SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI



THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Child kidnapped, recovered from Bhucho
Bathinda, December 26
The police team with the child that was kidnapped by the family’s acquaintance and recovered from Bhucho Mandi in the wee hours on Monday. A two-and-half-year-old child, who was kidnapped by a family friend from a house in Sarabha Nagar, has been recovered from near Bhucho Mandi today. 

The police team with the child that was kidnapped by the family’s acquaintance and recovered from Bhucho Mandi in the wee hours on Monday. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

No respite from chill as man dies of cold
Bathinda, December 26
People keep themselves warm around a bonfire near the Bibiwala chowk on a cold Monday evening. Minimum temperature on Monday morning was 0.2 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature rose to 22 degree Celsius. A destitute was found dead at the Bathinda railway station due to cold. 


People keep themselves warm around a bonfire near the Bibiwala chowk on a cold Monday evening. Minimum temperature on Monday morning was 0.2 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature rose to 22 degree Celsius. photo: Bhupinder Dhillon


EARLIER STORIES



217 polling booths sensitive, 117 booths hyper sensitive
Bathinda, December 26
Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav informs the media about the arrangements made for conducting elections in the district on Monday. Thirty six per cent polling booths have been identified as sensitive by the administration for holding elections in the six Assembly constituencies of the district. Out of a total of 929 polling booths, 117 have been identified as hyper sensitive and 217 as sensitive.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav informs the media about the arrangements made for conducting elections in the district on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Customers want postal night service back
Bathinda, December 26
The withdrawal of night service at the city post office in Bathinda has caused discomfort to the customers.

Bathinda among five cities selected for drug trial on addicts 
Bathinda, December 26
Under a project, 'Methadone Maintenance Treatment in India', the Bathinda city has been selected along with four other cities in the country to conduct a study on the effects of Methadone, a synthetic opioid drug, on drug users.

Normalcy back in Civil Hospital
Bathinda, December 26
Patients queue up at the registration counter in the Civil Hospital to get OPD slips, in Bathinda on Monday. With doctors, pharmacists and laboratory technicians resuming their duties in the local Civil Hospital and the local Women and Children Hospital today, the hospital premises witnessed hustle and bustle throughout the day. Patients visited these hospitals in large numbers after three days. However, at the laboratories of the hospitals, the number of patients coming for tests were comparatively less than normal days.

Patients queue up at the registration counter in the Civil Hospital to get OPD slips, in Bathinda on Monday. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

Cyber crime threat is for real as stalkers roam in virtual world 
Bathinda, December 26
The Bathinda Police recently booked two MSc (IT) students for morphing and uploading on a social networking site, photographs of a girl from their locality Lehra Mohabbat. The incident shows that cyber crime through social networking sites, albeit slowly, is rearing its ugly head in the district. By August, the cyber crime wing of the Punjab Police had received more that 25 complaints related to creation of fake and obscene profiles on Facebook, another social networking site.

Art of Living Foundation holds ‘Rock the Spirit’
Guitarist Namita Malik performs during a concert ogranised by the Bathinda chapter of the Art of Living Foundation at the Civil Lines Club.Bathinda, December 26
The Bathinda chapter of the Art of Living Foundation organised a youth concert, 'Rock the spirit', at the Civil Lines Club here. Namita Malik, who is an Art of Living teacher, a singer and a guitarist from Delhi, enthralled the audience with music and bhajans. A meditation session followed the music programme. The concert was largely attended by youth and children.

Guitarist Namita Malik performs during a concert ogranised by the Bathinda chapter of the Art of Living Foundation at the Civil Lines Club. A tribune photograph

Suspected of having illicit relation, man shot dead in Rampura
Bathinda, December 26
A resident of Rampura was shot dead over suspected illicit relationship.

Malwa college felicitates its athletes
President of the District Athletics Association KPS Brar (extreme left) along with the athletes of Malwa College who were honoured on Monday.Bathinda, December 26
The Malwa College here organised a function today to honour the athletes, who had won medals and created new records at the All India Inter-University Athletic Championship held at Mangalore this month. Their performances helped the Punjabi University, Patiala, win the overall championship for the first time since its inception.

President of the District Athletics Association KPS Brar (extreme left) along with the athletes of Malwa College who were honoured on Monday. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

7-day NSS camp concludes with cultural programme
Bathinda, December 26
A seven-day NSS camp of the MSD School, the Hindu Senior Secondary School, the Government Senior Secondary School and the THK Girls School ended with a cultural programme at the THK Jain Girls School, Raman.

 
In support of their various demands, members of the BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) from Bathinda and Faridkot districts hold protest against the Chief Engineer (West Zone), PSPCL, outside his office in Bathinda on Monday. In support of their various demands, members of the BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) from Bathinda and Faridkot districts hold protest against the Chief Engineer (West Zone), PSPCL, outside his office in Bathinda on Monday. photo: Bhupinder Dhillon







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Child kidnapped, recovered from Bhucho
Family acquaintance took away the child from his house in Sarabha Nagar, abandoned it in the fields as cops closed in 
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
A two-and-half-year-old child, who was kidnapped by a family friend from a house in Sarabha Nagar, has been recovered from near Bhucho Mandi today.
The parents of the child, a baby boy, said that Kuldip Singh, a friend from Ludhiana, took away their son to buy chips from the market last evening but did not return. The kidnapper had used the victim's bike to take the child away from his parents.

Police officials said that Kuldip had come to Bathinda in search of a job and had been living in the victim's house for the last 15 days.

When Kuldip did not return after around three or four hours, the family members panicked and called him up but Kuldip did not pick up his cell phone. After a few hours, Kuldip called up the family and demanded Rs 5 lakh in lieu of the child.

The child's father Jaswinder Singh, a property dealer and mother Sarabjit Kaur, a housewife, then brought the matter to the notice of the police.

Civil Line SHO Pritpal Singh said they instructed the parents not to panic and demand time from the kidnapper to arrange for the money.

The money was arranged and the kidnapper was taken into confidence about the place where the money was to be delivered. The kidnapper instructed the parents to reach near a secluded place adjoining an abandoned petrol pump of Bhucho Mandi on the Rampura-Bathinda road.

The police in plain clothes, from Bhucho Mandi and Bathinda, rushed to the place and cordoned off the area and started a search operation. The child was found crying outside an abandoned hut at around 2.30 am. The child was handed over to the parents after conducting a medical examination.

Police said that the kidnapper seems to have been roaming around the abandoned agricultural fields where farmers or villagers hardly pay a visit during the winters after the sunset.

He became impatient, as he might not have been able to handle the child on the bike in the chilly weather and repeatedly called the parents to arrange for the money immediately.

The father of the child said that he knew Kuldip just for the last few months and decided to help him get a job in Bathinda as he was jobless and needed financial help.

A case in this connection has been registered against the accused at the Civil Line police station. Police officials said the accused would be arrested soon. The family members have demanded stringent punishment for the kidnapper.

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No respite from chill as man dies of cold
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
A destitute was found dead at the Bathinda railway station due to cold. Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa who rushed the poor man to the local Civil Hospital said the deceased appeared to be in his thirties and had been sleeping on the platforms of the railway station for the last few months.

He was deaf and failed to cover his body with warm clothes and died of biting cold. He was found dead at around 6 am when some passersby informed the volunteers of the NGO about his death.

The identity of the deceased could not be revealed. Police officials were informed about the death and a case in this connection was being registered.

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217 polling booths sensitive, 117 booths hyper sensitive
Admn seeks over 4,000 police personnel for conducting elections 
Sushil Goyal
Tribune news Service

Bathinda, December 26
Thirty six per cent polling booths have been identified as sensitive by the administration for holding elections in the six Assembly constituencies of the district. Out of a total of 929 polling booths, 117 have been identified as hyper sensitive and 217 as sensitive.

Keeping in view the seriousness of the situation, elaborate security arrangements will be made on the polling day (January 30), for which the administration has decided to deploy 4,110 police personnel (151 non-gazetted officers , 1108 head constables, 1977 constables and 874 Home Guards and Special Police Officers). However, the district police has only 1746 personnel while it has sought 2364 personnel from the police department. Besides, it has also sought 12 companies of para-military forces, and six platoons for the counting centres.

Talking to media persons here today, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kamal Kishore Yadav said that all arrangements had already been made by the district administration for conducting the elections in a free and fair manner. He said the district had six Assembly segments, Bathinda (Urban), Bathinda (Rural), Bhucho, Maur, Talwandi Sabo and Rampura. In each segment, there would be one returning officer (RO) and two assistant returning officers (AROs) who would perform the duties at the polling booths.

The DC said that the ADC (General) had been made RO for Bhucho constituency, Rampura SDM for Rampura constituency, Bathinda SDM for Bathinda (Urban) constituency, ADC (Development) for Bathinda (Rural) constituency, Talwandi Sabo SDM for Talwandi Sabo constituency and the assistant excise and taxation commissioner (AETC), Bathinda, for Maur constituency.

Yadav said nine flying squads had also been formed to enforce the model code of conduct. They would check the suspicious elements. Besides, ten teams had also been formed for laying 'nakas' to cover the major roads. These teams would remain mobile. Besides, a media certification and monitoring committee, headed by the ADC, had also been formed.

Video surveillance teams had also been formed for every segment. These teams would cover every political event. A complaint control room has also been set up whose phone number is 0164-2211915 and fax number is 2241373. Anyone could lodge a complaint about violation of the model code of conduct or expenditure on these numbers, he added.

Besides, the administration has also prepared a communication plan. For this, officials will be deputed at the booth level. A sector officer has been appointed for eight to 10 booths to monitor the implementation of the code of conduct.

The DC said that they had today recovered an amount of Rs 5 lakh (unaccounted money) from three persons. He said as per the directions of the Election Commission, no person could carry one lakh or more with him, and if he carried such amount, then he should have details of the source of income and the purpose. He said the teams of the administration would check the vehicles, houses and offices to prevent the flow of unaccounted money in the elections.

He also said no political person could make a religious appeal from the political stage for seeking votes while no religious leader could make an appeal to vote for any candidate. 

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Customers want postal night service back
Sudhanshu Verma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
The withdrawal of night service at the city post office in Bathinda has caused discomfort to the customers.

Facing tough competition following the proliferation of courier services, the postal department, to regain its market share, launched the night service under which the customers got the facility of booking letters through registry and through speed post late in the evening.

The facility was also launched in the Bathinda city post office that offered the facility of registry and speed post till 7 pm. It evoked good response, especially among the senior citizens and the office-goers.

The service was withdrawn on September 5 this year following the "poor response", sources in the postal department said, adding that the service at the city post office was not getting the "desired figures for the department on the parameters of economic viability."

Now, the booking of registry and speed post is available only between 9 am and 4 pm at the city post office.

A senior citizen, Sukhpal Singh, who visited the city post office on Monday, told Bathinda Tribune that the withdrawal of facility was not good for them as on one occasion, he had to go to the Rail Mail Service (RMS) for booking a speed post. "Going to the RMS was a tough exercise as it is situated at the railway station and one has to use the stairs to reach the RMS," Sukhpal said.

Seeking restoration of the facility, Sukhpal Singh said that night service should come under the essential services and should not be assessed on the parameters of profit only. Night service had come as a boon for the office-goers who could avail of the postal services after the duty hour.

Besides senior citizens and office-goers, the general customers are also having tough time following the development. "Earlier, there used to be two counters, one available between 9 am and 4 pm while the other with night service facility, entertained the customers from 12 pm to 7 pm," a postal employee said on the condition on anonymity, adding that now, the post office has only one counter which witnesses rush in the absence of any other option. "Many a time, customers wait for their turn for long when a customer with letters in bulk arrives," said postal sources.

It has also been learnt that the closure is causing inconvenience to the team at the city post office also as now they are one member short as after the closure of the counter, one staff was reportedly transferred to another post office. Presently, the night service is available at the Head Post Office.

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Bathinda among five cities selected for drug trial on addicts 
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
Under a project, 'Methadone Maintenance Treatment in India', the Bathinda city has been selected along with four other cities in the country to conduct a study on the effects of Methadone, a synthetic opioid drug, on drug users.

Under the project, a centre is being set up at the Drug De-addiction Centre at the Civil Hospital here. The four other cities, selected for the purpose, are: Kapurthala (Punjab), New Delhi, Mumbai and Imphal. These centres will be set up in the hospitals there.

According to information available, studies have already been conducted in different parts of the world that have shown that Methadone is effective in controlling the craving among the drug users and in reducing the risk of relapse. Besides, it is also effective in reducing the use of drugs, risk of HIV infection and improvement in the quality of life of the drug addicts.

When contacted, the in-charge of the Drug De-addiction Centre, Civil Hospital, Bathinda, Dr Nidhi Gupta said Methadone was being manufactured in India by Rusan Pharmaceuticals, Surat.

Earlier, the entire medicine was exported by the company, but now, it would also be supplied to these centres, she added.

She said the authorities had already received the requisite licence to run the centre here and expressed the hope that it might start functioning in January. She said the medicine would be provided to the centre by the UN office of Drug and Crime, New Delhi.

Project coordinator of the Drug De-addiction Centre, Roop Singh Mann said he had already identified more than 30 drug addicts whose parents had also given their consent to send them daily to the centre for taking the Methadone syrup. He said as many as 50 drug addicts would be enrolled for the purpose. After every three months, they would be examined to assess the effect of the medicine on them, he added.

He said they were identifying only those addicts, who administered injections, as the Methadone would be given to them orally so that there is no risk of HIV infection among them. He also said that a copy of the licence had been sent to the UN office at Delhi for procuring the medicine from there.

Meanwhile, a separate room in the Drug De-addiction Centre at the Civil Hospital has already been prepared for housing the centre to accommodate the staff and the examination of the patients. 

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Normalcy back in Civil Hospital
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
With doctors, pharmacists and laboratory technicians resuming their duties in the local Civil Hospital and the local Women and Children Hospital today, the hospital premises witnessed hustle and bustle throughout the day. Patients visited these hospitals in large numbers after three days. However, at the laboratories of the hospitals, the number of patients coming for tests were comparatively less than normal days.

A large number of patients were seen in the OPDs, who were waiting for their turn in front of the rooms of the doctors, especially the medicine OPDs. However, some OPDs witnessed less patients than the routine days. The reason could be that patients were not sure that the hospital would start functioning from today.

It may be recalled that the doctors in the OPDs went on mass leave on December 23. Besides, laboratory technicians were on pen-down strike on December 23 while the pharmacists were on mass leave in support of their demands. Thus, the patients did not get any type of medical service at the hospitals on that day. On December 24 and December 25, the hospitals remained closed on account of holidays. However, the patients received emergency services at the hospitals on these days.

The biochemistry laboratory and the haematology laboratory, both situated in the new OPD block, today functioned normally as the laboratory technicians have also returned to work after the acceptance of their main demand, rent free accommodation, and due to enforcement of the model code of conduct imposed ahead of Assembly elections.

According to information available, around 200 tests were conducted at the haematology laboratory while around 80 tests were conducted at the biochemistry laboratory.

When asked, an employee said patients had turned up at the laboratories in less numbers today as compared to other days.

He added that many patients might be thinking that laboratories would not function even today.

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Cyber crime threat is for real as stalkers roam in virtual world 
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
The Bathinda Police recently booked two MSc (IT) students for morphing and uploading on a social networking site, photographs of a girl from their locality Lehra Mohabbat. The incident shows that cyber crime through social networking sites, albeit slowly, is rearing its ugly head in the district. By August, the cyber crime wing of the Punjab Police had received more that 25 complaints related to creation of fake and obscene profiles on Facebook, another social networking site.

This may be the first case of cyber crime that has been reported in Bathinda, but with an increase on the use of social networking sites, youngsters upload pictures and share private information on these sites without gauging its repercussions. The lack of adequate knowledge of the privacy settings lands them in the net of cyber crime. Recently, the popular social networking site Facebook was at the centre of a controversy for changing its privacy settings that left the users’ personal pictures accessible to everyone.

“Many of my female friends on Facebook keep uploading their photographs on the site. Some of them have not even enabled the option of ‘selected viewing’. Anyone can view their profile and copy their photographs. There is a huge risk of landing in trouble because of the photographs. While with the advent of technology, almost every other person has become tech-savvy, not many use it judiciously,” says 23-year-old Swati Garg, a resident of Model Town.

Cyber crime experts warn internet users against sharing their personal details like their cell number or residential address on these sites. But few understand the importance of the advice. “Till some months back, I had my cell number listed on Orkut. I removed the number after I had started getting calls from people whom I didn’t even know – everyone from someone who wanted to be my friend to someone selling an insurance policy. It is considered to be cool to be on the social networking sites, but one should be mindful of what to and what not to upload,” believes Vikrant Dhamija, a student of a college in the city.

Experts label cyber crime under various categories – harassment through e-mails, cyber stalking, cyber pornography, cyber defamation, morphing and e-mail spoofing.

Interestingly, although India had enacted the IT Act 2000 to combat cyber crimes, cases involving cyber crime largely go unreported because of the lack of knowledge pertaining to the law.

According to various reports on cyber crime, more than 70 per cent victims of cyber stalking are women, which may be done for sexual harassment, romantic obsession, revenge and hatred. In such a case, the culprit may be booked under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code for outraging the modesty of the victim.

Morphing of photographs is another rampant cyber crime. Morphing means editing the original picture by an unauthorised user or a fake identity. This amounts to violation of the IT Act, 2000, and may attract punishment under Sections 43 and 66 of the Act. The violator can also be booked under the IPC. 

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Art of Living Foundation holds ‘Rock the Spirit’
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
The Bathinda chapter of the Art of Living Foundation organised a youth concert, 'Rock the spirit', at the Civil Lines Club here.
Namita Malik, who is an Art of Living teacher, a singer and a guitarist from Delhi, enthralled the audience with music and bhajans. A meditation session followed the music programme. The concert was largely attended by youth and children.

Namita Malik said the aim of the concert was to channelise the energy of the youth in a positive direction and help them to stay away from social evils.

Dr Nidhi Gupta from the Bathinda chapter of the Art of Living said that organising such concerts was another endeavour of the Art of Living Foundation towards stress and violence-free society. 

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Suspected of having illicit relation, man shot dead in Rampura

Bathinda, December 26
A resident of Rampura was shot dead over suspected illicit relationship.

In her complaint to the police, Lalita Rani of Rampura said Ramesh Kumar and Raman Kumar, both residents of Mandir Wali Gali in Rampura Mandi, fired gun shots at her husband yesterday. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

A case in this connection has been registered at the Rampura City police station under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. No arrest has been made in this regard so far. — TNS

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Malwa college felicitates its athletes
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
The Malwa College here organised a function today to honour the athletes, who had won medals and created new records at the All India Inter-University Athletic Championship held at Mangalore this month. Their performances helped the Punjabi University, Patiala, win the overall championship for the first time since its inception.

The athletes were awarded with a cash prize of Rs 11,000 each apart from other honours.

Among those honoured were Suresh Kumar, winner of gold medals in 5000 m and half marathon, Kirpal Singh (gold in discus throw), Arpinder Singh (gold in triple jump), Manisha (gold in disc throw), Raji CT (gold in 100 m hurdle race), Purnima Hembrum (gold in Heptathlon and silver in 100 m hurdle race), Ratan Singh Jatt (silver in half marathon) and Sander Singh (silver in 10,000 m).

The college also honoured KPS Brar, an international athlete and the president of the District Athletic Association, Bathinda, for his contribution to the field of sports in the region.

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7-day NSS camp concludes with cultural programme
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 26
A seven-day NSS camp of the MSD School, the Hindu Senior Secondary School, the Government Senior Secondary School and the THK Girls School ended with a cultural programme at the THK Jain Girls School, Raman.

Dr Kamaljit Singh Sidhu, assistant director, Youth Services, Bathinda, distributed the prizes to the volunteers.

Pawan Kumar Saini, Anita Rani, Usha Rani and Harinder Kumari, principals of the schools, lauded the work of the volunteers.

Camp commandant Vishal Goyal said the volunteers were given training in civil defence, life skills, fire safety and women's security.

Dr Vir Vijay Singal checked the blood groups of the volunteers.

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