The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Vacations bring cool relief for Govt school students Rajay Deep/TNS Bathinda, May 23 The announcement about summer vacations beginning has brought a big smile on the faces of poor children studying in government schools here. Their happiness was not because they would get freedom from the burden of school work, but for getting respite from the scorching sun. They were forced to attend classes in the open as their schools did not have an adequate number of classrooms. During a visit to the Government Elementary School, Lal Singh Basti, TNS found about 40 children sitting under a small and not-so-dense tree. Two teachers attending to the group of kids informed that it was a joint class being run under the Alternative Innovative Education (AIE) programme, where the kids in the age group of 8-14 years were being taught bridge-courses. When asked about the apathetic as well as inhuman attitude of the department concerned, the kids narrated their plight stating that they kept complaining about the rising temperature but the “careless” teachers took no step. The students added that in week before the vacations began, three of them suffered from headache, giddiness and bleeding from the nose due to the intense heat. The AIE teachers present there expressed their helplessness saying, “Earlier, we used to take class at our house but now the department has directed to teach them in the school premises. But here, we are not provided with classroom.” Meanwhile, due to unavailability of potable water, children were observed crowding a hand pump to quench their thirst with the "unhygienic" water drawn from the same. Various studies and researches had already confirmed that the underground water of the Bathinda region is highly contaminated causing diseases like cancer, but the education department seemed not to be concerned about the health of the kids. Before leaving the schools today, students as well teachers hoped that the education department would pay heed towards the pathetic condition of students and make some arrangement before the school reopened in July. Despite repeated attempts, the District Education Officer (Elementary) could not be contacted for his version as his phone was switched off.
	Fight that flab by washing clothes on this machine Chander Parkash/TNS Ferozepur, May 23 Women wishing to stay fighting fit now have to look no further! Those performing daily chores can now wash clothes while shedding extra flab to keep themselves fit. An exercise washing machine has been prepared by Sukhpreet Kaur, a class X student of the Government High School, Sayianwala. In this machine, one can easily wash clothes while doing cycling. The machine does not require electricity to run as cycling would do the needful. “When Sukhpreet Kaur, a student with a rural background developed this washing machine, it was fit only for washing clothes. Now, it has been modified and can dry clothes also," said Pargat Singh Brar, headmaster of the school, adding that the machine was developed by Sukhpreet under the guidance of the school’s science teacher Naveen Kumar. The machine developed by Sukhpreet, who has already won a number of prizes for her academic achievements, also fetched her a cash prize of Rs 5,000 under the Inspiration Award scheme of the Central government. The machine had won the first prize in the Ferozepur district and had also been selected for the state-level competition, he added. The daughter of a petty shopkeeper of village Wan of this area, Sukhpreet had also stood first in the district in the science competition organised by the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyan, Punjab. She had been getting the first position in her class since standard VI. Brar said that the machine made by Sukhpreet was the cheapest as it cost around Rs 2,000 only. The machine was easiy to maintain and operate, he added.
	No headway in blast probe Bathinda, May 23 Even 36-hours after a probe began, the the reasons for the blast, that took place at Awa Basti on Saturday morning, remained a mystery. Senior police officials, the staff of the electricity department, sleuths of forensic team and an anti-bomb squad of the Army collected samples from the site of the explosion but could not ascertain the cause of the blast, till this evening. It may be mentioned that the blast was so forceful that it damaged three shops and claimed a life, leaving several others injured. During the one-and-a-half hour long investigation, a joint team of the Army and the Punjab police could not find the extract of any explosive material. Moreover, the LPG cylinders and the compressors of the deep freezers, which were believed to have exploded, were found to be intact. Speaking over the phone, SHO Kotwali, Amarjeet Singh said, "A team of the Armymen led by their senior officials, and accompanied by the SP (City) and DSP (City) investigated the site for more than an hour but could not ascertain the cause of the accident." "Before leaving, we suspected it could have been caused by some natural power generated in the magnate of electricity transformer, which blew apart the shutters of the shops and pulled them towards itself," said the SHO. However, the Army officials have sought a videograph of the spot to discuss it with experts. But electricity department officials ruled out the possibility of the magnetic force having lead to the blast. Meanwhile, the postmortem of assistant lineman Suresh Chand, who succumbed to his injuries at DMCH Ludhiana, was conducted today and the body was handed over to the bereaved kin. — TNS
	Nature’s fury: Heat wave claims three lives in Abohar Our Correspondent Abohar/Sriganganagar, May 23 The unabated heat wave reportedly claimed three lives during the past 24 hours in Abohar region. Besides, nine more bats, the flying mammals were found dead today in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan, sources said. Mercury soared to 49 degree centigrade in upper deserts of Sriganganagar while it was comparatively 0.6 less in Abohar area. As per details, a Sadhu collapsed while waiting for the bus at village Usmankhera on the Sriganganagar-Abohar road on Saturday, another died near the canteen at the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital, Abohar. Both remained unidentified so far. One Balbir Singh of border village Bakayanwala who had come to Abohar for medical check-up collapsed at the municipal bus stand. In Mount Abu, the only hill station of Rajasthan, maximum temperature was today quoted officially at 40.4 degree Celsius. The weather department said it was the highest so far. Dr SNA Jafri, associate professor, Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, said since the sun changes its circle after 11 years, temperature in hilly area may remain at par with plains.
	Panchayat Assn seeks changes to check graft Tribune News Service Ferozepur, May 23 Panchayat Association, Punjab, has urged the state government to bring necessary changes in the prevailing practices in the rural development departments and panchayats and to introduce Kerala pattern for paying honorarium to elected representative to curb the culture of corruption. The panchayat association demanded that fee being paid to lawyers for contesting cases pertaining to panchayats in different courts must be hiked so that they would work hard. “Generally, the cases, which the panchayats have been contesting in different courts, have either been decided against them or still pending in the courts of law for the past many years as the lawyers are not being paid respectable fee,” said Sukhdev Singh Bare Ke, state president, panchayat association, Punjab. Talking to TNS here recently, he said a memorandum had been submitted to the state government through director, rural development and panchayat, Punjab. He said the pancahayt association had urged to appoint an official of department of rural development and panchayat as nodal official to deal with complaints being received against sarpanches and panchayat members as it would save time and money of complainants as well as of those, against whom complaints were lodged.