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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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

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.