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12 injured in clash over eve-teasing
RTI reply reveals irregularities in functioning of college group
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Narcotics recovered from prisoner in Central Jail again
Man opens fire at father-in-law
NCD staff cry foul over salary reduction
Police Public School teachers stage protest against principal
Engineers stage protest
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12 injured in clash over eve-teasing
Bathinda, August 26 Seeing the police, the persons involved in the violent clash went into hiding. The injured were taken to the Civil Hospital by the police with the help of an NGO. The police have recorded the statement of the injured and registered a case in this regard. Naseeb Kumar, a scrap dealer and a resident of Kheta Singh Basti, said that last night, when his sister was returning home, a youth from the area teased her, which resulted in a violent clash between the two groups around 3 pm today. Both the groups hurled stones and bricks at each other. Even the beer bottles lying in the scrap were thrown at each others. Later, volunteers of the NGO Naujawan Welfare Society reached the spot. The injured, Naseeb Kumar, and his relatives Ajay Kumar, a resident of Barnala, Kopa, a resident of Barnala, and Udal Ram, along with dozens of persons, were admitted to the Civil Hospital. A policeman said the reason behind today’s incident was not clear as one of the groups claimed that the incident took place in reaction to the teasing of the girl. The other group said a monetary dispute between two persons was behind the incident. |
RTI reply reveals irregularities in functioning of college group
Bathinda, August 26 SSDWIT and SSD Girls’ College of Education have not appointed a regular principal for six years. There are allegations that the detailed marks certificate (DMC) of Manisha Bhatnagar, officiating principal, SSDWIT, is fake. Following a complaint by a lecturer of the institute in December, 2011, the then Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda had marked an inquiry to the DEO (Secondary). In the report submitted by the DEO in June, 2012, it was mentioned that despite repeated attempts and reminders, the principal failed to submit her original DMC of MSc (maths). The DEO added while a lot of overwriting was done on the DMC for the MSc (first year), she claimed that she had misplaced the DMC of the second year. Later, she said the degree was never collected by her. Interestingly, her MSc (first year) degree showed the session 1989-90 but it was issued on October 12, 1989. The DEO had concluded that the documents submitted by the principal were suspicious and demanded a detailed inquiry into the matter. While speaking to Bathinda Tribune, Manisha Bhatnagar defended her stand and said, “While the university announced the result of all of MSc (second year) subjects, it delayed the result of one of the optional subjects, which delayed the issuance of the DMC. “Soon after that, I started my MCA and never felt the need to collect the DMC or the degree,” she said. She further added that after completing three semesters of MCA, she got the postgraduate diploma in computer applications (PGDCA) on the basis of which she got a job on contract in SSDWIT in 2000 and after she completed the MCA degree, she got a regular job in the institute. Later, she completed MTech (IT). Meanwhile, the matter was brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner today. He ordered an inquiry into the matter and has asked the department concerned to submit the report within 10 days. Other discrepancies
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Idols of Lord Ganesha flood city
Bathinda, August 26 An artisan from Barmer in Rajasthan, Mana Ram, and his wife Sukhi said they had left their home many years ago in search of a better living. To feed their family, they shifted to many places like Jammu, Panipat, Rohtak, Hisar, Jalandhar, Pathankot and Amritsar and settled in Bathinda. They said for the past 12 years, they have been working in Bathinda. “When we came here, we started our work at Barnala Road. At that time, these the idols of Ganesha were bought by the Army personnel only. We make idols for Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Dasehra and many other festivals,” they said. Another artisan from Jalour district of Rajasthan, Mange Lal, and his wife Swati said they, along with their eight children, work round the clock. “We take one to two days to make small idols while bigger ones take four to five days. We use POP, coconut and different types of paint in the making of idols and their cost has gone up,” they said. Deepak Kumar, an artisan from Gujarat, said in Ahmedabad, many people have started making idols due to which they came to Bathinda two years ago. The people of Punjab pay the right price of idols, he said. He said they had sold idols worth Rs 100 to Rs 17,000 in the past. They work from July to November and earn around Rs 40,000 from the sale of the idols. |
solid waste treatment plant hearing Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, August 26 During the hearing, the NGT took a serious view of the fact that while JITF Urban Waste Management Limited, the company responsible for the disposal of garbage, had distributed two types of dustbins among the residents for the segregation of degradable and non-degradable waste, it was not doing the same while dumping garbage at the site. The NGT has also asked the MCB and JITF to make sure that the plastic waste was not thrown at the site in the future. According to advocate Guriqbal Singh Chahal, the counsel for complainant Mal Singh, the NGT has also sought a clarification from the MCB as to why the site was preferred over the sites in Jeewan Singh Wala and Jodhpur Romana villages for the setting up of the plant. However, Municipal Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh claimed that the NGT had given the nod for the starting of the work on the plant after the segregation of plastic waste. The next hearing in the case will be held on September 29. NGT panel’s observations
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Narcotics recovered from prisoner in Central Jail again
Bathinda, August 26 The inmate from whom the drugs were recovered has been identified as Dilip Singh, a resident of Jalandhar. In another instance, 300 capsules were recovered from a prisoner on August 20. The inmate from whom the drugs were recovered has been identified as Monu Kumar, a resident of Maur Mandi. A mobile phone was also recovered from a soap dish under the bedding of the prisoner on July 29. The inmate from whom the mobile was recovered has been identified as Kuljit Singh, alias Ruby, a resident of Jalandhar. Drugs and mobile phones have been recovered from prisoners in the recent past. A mobile phone battery was recovered from an inmate on May 30. The prisoner from whom a mobile phone was recovered had been identified as Gurlal Singh, a resident of Sidhana Phul in Bathinda district. Another mobile phone was recovered from a prisoner on May 10. The inmate from whom the mobile was recovered had been identified as Guriqbal Singh, a resident of Kapurthala. The problem is on the rise in all prisons across the state. Cell phones help criminals in threatening witnesses beside planning their escape from the jail. Sometimes, they extort money while staying in the jail. The issue had come to the fore when two groups clashed inside the Bathinda jail on May 15. They blamed each other for using mobile phones and supplying drugs in the jail. Source inside the Central Jail said in many cases, relatives of the prisoners give mobile phones to them during hearing in the court. Similarly, narcotics and other communication devices were found in cement blocks and bricks. Mobile phones and narcotics were also found in the food of many prisoners. Notably, the state government had decided to install jammers in all jails but the project is yet to begin in the absence of funds. However, Rs 4 crore has been earmarked to provide modern communication devices to the jail staff. |
Man opens fire at father-in-law
Bathinda, August 26 The victim is seriously injured and his treatment is going on at Max hospital in the city. Harjinder Singh stated that the accused fired at his father as he had brought back his sister Baneet Kaur, who was married to the accused. |
NCD staff cry foul over salary reduction
Bathinda, August 26 In violation of the law, the state government has reduced the salaries of counsellors who are on contract basis and the staff nurses. There are more than 150 such employees in the state who have been facing reduction of salary in violation of law. Against the promised salary (as per the advertisement for recruitment published in November 2012) of Rs 18,000 to the staff nurse and Rs 15,000 to the counsellor, they are actually being paid only Rs 12,000 per month as salary. These employees are also not getting their six per cent annual increment on time despite complaining to the state health authorities a number of times. The employees of the Non Communicable Disease (NCD) clinics had already met the Director, Health, Punjab, a month ago and handed over a memorandum to him. But the meeting did not prove to be fruitful. The NCD was established as a Central Government project for the prevention and control of cancer under the National Programme for Control of Cancer, Diabetes and Cardio-Vascular Strokes (NPCDCS) at Bathinda, Mansa, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur in Punjab. The centre and the state are sharing the expenditure in the ratio of 75:25. A Non-communicable Disease Centre (NCD), tasked to detect the symptoms of cancer among the patients, includes a staff nurse, a laboratory technician, counsellor and a health educator besides an oncologist. Demanding the regularisation of services and numerous unfulfilled promises by the state government, the National Health Mission (NHM) employees had struggled a lot. The NCD employees are even getting the salary deducted against what was promised to them while making the recruitment. Said a staff nurse in Bathinda, "We are not getting the promised salary and it has been reduced without any reason. The government should at least have remained firm over its rules and regulations and the advertisement that was published for recruitment. We will also meet the Union Health Minister in case a need is felt." State president, NRHM employees union, Avtar Singh said, "The government is violating labour laws as it is now deducting the salaries of employees of NCD clinics without any reason. While making recruitments, the government had promised something else. The NRHM employees too have been demanding regularisation of services and were promised the same in March 2014. The Chief Minister promised in July this year that the matter is in the pipeline and would soon get the green signal." |
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Bank employees flay privatisation policy, hold protest in city
Bathinda, August 26 Bank employees demanded that the merger of the public sector banks be stopped. Expansion of banks be started and the associate banks should be delinked from the SBI. Addressing the rally, Pawan Jindal, secretary of Punjab Bank Employees Federation (PBEF), condemned the policy of the government to privatise the public sector banks and carry on with the consolidation of public sector banks. “The government is talking of merger of small banks to create big banks in order to become strong. In Western countries including the USA, the big banks were the ones to face severe problems and the government had to bail them out at the cost of the tax payers,” he said. “The associate banks are doing well and their performance is better than the State Bank of India,” added Jindal The rally was also addressed by the employees of other banks. |
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Police Public School teachers stage protest against principal
Bathinda, August 26 The teachers also presented a memorandum of demands and a complaint to the SP (H) Jasvir Singh. They also demanded that a meeting with the Additional Director General of Police be fixed. The teachers threatened to intensify their protest, if equal increments were not given to them. One teachers said the principal had recommended a hike in the salary of only those teachers, who were in her good books. The teachers said the Class IV employees had also not been considered for the annual salary hike. Principal Monika Singh refuted the allegations levelled against her and stated that the matter of salary hike was not in her hands and added that she had forwarded the letter of demands of the teachers to the school management. |
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Engineers stage protest
Bathinda, August 26 Following a call given by the State Committee Council of Junior Engineers, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), a protest was held outside the PSPCL circle headquarters, here on Tuesday. Protesters from Budhladha, Mansa, Maur, Rampura, Bhagta and local Bathinda divisions staged a dharna here for two hours. The protesters also submitted a charter of demands to the Superintendent Engineer, Bathinda division. They urged the state government to fulfill their long-pending demands. Circle secretary, Bathinda, Inderjit Singh said they have staged a protest against the PSPCL management on the call of the state committee. He said they want the special allowances for the JE and AAE to be started.n Vacant posts should also be filled, the difference in pay scale of JEs and AAEs should be removed and the under employed diploma holders should be assisted in getting the post of
JE. — TNS |
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BKU stages protest, demand higher rates for paddy, cotton
Bathinda, August 26 Addressing the protesters, union leader Baldev Singh said they had been fighting for the rights of the farmers for long but the successive governments had failed to address their concerns. “The drought-affected farmers should be given Rs 5,000 per acre as compensation and the Union Government should immediately implement the Swaminathan Committee recommendations and the rates of cotton and paddy should be revised,” said Baldev. “Debts of the farmers should be waived immediately. The sharing of the river water should be done as per the laws applicable to the riparian states. The state government should take back the Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2014,” he added Another BKU leader said due to the late transplantation of paddy, stores should be kept open till 10 or 11 months to store potatoes and reservation to every section should be given on merit basis. “During the last elections, the SAD-BJP leaders had claimed that the condition of farmers can not improve until the UPA government is in power, but after coming to power, the NDA government did not call any farmers’ organisation for talks.” alleged the leaders. |
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Retired PRTC employees up in arms against state govt
Bathinda, August 26 The members of the PRTC Pensioners Association staged a dharna at the workshop in the bus stand here today and accused the state government of formulating policies that is proving to be harmful to the retired employees. There are around nine depots in Punjab and 700 employees across the state that are not getting their pensions. In Bathinda district alone, there are about 20 retired employees who are waiting for their pension. The PRTC had not given the gratuity and increment besides [aying overtime of all the retired employees and the amount is expected to be around Rs 180 crores. The protesters demanded that the PRTC and Punjab Roadways should be merged as the PRTC is semi-government in nature while the Punjab Roadways is under the government. The budget has been kept by the state government for the Punjab Roadways, claimed the protesting employees. Gulabh Singh, general secretary, PRTC Retired Workers Bhaichara Manch, said, “The government is not willing to give us pension and we literally have a hand to mouth existence. We staged a dharna today and raised slogans against the government. We would put pressure on the government and if the need arises, we would intensify our agitation. The government is running short of funds and it should write to the Governor to impose a financial emergency.” |
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