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Safai workers end stir, begin cleanliness drive
Seven years on, maalkhana sans in-charge
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llm course duration
Assembly bypoll Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property act 2014
Power engineers hold emergency meeting
Badal diverting people’s attention from failure on development plan, says Bajwa
Civil Lines Club elects its new office-bearers
DGSE invites maths teachers for meeting
District-level sports competition kicks off in city
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Safai workers end stir, begin cleanliness drive
Bathinda, August 11 After an assurance by the minister to look into all the long-pending demands and its immediate solution after the Talwandi Sabo by-election, the strike was ended. Confirming this, president of the Municipal Workers’ Union, Ravinder Cheema, said the issue was resolved with the assurance by the minister who also declared to announce to fulfill their demands when the election code of conduct will not be in place after the bypoll. The city witnessed rising heaps of garbage all over. The situation had worsened in the congested areas of markets at Mehna Chowk, Amreek Singh Road and residential areas around the Bathinda Fort. The workers are demanding their regularisation, abolishing of contract system, pension scheme for workers and new assignments to literate persons as per their qualifications. The Municipal Corporation officials said they had taken up the matter with the senior government officials and the political leaders in view of the strike by the workers. “Though the workers of a private company were already picking up the garbage from residential and other areas of the city, a majority of the workers were idle in view of the strike,” said Municipal Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh. He added that though the authorities are yet to get a formal intimation from the workers, they are trying to ensure that the city gets cleaned before the Independence Day. City residents said they heaved a sigh of relief with the announcement of an end to the strike by the safai workers or else the situation was getting worse and the fear of an epidemic was imminent in view of garbage piling up in all the nook and corners of the city.
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Seven years on, maalkhana sans in-charge
Bathinda, August 11 Every time an in-charge is appointed, he fails to get the charge of the material which also includes one or two gold items lying shabbily in the dingy rooms of the maalkhana. The building where the store is situated is already in a bad shape and has been declared unsafe. “Though the in-charge gets official charge of the maalkhana, yet he never gets the charge of the material, which is more than three to four years old,” said a policeman. He said there is no inventory of the material and the register maintaining the record never matches with the material lying in the store. Also, there is no maintained record about the quantity or quality of the material deposited before 2010. However, the record of material which was brought to the store after the year 2010 is being maintained to some extent, the policemen said. “Seniors fail to match the physical presence of the material with that in the register during inspections. Once an officer failed to move further from the very first article—a gold ring—written on the first page of the register,” said another policeman, pleading anonymity. A visit to the maalkhana today revealed that three cops were present in one of the dingy rooms full of stench and
unbearable heat. They had ‘borrowed’ power from a nearby maalkhana (where drugs are stored) to run their electrical appliances, including a television set, ceiling and table fans. In charge, Gurjant Singh, who admitted that there is no-one in charge of the lots of material lying before 2010, claimed that the matter is being brought into the notice of seniors with repeated applications. “I have no idea about 20 rifles, 200 sticks, number of swords, sticks and other material lying in the maalkhana as I am yet to get the charge of the same. An in charge, Nachhattar Singh, had died on duty a few years ago after which the record could not be straightened,” he said. On unsafe declaration of the building, he said: “The building will be shifted soon after which the things will be set in an orderly manner”. When the matter was brought into the notice of SSP Gurpreet Bhullar he directed SP (City) Narinderpal Singh to look into the issue. “This is a serious matter and we will definitely look into it,” Bhullar said. |
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No respite from hot & humid weather in sight
As per the
Agri-met Department of the Punjab Agricultural University Regional Centre in Bathinda, the region will have to brave similar hot and humid weather in the coming days as well. Dr Raj Kumar of the centre stated that there was a lack of low pressure in the South-West Punjab and since the phenomenon plays an important role in the rainfall, the region was in the grip of hot weather conditions. “The activity of Western Disturbance, which is registered between June and the first fortnight of July was also almost 200 per cent less than what was registered last
year. Hence the rainfall is also playing truant in the region. As per the available data, the rainfall in the south-west Punjab is lagging behind by almost 70 per cent of rainfall this year when the region had received close to 600 mm rainfall,” he said. Meanwhile, due to little rainfall, the residents of the region are braving high humidity levels. While the morning humidity was recorded at 82-85 per cent, the afternoon humidity was 50-55 per cent. The wind velocity was at an average of 5-6
kmph. Meanwhile, the temperature in the region is also soaring and has been hovering between 35 to 40 degree Celsius. Over the past seven days, the maximum temperature rose by more than three degree Celsius to be recorded at 39.3 degree Celsius on Monday while the minimum temperature was recorded at 27.5 degree Celsius. |
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CUP issue reaches DC
Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, August 11 “The DC also reiterated what the university management had told us that the university will have to abide by the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The DC said while the university offered a one-year course, it may have to change the duration of the course to two years to abide by the UGC norms,” said Arora. He also added that while the university continued to hold classes for the course, very few students were attending the same and that a few had already applied for the fee refund they had submitted at the time of taking admission. On August 7, the university had put up a notice announcing that the UGC had directed the one-year LLM course to be converted into a two-year course. Post the notification, unrest had prevailed among the students of the course and they accused the university of cheating them at the time of admission. As per the notification issued by the UGC, specifications of the degrees along with minimum duration of various courses have been laid down. The notification clarifies that only those universities which have established the Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies in accordance with the UGC’s guidelines, can offer a one year LLM degree programme. It has also made it mandatory for the universities to have the faculty infrastructure, library and teleconferencing facilities etc as per the UGC’s guidelines. The officiating vice-chancellor of the university, Prof P Rama Rao, had expressed the university’s helplessness over the issue and stated that the university had notified the students as soon as it received the UGC directive and also gave the liberty to the students to apply for the refund of the fee if they wished to take admission in some other university.
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BJP leaders Chugh, Mittal take charge of campaigning in Talwandi Sabo
Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service
Bathinda, August 11 Sources inside the party claimed that the BJP leaders have come for campaigning after Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had shown dissatisfaction over the alliance leaders not campaigning whole-heartedly for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate in Talwandi Sabo. It is worth mentioning that Sukhbir Singh Badal is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a win and had told the party and senior alliance leaders that the alliance must win at least one seat in these two byelections and Patiala being the hometown of the Capt Amarinder Singh and Preneet Kaur herself in the fray, the leadership has set its focus on winning the Talwandi Sabo seat by a huge margin. Tarun Chugh today campaigned in various villages of the Talwandi Sabo constituency. While addressing the gathering, he said: “People are giving an optimistic response and workers are working hard for success.” The party was conducting village-to-village meetings and was trying to approach the masses. Jeet Mohinder Singh is the best candidate and his victory will be a historic moment, Chugh said. Chugh said Talwandi Sabo needs growth and development and Jeet Mohinder Singh will accomplish the needs of the masses. The combined candidate of the Akali–BJP will change the face of Talwandi Sabo. Madan Mohan Mittal also reached the constituency today in the evening and attended various election meetings at Talwandi Sabo. While talking to the party workers, he appealed to them to work hard and ensure the victory of the SAD-BJP joint candidate by a huge margin. He claimed that Jeet Mohinder would win for sure but they would have to work hrd so that he wins by a record margin. He also stated that the development work done by the ruling combine in the state is a record in itself. People are quite happy with the work of the government and want that this speed should continue. Mittal will be campaigning at Rama Mandi tomorrow in favour of the SAD-BJP candidate.
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Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property act 2014
Bathinda, August 11 The police took a tough stand against the unions and arrested many union members. Hundreds of workers from various organisations were arrested before they could stage a protest at the grain market. The police and intelligence were busy in getting updates regarding the presence of workers of these unions in the city. At many places, protestors were forcibly dragged to the police vehicles and protestors coming to Bathinda were arrested on the outskirts of the city and were taken to various police stations. Still, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta Ugrahan workers, along with various other organisation workers, succeeded in taking out a protest march at Power House Road. After receiving information, DSP (City) Gurjit Singh Romana, along with heavy police force, reached Power House Road and forcibly started dragging the protestors into police vehicles. Meanwhile, the protestors kept on shouting slogans against the state government. Different organisations had made an announcement to protest the bill at grain market today. When, at around 11 am, some leaders reached the venue to prepare the stage, they were arrested and taken to the Vardhman police post. Dihati Mazdoor Sabha leader Mahipal Singh, Democratic Right Sabha leader Prithpal Singh, Naujawan Bharat Sabha leader Amarjit Huni, Tarkshel Society’s Ram Singh Nirman, BKU Ekta Urgahan leader Darshan Singh, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union Thana Singh and BKU Dakonda leader Rajmohinder Singh Kotbhara were arrested by police. Besides, Sukhdev Singh (Democratic Kisan Sabha), Kuka Singh Rupana (Dihati Mazdoor Sabha), Surmukh Singh Salebrah (BKU Krantikari), Paramjit Kaur Pitho, Karamjit Lehra Khana were arrested when they were coming from the Nathana side. Their vehicles were stopped near Bucho and they were taken to the Nathana police station. Leader Mahipal Singh, Buta Singh Burjgill (BKU Dakonda), Jasveer Singh Burj Sema said they would submit a memorandum to the Governor through deputy commissioner demanding cancellation of the ‘black bill’. They said it was quite surprising that the protest was being lodged by the organisations across the state in a very silent manner. But it was only in Bathinda among all districts that hundreds of workers had been arrested, they added. They said the Bathinda police had arrested and kept the workers at Kotfatta, Canal Colony, Civil Lines, Cantonment and Nathana police stations without any reason.
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Power engineers hold emergency meeting
Bathinda, August 11 To further vitiate the industrial peace, the management is bending service rules to give benefit to other cadres at the cost of power engineers by amending the service regulations in gross violation of the tripartite agreement. The association alleged that there is an acute shortage of staff in the field which is adversely affecting the consumer services. The management, instead of finding the solution, has been issuing charge sheets to the field engineers on trivial issues in spite of the grave working conditions. The members of association also blamed the PSPCL management for creating the mess which led to less supply of coal to the state-owned thermal plants from its own captive coal mine by PANEM. “Instead of in-house reform initiatives, unscrupulous middlemen are being invited through outsourcing. The PSPCL management has been deliberately denying the meeting to PSEB Engineers’ Association in spite of a number of written requests since February,” says engineers. In the meeting, the GHTP general house unanimously endorsed the decision of Central Executive Committee to resume the agitation from August 15 onwards, in case the PSPCL management do not grant immediate meeting to the association and resolve the issues in a time-bound manner. The agitation may affect power generation at thermal power plant, which ultimately will affect the consumer services and responsibility of the same would lie with the management. Engineers claimed that although sufficient indigenous coal is available in the captive coal mines of the state, still the PSPCL management has failed to show any progress in the execution of 1320 MW state sector thermal project at Mukerian, which would have brought down the cost of power by at least 60 per unit and created employment opportunities for the young engineers and technicians of the state which have been denied by any other private sector projects.
— TNS
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Badal diverting people’s attention from failure on development plan, says Bajwa
Talwandi Sabo, August 11 Addressing gatherings in Talwandi Sabo, Bajwa stated that it was ironic that despite being a part of the so-called VIP constituency, represented by Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Parliament, the assembly segment of Talwandi Sabo is underdeveloped. He said although all the state resources were being diverted to this constituency, much to the chagrin of other MPs from the state, Talwandi Sabo continued to be as backward as it was earlier. He pointed out that link roads were missing in the segment and villages lacked basic amenities. Referring to the increasing menace of drugs in the state, he appealed to the Akal Takht jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, to issue a directive against the distribution of drugs to lure voters. He also derided the CM for trying to raise emotive issues like the formation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee as his government had failed to keep up with the aspirations of the people despite having completed more than half of its second consecutive tenure. Badal was trying to camouflage his own failures by blaming the Congress for the religious-political developments in the neighbouring state, Bajwa stated. He said what had happened in Haryana was the logical outcome of the denigration and subversion of the high Sikh institutions by the CM over the years to emerge as the unquestioned and powerful leader of the Sikhs. He also raised the issue of the state government’s failure to relocate Kanakwal village adjacent to the Guru Gobind Singh refinery as announced earlier despite the fact that the residents of the village were getting affected due to pollution in the area. He said it was a serious issue which must be addressed on priority basis. |
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Civil Lines Club elects its new office-bearers
Bathinda, August 11 Gangeshwar Bansal, was serving as the treasurer of the club. Dr Ajay has become the vice-president of the club for the second time. Dr Ajay thanks the members for their support. Election process of the club started at 9 am on Sunday. The counting started after 5 pm. In all 951 members cast their votes. There was a close contest for the post of cultural secretary as Jaideep Nayyar won the election by a thin margin of 6 votes. Out of total 951 votes polled, Jaideep Nayyar got 465 votes, while his rival Dravjit Thakur alias Merry got 457 votes.23 votes were declared invalid. Sudhir Bansal has been elected as the treasurer. He defeated Varinder Mohan by 96 votes.. Sudhir Bansal got 500 votes out of 951 votes polled. Varinder Mohan got 404 votes Raj Garg got 21 votes, while 26 votes were declared unvalid. Rajinder Mittal and Rajiv Gupta had earlier been elected as the president and the general secretary of the club by the parent body. |
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DGSE invites maths teachers for meeting
Bathinda, August 11 The meeting will be held on August 13 at 11 am at the Ajitgarh office of the DGSE. In a press statement issued today, the association shared that during the meeting they will raise issues of opening posts of mathematics teachers in the government middle schools, funds for rooms to set up math labs in schools, special allowance be given to maths teachers, rationalisation policy, benefits of training camps, edusat lectures among others. About two weeks ago, the association had pointed out that there were no mathematics teachers in 2,500 government middle schools of the state. The union members had added that since there were no posts for mathematics teachers in the middle schools and hence those teaching other subjects were forced to teach a subject as technical as maths as well. State president of the union, Gurbachan Singh had stated that in the government middle schools, there are nine periods of physical education, nine of drawing, 12 for Hindi and 18 for Punjabi in a week. While teachers for almost all the subjects are present in the schools, no mathematics teacher is present despite the fact that there are almost 24 periods of the subject in a week. They also argued that since other teachers hold classes for mathematics, the students draw a zero in the subject. By the time the students reach class IX, they are very weak in the subject and have almost no interest in it. |
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District-level sports competition kicks off in city
Bathinda, August 11 Today, in Kabaddi under-19 (girls) Mandi Kalan defeated Maur Mandi . In volleyball under-19 (girls) Mandi Kalan defeated Talwandi and Bathinda zone-2 defeated Maur Mandi . In under-14 (girls) volley ball,Mandi Kalan defeated Sangat Mandi and Bathinda zone-2 defeated Bhagta. The hand ball event was played at Saint Xavier High School, in which under-19 (girls) category Talwandi defeated Bathinda zone-2, while in under-19 (boys) event Sangat defeated Bhagta zone. In under-17 girls event Bathinda zone-2 defeated Goniana and Bathinda zone-1 defeated Talwandi. In under-17 boys event Bathinda zone 1 defeated Sangat zone.
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The weaponry and other material lying in the police maalkhana (store for keeping weapons and seized material) at the District Courts Complex is without an in-charge for the last many years.
Bathinda, August 11
