Punjab Diary: Continuing with tradition

Patiala: Continuing with the tradition of not accepting gifts, the Chief Managing Director of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Baldev Singh Sran, has refused to accept gifts from visitors this Diwali as well. Notices in this regard have been pasted at the entrance of his official residence and office. Sran said: “I have been practising this ever since I joined the service and will not accept any freebies from anyone, be it gifts during the festivals.”

YouTube channel for agri practices

Jalandhar: The Agriculture Department has started a new YouTube channel ‘Safalkisan’ to provide a platform to farmers to share personal experiences on the in-situ and ex-situ management of the paddy straw. The mechanism used, machinery deployed, working of costs and other details have been explained extensively through the demonstrative videos being uploaded on the channel by Jalandhar-based agriculture officer Dr Naresh Gulati.

CM’s ‘karma bhoomi’ Ludhiana

Ludhiana: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is known for his satire and speech, while inaugurating the new Verka plant here tried to strike an emotional chord with the residents. He described the state’s business and industrial hub as his “karma bhoomi” and called Satauj village his “janma bhoomi”. However, the locals are still waiting for representation in the Cabinet despite the ruling AAP winning record Assembly seats from Ludhiana in the 2022 polls.

Viral jail video ‘embarrassment’ for AAP

Amritsar: A recent video of prisoners taking drugs inside the ‘high security’ Amritsar Central Jail has become a major embarrassment for the AAP government, which had made tall claims after confiscating 3,600 cellphones from the jails. The video went viral four days ago, prompting Jails Minister Harjot Bains to ‘raid’ the Central Jail here. His visit found lapses in jail security, and recovery of cellphones and packets of ‘bidis’. Recently, the STF had arrested the deputy jail superintendent of Goindwal Sahib sub- jail for corrupt practices.

A unique success story

Muktsar: The success story of Arshbir Kaur Sandhu of Bhangewala village here is different from others. Arshbir’s grandfather, Judge Singh, and her father always wanted to see her become a judge one day. That dream was realised on Monday when she cleared the Haryana Judicial Services exam on Monday. In her previous two attempts of judicial exams of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, she could not clear the interview. Arshbir has done her LLM from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

DC’s letter opens can of worms

Gurdaspur: The Deputy Commissioner’s recent letter to officers asking them to keep an eagle’s eye on paddy procurement agencies, including Markfed, Pungrain, Punsup and Warehousing Corporation, has opened a can of worms. In the letter, the DC claimed that these agencies were indulging in corrupt practices. What raised eyebrows was that such a brazen admission of corruption is seldom made in written by DC-rank officers. A few seniors spent a day in offices of procurement agencies but found no “corrupt practices”. Somebody must tell these officers that bribery is always done under the table and that way it seldom leaves any proof.

Infiltration by drones worrisome

Pathankot: When it comes to infiltration by drones, Pathankot and Gurdaspur are the most vulnerable districts in Punjab. Recently, a Pakistani drone hovered around for nearly five hours here. A senior BSF officer said what rattled him was the fact that the contraption had ventured 10 km inside the Indian territory. However, this claim was vehemently contested by the Punjab Police.

Contributed by Aman Sood, Deepkamal Kaur, Nitin Jain, PK Jaiswar, Archit Watts and Ravi Dhaliwal

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