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Winter rain drenches city, delights farmers
WASPS prove that they can sting
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Emergency ward not in good health
PTU GZS campus alumnus honoured
Inter-varsity youth fest ends
College holds workshop on AIDS awareness
Rice mill owner, caretaker booked for siphoning off paddy at Rampura
Three booked for cheating
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Winter rain drenches city, delights farmers
Bathinda, January 18 The maximum temperature today was recorded at 13.5 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature was recorded at 12.5 degree Celsius. The wind speed was measured at 12 kmph. According to the weather office, the minimum temperature wasn't too low because of the thick cloud cover. The forecast from the weatherman is that similar conditions may prevail for the next 24 hours. With the maximum temperature dipping, the chill returned and the cold wind forced people to seek recourse to various ways to keep themselves warm. City roads wore a deserted look and the flow of traffic was thin and Friday being a holiday on account of Gurpurb saved many people the trouble of going out in the cold. The visibility also reduced to some extent in the afternoon and vehicles were seen switching on their lights especially in the area near the Thermal lakes. The work on laying of sewerage pipes also got affected because of the rains and pedestrians and people were seen stranded at various roads. Very few people turned up at the busy markets including the Dhobi Bazar and adjoining markets. However, farmers were a delighted lot because of the rains. Agriculture experts said the quantum of rainfall was good for all types of crops and vegetables grown in the fields. Farmers said the use of groundwater too will get reduced because of the rainfall and the productivity of soil will get a boost. Jagtar Brar a progressive farmer from Mehma Sarja village, said the rains have cleared the dust settled on crops and the leaves of the vegetables which has increased its nutritional value. Jaswinder Singh, another farmer, said the soluble nutrients too have come down with the rains and it will help in improving the fertility. The farmers said that six per cent of the agricultural area in Bathinda district is rain-fed. Various oil seed crops, including mustard, are grown in the rain-fed areas of the district. The rain-fed areas do not have any source of irrigation water. The maximum rain-fed area in Bathinda is near Doomwali village where oil seed and taramira is grown in abundance, the farmers said.
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WASPS prove that they can sting
Bathinda, January 18 Deployed to check crime against women, the WASP units have made their presence felt by rounding up youngsters in more than five cases in the last one week. The unit was formed following concern over the safety of women after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi. Twenty female cops have been deployed on ten specifically designed Honda Activa scooters equipped with modern gadgets and weapons to tackle eve-teasing and crime related to girls. Braving the chill, the female cops are making the rounds of the city and the educational institutes in search of anti-social elements. Police officials said though the number of cases is less, the presence of the WASP units in the field has increased the morale of the girls to a great extent. Educationists in the city said the visit by WASP units to their institutes has instilled confidence among the girls who now feel secure in public places. The WASP units are interacting with the school and college girls on a regular basis and remain in touch with the heads of institutes. The girls are trained to react spontaneously and to nail the guilty without wasting time. So far, the units have answered five distress calls and helped three others. A WASP unit got a phone call from a girl at the bus stand a few days ago. The girl had accused a boy of harassing her over the phone. The boy had told the girl to reach the bus stand where he wished to see him. The girl, to teach the boy a lesson, contacted the WASP unit. The accused fled from the spot after spotting the police unit. The female cops gave their contact number to the girls and assured help if the boy called her up again. Similar problems were tackled at various other points in the city. "An example of this unit's swiftness could be gauged from the fact that a teenager passed a comment on these girls and disappeared but was caught immediately," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Brar. Brar said the aim of these female cops is not only to check crime against women but also to keep the morale of the girls high. The SSP said the female cops are quite sensitive to the daily problems faced by the girls at public places. Their very presence has brought down the number of eve-teasing to a great extent, he added. Member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal had flagged off the WASP units on January 10 to provide instant solution to the problems faced by the girls at public places and near the educational institutions.
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Emergency ward not in good health
Bathinda, January 18 Family members do the work of nurses and ward boys as not even a single attendant from the hospital is available to handle a critical patient with care. Family members, unaware of the medical technicalities, take a patient from ambulance door to the respective wards. "My wife met with an accident and I rushed her to the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital. But no ward boy was there to attend to us. I arranged for a stretcher and carried my injured wife in. The doctor also took some 5-6 minutes to arrive," said patient Gurmel Kaur's husband. The wife of 65-year-old Balwant Singh said, "Not even a single attendant has visited us since morning, though the doctor came and explained the medicines to me. I brought the medicines from outside as they are out of stock in the hospital." Punjab government has launched many schemes for providing free medicines to the patients, but the reality is totally different. The essential medicines are always out of stock in civil hospitals, forcing the poor patients to purchase them from outside. When the pharmacist Janta Singh was asked about it, he said "The shortage of medicines in emergency ward remains throughout the year though last month, I sent a list of out of stock medicines," the pharmacist said. However, he failed to show the records of the available and out of stock medicines, when asked by this reporter. Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Satish Goyal seemed to be well aware of the situation. "Earlier, we used to take the stock of medicines from Jan Aushadhi store. But this time, due to the new scheme of the government under which free medicine will be provided to the patients, we are waiting for an order from the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)." Talking about other problems like cleanliness and staff shortage, Goyal said the Health Ministry is not appointing new people, due to which the problem has arisen.
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PTU GZS campus alumnus honoured
Bathinda, January 18 Yashjeet Gupta, who is the chief operating officer of the Synergy Thrislington, a Mohali-based infrastructure development company, received the honour on January 16, the foundation day of the university. Gupta led the team, INSTACON-10, that constructed a 10-storey building in Mohali in a record time of 48 hours. The Limca Book of Records entered the feat as the “fastest 10-storey building constructed in 48 hours in India”. Yashjeet thanked his Alma Mater and Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, director of the local PTU GZS campus. He said on January 24, his company would now build a residential house within 20 hours in Mohali. The project is one of its kind and officials of the Guinness World Records have been invited to witness and register the achievement. Dr Hundal said, “Yashjeet’s feat is inspirational and motivational for the present students of the institute.” — TNS
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Winners of photography contest awarded
Bathinda, January 18 Yadav, who was the main guest at the prize distribution ceremony, took a round of the exhibition before giving away prizes to the winners of five categories of the competition. Tushar got the first prize by clicking some best shots of the historical and cultural buildings. Darshan Singh stood first in the 'nature' category, Meghna Gupta triumphed in 'portraits' category, Mithun Mandal won the 'action' category and Yadwinder Singh topped in the 'off-beat' category. Yadav honoured the participants with prizes, certificates and mementoes. While the winners were rewarded Rs 10,000 each, other contenders received certificate of participation. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said, “The photographers have beautifully captured each angle of the city. The whole purpose of the competition was to promote talent for photography in the city. Such activities will continue in the city in the days to come.”
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Inter-varsity youth fest ends
Bathinda, January 18 Dr RL Kapoor, adviser to the vice-chancellor of the Panjab University (PU), was the chief guest in the morning session. Competitions like debate, elocution, poem recitation, group folk dances and quiz were held on the final day of the event. Avtar Singh Vanwala, officer on special duty (OSD) to Deputy CM Sukhbhir Singh Badal and Balkaran Singh, OSD to Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, were the guests of honour in the afternoon session. Dr Tejinder Kaur Dhariwal, chairperson, PSEB, was the chief guest in the evening session. Other distinguished guest who were present on the occasion were Dr Satish Kumar Verma, Nirmal Singh Jaura and Gurmeet Kaur Bhathal. In his address, Dr RL Kapoor congratulated the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, Principal SS Sangha, staff members and students for successfully organising the programme. Such festivals are important for the promotion of culture and heritage, he said. In the end, the winners were given prizes and the distinguished guests were honoured by the organisers.
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College holds workshop on AIDS awareness
Bathinda, January 18 The NSS unit of the college organised the event with assistance of the Punjab State AIDS Control Society Chandigarh, and Dr Kamaljit Singh Sidhu, assistant director of the Youth Services. Speaking about the importance of the workshop, Dr Sidhu said, “The peer educators will educate the people in their locality about the ill effects of drugs, spread awareness on HIV/AIDS and encourage people to donate blood.”
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Rice mill owner, caretaker booked for siphoning off paddy at Rampura
Bathinda, January 18 In a complaint to the police, Balwinderpal Singh, manager of the PAFC, Bathinda, stated that the rice mill owners were supposed to return rice to the FCI after milling the paddy they had procured. However, they failed to do so and siphoned off paddy worth nearly Rs 39.5 lakh. The police has booked Bhagwan Das of Tej Ram Rice Mill, Rampura, and Bheem Sain, caretaker of the mill. No arrest has been made in the case so far. Vehicle lifters strike thrice
Satpal Singh of Goniana Mandi said he had parked his car outside his residence in Goniana Mandi, which was stolen by some unidentified person. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at Nehianwala police station. In his complaint to the police, one Gurminder Singh of Goniana Mandi stated that his bike was stolen by some unidentified persons. One Sandeep Kumar of Parasram Nagar also reported that his bike, worth nearly Rs 23,000, was lifted from outside a private hospital adjoining the bus stand. A case has been registered at the Kotwali police station. PDS depot holder booked
A PDS depot holder has been booked for usurping 71.10 quintal of wheat that was supposed to be sold to the BPL families. The accused, Pawan Kumar, was booked following a complaint by Arun Kumar and Vikas Kumar, examiners of the Food and Supplies Department, Rampura. A case under section 409 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Sadar Rampura police station. |
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Bathinda, January 18 In a complaint to the police, Preetam Singh of Amreek Singh Road said after the death of his father, three persons got a piece of land at Janta Nagar, fraudulently transferred in their names. A case under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC has been registered at the Canal Colony police station against Gurdarshan Singh, Rajwinder Kaur and Pawan Kumar of Sirki Bazar. — TNS
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Bathinda, January 18
