Bathinda, February 23
Local operators of a renowned cable network company have resorted to arm-twist its subscribers by disconnecting their cable connection so as to force them to install set top boxes to view channels other than Doordarshan.

For the last one month, people in various areas of the city are facing this problem. The latest one to indulge in arm-twisting act is the cable operator in the Model Town who blacked out transmission to the entire area and has been asking people to pay him Rs 600 each for a set top box.

The cable operators in the city, pleading anonymity, say they are being forced to take such an unwarranted step. “Most of the cable network in the state is in the hands of a cable coterie being controlled from Ludhiana. They are forcing us to take these drastic steps. It is a question of survival for us. If we do not yield to the pressure, we would be eliminated from the field,” the operator added.

Another cable operator alleged that the cable coterie has a strong nexus with the SAD-BJP leaders in the state and are unsure of their government retuning to power. “Unsure of the future, the cable network company has now decided to expand its user base so that by the time election results are declared, it has a wide consumer base to boast of. Albeit it is another story how the consumers are being forced into buying the set top boxes and the way we (operators) are being harassed,” added another operator.

Even the District Cable Operators’ Union is silent on the issue. The office-bearers of the union refused to comment and distanced themselves by saying the issue is between operator and the service provider to discuss.

One of the cable operators in the Paras Ram Nagar area said it was being done following the orders of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for digitisation of the entire cable network services.

He, however, reasoned that the consumer should be free to install the set top box of his own choice rather than forcing him/her to buy a particular company-made box.

Bathinda, February 23
There is a sudden rise in the number of car snatching cases occurring around the lakes of the local Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant.

Two incidents of car snatching at gun point took place during the last fortnight while others cases were reported during the last three months.

Even as officials of the Thermal police station claim that these were stray incidents and most of the complaints were frivolous, area residents are shaken up.

Daizy Mohan, a contractor of liquor vends in the city, said his uncle Devinder Singla was the latest victim of the robbers. Devinder was on his way to the NFL (National Fertilisers Limited) last evening where he works as senior chemist in the laboratory department.

“The robbers were teenaged. They demanded keys of his Maruti Alto car from him after blocking the way with their bike last evening. When my uncle refused to do their bidding, they fired two gunshots,” Daizy said. He added that his uncle threw away the keys and decided against doing anything that could invite more trouble for him.

He said his uncle could not note down the registration number of the bike out of fear but he did see the word ‘hitter’ written on the rear number plate of the bike. The assailants threatened Devinder Singla of dire consequences and fled from the scene along with the car.

The family members of the victim said the car was worth over Rs 1.20 lakh. They rued that there was no check on crime in the city and young boys addicted to drugs commit heinous crimes to make easy money.

Another victim of the looters was a family member of an influential local hotelier. The miscreants robbed him of his Hyundai Verna car. Gaurav Katia said his car was also looted in a similar manner.

Tony Katia, a cousin of the victim, said two unidentified boys took away the car from near the lakes of the thermal plant on the Goniana road around a week ago.

“The assailants, who were in a car, threatened to fire gun shots and took away my cousin’s car when he was returning from a nearby hotel in the evening,” Tony said.

He added that though the police had registered a case in this connection, nothing concrete had been done to nab the culprits or trace the car.

A Maruti Zen car was also stolen in a similar manner last October. The complainant said two young boys took away his car from near the thermal lakes.

Thermal police station SHO Darshan Singh said they had intensified patrolling in the area surrounding the thermal lakes. “We are not convinced with most of the complaints as there are holes in the claims of the complainants. We are still inquiring the matter,” said the SHO.

No senior police official, including Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill, was available for comments.

Bathinda, February 23
Two residents of Kothaguru village have been booked by the police for kidnapping a woman from her house in the village and raping her for one week.

In her complaint to the police, the victim alleged that she was kidnapped by two boys of her village, namely Satnam Singh and Kuldeep Singh, on a bike. She was taken to the house of one of the accused where she was kept for one day. The boys raped her at the house. For the next days, she was raped in open agricultural fields.

Investigating officer in the case, Sewak Chand said that both the boys have been arrested and a case under Sections 376, 365, 506, 148, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against them at Dyalpura police station.

He said the boys seem to be drug addicts and were involved in petty crimes.

Bathinda, February 23
For the first time after the setting up of Government Women and Children Hospital here a decade ago, the gynaecologists have started performing round the clock duty at the hospital.

So, even after the normal working hours of the hospital, a gynaecologist will now remain available to the patients for serving them in the evening and at night. For the purpose, a duty roster has been prepared by the hospital authorities.

It may be mentioned here that till now, not even a single doctor had been working at the 50-bedded hospital situated on the premises of the Civil Hospital here, from 3 pm ( the closing time of the hospital) to 9 am ( the opening time). However, in case of emergency, doctors visited the hospital on call to attend to the patient.

Talking to TNS here today, Civil Surgeon Dr Iqbal Singh said round the clock duties in shifts by gynaecologists had been started in the hospital on the instructions of the Principal Secretary, Health, Satish Chandra.

He said the Bathinda hospital was the fourth hospital in the state where gynaecologists would perform duties in shifts to handle pregnancy cases and attend to woman patients. The official added that gynaecologists had already been performing duties in shifts at the Mata Kaushalaya Hospital in Patiala and the Civil Hospitals at Mohali and Jalandhar.

He said after the normal working hours, one gynaecologist would always remain available to the patients at the Women and Children Hospital, Bathinda.

When contacted, senior medical officer (SMO) of the Women and Children Hospital Dr BS Gill said the hospital had seven woman doctors, including six gynaecologists, enough to perform the shift duties. He said after normal working hours (9 am to 3 pm), a gynaecologist would be on shift duty from 3 pm to 9 pm while another would work from 9 pm to 9 am.

Punjab’s special chief electoral officer Usha Sharma inaugurates the athletic meet at the PTU GZS campus in Bathinda on Thursday. photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

Bathinda, February 23
It is quite common to see student clashes during college/university elections. A recent case in study is the clash between the supporters of Student Federation of India and Trinamool Chatra Parishad at the Netajinagar college in Kolkata which saw the officer-in-charge of the Patuli police station transferred.

Is violence in student politics taking the sheen off the elections? Is college politics slowly veering off from the welfare of the students and moving closer to showcase of power? Is the violence in college elections keeping the students both from contesting and voting in the elections? These were some of the questions taken up during the national conference on ‘Social and Cultural Changes - Prospects and Challenges for Youth’, held at the Government Rajindra College, Bathinda.

Citing the example of how Prof HS Sabharwal had died in August 2006 after a fracas in the college over student union elections after he was allegedly beaten up by the ABVP activists, Prof Sumail Sidhu said, “It is saddening to see the increasing violence in the colleges during elections. While cases of violence during college elections come forward quite frequently, the student union of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, has set a perfect example of how a students union can work for the welfare of the student and also use non-violent means to present their demands. The working of the JNU student union has brought about significant results.”

In the same breath, Prof Sidhu also maintained that there is no way of making sure that the students will always present or voice their concerns through peaceful means. “If the institution keeps ignoring the demands of the students and keeps suppressing their voices, there may come a stage when the students will resort to violence. There is a need for conversation and communication,” he added.

He also spoke about the guidelines set by the Lyngdoh Committee for the students' elections. The Lyngdoh Committee, in its Guidelines for Students' Elections (Maintaining Law and Order on the Campus during the Election Process), says, “We believe that the police is a part of civil law and order machinery, and it should be as much available to protect lives, property and functioning of the university as is available to any other establishment in the country.”

Bathinda, February 23
To disseminate information among the people about the symptoms and treatment of tuberculosis (TB), an awareness programme was organised under the revised national TB control programme (RNTCP) by the District Health Society at Red Cross Bhawan here on Wednesday.

In this programme, district TB officer Dr Ashok Monga and the RNTCP communication facilitator Gagan Goyal gave information about the TB disease to the gathering.

Dr Monga said the people should not ignore cough for more than two weeks as it is one of the symptoms of tuberculosis.

He further said other symptoms of the disease were loss of weight and appetite, pain in the chest and blood in sputum. He said the person who had been suffering from these symptoms might be a patient of TB.

Dr Monga said sputum examination was the best method to ascertain whether a person is suffering from TB or not. He said this test is done in the government hospitals free of cost. Besides, the medicine of the TB is also provided free of cost for six to eight months in these hospitals, he added.

Dr Monga and Gagan Goyal appealed to the tuberculosis patients not to leave the medicine midway as it led to reoccurrence of TB, which could then become incurable.

Goyal also thanked the first aid trainer of the Red Cross Society Naresh Pathania for extending assistance in organising the awareness programme at the Red Cross Bhawan.

Bathinda, February 23
Sandeep, a student of mechanical 2010 batch secured first place in the shot put (men) event held on the first day of 19th athletic meet of Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh campus that started today.

Harmanjot from textile 2009 batch secured second place in the same event.

In shotput (women), Jaspreet from CSE 2010 batch and Manjula from textile 2010 batch, secured the first and second places, respectively.

In long jump (men), Ishleen from 2010 batch and Manil from textile 2011 batch, secured first and second place, respectively.

Similarly, in the long jump (women), Gagandeep from CSE 2010 batch and Jagriti from CSE 2010 batch, secured the first and second places.

In 110 m hurdles (men), Gurdeep from mechanical 2010 and Pranav from mechanical 2010, secured first and second place.

In 800 m (men), Mohit Sood from architecture 2010 batch and Pawan Kumar from mechanical 2009 batch, secured first and second place. In 800 m (women) Swati from CSE 2011 batch and Kulveer from CSE 2009 batch secured first and second places. In 100 m (women), Jagriti from CSE 2010 batch and Gagandeep from CSE 2010 batch, secured the first and second places.

Earlier, the Commissioner, Technical Education and Industrial Training Punjab and special Chief Electoral Officer Usha R Sharma declared the meet open. While addressing the students she lay emphasis on importance of education and said that students, who fare better in education, are inclined towards extra curricular activities too, which is must for overall development of an individual.

Students from both degree and Diploma wing participated in the sports meet. Baba Farid Group of Institutions Deon managing director Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwa was the guest of honor. Principal Dr. Jasbir Singh Hundal welcomed everybody.

President Sports Bhupinder Pal Singh briefed about achievements of students in various sports events held during 20011-2012.

Chief coordinator Prof Anupam Saxena presented the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, February 23
Various competitions in singing were held today at village Jaipalgarh on the eve of the three-day Virasat Mela.

The competitions were organised by Malwa Heritage Foundation, Bathinda. Virasat Mela is being organised in the memory of famous Punjabi singer Kuldeep Manak who died after last year.

In a press release issued by the foundation, it was stated that children from 15 different schools participated in the contests.

Two groups were constituted during the competitions wherein students from first to eighth were in one group and from classes IX to XII were in another group.

In the first group of students, Gursewak Singh from Kotshamir village, stood first in competitions of Kali singing. In Vaar singing, Bhupinder from Baba Farid School stood first. In songs competitions, Anmolpreet Kaur of Guru Nanak Dev Public School stood first.

Bathinda, February 23
Bathinda DC Kamal Kishore Yadav today inaugurated the branch of HDFC bank at the grain market here.

This is the tenth branch of the bank in Bathinda.

Apart from ahrtiyas of Grain Market and the locals, the branch will cater to the needs of customers from villages of Multania, Ghudha, Beer, Beer Behman, Jai Singh Wala and Kotshamir villages of the district.

In his address from Mumbai, Navin Puri, country head, branch banking, HDFC Bank, said, “We are committed to take world-class banking to the hinterlands.” Cluster head Ashu Garg that Rs 48 lakh farmer loan sanction order was handed over to a farmer of Dyalpura Mirza village today during the opening of the bank. — TNS