Bathinda, April 12
"Rs 50 crores have been set aside for developing sports in the state," said Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka, adding that the state government was also planning to host a seven-nation hockey tournament this year.

"During a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, it was decided that the erstwhile budget of Rs 4 crore for sports would be increased to Rs 50 crore from this year. The government had also made sports a compulsory subject in schools," Maluka said.

The minister was in the city to honour the students of the district who won laurels at the 58th National School Games.

Accusing the Central government of nepotism while selecting teams for various international sporting events, he said, "India does not send its team to a sporting event to win it. The players are sent abroad on a pleasure trip and simply to register their presence at the event."

"Various political parties are also kept happy by choosing a player from their states. Players are selected irrespective of their talent quotient. If we start choosing the team members on the basis of merit, no one can stop our teams from winning international competitions. Besides nepotism, lack of sports infrastructure in India was behind the country's dismal performance at international sporting events," he added.

Maluka, who is also the president of the Punjab Kabaddi Association, patted his own party's back for working towards resurrecting the sport. "We worked hard towards popularising kabaddi not only in India but other nations as well. We have successfully organised three World Cups. India won all of them which proved that our players were talented and did not secure a back-door entry into the team," he said.

He added that Punjab was the only state in the country to have around six-seven astro-turfs and stadiums with flood lights even in small cities.

Bathinda, April 12
The Physical Education Teachers Association, Bathinda district, organised a felicitation ceremony to honour the students of the district who bagged first, second and third positions at various national-level games at St. Xavier’s Convent School here today.

Education Minister of Punjab, Sikander Singh Maluka was the chief guest on the occasion. Also present were MLA Bathinda (Rural) Darshan Singh Kotfatta, District Education Officer (secondary education) Harkanwaljeet Kaur, DEO (elementary education) Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta, Assistant DEO Pavitar Kaur, and physical education teachers of all schools of the district.

As many as 40 students, who had represented the district in 11 games, were honoured during the ceremony.

The boys’ list included a team of eight which won the first position in the Under-19 kabaddi competition, two who bagged the second position in the Under-19 tug-of-war contest, a student who won the third position in the Under-19 weightlifting competition, another student who bagged the second slot in the Under-17 netball contest, two students who bagged the first place in the Under-19 handball competition, a first position holder in the Under-19 wrestling competition, a first-position holder in the Under -17 basketball competition, and a third-position holder in the Under-17 netball contest.

In the girls’ category, the list included a team of four who bagged the second position in the Under-19 tug-of-war competition, five who won the third position in the Under-17 netball contest, two who bagged the second position in the Under-17 handball contest, one who won the third position in the Under-17 handball contest, six students who were adjudged third in the Under-14 handball contest, two students who secured top two positions in the Under-14 shooting competition, a student who bagged the third position in the Under-19 taekwondo competition and a students who bagged the second position in the Under-16 cricket tournament.

Special recognition was also given to Sukhnoorpreet Kaur who participated in the Under-14 gymnastics competition.

Bathinda, April 12
A growing number of stray dogs has become a cause of worry for city residents. However, the authorities concerned are yet to wake up from their slumber to curb the menace.

A census conducted by the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) in 2010 identified 5,277 stray dogs in the area falling in the municipal limits. As per a rough estimate, the number would have now crossed 6,000 in the city.

The MCB officials said earlier, most of the stray dogs were found at the dumping ground for animal carcass, on the Dabwali road. "But since the dumping ground has been shifted, the stray dogs reached the city," said one of the MCB officials.

The census was conducted under a Central scheme to identify and sterilise the stray dogs.

The official said the state government had arranged a one-week training for MCB officials under the sterilisation project, but it proved useless as the project did not materialise.

Aimed at reducing the number of stray dogs, the project was to be launched with the help of Chennai-based Jeev Jantu Kalyan Board. The project was funded by the central and state governments.

The training was conducted in Delhi and was attended by the chief sanitary inspector and class IV employees of the MCB.

Some veterinary doctors had also attended the training programme.

The MCB officials said the number of stray dogs was on the rise at the places where dogs get food and shelter easily.

"There are people who offer milk and food to these animals," said Gurjant Sidhu, a resident of Model Town Phase-III. He said a girl and her mother were mauled by a dog, just behind the Civil Line Police Station today.

Dheeraj Kumar, a resident of same locality, said around 10 persons tried to save the girl and her mother. But the animal injured the woman and her child.

"There are more than one dozen stray dogs in and around the Model Town area. The menace is a huge threat to human lives," Gurjant Sidhu said.

"I am preparing for a physical test for which I run two kms everyday. However, the canine menace has restricted my early morning run to certain areas. Stray dogs could be found even at parks in posh areas," Gurjant said.

Doctors at the Civil Hospital revealed that a large number of dog bite cases were reported every month from different residential areas of the city.

Mayor Baljeet Singh Birbehman could not be contacted for his comments.

Bathinda, April 12
The principal controller of defence accounts (pension) is going to organise a two-day “pension adalat” at Takshila Hall, Bathinda Cantonment, from April 25, said District Defence Services Welfare Officer (DDSWO) Cdr (Retd) Baljinder Virk.

He appealed to the ex-servicemen and widows to avail this opportunity as the pension adalat is being held to sort out their pension-related problems. He also appreciated the principal controller of defence accounts (pension) for making efforts to offer solutions to the pension-related issues of the ex-servicemen and widows.

He appealed to the ex-servicemen to collect forms from the Defence Pension Disbursing Officer (DPDO) or DDSWO and submit the same by April 22 at the DPDO office so that necessary action could be taken to resolve their problems at the pension adalat. — TNS

Bathinda, April 12
The police has arrested two persons, including a woman, for stealing firewood from near the Army area.

Following a complaint by Naib Subedar Gopi Nath, a case has been against Imran Khan, Rani Devi and Satpal Singh, all residents of Bhucho Mandi.

While two of the accused, Imran Khan and Rani Devi, were handed over to the police and the stolen wood recovered from them, the third accused, Satpal, managed to flee from the spot.

The complainant stated that the accused had been stealing wood from the Army area since long time. He added that four quintal of wood meant for domestic purpose was recovered from the accused. The wood was worth nearly Rs 2,000.

The police today produced the arrested accused in a local court seeking police remand of the accused. However, the court decided against it. The accused's counsel pleaded in the court that since the stolen material had been recovered from the accused, there was no point sending them to police remand. It was also brought to the notice of the court that there was no other serious offence pending against the accused. However, the court sent the arrested persons to judicial custody. — TNS

Bathinda, April 12
The Department of Architecture, Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus, organised a workshop on “Architectural design methodologies”.

Jeet Kumar Gupta, former adviser PUDA, Sohan Lal Saharan, associate professor, Chandigarh College of Architecture and Suresh Sharma, a landscape architect from Kalpakriti consultants, Chandigarh, interacted with students during the workshop.

The first session of the workshop included lectures and presentations by the guests. The second session was dedicated to the design exercise where the students were divided into groups. They were made to conceptualise the idea of a “Knowledge Centre” proposed on the campus. — TNS

Bathinda, April 12
University College of Agriculture, Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, organised a day-long industrial trip to the State Seed Farm (Department of Agriculture, Punjab), at Shekhupura, for its students.

During the tour, the students were informed about various seed crops grown at the farm. They also got to know about the working of various agricultural implements such as spraying pumps, spraying guns, cultivators, etc. Dr Anil Choudhary told the students about soil and climatic conditions for the optimum production of different crops grown at the farm. They also discussed the infrastructure for irrigation installed at the farm.

Dr Kiran told the students about seed technologies used to develop different varieties of wheat. She suggested ways of breeding and production of hybrid seeds, combating disease and producing drought-resistant varieties of soil.

Dr Suman Rani provided some tips on orchard management to the students during their visit to the guava orchard at the farm. She also made the students aware about various diseases, insects and pests which could affect fruit crops.

Bathinda, April 12
Gurukul International School, Bhairupa, organised a function to celebrate Baisakhi. Ramandeep Kaur, a student of Class IX and Ramandeep Jangiana of Class X presented a choreography item. Vansh Garg, a student of Class V, delivered a speech.

School chairman Rohit Garg, principal Dhawan Kumar, coordinator Veerpal, coordinator (junior wing ) Narinder Rampura, the school staff and students were present during the celebrations. Manpreet Kaur and Kirandeep Kaur conducted the stage.

Bathinda, April 12
The Central University of Punjab organised a special lecture on “Glycogen storage diseases: Common disease types and challenges in their management” on its campus here today.

The lecture was delivered by Dr Deeksha Bali, associate professor, Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Paediatrics and director, Glycogen Storage Diseases Laboratory, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Dr Bali, who was trained as a human geneticist at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, spoke on the number and nature of genes controlling forms of the diseases.

The primary area of her research is the development of early non-invasive methods for diagnosis of treatable metabolic disorders. Her research concerns prolonging the life span of infants suffering from some of the diseases associated with metabolism.

The lecture was attended by a large number of students and faculty members of the university as well as senior doctors from the local medical institutes.

Bathinda, April 12
Over a dozen members of the Punjab Palledar Union have been booked for creating ruckus and seriously injuring a cop during a scuffle near the FCI godown adjoining Lehra Khana village on Thursday night.

Nathana station house officer (SHO) Sandeep Singh, the complainant in the case, said on losing a contract, one of the groups entered into a scuffle with the other group. He said around 400 to 500 members of the union went berserk even as he and other cops were trying to defuse tension between the two groups. While some of them were identified, the identity of many others (around 400 to 500) who have been booked could not be ascertained.