Rajindra College does away with classes XI & XII again
Bathinda, May 6

From the academic session 2013-14, the Government Rajindra College here has shut its doors to the students seeking admissions to classes XI and XII. Till last year, the college was admitting students for medical and non-medical streams in classes XI and XII.
The Government Rajindra College in Bathinda. A file photograph

Civil hospital docs perform rare C-section surgery
Bathinda, May 6
Doctors at the Civil Hospital have saved lives of a mother and her newborn male baby by performing C-section surgery in a rare case. The surgery was performed on Saturday by a team of four doctors comprising two gynaecologists, a surgeon and an anaesthetist. A faulty diagnosis in such cases results in extraction of a dead foetus while posing risk to the mother's life.

Protests against films: Creative freedom of artistes goes for a toss!
Bathinda, May 6
The protests against films, 'Sadda Haq' and 'Shootout at Wadala', have stoked the debate over whether the artistes should be allowed a creative freedom or not. Interestingly, the films which are facing opposition have been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification, or the Censor Board.

Burglars try to break into the house, case registered
Bathinda, May 6
Police has registered a case against an unidentified thief for breaking the windscreen and windowpanes of a house with the aim of committing theft. In a complaint to the police, Mohit Sood of Sarabha Nagar said some unidentified miscreants committed the crime on Sunday morning.

Gram Sevaks stage protest in Bathinda on Monday in support of their demands. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

In panic, residents mull over installing CCTV cameras
Bathinda, May 6
Upset over the repeated incidents of theft, breaking of windshields of cars by miscreants and other crime in the area, the residents of Model Town Phase-III have decided to install CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras at their houses. A CCTV installed at a house had captured eight young boys making rounds of the streets in the area on three motorbikes.

Inspire award exhibition for senior students begins
Bathinda, May 6
A district-level exhibition of projects chosen for the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) awards began at Teachers’ Home today. Class IX and X students from as many as 134 schools of the district are participating in the three-day exhibition.

Visitors have a look at the models on display at the Inspire Awards exhibition that began at Teachers’ Home in Bathinda on Monday. Photos: Bhupinder Dhillon

Miscreants strike again, damage four vehicles
Bathinda, May 6
Continuing their sadistic pleasure, unidentified youths today broke the windshields of four vehicles parked in the Model Town Phase-III. Though they were captured by a CCTV camera installed outside a house in the area, they are yet to be arrested. The CCTV footage shows eight young boys on three two-wheelers.

A man points at the damaged windshield of his vehicle in Bathinda. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

55 teachers booked by cops
Bathinda, May 6
Police has registered a case against 55 teachers who protested against Punjab Government and created ruckus on the city roads which lead to chaos on Sunday. A similar number of women employees too were arrested by the police yesterday but were let off on the instructions of senior police officials. The women were released after being warned not to take part in such protests though the male protesters were booked by the police and sent to jail.

Police preempts: Cops barricade the area to thwart ABVP members’ bid to burn an effigy of the Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, outside the office of the District Congress in Bathinda on Monday. Photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

The students of Shivalik Public School, Rampura Phul, where a football tournament was held. A TRibune photograph

Central University to hold lecture on Shiv Kumar Batalvi
Bathinda, May 6
The Centre for Comparative Literature at the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, is organising a programme to commemorate the death anniversary of the legendary Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi. The programme is scheduled to be held on May 7 and is part of a series of lectures on unmatched literary figures.

Cops organise awareness week on traffic rules
Bathinda, May 6
The traffic police, Bathinda is organising a Traffic Awareness Week from May 6 to May 15. To mark the awareness week on traffic, painting competitions were organised at the Police Public School located in the Police Lines in which the students of various schools participated.

Bharat Bhavna Diwas observed in city
Bathinda, May 6
Lord Rama Public School celebrated the Bharat Bhawna Diwas with great enthusiasm here today. The students of primary classes gathered in the school auditorium and those belonging to the senior classes gathered in the assembly ground of the school and sang the national anthem together at 10 am.

Farmers win prizes
Bathinda, May 6
Farmers opting for Bt cotton promoted by a company, Shriram Fertilizers and Chemicals, walked away with various prizes at a function held to honour the winners of the lucky draw campaign by the company.

10-yr-old boy’s body found hanging
Bathinda, May 6 A ten-year-old boy died under mysterious circumstances after his body was found hanging from the ceiling of his house in Gopal Nagar. According to the volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa, the body of the VI class student was lying on the floor as it could have been brought down before their arrival.

Rajindra College does away with classes XI & XII again
Says no to admissions for session 2013-14; class XI passouts told to shift to mainstream schools
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
From the academic session 2013-14, the Government Rajindra College here has shut its doors to the students seeking admissions to classes XI and XII. Till last year, the college was admitting students for medical and non-medical streams in classes XI and XII. Although the college had a total of 240 seats for both the streams, last year saw 88 students taking admission in non-medical in class XI and only eight students in the medical stream.

The number of students taking admission in class XII last year was 38 and eight for non-medical and medical streams, respectively.

This is not the first time the college has decided to discontinue the classes.

While the college denied admissions for class XI in 2004, class XII was discontinued in 2005. Classes, however, restarted in 2012 following the intervention of the then education minister of the state, Dr Upinderjit Kaur.

Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, the college principal, Vijay Goyal, said, "Earlier, college professors and lecturers used to teach the students. However, we were told later that the classes would not be a part of the college staff's workload and the college had to hire a separate set of teachers to teach the students of classes XI and XII."

"We were also directed to use the funds generated from the students' fees to pay the teachers and any extra expense was to be borne using the college's PTA fund. We could afford to pay only Rs 5,000 per month to every guest lecturer. Where can one get a good science teacher for that little sum? The results were not good. We had no option but to ask the students to take admission in mainstream schools," he added.

Talking about the poor response to the classes, the vice-principal of the college, Ramesh Chander Pasrija, said, "The classes drew poor response even as the students had to pay only Rs 4,200 per year to study in the college. One of the reasons could have been the fact that students in the city want to take dummy admissions in schools while in the college regular classes are held."

While the students of class XII passed out this year, the students of class XI were given certificates and were asked to take admission in mainstream schools.

Record Tracked

Official Speak

Civil hospital docs perform rare C-section surgery
Baby developed in the patient’s abdomen instead of uterus
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Rekha, along with her newborn child, at the Women and Children Hospital located on the premises of the Civil Hospital in Bathinda. A Tribune photograph

Bathinda, May 6
Doctors at the Civil Hospital have saved lives of a mother and her newborn male baby by performing C-section surgery in a rare case. The surgery was performed on Saturday by a team of four doctors comprising two gynaecologists, a surgeon and an anaesthetist. A faulty diagnosis in such cases results in extraction of a dead foetus while posing risk to the mother's life.

Dr Ritu Goyal, a gynaecologist at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, said nine-month pregnant Rekha (30), a native of Bihar, had come to the hospital with an acute pain in abdomen.

She was referred from a government hospital in Abohar. Doctors there had advised her either to go to Faridkot or Bathinda for delivery as the baby was in an unusual position.

Dr Ritu said it was fourth pregnancy of the patient and the previous three deliveries had been normal. She added that examination of the patient revealed that there was a low-lying placenta with the baby in transverse position.

A team of doctors decided to perform C-section.

Gynaecologist Dr Alka Garg, surgeon Dr Maninder Singh and anaesthetist Dr Neelam Pall, all from the Civil Hospital, accompanied Dr Ritu during the operation.

However, during operation, it was found that instead of uterus, the baby was in the abdominal cavity wrapped in the omentum (layer of abdomen). Though the baby was a healthy male of 3.5 kg it was in an unusual position and placed inside the woman's abdomen.

During further examination, the placenta was found attached to the external surface of the uterus. Normally, the baby along with placenta is always inside the uterus and not in the abdomen.

While the uterus was of non-pregnant size, both the tubes and ovaries were normal in size.

The doctors said due to heavy bleeding, the uterus along with the placenta was removed to save the lives of both the mother and the child.

Dr Ritu said such cases were rare; only one in 25,000 patients who carry abdominal pregnancy till term.

The maternal mortality in these cases is 0.5 to 8 per cent and prenatal mortality is 70 to 90 per cent.

The woman's husband works as a labourer in Abohar. The woman along with her child would be discharged within the next few days.

Protests against films: Creative freedom of artistes goes for a toss!
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
The protests against films, 'Sadda Haq' and 'Shootout at Wadala', have stoked the debate over whether the artistes should be allowed a creative freedom or not. Interestingly, the films which are facing opposition have been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification, or the Censor Board.

'Sadda Haq' was scheduled to release in April but faced stiff opposition from a large section of society in Punjab, which claimed that the film could trigger hatred between Hindu and Sikh communities. The makers of the film took the legal fight to the Apex court and won the case. The film is releasing next week.

The Bharatiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj protested against a dialogue in the film 'Shootout At Wadala' as a result of which all the shows of the film in the cinema halls across the city were stalled till further instruction.

Speaking about the limits of creative freedom, the lyricist and director of the Punjabi film, 'Sutta Nag', Amardeep Singh Gill, said, "Artistes should be allowed a fair share of creative freedom but at the same time, the artistes should also make sure that they don't use it to hurt someone's sentiments related to region, religion or something else. While giving shape to their vision, filmmakers should also try and avoid courting any kind of trouble."

Creative freedom is curbed by various protests and in this era of intensive publicity, it is hard to know whose sentiments are genuinely hurt and who is feigning, maintains thespian Kirti Kirpal of the Natyam Manch.

"Sometimes, the protests turn out to be mere publicity stunts, either orchestrated by the people from the industry itself or by the community or a section of the society to gain mileage and hit headlines. Same dialogue, play or song may be perceived differently by different people. While I may not see anything wrong in my play, a member of the audience may," he said. His play, 'Rabb Ji Thalle Aajao' had faced protest in Bathinda.

Apwinder Sidhu, an associate producer of 'Sadda Haq', said sometimes, the audience starts playing the role of the Censor Board. "People protested against 'Sadda Haq' even before it was released. If the Censor Board believes a dialogue or a song is fine for audience, we should respect its decision. At the same time, those related to the showbiz industry should also make sure that they do not misuse their creative freedom.

Crime briefs
Burglars try to break into the house, case registered
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Police has registered a case against an unidentified thief for breaking the windscreen and windowpanes of a house with the aim of committing theft. In a complaint to the police, Mohit Sood of Sarabha Nagar said some unidentified miscreants committed the crime on Sunday morning. Police has registered a case under sections 379 and 427 of the IPC at the Civil Lines police station.

Six booked for assault

Police has booked six persons, including women, for attacking a resident of Sanguana Basti. In a complaint to the police, Sukhwinder Singh said Devi Dayal, Beant, Surjeet, Manjeet Kaur, Sukha and Sukhmandar Pappi assaulted him because of which he was injured. The assault followed after an altercation over some monetary transaction. The complainant said he was on his way to Sirki Bazar when the accused attacked him with sticks and other sharp weapons. Police has registered a case under sections 341, 323, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC at the Canal Colony police station. No arrests have been made so far.

Woman arrested Residents and some bystanders near the NFL Chowk handed over a woman to the police for snatching gold jewellery from another woman. In a complaint to the police, Saroj Rani, a resident of 100 feet road, said she was returning to her house in a bus. When the bus reached near NFL Chowk, a woman snatched her gold bangle. The woman, after snatching the bangle, jumped out from the moving bus. She was, however, overpowered by the passersby, who handed her over to the police. The woman has been identified as Amarjit Kaur, a resident of Ram Nagar Basti.

One arrested with 5 kg poppy husk

Sony Kumar, a resident of Kamla Nehru Colony, has been arrested by the police for possessing 5 kg of poppy husk. The accused was arrested from near Kamla Nehru Colony. A case under sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Cantonment police station.

Two booked for abetment to suicide

Police has registered a case against two residents of Nangla village for instigating a woman to commit suicide. The complainant, Iqbal Singh of Sirsa (Haryana), complained that his sister committed suicide after she was continuously harassed by her husband Kuldeep Singh and one Gurpreet Singh. Police has booked both Kuldeep and Gupreet under sections 306 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code at the Talwandi Sabo police station.

Investigating officer in the case Buta Singh said the woman, Gurmeet Kaur, was rushed to the hospital with burn injuries where she died. According to the brother of the woman, her husband suspected her of having illicit relations.

In panic, residents mull over installing CCTV cameras
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Upset over the repeated incidents of theft, breaking of windshields of cars by miscreants and other crime in the area, the residents of Model Town Phase-III have decided to install CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras at their houses. A CCTV installed at a house had captured eight young boys making rounds of the streets in the area on three motorbikes.

The boys were spotted passing by the house at 1.10 am. Two boys on a bike were seen moving on one side. Ten minutes later came six boys on two bikes, who were accompanied by the two boys who had passed by earlier.

These eight boys captured on the CCTV were suspected as the culprits behind breaking of windshields of cars parked in the area as there was no other movement on the road between 1 am and 4 am.

Residents said only high-definition CCTV cameras function during the night hours as standard cameras do not prove useful in dark. "Or else, people should install lights to lit up the area within the range of the CCTV camera at their house so that the image captured shows culprits' faces or the registration number of the vehicles used in the crime, clearly," said Jaspal, a resident of Model Town Phase-III who recently installed CCTV cameras at his house. He said he spent Rs 32,000 to install four cameras at different directions of his house to keep a tab over the activities near his house.

CCTV camera sellers said it costs Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 to install a good-quality CCTV camera. They suggest against buying low definition cameras, which fail to work during night hours and captures hazy pictures.

They said a camera costs Rs 1500 to Rs 3,000 and the price of Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which keeps the recordings, starts from Rs 8,000.

Inspire award exhibition for senior students begins
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
A district-level exhibition of projects chosen for the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) awards began at Teachers’ Home today. Class IX and X students from as many as 134 schools of the district are participating in the three-day exhibition.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the District Education Officer (Elementary Education) Dr Amarjit Kaur. Also present on the occasion were the District Education Officer (Secondary Education) Harkanwaljeet Kaur, District Nodal Officer for the project and District Science Supervisor Jarnail Singh Bhondipura and the assistant District District Education Officer, Pavittar Kaur.

After seeing the projects and models on display, Dr Amarjit Kaur asked the students to make sure to use the concept behind the same in real life as well. Harkanwaljit Kaur congratulated the teachers and students for participating in the exhibition in such huge numbers. She also added that such exhibitions not only develop a sense of competition among the students but also hone their skills and capabilities.

The DSS said students from 134 schools from across the district were participating in the exhibition. The models are based on various topics related to maths, science, engineering and environment.

“The exhibition aims at encourage a scientific way of thinking among the students and also makes sure that they start taking interest in the subjects.”

The results of the exhibition will be announced on the concluding day of the exhibition, May 8. During the felicitation ceremony, names of the students who have been chosen to display their models at the state-level exhibition (to be held later this month) will also be announced.

Miscreants strike again, damage four vehicles
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Continuing their sadistic pleasure, unidentified youths today broke the windshields of four vehicles parked in the Model Town Phase-III. Though they were captured by a CCTV camera installed outside a house in the area, they are yet to be arrested. The CCTV footage shows eight young boys on three two-wheelers.

Yesterday, the miscreants broke windshields of more than a dozen vehicles by using bricks and bats.

Vehicle owners said they had to shell out Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 to replace the windshields. "I failed to get the original windscreen for my Maruti Esteem car from any shop or showroom in Bathinda. The sellers told me that it could be brought only from Delhi, which would surely make a big hole in my pocket," said Devinder, one of the distressed car owners.

A scrutiny of the area where the miscreants struck revealed that they chose the places where cars were parked in a good number so that they could cause more damage in lesser time.

Swaran Singh, a resident of the area, said the tendency to derive pleasure from causing financial losses and mental agony to others was apparent. He said the car owners were quite upset after finding the windscreens of their vehicles broken. "I failed to leave for my office in time due to the broken windscreens of my car. I had to ask someone to drop me at my office," said Balkaran Brar, a resident of Ajit Road.

Civil Lines Station House Officer U. Cee Chawla said the CCTV footages were being perused and the miscreants would be arrested after they were identified.

55 teachers booked by cops
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Police has registered a case against 55 teachers who protested against Punjab Government and created ruckus on the city roads which lead to chaos on Sunday. A similar number of women employees too were arrested by the police yesterday but were let off on the instructions of senior police officials. The women were released after being warned not to take part in such protests though the male protesters were booked by the police and sent to jail.

While 40 teachers were booked at the Kotwali police station under sections 283, 188, 149 and 511 of the IPC and sections 3 (1) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act, 1984, a similar case has been registered against Manraj Singh and 14 others at the Civil Lines police station.

Police officials said all the 14 arrested are male and would be sent to Bathinda or Faridkot jail.

The teachers working under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and the Central Sponsored Scheme (CSS) protested yesterday on the Mall Road near Hanuman Chowk and the Teachers' Home against the Punjab Government over the delay in releasing their salaries for over 13 months.

The leaders of the teacher unions said the government is trying to suppress the voice of the agitating teachers by pressing into force the government machinery and by using the police force against the teachers.

The teachers said they would not sit back until all their demands are met by the government. The teacher unions also threatened to launch a massive agitation.

The teacher unions have been holding agitations in the city for a long time now in support of their demands and have threatened to play spoilsport for the politicians wooing the masses in the area.

Central University to hold lecture on Shiv Kumar Batalvi
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
The Centre for Comparative Literature at the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, is organising a programme to commemorate the death anniversary of the legendary Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi. The programme is scheduled to be held on May 7 and is part of a series of lectures on unmatched literary figures.

Shiv Kumar Batalvi (1936-73), a popular modern Punjabi poet and the youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, was born in a village, Bara Pind Lohtian, from where his family shifted to Batala after partition.

He was awarded the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 for his verse-drama, 'Loonan'. His poems have been sung by many artists like Surinder Kaur, Jagjeet Singh, Chitra Singh, Kavita Krishnamurthi, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Hans Raj Hans.

His main works include 'Peeran Da Paraga' (A Handful of Pain), 'Lajwanti' (The Shy Maid), 'Atte Deean Chirian' (The Sparrows of Kneaded Flour), 'Mainu Vida Karo' (Bid Me farewell), 'Mein Te Mein' (Me and Myself), 'Artee' (Invocation), 'Birha Tu Sultaan' (O' Separation, You are Supreme), etc.

Lectures on the poet would be delivered by Prof Harbhajan Singh Bhatia, Punjabi Adhyan School, GNDU, Amritsar and Prof Sukhdev Singh, Punjabi Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Fact file

• Shiv Kumar Batalvi (1936-73), a popular modern Punjabi poet and the youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, was born in a village, Bara Pind Lohtian, from where his family shifted and settled down in Batala after partition.
• He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 for his verse-drama, 'Loonan'.

Cops organise awareness week on traffic rules

Bathinda, May 6
The traffic police, Bathinda is organising a Traffic Awareness Week from May 6 to May 15. To mark the awareness week on traffic, painting competitions were organised at the Police Public School located in the Police Lines in which the students of various schools participated.

Station House Officer (SHO) U.Cee Chawla and traffic in-charge Bharpur Singh posed questions to students in a quiz contest and the winners were given prizes.

Niyamat Sekhon, a student of class XII from St. Joseph's Convent, got the first position in the drawing competition, Kuldeep Kaur of Government School for Girls got the second position while the third prize was secured by Tarundeep Singh of St. Joseph's.

The first prize in class X category was clinched by Karanvir Singh of Baba Farid School. Muskan Grover of St. Joseph's got the second prize while the third prize was bagged by Himani of Police DAV School. In the category for class V, Prabhdeep Mann of Lord Rama was first, Tavleen Kaur of Harkrishan School came second while Paramjit Kaur of Summer Hill was third. — TNS

Bharat Bhavna Diwas observed in city
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Lord Rama Public School celebrated the Bharat Bhawna Diwas with great enthusiasm here today. The students of primary classes gathered in the school auditorium and those belonging to the senior classes gathered in the assembly ground of the school and sang the national anthem together at 10 am.

More than 4,000 students and staff members of the MSD Group of Institutions participated in the event. Principal of the school, Suraj Setia, addressed the students and asked them to stand united and work towards the progress of India.

Bharat Bhawna Diwas was also celebrated at the Gurukul International School, Bhairupa, here today. Students, staff members and the class IV employees of the school together sang the national anthem at 10 am. The principal of the school, Dhawan Kumar, also addressed the students and told them the importance of the national anthem.

Bharat Bhawana Diwas was a campaign initiated by a leading business house of the country. The campaign urged the citizens of India to spread the message, 'Aao Sur Se Sur Milayein, Rashtragaan Sab Mil Kar Gaayein'.

The national anthem was to be sung at 10 am sharp today.

Farmers win prizes
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 6
Farmers opting for Bt cotton promoted by a company, Shriram Fertilizers and Chemicals, walked away with various prizes at a function held to honour the winners of the lucky draw campaign by the company.

Farmers Amrik Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Sarjeet Singh from Mansa district and Gurtej Singh from Bhatinda district won a motor bike each. They all had purchased bioseed brands 6588, 6488, 6317 and had sent a unique number mentioned on every packet to the company officials.

The prizes included silver and gold coins, motorcycles and other goodies. The scheme will continue till May 10 across Punjab, Haryana and North Rajasthan.

The first three days of the scheme that began on May 25, saw nearly a 1000 farmers win prizes.

Among them were eight who won 5 gm gold coins each and three who won motor cycles. Similar functions were also held at Mansa, Kotkapura and Bareta mandis.

10-yr-old boy’s body found hanging

Bathinda, May 6
A ten-year-old boy died under mysterious circumstances after his body was found hanging from the ceiling of his house in Gopal Nagar. According to the volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa, the body of the VI class student was lying on the floor as it could have been brought down before their arrival.

Police said the hook from which the cloth was hanging was fixed at some height. Volunteers said there seemed to be no scar around the neck of the boy. The police is investigating the matter. — TNS