Bathinda, February 5
The department of Rural Development and Panchayat Department (RDRP) advertised eight vacancies for the general category candidates for the posts of rural veterinary officers (RVOs) and cancelled the vacancies at the last moment.

Drawing ire from the 19 general category candidates, who appeared for the station allotment procedure held on December 21 at Bathinda, the department declared that all the eight seats have been converted into reserved ones. A total of 139 posts of RVOs were advertised all over the state.

In his representation to the director, RDRP, one of the candidates Dr Parampal Singh, who topped the list of general category candidates from Bathinda by securing 166.62 marks, has stated that he applied for the post of RVO at Bathinda as well as Tarn Taran. He secured positions in the first five both at Bathinda and Tarn Taran.

On December 21, he had attended the counselling at Bathinda till 1 pm. "Out of the blue, we were told that Bathinda has no seat for general category whereas the advertisement stated that there were eight seats. All of us were taken aback and called up other districts where we had applied simultaneously," he said.

He later left for Tarn Taran to attend the counselling for the posts there. At Tarn Taran, candidates with marks lesser than that of Dr Parampal Singh were appointed on four general seats. "I could not get the job at Tarn Taran too as the administration there preferred local candidates," he said.

Not only Parampal, but one of the female candidates from Ludhiana met the same fate. Her name figured in the merit lists of Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Tarn Taran, but she too could not get job.

"As all the other districts had counselling on the same date, it was impossible for us to appear at two districts simultaneously. When we reasoned this with the departmental officials they said that there was no way out and we should file a suit in the court," she said.

The general category candidates lamented that the advertisement mentioned there were no reserved posts in Ferozepur and Mansa districts. "But when the final results came out, we saw that 12 reserved category candidates have been appointed at Ferozepur and two at Mansa," added another candidate from Bathinda.

The candidates demanded that entire procedure should have been centralised to avoid the last-minute confusion.

Meanwhile, the director RDRP, Balwinder Singh Multani, who is on election duty out of Punjab, said the entire recruitment was conducted as per government guidelines.

The candidates were informed on time that general category posts have been done away with. The scheme started in 2006 and the people appointed in 2006 on contractual basis were regularised on May 1, 2011. It was a meticulous procedure, which took a lot of time. It was not done only in Bathinda but all over the Punjab and everything was done in accordance with the reservation policy.~

— Dr abhinav trikha, ADC, Bathinda

Bathinda, January 6
After a gap of three days, the city experienced some respite from the chill today when the sun appeared causing the mercury to cross the 20 degree mark in the noon.

Though the Sunday proved to be bright and relatively warm day to some extent as the sun remained present in the sky through out the day, the wind with its increased speed robbed the usual shine and spark normally associated with the spring.

The wind speed recorded in the city was 6 km per hour, nearly 3.5 km per hour higher that yesterday.

The minimum temperature was 7.5 degree Celsius, as per the agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), regional station, Bathinda.

The maximum temperature was 20.2 degree Celsius, about one degree higher than Saturday.

The emergence of the sun also brought cheers back on the faces of wheat farmers whose crops were on the verge of wilting due to hindrance in the process of photosynthesis essential for the proper growth of the crops.

Bathinda, February 5
The eighth edition of Virasat Mela would be held from February 24 to February 26 at village Jaipalgarh.

The chairman of Malwa Heritage Foundation, Harvinder Singh Khalsa said that the legendary singer Kuldeep Manak would be the theme for mela this year.

Earlier, the mela was to be held from December 10 to December 11. However, on December 8 it was postponed owing to the death of son of the main sponsor of this event. Nirmal Singh Bhangu from Pearls Group has been sponsoring the annual event since its inception eight years ago. Bhangu's son passed away on December 6 due to which Virasat Mela has been postponed.

It was then decided to hold the function from December 23 to December 25.

“But it was again delayed owing to the high election fever. Moreover, the model code of conduct came into force on December 24 and all the charm of the mela faded away. The mela may see heavy footfall of politicians who were busy canvassing,” said the sources.

The Malwa Heritage Foundation has been holding Virasat Mela at village Jaipalgarh to familiarise people with their cultural heritage and with customs and traditions that are getting lost in the milieu of urbanisation and modernisation of society. The annual event sees participation of folk groups also from the states other than Punjab.

Bathinda, February 5
In view of the ongoing work related to the doubling and interlocking of tracks near the Kathua station in Jammu, the railways has decided to short terminate several Jammu-bound trains.

The movement of trains passing through Bathinda station is also being affected due to the ongoing development work between February 4 and February 10.

According to the sources in the railways, two pairs of the Jammu-bound trains passing through Bathinda are being short terminated at Pathankot station.

The train no. 19223/24 that run between Jammu Tawi and Ahemdabad via Bathinda are being terminated at Pathankot instead of Jammu station, sources confirmed.

The train no. 19225/26 that run between Bathinda and Jammu Tawi are also being terminated and starting from Pathankot station these days, sources added.

The IRCTC has also stopped booking the tickets to Jammu, sources in the railway said.

Moreover, passengers' attempt to book tickets online also went futile as the IRCTC site is reflecting: Sorry. No matching trains found. - between Bathinda and Jammu Tawi till February 9. The tickets are available only between Bathinda and Pathankot these days.

The normalcy is likely to return on February 10 when the train on. 19925 would be available for the passengers seeking to travel up to Jammu Tawi from Bathinda.

Railway authorities suggested the passengers seeking to go to Jammu Tawi to should enquire before boarding the trains to avoid inconvenience.

Bathinda, February 5
Talking about the thermal plants, the chowks, the colleges, the malls — no, these are not the topics for a Bathinda politico’s speech, but the topics that have been touched upon by a young singer in his song, “Yaaran Da Bathinda.”

Balkaran Singh, all of 20 years of age and a second year student of the city's Government Rajindra College, has created a song to popularise the city. Interestingly, Karan, as he is popularly known in his friend circle, is not a resident of Bathinda, but of Burj Mehma, a place 15 km away from the city.

“It doesn't matter whether I am from Bathinda or not. I come to the city everyday and I love the city," says Karan. "Pyaar vi kuchh hunda hai. This is where I come to study and this is the place that has given me so many friends,” he adds.

Speaking about how he got the idea of making a song on Bathinda, he says, “Once we were sitting in the college and singing some songs together and thought of creating a song of our own. And that's when we thought that nothing would be better than making a song on the city that we love so much. The song speaks about various points in the city — the thermal plant, colleges, chowks, malls and markets. Every line of the song relates to the city.”

Although the song was created almost a year back, the official recording of the song is being done now, at a studio in Model Town. The song has been on YouTube and a page has been dedicated to the song on a social networking site, Facebook.

Karan, who is studying maths and music (vocals) at the Rajindra College, belongs to a family of goldsmiths. He confesses that he had also tried to get into the police force, but couldn't clear the exam. “And that's when I decided to be a singer,” he says, adding that he was fortunate that he didn't face any resistance from his family for his choice of profession. “These days, every parent wants his/her child to grow up to be a star. My family also wants me to excel at whatever I choose to do,” he says.

Ask him about his favourite genre of music or favourite singer and he says, “I don't differentiate between the types of music. Any kind of music that has been created from the heart and has the potential to touch the heart of even those who can't understand the language is my kind of music. My favourite singers are those who add emotions to their songs and hence, I love the way Gurdas Mann sings.”

Talking about the popularity of the song, Karan says that he is confident that once the official version of the song is out, it will be only a matter of days that the city will be talking about it.

“Taking a cue from singers like Sherry Mann, who had used the Internet to popularise his songs in the beginning, we also thought of uploading the song on YouTube first,” he says.

Bathinda, February 5
Three people received serious injuries after the ambulance they were travelling in rammed into a tree on Dabwali road last night.

Volunteers of the Sangat Sahara Sewa Society helped in shifting the injured to the local Civil Hospital.

A volunteer working with the NGO, Pali Mashana, said that the ambulance belonged to the Max Hospital.

Two helpers and a driver were in the ambulance when the accident took place. There was no patient in the ambulance.

He said the hospital authorities took more than two and a half hours to reach the site of accident. The volunteer also claimed that the hospital was informed again and again and only then did the doctors reach the site to enquire about the well-being of the driver and the other two injured persons.

He also said the ambulance was on its way back after dropping someone at a nearby village.

The legs of the ambulance driver got badly crushed in the accident while the two others also received injuries.

The occupants of the ambulance said a speeding car tried to overtake the ambulance and while avoiding hitting another vehicle, the driver of the ambulance lost control over the vehicle and it rammed into the roadside trees.

The injured have been identified as driver Sarabjit Singh of Gajjuana village, Bathinda, Ranjit Singh of Padampur village in Ganganagar and Ravinder Singh of Malout.

Meanwhile, a woman driving a two-wheeler fell down and received injuries near the Government Rajindra College, Bathinda. The injured has been identified as Gagandeep Kaur of Harbans Nagar.

Volunteers of Sangat Sahara Sewa Organisation also helped in shifting an elderly man who was lying unconscious at the Chak Heera Singh village.

The elderly could not be identified and efforts were being made by the volunteers to ascertain his identity.

In another accident, a resident of Gehri Buttar was seriously injured after he fell from a two-wheeler. The injured has been identified as Gora Singh of Gehri Buttar village.

He was shifted to a nearby hospital by volunteers of the Sangat Sahara Sewa organisation.

Bathinda, February 5
On day one of the eye donation awareness week in Bathinda, as many as 30 persons signed the pledge forms in Dhobiana Basti where the volunteers of the NGO, Bathinda Vikas Manch, spent the day spreading the awareness about eye care and eye donation.

“We distributed pamphlets and told the residents of the Dhobiana Basti about eye care and how their decision to donate their eyes could help many visually-impaired persons see the world. We plan to take the drive to Beant Nagar on Monday and to the Central Jail on Tuesday,” said Rakesh Narula, president of the NGO.

Narula also explained how the number of pledge forms signed doesn’t equal the number of actual eye donations.

“We are only the intermediaries. One copy of the pledge form remains with the person and other with the eye bank. It is for the family members of the person, who has signed a eye donation pledge form, to inform the eye bank at the time of the person’s demise. Only if the family shares the information about the death with the eye bank can the doctors reach and extract the cornea,” said Narula.

Dispelling the myth that the process is time-consuming, he said, “The process of extraction of cornea takes only 10 minitues.” Similar eye donation drives are also on in Rampura Phul and Bhucho Mandi.

Bathinda, February 5
The students of the Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh (GZS) campus, Bathinda, participated in the third international youth festival held at Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, and won the first prize in bhangra.

In a press statement issued here today, principal Dr JS Hundal stated that out of the 14 participating universities, GZS students got the first prize in bhangra, led by Rajwinder Singh.

GZS competed in eight events and won five positions. The GZS students also won the second prize in rangoli making, third prize in mime, third prize in light vocal song and third place in landscaping.

The chief guest at the fest was Education Minister of Rajasthan, Naseem Akhtar. Principal Hundal congratulated the students, teachers, team leaders Guriqbal Singh and Rajveer Kaur and cultural coordinator, Sandeep Kansal.

Bathinda, February 5
A baby show was organised at Doon Senior Seccondary School, Kararwala. The show was open to children in the age group of 2.5-4 years. The show had competitions like smartly-dressed, cute smile, most active, good health, etc.

While Palak won the prize for being the most active kid, Prachi and Jai Singh Mann won prizes for their beautiful smiles. Nikunj Singla was adjudged the most healthy kid and Kritika was declared the most smartly-dressed kid.

Jai Singh Mann and Palak also won the Prince Malwa and Princess Malwa prizes respectively. The chairman and the principal of the school gave away the prizes.

Bathinda, February 5
A seminar was organised today to create awareness about agro commodities in Bathinda. The seminar was organised by the Karvy Comtrade Limited. Zonal head of Karvy Comtrade, Suman Smriti said the objective behind organising the seminar was to impart knowledge to the people about the related institution of agro commodity buy-sell techniques.

Around 100 investors participated in the seminar whose queries related to the field were answered by the experts. Ankur Chauhan, regional head, Prem Kumar Sati, branch manager, also expressed their views on the agro commodities market.