantial BJP vote bank. The film star made it clear in several BJP rallies held during the year that he was the natural choice of the party. Salaria, on the other hand, claimed that he had planned and executed the victory of the party in the assembly seats of Pathankot, Bhoa and Sujanpur. Party insiders claim that Khanna enjoys the support of several BJP bigwigs, including the Gurjarat Chief Minister Narender Modi. “He is visiting Gurdaspur regularly because he has been given an assurance by the top party leadership. Otherwise, such a senior leader like him would not have cared to visit the constituency,” said a BJP bigwig, in an indirect reference to Vinod Khanna, who has also remained a Minister of State in the Vajpayee cabinet.
Schoolgirl’s murder shocked all
The year ended with the Police still groping in the dark in a case pertaining to the alleged rape and murder of a 13-year-old schoolgirl of Hasanpur village in Dorangla police station. The girl was murdered on December 5 but so far the policemen appear to be clueless in identifying the murderer.
|
|||
|
Safai sewaks seek safety at work
Bathinda, December 30 They vented their anger during a meeting held with the chairperson of the National Safai
Karamcharis' Commission, Hari Ram Sood. Additional Deputy Commissioner (D) Mohammad
Tayyab, assistant municipal commissioner KK Goyal and municipal councillor Balwant Rai Nath were also present at the meeting. The Balmiki
Samaj, the Safai Sewaks' Union and the Sewermen's Union presented their charter of demands to
Sood. The union leaders said sweepers were working round-the-clock to keep the city clean. "Despite the efforts put in, we do not get weekly off nor are we paid on time," a leader of the Balmiki
Samaj, Naveen, said. He added that the department does not provide any facility. Leaders said while cleaning sewers, the sewermen should be provided with gas cylinders, masks, gloves and search lights. Besides, an ambulance should be stationed at the site of work to meet with any kind of exigency. "However, we are not provided with any such facility. In case of any untoward incident, neither the MCB nor the contractor concerned takes any responsibility," added another union member. They added that safai sewaks work without any measure to guard them against diseases they were prone to while discharging their duties. There is no arrangement on the behalf of the department to provide treatment to workers that contract infection while cleaning the mess in the city. They said this year, four people had lost their lives while cleaning sewers in different accidents, but the department was yet to give any kind of compensation or jobs to the next of kin of the victims. Ram Sood expressed unhappiness over the working of the department. He said the Commission was dedicated towards betterment of safai
sewaks. All the problems of sweepers and cleaners would be taken up with the state government, he said, adding that the matriculate, higher secondary and graduate employees would be given jobs as per their qualifications. Arrangements would be made to make their children study in model
schools. Sood said an awareness camp would also be held in the Balmiki Basti to make people aware of their rights. He said the safai sewaks should be given at least one weekly off and suggested that the
sewaks, who have done good service, should be honoured at Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations. He also directed that special changing room be made for the women employees. Assistant municipal commissioner KK Goyal asserted that the matter of allowing one day weekly off would be considered soon.
|
|||
|
PSPCL orders probe into Ropar explosion
He further said that the committee includes K Laal, Chief Engineer of GGSSTP, Ropar, RK Jindal, Deputy Chief Engineer of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, and JK Gupta, Deputy Chief Engineer of Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat. He said the committee would submit its report in two days. After the fire had broken out in the oil tank yesterday evening, Chhabra rushed to the Ropar Thermal Plant. Chhabra said that there were three fuel tanks, out of which oil tank number two that was not in use caught fire and was damaged completely. The intensity of the explosion was such that part of the tank was blown away. "Speedy action by the fire brigade and the Ropar administration helped control the fire within a few hours," he said. Over 200 kilolitre of oil worth Rs 1.25 crore went up in flames. Ropar Deputy Commissioner PK Aggrawal, who had reached the spot, said ten fire tenders from Ropar, Bhakra Beas Management Board and Mohali had been pressed into service to control the blaze. No casualty was reported in the incident.
|
|||
|
Firearm injuries more in rural areas
Bathinda, December 30 The study was conducted by Dr Pramod Kumar Goyal from the department of forensic medicine, Dr Monika Gupta from the department of anatomy and an intern, Dr Karun Khanna. They studied the firearms cases received at the AIMSR over the last six years. "We received 40 cases of firearm injuries, which is higher than the number of cases I witnessed during my post-graduation in Amritsar from 2001 to 2004," said Dr Goyal. Firearm injuries in Punjab are more common among the rural Sikh male population and are homicidal in nature. As many as 77 per cent of the injured belonged to the rural areas while 62 per cent were young people in the age group of 21-40 years, which could be attributed to fact that this happens to be most active period in an individual's life, with the maximum outdoor activity. The study observed that fewer incidence of fire-arms injury in urban areas may be because of the presence of more security forces. In 90 per cent cases, the patients were Sikhs as the Sikh population is thickly concentrated in the rural areas of Punjab. None of the Sikhs had any history of drug addiction. No Christians and Muslims were involved, because of their meagre population in and around Bathinda. About the kind of weapons used, the study found that smooth bore firearms dominated over rifle firearm injuries and males outnumbered females. In 90 per cent of the cases, the patients were males because of cultural factors and access to firearms. The study also came across fabricated cases, though fewer in number, wherein doctors could not ascertain the arms used in the crime. Around 65 per cent cases received at the hospital were referred ones, while only 35 per cent were reported straight away owing to fact that AIMSR is located 12 kms away from the city.
|
|||
|
PU’s Muktsar regional centre cries for care
Muktsar, December 30 Once a prestigious institute of the Malwa region and the only branch of Panjab University in the area, the centre has nearly 500 students in different courses, including post-graduation in Punjabi, economics, political science and English and MCA, M.Phil and LLB. Since its inception in 1998, the centre has been running from an unsafe building and that too belonging to a gurdwara. A visit to the building revealed the fact that a majority of classrooms were in a bad shape. The staff claimed that water seeping through the roof during rainy season was a common scene at the centre. “We have apprised the higher officials of the matter several times, but nothing concrete has emerged so far,” an official said. Claiming that the centre had produced a number of judges, advocates and professors, some of them having excelled in their fields, the teaching staff said, “It hurts when a student reaches here to seek admission and retracts after looking at the condition of the The staff said that setting up an education city in Bathinda was a welcome step, “but the government should also take steps to improve the condition of the centre”. Centre director PS Dhingra said, “After writing a number of times to the higher ups, the district administration has agreed to allot land for the building. We expect the proposal to be cleared soon.”
|
|||
|
Retired teachers to meet DAV Managing Committee today
Bathinda, december 30
He said the retired teachers had been agitating against DAV College managing committee to get benefits like enhanced gratuity, leave encashment and arrears on account of revision of grades with effect from January 1, 2006. Press secretary NK Gosain stated that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided on October 1 this year in favour of the retirees and appealed to the DAV managing committee to stick to the directions. General secretary Satish Chander said a meeting of the retired teachers’ association was scheduled to be held at DAV College in Jalandhar on January 6 to discuss the outcome of the meeting with DAV managing committee. It would also chalk out its plan of action in case the meeting with DAV Managing Committee remained inconclusive.
|
|
Missing Bathinda girl recovered
Bathinda, December 30 The medical examination of the girl was conducted at the local Civil Hospital where reports confirmed the rape. A complaint was lodged with the police in this regard by the girl's father Mengal Singh. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Bhucho, Baljeeet Singh said the main accused, Gurwinder Singh Mithu, a resident of Dhaula village in Gidderbaha, had kidnapped and raped the minor with the help of his cousin Lakhdeep Singh of Kotkapura. The police also arrested Jaspal Kaur, the mother of the main accused, for helping her son commit the crime. The police has also booked one Soma Kaur of Fakkarsar village, in whose house the girl was allegedly kept. While the police had arrested Lakhdeep Singh and Jaspal Kaur earlier, they were sent to jail on Saturday after their one-day police remand got over. The DSP said the accused belong to poor families and the boy had forcefully taken the girl away on the pretext of marrying her. The accused do menial work and the family members of the girl are also quite poor. Police said the main accused would be produced in court tomorrow. Woman alleges rape Police has registered a case against three persons for raping a woman. In a complaint to the police, the woman, from ward number nine of Maur Khurd, said the accused, Leela Singh and his two cousins, raped her at Maisarkhana village. Police has registered a case under sections 376 and 34 of the IPC at Maur police station.
|
|
Five killed as jeep collides with bus
Abohar, December 30 Bishnoi and his relatives were going to attend a function at a relative's house in Rohranwali village near Sriganganagar. The police arrived soon and identified the dead as Subhash Bishnoi, his sister in law Soma Devi, her granddaughter Deeksha, Anil Godara and Bhanwar Lal Barupal. Anil's aunt Guddi Devi and Radhey Shyam Bishnoi were shifted to the community health center at Gharsana. The injured have now been referred to Bikaner. None of the bus passengers was injured. The driver fled from the spot, leaving the bus behind. Tehsildar Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, legislator Pawan Duggal, DSP Rajinder Singh and civic body chairperson Saroj Legha visited the health center. A case has been registered.
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
As the dense fog continues to engulf the region, the BSF authorities have intensified patrolling along the porous Indo-Pak border.
On the second day of the 137th Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan today, there were fireworks in the chill of the night in the pandal of Shri Devi Talab Mandir as the quartet of Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
(sarod), Shashank Subranmanyam (flute), Yogesh Samsi (tabla) and Venkatesh (mridangam) took to the stage.
Chandigarh, December 30
Gurdaspur, December 30
The state government may have been planning to set up education cities in Ludhiana,
Mohali, Amritsar and Bathinda, the condition of the Panjab University Regional Centre in Muktsar speaks volumes about the alleged apathetic attitude of the authorities concerned towards such institutes.
Abohar, December 30
Chandigarh, December 30
Gurdaspur, December 30
Patiala, December 30