Bathinda, January 27
It was a mini-Olympics of sorts at the Sports Stadium here as the First Punjab State Panchayat Tournament under-16 (boys and girls) got to a colourful start here today. An impressive march past by more than 2300 athletes attired in colourful track suits marked the opening of the tournament. The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took the salute from the marching teams and declared the tournament open by releasing balloons in the air.

Speaking on the occasion, Badal exhorted the participants to play in the true spirit of sportsmanship. “Sports is an integral part of life and every kid should be involved in games as it not only keep the body fit and healthy, but also keeps you away from drugs,” he added.

He said that gymnasium and sports equipments would be provided in villages with the help of panchayats and grounds would be developed to facilitate the young sportspersons to fully explore their talent.

Stressing the need for healthy and balanced diet to the kids, he said that it is a matter of grave concern that about 45 per cent children in the country are suffering from malnutrition.

Badal informed that a National-level Shooting Competition was being organised at Badal village from February 6 in which shooters from all over the country were expected to participate.

He lauded the efforts the Sports Department in taking the game to the village level and said that Rs 40 crore had been allocated for construction of cricket stadium in Bathinda. Decks had been cleared for construction of Airport and final round of talks were in progress, he disclosed.

About 200 panchayats from all over the state are participating in the in the three-day tournament during which competitions in Hockey, Basketball, volley ball, kabaddi and athletics would be held.

National players, Gurwinder Kaur, Anmol Kumar, Karamjit Kaur, Satvir Kaur, Virender Kaur and Gurpreet Singh lighted the sacred Torch. Karamjit kaur took the oath on behalf of all the participants. A colourful cultural programme climaxed by popular Gidha and Bhangra of Punjab, presented by students of DAV public school and Government Senior Secondary School marked the occasion.

Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, Cabinet Minister for Technical Education an, Chaudhary Swarna Ram, Chief Parlimantery Secretary (Co-orporation) S. Jagdeep Sinhgh Nakai, Former minister S. Sikander Singh Maluka and Chauranji Lal garg and Ex-MLA Nathana, Gurjant Singh were also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Services Punjab R.P.S Powar welcomed the chief guest and other dignitaries.

Director Sports Punjab, Pargat Singh who proposed the vote of thanks disclosed that the track suits had been given to all the participants by the department.

Navneet Kaur of village Singh Pura of Sangrur District won the gold medal in the 800 metres girls final while Gurjant Singh of village Khalchain Ferozepur bagged the gold medal on the first day of the tournamnet.

Winners on Day 1

Navneet Kaur, village Singh Pura of Sangrur district won gold in the 800-mt girls final

Gurjant Singh, village Khalchain of Ferozepur district bagged gold in 1500-mt men’s final 

Bathinda, January 27
Republic Day function was organised at the sports stadium here on Saturday. Minister for Public Works, Parminder Singh Dhindsa unfurl the tricolour flag and called for a mass movement in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.

Ashok Kumar, district president, Congress, started the celebrations after hoisting the National Flag at the party office. Remembering the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters, he said that our identity and independence should be preserved.

On the eve of the Republic Day, M.K. Mehta, DGM, SBoP hoisted the flag on the zonal office complex of the bank’s building. The bank also organised a patriotic cultural programme in which staff members and their children participated with enthusiasm.

Moga: Tikshan Sood, forest minister, unfurled the National Flag at the Republic Day celebrations here on Saturday. He handed over the land ownership certificates to the members of economically weaker families. On the occasion, 20 freedom fighters and as many as 10 war widows were honoured. — TNS

Faridkot: Janmeja Singh Sekhon, irrigation minister, unfurled the National Flag and handed over the land ownership certificates to the members of economically weaker families during the Republic day celebrations organised here on Saturday. — TNS

Fazilka: The BSF officers were greeted by their counterparts, the Pakistan Rangers, including wing commandar Asim Qureshi, at the joint check post on Indo-Pak border at Sadqi in Fazilka sector on the occasion of the Republic Day.

The BSF officers led by Commandant 99 Battalion Sunil Kapoor in turn presented sweets to the Pakistan Rangers. The BSF officers and jawans joined hundreds of villagers gathered at the check post and performed bhangra besides singing patriotic songs.

SDM Rajiv Prashar unfurled the tricolour at the official function in Government Senior Secondary School for Boys complex on the Republic Day here.He inspected the parade and received salute from the contingents of Punjab Police, Home Guards and NCC cadets.—OC

Ferozepur: The 59th Republic Day of the country was celebrated here with enthusiasm and patriotic fervor at Shahid Bhagat Singh Stadium here. Master Mohan Lal, transport minister, Punjab, unfurled the tricolour and was saluted by the contingents of the BSF, the Police, the Home Guards and the NCC, who marched past him.

The minister distributed 100 sewing machines to the widows from poor families and 60 tricycles to the handicapped. He also honoured 30 persons, including officials, students, sportsmen and social workers.

Earlier, the minister accompanied by deputy commissioner Bhagwant Singh and SSP D.P. Singh paid floral tributes at the Samadhi of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at the National Martyrs Memorial, Hussainiwala.

The Ferozepur Cantonment Board organised a function to mark the 59th Republic Day on its premises where the station commander, Brigadier S.S. Bhatia unfurled the National Flag and received salute from a police contingent. — OC

Abohar: SDM N.S. Brar hoisted the National Flag at the official Republic Day function organised at the Nehru Stadium here. Students from various schools presented colourful cultural programmes on the occasion.

The NCC cadets along with other college students presented march past on the occasion. The students of the LRS DAV Senior Secondary Model School performed ‘jago’ while ‘Mera rang de basanti chola’, a duet, was sung by the Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College students.

A group song based on patriotic theme coupled with evergreen folksong ‘jutti kasoori pairi na puri’ enthralled the gathering that included some eminent citizens besides teachers and students. — OC

Mansa: A district-level function was organised at Government Nehru Memorial College here to mark the Republic Day celebrations here on Saturday. Animal husbandry minister, Punjab, Guljar Singh Ranike hoisted the National Flag on the occasion.

He honoured freedom fighter Mahinder Singh and Daldhara Singh besides 21 persons, who had made noteworthy contributions in different fields. Deputy commissioner Surjit Singh Dhillon, District Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh, Additional District and Session Judge Jaspal Singh Bhatia were among those present at the function.

Students presented cultural programmes. District Red Cross Society provided 53 sewing machines to the women and 10 tricycles to the handicapped. — OC

Sadqi Border Post (Fazilka), January 27
Desperation was lit large on the face of Fozia as she vainly pleaded before the BSF officers and other visitors to allow her an opportunity to converse with her relatives who waved from the Pakistani territory across the barbed wire at this joint check post between India and Pakistan.

Fozia came here yesterday all the way from Rawla Mandi more than 150 kms away in the Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan to have a glimpse of her relatives who were left on the other side of the border during partition of the country. She accompanied a group of about a dozen men and women attired in colourful traditional costumes of Rajasthan. The mood on this side of the border was festive as the loudspeakers blared chaste Punjabi patriotic songs on the occasion of the Republic Day.

A large number of people had also gathered on the other side in the hope of getting an opportunity to talk to their relatives here.

The divided families in the area around both sides of the border draw satisfaction by having a glimpse of each other particularly on Independence Day and Republic Day when they are allowed to walk right up to the barbed wire. The Pakistani Rangers guarding their borders were also not very rigid as they allowed the civilians on their side to move closer.

It was an emotional scene as relatives on both sides enquired, from a distance and in full-throated voice, about the welfare of each other’s elders and offshoots.

An elderly Sharief Mohammad Ali said that he had come from Rajasthan to meet his relatives who were supposed to come on the other side from the village Chistian. However, he was visibly upset as his old eyes failed to spot them in the crowd on the other side of the fence.

Zarina, who accompanied Ali, said she was a regular visitor to the border post for the past 50 years during such occasions when security personnel on both sides eased restrictions and allowed them to speak. She said her husband had written a letter to her relatives in Pakistan to come to the border on the Republic Day when they could get a chance to speak to each other.

Satish Kumar on this side of the border was fortunate to talk to his first cousin Dewan Iqbal and his two sons Khurram and Toufiq who had come from the Sulemanki head works area to see him. Both exchanged family matters and Iqbal on the other side of the fence was sorry to learn about the death of Shyam Lal, his elder cousin, about three months ago. He informed Satish that his elder brother Ashraf was not keeping well. But there was happy news to be exchanged about Khurram having got married a month ago. Satish congratulated Iqbal who responded by condoling the death of Shyam Lal.

Iqbal had embraced Islam as he did not choose to migrate to India during the partition. He owns big landed property across the border. Satish said that his mother, Raj Rani, regularly visits the relatives in Pakistan on a valid passport.

It is worth mentioning that unlike many other border points in Punjab and J&K, divided families on both sides of the Sadqi joint check post enjoy the advantage of having an eyeball to eyeball interaction on several occasions. The Pakistani Rangers too relax the curbs on their Independence Day on August 14.

Bathinda, January 27
The Punjab government is planning to set up ten Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in border areas to impart technical training to the youth in emerging trades to meet the requirements of the Industry, state Technical Education Minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram today said.

Chaudhary Swarna Ram who was chief guest at the annual function of the MSD public school said that each ITI would have annual intake of 600 students.

He said that the trades in these it is would be introduced, keeping in view the requirement of the Industry so that the trained youth could get suitable jobs and Industry the desirable manpower.

Addressing the students, he said that rapid industrialisation is taking place in the state and there is urgent need to train the youth to enable them to acquire   technical training and skills along with the basic education.

The Government would also open an Industrial Development Centre in each development block to create awareness about various technical courses and their usefulness in getting employment, he added.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the announcement of the minister needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as most of the existing ITIs in the state are facing acute staff crunch. The ITI at Mansa is a glaring example of Government apathy towards ITIs, where four of the six courses have been discontinued and the institute is running only two courses.

Bathinda, January 27
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) acting president, Sukhbir Singh Badal’s bid to rejuvenate the party in Bathinda by removing frictions among the senior SAD workers, seemingly, got a blow as Sarup Chand Singla, halqa in charge Bathinda and Chiranji Lal Garg, the former minister, have again started indulging in mudslinging.

On the Republic Day, when the Cabinet Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, visited the city to participate in the state function, both the opposite repels made their best to exhibit their strength. The scene, which remained talk of the town, was enacted when on the way to a hotel on Bibi Wala Road, both the SAD leaders again showed the prevailing differences.

Sarup Chand Singla invited Dhindsa to his office, where many other politicians were seen present. At the spot, Singla and the shopkeepers of the road, reportedly, put forth the demand of demolishing a wall of the MSD School - whose president is Chiranji Lal - giving reason of traffic bottleneck.

In the retaliation and also to show his strength, Chiranji Lal Garg also made the Minister honoured from the hands of his supporters and some shopkeepers of the road for restricting the widening of the road up to 80 feet.

When Chiranji Lal was asked about the matter, he said, “The MSD institute has stay over the demolition of the wall.”

Taking the reply in a serious manner, Sarup Chand said, “There is nothing to take stay on the petty issue. All the shopkeepers of the road have sacrificed for the welfare and the development of the city, but Garg has made it a prestige issue and if he claims to be the representative of people, he should come forward for the developmental works.”

“Where ever the authorities or the party workers take initiative for the betterment, Garg always try to create hurdle in that project,” alleged Singla.

Countering the statement of Singla, Chiranji Lal Garg alleged, “Sarup has took illegal possession over the land which had been declared ‘Shamlat’. Even on the day, he just attempted to show off the minister about his strength, which he does not posses. He can not be termed a politician in any way as he always thinks with a businessman’s approach.”

On the query about the issue of wall, he stated, “I am the president of the school but the MSD Sabha is the supreme authority and I am supposed to follow their orders.”

It may be mentioned that on January 16, Sukhbir Singh Badal made Garg and Singla, who were alleged of not seeing eye-to-eye each other, to sit together on breakfast, with an attempt to remove frictions.

Bathinda, January 27
About 1100 candidates who were issued admit cards after clearing the Physical fitness test, Physical measurement test and medical test appeared in the written test at the government Rajindera College here today. 

The written test was held for Soldiers general department, soldiers technical and tradesman, while the test for the clerical posts would be held subsequently.

The candidates were seated in 42 rows of 25 candidates each.  The duration of test was one hour for the general category and tradesman while the candidates appearing for the technical posts appeared in part I and part II tests, of one hour and thirty minutes duration respectively.

The question paper was based on the multiple-choice questions aimed at testing the basic intelligence. Results of the written test and name of the successful candidates would be published in the newspaper. The selected candidates would report to Col S.S. Nair (Director recruitment) at Ferozpur and further deputed to various centres for one year training.

About 20,000 candidates had turned up for the Army recruitment rally of which 1500 candidates were selected for written test.

Bathinda, January 27
The police failed to make a breakthrough in the kidnapping case of three-year-old Gappu even after three days of the incident here. The Bathinda police was groping in the dark and was reportedly so far clueless in the matter that shook the town.

Family members of Gappu, the only son of a property dealer of Model Town, who was kidnapped from outside his house on Friday evening, have also not received any ransom demand.

Raghuwinder Singh alias Raja, father of the boy, said “I have no clue as I have no enmity with any one.” He further announced a reward of Rs one lakh to any one who gives clue about his child’s whereabouts.”

When contacted, the SSP, Naunihal singh, said, “The police has been working on multiple theories, all the suspects have been checked to trace the kidnappers. But till now we could not get any clue about the accused.”

It may be recalled that Amrajveer Singh alias Gappu was riding a bicycle outside his house number 181, Phase II, Model Town, on the Friday evening when two unidentified persons in a white Maruti 800 kidnapped him.

Bathinda, January 27
With the weather Gods throwing tantrums, the potato farmers of the Rampura belt of the state are having sleepless nights. With more than 12,000 acres of potato sown in this belt, almost 50 to 60 per cent is severely hit while the remaining also facing the brutality of the frost. 

Roughly, there has been a loss of around Rs 36 crore in total in the Rampura belt alone (around Rs 30,000 per acre).

As per reports gathered from vegetable experts, potato varieties sown after November 1 have been totally wiped out due to frost. “Because the Rampura area falls in the famous cotton belt of the state and due to that, potato is sown here late, as compared to other parts of Punjab. The potato crop sown between October 20 and 31 is under a loss of almost 20 to 40 per cent,” explained an expert.

The Department of Agricultural Meteorology at Punjab Agricultural University had said that in January this year, Punjab received maximum frost so far and there were thirteen frosty days as against five considered to be normal for the month.

As per data received from Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Bathinda, on Monday night, temperature in Bathinda went as low as minus 2 degrees Celsius. On Sunday night, it was minus 1 degree Celsius and on Saturday night 0.5 degree Celsius.

The Rampura belt of the state is famous for its Table Potato (for daily consumption at home), whereas the Jalandhar belt produces potato seeds. There are more than 2,000 families involved in potato cultivation here and the main villages where this crop is grown include Kararwala, Bhundar, Gill Kalan, Harnam Singh Wala and 
Sailbrah.

“The loss due to heavy frost is so high that it cannot be assessed at this time, with my entire crop of 200 acres is hit by it. More than 50 to 60 per cent crop is severely hit but there are some farmers in our neighbouring villages who had just 20 acres of potato crop and their whole crop has been damaged,” expressed Harcharan Singh Dhillon, a progressive farmer from village Kararwala and a life member of Central Potato Research Institute, Kufri (Himachal Pradesh).

Another farmer Gurjant Singh Bhullar of village Mandi Kalan informed, “The metrological department is totally incapable and they should give us a weather forecast of atleast seven days in advance during this season. Moreover the Punjab State Electricity Board is not helping us in any way and we are getting 5 to 6 hours of power supply only. We demand that during this season, we should get atleast 12 hours of power supply. I also demand from the government that this frost is a natural calamity the state government should conduct a special Girdawri (survey) so that each and every affected farmer of the state should be fully compensated,’’ said 
Gurjant.

Moga, January 27
An army team inspected the condition of the two live bombs here today, which the police had found in an open plot at Sadhawali Basti two days ago. Amarjit Singh, a councillor had informed the police about the bombs.

Ashok Baath, officiating SSP, said that the army would soon send a team to defuse the bombs.

Abohar, January 27
Rupinder Kaur and Arun Makkar were selected as the best athletes among girls and boys respectively at the 49th annual sports meet of the DAV College here held on Saturday. DSP Parampal Singh along with principal B.C. Josan of the host college, principal Neelam Arun Mittu of Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College and senior teachers honoured the winners of different events.

Results:

Girls: 100 metre race: Sonu Bala: 200 metre race: Bhagyashree; 4 X 100 metre relay race: Rupinder, Manvinder, Amanpreet and Sunita; Long jump: Sonu Bala; High jump, Discuss throw and Javelin throw: Rupinder; Shot put: Sunita Rani; Slow cycling: Reena Mittal; and Matka race: Sonia Rani. 

Boys: 100 metre race: Anil; 200 metre race: Amarjeet; 4 X 100 metre relay: Gurvinder, Arun Makkar, Charanjit and Amarjeet; 400 metre race: Amarjeet; 800 metre race: Anil Kumar; 5000 metre race: Mohinder Singh; Long jump and Discuss throw: Arun Makkar; High jump: Sunil Kumar; Shot put: Parminder Brar; Javelin throw: Amandeep; and Slow cycling: Harpreet Singh.