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cold snap grips city
College bus rams truck due to fog
The damaged college bus that hit the truck carrying the boiler due to dense fog. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma
BSNL plays numbers game to woo mobile phone users
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Animal lovers for check on cruelty during polls
Admn, police heave sigh of relief
Policemen had been on their toes all through the past couple of months, thanks to a large number of demonstrations and protests. A file photo
Committee to keep track of parties’ adverts
Come January, UID project to head to Bathinda villages
Sports day hosted at Army Public School
Annual function hosted at Red Cross Evening School
Arms ban
Two booked for cheating man of Rs 15 lakh
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cold snap grips city
Bathinda, December 28
The region recorded - 0.5 degree Celsius at 7.30 am, as per the agri-met department of the PAU regional station, Bathinda. The day's high was 21.2 degree Celsius. This is the second time in the last four days that the mercury has dipped below the freezing point, throwing normal life out of gear in Bathinda and its adjoining areas. The city had recorded - 0.2 degree Celsius mark on last Sunday. The region has been reeling under severe cold wave conditions for the last 15 days as the mercury hovered below the normal temperature during this period. The normal minimum temperature of the region during this period is 4 degree Celsius. The region had seen mercury near the freezing point also on December 28 in 2010 when it settled at 0.2 degree Celsius. The mercury had been near the freezing point in December 2005 and December 2007 when it recorded 0.4 degree Celsius and 0.2 degree Celsius, respectively. The sub-zero temperature, besides worsening the cold wave conditions, has been causing frost to frost-like conditions in isolated parts of the region for the last eight days. The mood swing of the mercury sprung surprises today as for the last four to five days it had been accompanied by bright sunshine, while today, the sun appeared to be not so bright, making residents long for its warmth. It may be mentioned that the weathermen had predicted the present move of the mercury. The weathermen predicted on Tuesday that respite from prevailing chill is unlikely as there would be a possibility of mercury near the freezing point and frost to frost-like conditions in isolated parts of the region in the next 48 hours. They had also predicted the chances of fog and mist in some parts of the region during the period. The chill, though has disrupted normal life in the region with kids being affected the most. Many of the schools in the city have delayed their winter vacation this time and have not extended their timings as well leaving the children the arduous task of travelling in the early morning chill. Road and rail traffic have remained unaffected because of the absence of fog so far. Sources in the railway said that except for a few trains that arrive from northern parts of the country, the others are running as per the schedule, much to the relief of the rail passengers. Meanwhile, hospitals in the area have witnessed a spurt in cases of cold and cough and chest infections during the last few days.
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College bus rams truck due to fog
Bathinda, December 28 These trucks pass through the city roads and highways and leave the commuters fuming who are caught in a traffic jam. The bus driver who was going to fetch the students from the college, received injuries in the accident and was rushed to a nearby hospital. No students were in the bus at the time of the accident that took place at around 7.30 am. Two trucks loaded with boilers were parked in front of the Guru Gobind Singh Polytechnic College as they failed to cross an iron board-— a welcome gate greeting the commuters — erected above the road. Aslam, a crew member of the truck, said that the boilers were being carried on six trucks. Two of them have already passed through the iron board while these two trucks got stuck. Two more trucks carrying similar boilers, are on their way, he said. "I have been deputed to remove the hurdles like electric wires and signboards from the road while transporting the iron boiler from Gujarat to Banawali. We tried to remove the board yesterday but were stopped by the authorities of the college", said Rampal Singh, one of the truck drivers. He said that both the trucks were waiting to cross the board since 5 pm yesterday. The massive boilers bulge out from the trucks and absorb a major portion of the narrow road despite parking the truck at the edge of the road. The vehicles passing alongside the trucks parked by the roadside are at risk, the truckers said. There was dense fog in the morning and the college bus was driven at a high speed and its driver failed to apply brakes timely. The bus was badly damaged in the accident and the commuters and the truck drivers took out its driver after making a lot of efforts, he said. The truck drivers said that it took 50 days for them to reach Talwandi Sabo from the Mundra seaport where it was shifted from a ship to the trucks. Local police officials were informed about the accident and the statements of the injured and the eye-witnesses were recorded. Meanwhile, three people, including a couple and young boy, received injuries in two different accidents due to fog in the morning.
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BSNL plays numbers game to woo mobile phone users
Bathinda, December 28 In what could be termed as a New Year gift, the state-owned BSNL has offered an option to their mobile customers to choose the number of their choice. Choosing mobile number of one's choice is not a new thing as the BSNL as well as private players have been offering such facility under the category of 'Vanity Number', which is chargeable as one-time cost, ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 7,500 or more. But this time, the BSNL has a new thing to offer — It's free! And with that, the telecom major has taken the war to woo the customers on the mobile turf to a new level, in which ultimately, the customers are going to benefit, opined the experts, adding that in the cut-throat competition, other players may also launch such services in the days to come. "Numbers do matter to many and the BSNL has understood it well. It launched the facility across the nation on December 16," said sources in the BSNL and added that presently, one lakh numbers have been floated in every circle for the customers to choose from. The "choose your mobile number" facility offers the option for any prospective customer to select the number of his or her choice. This facility is available in the prepaid GSM segment. Every telecom circle has been provided with one lakh numbers. Talking about the way of selecting the choice number, the Deputy General Manager, BSNL, Bathinda, Amit Garg said, "Just log on to www.bsnl.co.in and click on the option 'choose your mobile numbers' and the user-friendly software will guide you on what to do next. It helps in selecting the numbers as it has options, like the number starts with, ends with and others." The DGM added that after selecting the number, one would be given a 7-digit PIN number. "The PIN number could be given at the BSNL Customer Service Centre or the BSNL franchise with the relevant documents to get the number activated," Garg said. "More importantly, the PIN number would be valid for only 72 hours and after that it would automatically come under the search list," he added. Those who are not so computer-savvy, could contact the BSNL's customer service centre in their area. It would also help them get the number of their choice. Though launched on December 16, the plan was effectively launched only around December 20 in Bathinda and the telecom district has responded to the call as within four to five days, nearly 250 customers have opted for the BSNL as their mobile operator through this newly-launched facility. Fact file
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Customers could choose the number themselves just by logging on to the BSNL website. n
Click on the option ‘choose your mobile numbers’ and the user-friendly software guides one to the next step. n
After selecting the number, the customer gets a seven digit PIN number that could be given
at the BSNL customer service centre with the relevant documents to the number activated. |
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Animal lovers for check on cruelty during polls
Bathinda, December 28 Dr Sandeep Jain, inspecting authority of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, has written a letter in this regard to the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab. He demanded a ban on the use of animals by the candidates and stringent punishment for those involved in causing injuries and abusing the animals. Jain, who is also the chief coordinator of for Care of Animals and Protection of Environment (CAPE)-India, said that many political parties having symbols of wild or domesticated animals, exhibit these animals during their campaigns and rallies, which should be stopped immediately. He said that such demonstration of animals lead to cruelty as the animals come under stress due to overwork, noise and sound at the political rallies. Also, the animals are kept without food and water and are transported in violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. It is seen that many political parties or supporters of parties use dogs or donkeys to portray their adversaries in poor light and to project their failure of development activities. Jain also demanded a ban on the use of bulls, horse and elephants, which are used by the candidates whenever they go to file their nomination papers or during the rallies. He pointed out that directions in this regard have already been issued by the State Election Commission of Maharashtra and other states. Shekhar, an animal lover said that donkeys are often paraded in remote areas to highlight the failure of the rival political parties and efforts should be made to create awareness and stop cruelty towards the animals. Demanding stringent punishment for all those involved in cruelty towards animals, he said that anyone found abusing animals is liable to be punished under the Cruelty to Animals Act and the authorities must curb the menace with an iron hand. Fact file
y A letter has been written to the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, demanding ban on use of animals by candidates. y The letter, sent by Animal Welfare Board of India, seeks stringent punishment for those causing injuries or abusing animals. y It has been pointed out that many parties have animals as their symbols and use them in their rallies. This should be stopped immediately. y The animals are sometimes kept without food and water and are transported in violation of the law. |
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Admn, police heave sigh of relief
Bathinda, December 28 The unemployed linemen have been agitating peacefully since December 5 and awaiting the decision on the special leave petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for getting the stay on the recruitment of linemen vacated. The stay was granted by the High Court. The number of protests in the city has come down because of the enforcement of the model code of conduct for assembly elections and acceptance of most of the demands of the employees of different categories by the state government. It may be mentioned here that during the past several months, the city had emerged as the ‘protest capital’ of Punjab as a large number of associations and unions had been organising protests in the city to put pressure on the ruling party to accept their demands. Considering Bathinda is known as the political turf of the Badal family (Harsimrat Kaur Badal is an MP from Bathinda), every association and union had chosen the city to stage protests in the form of traffic blockades, dharna, demonstration, burning of effigies, fast-unto-death, chain hunger strike, etc. The protesting associations and unions included unemployed linemen, unemployed teachers, panchayat secretaries, NRHM staff, safai sewaks, ANMs, Farad Kendra employees, junior engineers, draughtsmen, brick kiln workers, laboratory technicians, ministerial staff, pharmacists, multi-purpose health workers, class IV employees, farmers, labourers, EGS volunteers and mid-day meal workers. When contacted, Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill agreed that after the enforcement of model code of conduct the police had heaved a sigh of relief from the protests but now it had diverted its attention towards the assembly elections. He said though a number of protests had been organised in the past months in Bathinda by various associations and unions, now there is only one dharna being staged in the city. Tehsildar Avtar Singh Makkar, who had performed the duty of an executive magistrate, especially at the time of road blockades, said he had received a large number of memorandums on behalf of the district administration in the past months. He added that during the agitations he had just performed the duty which had been assigned to him.
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Committee to keep track of parties’ adverts
Bathinda, December 28 Addressing the meeting, the ADC said in the light of guidelines laid by the Election Commission (EC) of India, the committee has been closely watching the advertisements being published in the print media and telecast on the electronic media. He also said the committee would issue certificates relating to prior approval for the advertisements to be released to any TV channel by the candidate or the party. The applicant would have to give in writing an application to the committee about the cost of the advertisement, number of its insertions and duration of the advertisement to procure the certificate, he added. He also said the committee was keeping a close eye on the ‘paid news’ as per the directions of the Election Commission so that not every item could appear in print media in the form of a news for projecting a particular candidate or a party. He further said the expenditure, done on the advertisements, was being recorded by the teams. The committee has also been sending monitoring reports daily to the EC everyday. He also asked the members of the committee to implement the guidelines of the EC in letter and spirit. Others who were present at the meeting included station director of All India Radio, Bathinda Rajiv Arora; reporter from the Prasar Bharti Sanjiv Sharma; District Public Relations Officer Jagdeep Singh Gill and Assistant Public Relations Officer Hardev Singh Aassi. Fact file
y The Media Certification and Monitoring Committee has been closely watching the advertisements being published in the print media and telecast on the electronic media. Parties will have to seek prior approval for releasing advertisements for TV. y The committee is also keeping a close eye on the ‘paid news’ as per the directions of the Election Commission so that content projecting a particular party or candidate positively or otherwise appears in print media in the form of news. y The expenditure done on the advertisements is being recorded by the teams and a daily report is being sent to the Election Commission. |
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Come January, UID project to head to Bathinda villages
Bathinda, December 28 Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, Kunal Sharma, who is looking after the enrolments in Bathinda district, said, “We had started setting up the centres in Bathinda in July and have enrolled more than 3.5 lakh residents so far. By the end of this year, we plan to finish the enrolment work in Bathinda city and will then move to the rural areas of the district in January. We have also covered the Malooka and Bhagta villages.” Explaining why the urban areas had been covered first, Kunal said, “When we started the project in the district, we were directed to cover the urban areas first and then head to the rural parts of the district. We were told that the farmers in the rural areas were busy with the sale and purchase of cotton and that they will not be able to take out the time to enrol themselves. To avoid a low turnout atthe centres, we came to the city first.” Accepting that the pace of the project in Bathinda couldn’t be called fast, Kunal blamed the lack of awareness about the project in the area. “There persists a lack of awareness about the Aadhaar project among people here. Despite repeated announcements in the areas where the centres are set up, people come in small groups. At any given point in time, we have had at least six centres across the areas we are covering. Still, not every indidual from that particular area comes for getting enrolled,” he said. Lack of awareness about the project, coupled with long power outages in the city, is causing the slowing down of the UID work. “Today there was no power from 11 am to 2 pm. Those who had come to get the cards made waited for some time and then went back. By the time power was back, there were not many at the centre. Enrolment of an individual takes more ten minutes. The details can be filled in quickly as well, but haste makes waste and we don’t want to go wrong with the information that we feed into the system,” said one of the operators at a UID centre in the city. If the drive hasn’t caught pace in Bathinda city, it is anybody’s guess what will happen once the work starts in the rural areas. Fact file
y As the residents of the rural areas were busy with sale, purchase of cotton, the project began in Bathinda city first. y Lack of awareness about the project among the city residents, coupled with long powercuts, has hit the project’s pace. Operators suspect villages may register lower number of enrolments than expected. |
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Sports day hosted at Army Public School
Bathinda, December 28 Following the presentation of the report for the session 2011-12, the events of the evening began with a
marchpast by the contingents of four houses. The highlight of the evening were the various racing events. Students of the junior wing presented dance performances while the music by the school orchestra added a lively touch to the entire show. The chief guest for the evening, Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra, felicitated the winners. |
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Annual function hosted at Red Cross Evening School
Bathinda, December 28
The programme started with the welcome song presented by Priyanka and Archana. The opening ceremony was followed by a fancy dress competition and other entertaining shows put up by the students. Bidisha Saha appreciated the performances and distributed toys and sweets among the students. Also present on the occasion was Indrajit Gupta, who felicitated the students who had taken part in the show. Students with maximum attendance were also awarded on the occasion.
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Bathinda, December 28
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Two booked for cheating man of Rs 15 lakh
Bathinda, December 28 In his complaint to the police, Nardev Singh said the accused, Rajwant Singh and Maninder Singh, both brothers, reached an agreement to sell a piece of land for a token money of Rs 15 lakhs. However, it was later found that a case pertaining to the same piece of land is pending in the court and it can not be sold till the case is finalised. He said that the accused did not inform about the ongoing case in the court and cheated him. A case in this connection has been registered at the Civil Lines police station under sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC. No arrests have been made in this regard so far and further investigation in the case is on.Earlier also, cases of cheating have been reported in the city and not only by individuals but also by fly-by-night operators. |
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A college bus today hit a stationary truck loaded with a heavy iron boiler on the Talwandi-Mansa road.
Many trucks are carrying the iron boilers from the Mundra sea port in Gujarat to the Banawali thermal plant in
Mansa.
Although the unemployed linemen are still staging a dharna and observing chain hunger strike outside the Mini-secretariat in
Bathinda, the total number of protests have come down in the city. This has made the police and the administration heave a collective sigh of relief.
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BSNL offers its customers the option of choosing a number of their choice, free of cost, unlike the vanity number & gold number facility, which are charged for. 