Bathinda, December 24
Bathinda got up to its coldest start this winter season today when the dipping mercury touched freezing point causing frost in many parts of the region.

Saturday proved to be the coldest morning of the season so far as mercury recorded 0.2 degree Celsius, as per the Agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) regional station, Bathinda. The day's high, however, was 17.4 degrees Celsius.

It may be recalled that the region has been witnessing the vagaries of weather for the last three days with the mercury hovering around two degrees Celsius. Frost to frost-like conditions was also experienced in many parts during the period.

The mercury's move worsened the chill as severe cold wave conditions prevailing in Bathinda and its adjoining areas for the last three days intensified.

The sunrays that provided the much-needed warmth yesterday proved to be insufficient as the sun played hide and seek following the emergence of clouds during the later part of the day.

Weathermen had on Friday predicted the possibility of frost to frost-like conditions in many parts of the region in the next 48 hours. Weathermen had also spoken about the chances of mainly sunny days coupled with the possibility of cold wave to severe cold wave conditions in some parts around Christmas.

The chill that forced the residents to remain indoors on the weekend, failed to dampened the sprit of the Christmas revellers who thronged the markets to prepare for the night-long celebrations. Though the biting chill left the residents frowning, it brought cheers back on the faces of the sellers of electrical appliances, including blowers and room heaters.

"The sale of these appliances did not pick up due to the delayed winter," said Vinod Kumar, a seller at Bank Bazaar.

He said though the sale could not be termed as satisfactory, it was now picking up. He said there were three types of room heaters available in the market, room heater with rod, heat blower and halogen blower.

The price of room heaters range from Rs 300 to 450 while blowers would cost around Rs 800-Rs 1,800 and the price of halogen heater ranges between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,800. "The prices depend upon the quality and brand name," said Vinod Kumar. 

Bathinda, December 24
The small savings scheme of the post offices that underwent a revision in November last in terms of hike in interest rates would see another modification in the recurring deposit (RD) scheme.

The Department of Posts has decided to modify the deposit schedule of the RD with effect from January 1, 2012.

As per the sources in the postal department, the time period for depositing the money has been reduced from one month or 30 days to 15 days.

In a letter meant for all the officials concerned, dated December 13, the department of posts modified the rules concerning the Post Office Recurring Deposit (PORD).

As per the sources in the postal department, the accounts have been grouped in two time periods, from 1st to 15th and from 16th to 31st of a month. "If an account is opened between the 1st and 15th of a month, deposit without penalty would be accepted only during the period. The deposit made after 15th will invite penalty," sources explained, adding that the deposit shall be made in the accounts opened in the second half of the month between 16th and 31st of the month.

Sources also said that those new rules would be applicable on the existing RD accounts as well as the new ones.

At present, the last day of depositing the sum under the RD scheme is on the 30th or 31st of a month.

While confirming the notification regarding the modification, the post master, Bathinda city, Makhan Lal Mangal, said that the new rules would be advantageous for both the account holders as well as the postal staff.

The post master said that the rush normally faced by the post offices or the depositors on the last day of a month would now be divided.

At present, the account holders under the recurring deposit schemes are found thronging post offices on the last or the second last day of the month, sources said and added that normal functioning during the day sometimes gets affected. 

Bathinda, December 24
For the second consecutive day today, there was no respite for the patients, who visited the local Civil Hospital and the women and children hospital, situated on the same premises.

Health services remained crippled due to the mass leave by the doctors and the pharmacists, and the pen-down strike by the laboratory technicians on Friday while on Saturday, the hospitals remained closed due to the holiday announced by the government. However, the emergency services continued on both the days.

A large number of patients today visited these two hospitals. Many of them were seen in an angry mood when they found the OPDs closed for the second day running. Some of them criticised the government for the inconvenience as it had announced the holiday without informing in advance.

An elderly person was so annoyed that he did not even hesitate to curse the doctors and the government, saying he returned home the previous day without receiving treatment due to the mass leave by the doctors while today, he was returning as it was a holiday, of which he had no prior knowledge. He said on the one hand, he had faced inconvenience and on the other, had suffered financial loss on account of the bus fare that he had to pay.

Several other patients also expressed such sentiments, and were unhappy not only with the system but also with the doctors and held them responsible for the harassment faced by them. They said they would not be able to receive treatment even tomorrow at the hospitals on account of Sunday as the OPDs in the hospitals would remain closed. 

Bathinda, December 24
A father and his two-and-a-half-year-old son suffered burns in a house fire today in the morning on the Amrik Singh road.

The injured, Sita Ram and his son Dipanshu, were taken to a private hospital by the volunteers of an NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa. The family members of the injured said that the boy received burns on his face and chest while his father too suffered severe burn injuries in the incident.

Gurpal Singh, who lives in front of the house of the injured, said that he was reading newspapers when he heard a loud noise coming from the house of Sita Ram.

A cobbler by profession, Sita Ram belongs to a poor family and had been residing in the dinghy house along with other relatives, Gurpal Singh said. The family members said that a cracked pipe attached to the LPG cylinder lead to the fire. They said that the gas leaked from the pipe and it came in contact with a lamp burning in front of a deity placed in the house.

Police officials from the Kotwali police station reached the spot and enquired about the reason behind the fire. The police officials recorded the statements of the family members and the neighbours.

Bathinda, December 24
A board that talks to the students, displays visuals and is not necessarily black — is what the schools in Bathinda are adopting — to make teaching and learning more exciting. Bringing e-learning (popularly known as smart classes) to the classrooms, the schools are engaging students through an advanced mechanism of learning.

Considering how tech-savvy today's children have become, e-learning has proved to be a boon for schools as it involves students in the best possible manner — audio-visual. So, instead of seeing a diagram on a blackboard, they now get to see animated images of the same and hear about the nuances.

Dr Arun Jee, principal of DPS Bathinda, says that e-learning is the need of the hour and hence, is being adopted by schools in the city. "Today's children are being influenced by television, internet and many other electronic gadgets. In such a scenario, the schools need to acquire a tool that leaves an impression on their minds and helps them take active interest in studies. And this is where e-learning comes to the rescue.

The content is prepared by the experts keeping in mind the age of the students. If the functioning of the human body is explained to the students through animation, they will understand it better. A story can be told well with the use of images."

Beena Rao, principal of The Millennium School, believes that e-learning captures the attention of the students in a better way. "Although e-learning will not replace the conventional way of teaching, it has certainly empowered the teachers and has changed the way the world looks at and understands the process of teaching and learning. The children are tech-savvy and understand what they are explained through the use of slides. It is a futuristic way of learning and hence, has been incorporated by us.

Academic advisor of Mount Litera Zee School, Radhika Tiwari, says that this 'experiential way of learning' excites the students more.

"Now, learning doesn't mean only words and books, it also means animation and images. E-learning interests the students immensely and intrigues them. It involves VAK - visual learners, auditory learners and kinaesthetic learners (who do and learn). The moment they hear 'animation', they are all eyes and ears. E-learning not only structures the curriculum, adds finesse to the process of teaching but also aids comprehension."

The experts, however, also concur that one shouldn't be overawed by e-learning. "We should consider it as a tool that aids us in doing our job more efficiently, but doesn't do the job entirely. It is meant to help the teachers, not override the system," says Dr Arun Jee.

Radhika Tiwari says that it is imperative for the schools and teachers to learn the proper use of e-learning.

"The tool will be more efficient if it is used with proper understanding. Teachers need to trained and adequately empowered to use the tool fully. There is no use of having a mobile handset with 100 features and not knowing how to use them at all," she asks.

Bathinda, December 24
Leaders of the Unemployed Linemen Union, Punjab, have expressed dissatisfaction over the meeting they held with the chairman of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), KD Chaudhary yesterday. They were demanding appointment of 29 physically-challenged unemployed linemen, who had not been selected along with about 1,000 linemen, who have already been appointed.

Talking to TNS here today, state press secretary of the union Nirmal Singh Mahla said he along with state treasurer of the union Bhola Singh and presidents of the Sangrur and Patiala districts' units of the union Gurbakhshish Singh and Jaswinder Singh, respectively, met the PSPCL chairman the previous day to hold talks with him about the 29 physically-challenged linemen, who had been declared ineligible for the post of lineman by the PSPCL.

Mahla said instead of hearing their plea, the chairman sent them to the Chief Engineer (Recruitment). He said they met the Chief Engineer, but he too did give no satisfactory reply, except for saying that they would talk to the state government in this regard.

Mahla said his response towards their plea was not satisfactory even as they had shown him a letter issued by the Government of India's Handicapped Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre, Ludhiana, which recommended them as eligible candidates for appointment as lineman.

Meanwhile, the dharna and the chain hunger strike by members of the Unemployed Linemen Union, Punjab, outside the Mini-secretariat here entered its 20th day today. They are protesting in support of their demand - appointment of 4,000 unemployed linemen in the PSPCL.

The members of the union said they would not lift their dharna till their demand was accepted by the state government.

Mahla said their agitation would continue despite the fact that the election code of conduct has been imposed. He added that the reason for the same was that they were agitating for the future of 4,000 unemployed linemen.

Bathinda, December 24
Christmas was celebrated in St. Kabir school with fervour on Friday. A special prayer meeting was organised on the occasion. Managing director ML Arora and principal Anju Dogra greeted the students on Christmas.

The Radcliffe school also celebrated Christmas with pomp, gaiety and devotion at its junior wing in the Shant Nagar Campus. The school commenced its celebrations with a competition of Santa Claus.

The school was decorated with balloons, ribbons, festoons, candles and Christmas trees. The X-mas story was enacted by the pre-school children and the pre-primary children put up a scintillating dance to the music of the evergreen Christmas songs.

The little cherubs rocked the stage and mesmerised all the teachers and staff present in the school. Candies, chocolates and cookies were distributed among the children. The children relished them and sang the Christmas song, 'jingle bell, jingle bell' together.

Music teacher Saket Kumar coloured the atmosphere with hues of Christmas songs.

The students of Daddy's Teddy, a playschool in the city, sang and danced to celebrate the festival on Saturday. Ritu Roonta, principal of the school, said the students were taken to a church on Thursday. During the Christmas celebration, the students were dressed up as Santa Claus, Mother Mary, snowman, king, fairy, shepherd boy and Joseph. They all sang and danced to the Xmas jingles and savoured the cakes and sweets given to them.

Bachpan, another playschool in the city, organised a Christmas road procession on Saturday. A float with small children dressed as Mother Mary and Lord Jesus, was followed by other children and parents holding placards raising awareness about various social issues. Among those present on the occasion was Saroop Chand Singla (area in-charge of the Shiromani Akali Dal).

Through her address, principal of the school Palak Jaura conveyed the message of oneness, peace and harmony. She also drew everyone's attention to the social problems like water, electricity and environment conservation.

Bathinda, December 24
Members of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association and the Multi-purpose Health Employees Union, Punjab, today held separate dharnas on the premises of the Civil Hospital here in support of their respective demands.

District president of the pharmacists body Ravinder Goyal said the state body of the union had earlier planned to organise a rally in Gidderbaha today. But, the union dropped the plan last night. However, they held a dharna here today to send a message to the government that it should implement their demands in letter and spirit. The pharmacists warned the government that they would continue their agitation till their demands were accepted.

District president of the Multi-purpose Health Employees Union Gagandeep Singh also warned the government that in case their demands, including removal of anomalies in pay-scales, were not met then they would intensify their agitation.

The multi-purpose health employees also announced that as their demands had not been met by the SAD-BJP government so far, so they would boycott the SAD-BJP alliance in the Assembly elections.

Among those who were present or addressed the dharna were Gagandeep Singh, Bhupinder Kaur, Rani Devi, Gurnam Kaur, Nirmal Singh, Harjit Singh and Rajwinder Singh.

Bathinda, December 24
Eighteen farmer, employee, labourer, unemployed person and teacher organisations will hold a rally and take out a protest march in the city tomorrow against the state government for not fulfilling promises, made with them in the past.

A leader of these organisations Jagsir Sahota said that at the rally they would expose the state government before the people.

In this protest march and rally, the unemployed linemen, who have been staging a dharna and observing chain hunger strike, would also take part.

Bathinda, December 24
The Paras Ram Nagar branch of the RBDAV Senior Secondary School organised the annual academic excellence award ceremony at the Railway Dramatic Club here on Friday.

While RK Verma, commandant, NDRF, Battalion 7, was the chief guest Dr Jit Singh Joshi, professor and head of the Regional Centre, Punjabi University, was the guest of honour.

Also present on the occasion were school's managing director and regional director Dr BB Sharma and principal of the DAV College, Bathinda, Dr JS Anand. The 'dandiya' performance by the school students was the highlight of the event.

The 'Oh my friend Ganesha' and 'Pray for India' items by kids drew a huge round of applause. Through an English play 'Cinderella', the students gave the message of being warm and loving towards everyone while a Hindi play 'Maa Keh Ek Kahani' highlighted the importance of preserving the wildlife.

Bathinda, December 24
The office-bearers of the DAV Colleges Retired Teachers' Association, Punjab, were elected during a meeting held at Chandigarh recently. While Prof Rajnish Kumar from Bathinda was elected as the president of the association, Prof Satish Chander from Nakodar and Prof NK Gossain from Bathinda were named the general secretary and the press secretary, respectively.

The office-bearers requested the DAV College Managing Committee to release their gratuity as per the revised rates, leave encashment with effect from January, 1990, contributory provident fund on total salary from January, 1982, and arrears of revised pay-scales from January, 2006.

The newly-elected office-bearers have assured the members that every effort would be made to recover the long-pending dues of the retired DAV teachers. — TNS

Bathinda, December 24
Two persons have been arrested for possessing medicines without having any valid bills and documents or license.

The accused have been identified as Karnail Singh of Sirki Bazar and Gurdeep Singh of Bathinda.

As many as 575 sedative pills, 16 vials and 700 capsules were recovered from their possession.

A case in this connection has been registered at the Canal Colony police station.

Bathinda, December 24
Four persons have been booked for selling stolen vehicles by preparing fake documents.

The accused have been identified as Jaswinder Singh of Pathrala, Baljinder Singh of Faridkot, Rooppa Singh and Parwinder Singh, both residents of Muktsar.

SI Amritpal Singh, the investigating officer and also the complainant in this case, said all the four accused were involved in stealing two and four-wheelers from Punjab and adjoining states and selling the same by preparing fake documents.

A case in this connection has been registered under Sections 370, 411, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC. No arrest has been made in this regard so far.