Bathinda, August 30
The Christian community is living under constant fear of performing public conventions in Bathinda, stated the president of United Christian Welfare Association, George C Masih, today.

Raising concern over the security of the community in Bathinda, he highlighted the violent incident reported in Rampura when a religious procession being carried out by Christians was thwarted by miscreants. Masih put forth these problems before a two-member team of the State Minority Commission of Punjab comprising Albert Dua and Hamid Masih. He alleged that some elements never allow their community to take out religious procession. “The milkmen and tent owners are threatened not to entertain us during our monthly or annual programmes,” Masih said.

Earlier, the commission members held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav and later, looked into complaints made by individuals and members of minority communities. The SP (City), the District Development Panchayat Officer (DDPO), District Revenue Officer (DRO) and the heads of other departments were present.

The commission members asked the government officials to reassure the minority community that their security concerns and other complaints will be addressed on priority. Talking to mediapersons, they said issues like extending the last date for scholarship schemes for the poor, land for graveyard and house for the poor were discussed at length with the DC.

Meanwhile, members of the association criticised the SAD-BJP alliance and its leaders who failed to fulfill the promises made during the Vidhan Sabha elections. They demanded compulsory holidays on the eve of Christmas, Good Friday and Easter, caste certificate, security cover for taking out religious processions, community halls, OBC certificates for Christians and graveyards.

Members of the Muslim community raised the issue of encroachment on a religious place by some unscrupulous elements.

Complainants from Mansa, nearby Tarkhanwala village, Rama Mandi and Goniana Mandi highlighted their problems concerning the Powercom, police, revenue and panchayat departments.

A section of poor city residents rued that their electricity connections were snapped by the Powercom as they failed to pay bills amounting to more than Rs 50,000.

Joyce Victor, a resident of Bhagat Singh Nagar, rued that he received a power bill of Rs 51,731 which he failed to pay, and the Powercom officials snapped the connection to his house. He alleged that the authorities did not issue electricity bills regularly and usually deliver the same after a gap of six months.

The members of the panel asked the Powercom, the police, the DRO and the DDPO to redress the complaints before the next month. They assured the members of the minority communities that they would revisit Bathinda the next month to check the status of the complaints. 

Bathinda, August 30
Members of the Muslim and Christian communities today lambasted the SAD-BJP alliance over the long-pending issue of providing land for graveyards.

During their interaction with a two-member team of the State Minority Commission of Punjab comprising Albert Dua and Hamid Masih, the members of the communities regretted that in absence of graveyards, they were not able to perform last rites of the departed ones as per religious rituals.

“Either people have to travel all the way to Bathinda from Jaitu, Rama Mandi, Goniana and Talwandi Sabo or we failed to perform the last rights according to our religion. People even come from far off places like Barnala, Dhanaula and Bajakhana,” said Pastor David Bharti of Rama Mandi.

David Bharti accused the district administration, the Municipal Council, Rama Mandi, and the state government of turning a blind eye to the problem.

He said members of the Christian community were very upset, adding that if the problem was not resolved soon the community would start using government land to bury the bodies.

The president of Christian Welfare Association, Bathinda, George C Masih said the only graveyard, which had a 124-year-old grave, in the region caters to 177 km of area around Bathinda district. The nearest grave is in Sangrur, he said.

“The graveyard in Bathinda on the Gurukul Road too is not being looked after properly and it does not have a boundary wall even,” Masih said. He lamented that despite repeated representations, nothing had been done by the government to grant funds for its maintenance.

The members of the minority community also took the visiting members of the panel to the graveyard to apprise them of the sorry state of affairs there.

Albert Dua and Hamid Masih assured them that they would take up the matter with the district administration and the state government.

The members asked the DRO (District Revenue Officer) and DDP (District Development Panchayat Officer)-who too were present during the interaction session, to do the needful to provide land for the graveyards for the Christian and Muslims in Bathinda. 

The only graveyard in the region, which has a 124-year-old grave, caters to 177 km of area around Bathinda district. The nearest grave is in Sangrur. The graveyard in Bathinda on the Gurukul Road too is not being looked after properly and it does not have a boundary wall even. Despite repeated representations, nothing has been done by the government to grant funds for its maintenance. 


— George C Masih, President, Christian Welfare Association

Bathinda, August 30
The All-India State Bank of Patiala Employees Federation today held a dharna in front of the bank’s zonal branch in Bathinda today.

The federation demanded for delinking of associate banks from the State Bank of India (SBI) and implementation of the SSBEA sub-committee report of associate banks on career progression. The federation is also opposing the proposed merger of associate banks with the State Bank of India.

Narinder Bansal, senior vice-president of the SBoP Employees Union Punjab, Sukhdeeo Bhardwaj, PS Pannu, Rakesh Jain, Sunita Ahuja and Pawan Jindal addressed the gathering.

Bansal accused the government of liberalisation of banking laws, relaxation of regulations and consolidation and merger of banks. He questioned the government’s proposal of merging associate banks with the SBI and questioned the need for the same.

He said the proposal hints at SBI’s attempt to take over these banks. He added that there was no need for the merger since these banks were performing well. He also pointed out that several private sector banks, which were not performing too well, were still enjoying support of government.

The union members stated that a series of agitational programmes have been planned. A similar dharna will be staged outside the head offices of all associate banks and demonstrations will be held at all centres followed by an All-India Bank strike on September 25.

Bathinda, August 30
A seminar on "Swami Vivekananda and Youth" was organised today by the Department of Punjabi at the DAV College here today. The function was attended by postgraduate and undergraduate students and faculty members of the Department of Punjabi.

Welcoming the guests, Dr JS Anand, principal of the college, dwelt on the importance of the message of Swami Vivekananda. IPS Iqbal Singh and Ajit Jetley, former DGM, Punjab National Bank, were the key speakers at the function.

In his keynote address, Iqbal Singh made a strong plea to the students to follow the teachings of Swami Vivekananda by making references to the saint’s life. He also related the message with the teachings of Sikhism and stressed that we should always pray for doing good deeds, and at the same time, if we have to fight the evil, we should fight it with a determined and decisive mind.

In his address, Ajit Jatley, exhorted the young students to re-cast their priorities keeping in view the teachings of the saint whose address at the Chicago Parliament of World Religions brought India and her message of brotherhood, amity, and co-existence, into the limelight.

Others who spoke during the seminar included Shushant K Sharma who apprised the audience of the purpose of the function. Prof Varesh Gupta, Head of the Department of Punjabi, proposed the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, August 30
The Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus, Bathinda, celebrated Janmashtami and Teej festivals with full enthusiasm. The coordinator of the function was Jyoti Rani, warden of the girl’s hostel and the co-coordinator was Rekha Garg, assistant warden.

The chief guest was Harsimrat Kaur Birbehmen, wife of former Mayor Baljit Singh Birbehmen and the guests of honour were Rajpreet Kaur (wife of area municipal councillor Daljit Singh Brar) and Manisha Bhatnagar, principal, SSD College of Information Technology, Bathinda.

Gurinder Kaur Hundal, wife of campus director Dr JS Hundal, was the chief host of the function. Hostlers participated in various cultural events. Mehendi and rangoli competitions were held on the occasion. The main attraction of the function was the Punjabi folk songs sung by the chief guest and other guests and the folk dance performance presented by the students. — TNS

Bathinda, August 30
Members of the Dehati Mazdoor Sabha protested outside the office of Powercom XEN and submitted a memorandum of demands to XEN.

Mahipal, Mithu Singh Ghudda, Darshan Singh, Bajak, Gurmel Singh and other members addressed the gathering. The protesters demanded an immediate restoration of snapped power connections and sought that the increased prices of power be revoked. The protesters raised slogans against the government. — TNS

Bathinda, August 30
An annual techno-literary-cultural departmental extravaganza ‘Elektronika-13’ of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus, Bathinda, was inaugurated on Thursday.

Dr Rajneesh Arora, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Technical University, was the chief guest. Dr Jyoti Saxena, Prof and Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, welcomed the guests.

The VC motivated the students to participate to the maximum extent in all events and appreciated the endeavours of those who tried their best to make the festival a great success. He said such functions provide a platform to budding talents to present their creative skills and abilities and help in the all-round development of students.

Campus director Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal cheered and boosted all students to give their best and attain a tag of excellence.

After the inaugural ceremony, various competitive technical, literary and cultural events were conducted as a part of the festival. In the ‘Face of Debate’ event, Upender and Apleen bagged the first and second positions, respectively. In the ‘Round Table Conference’, Chahat stood first while Sunpreet got the second position. In ‘Short Circuit’, Neelesh Goyal and Lovish Jain bagged the first position, while Ashish Kumar and Kartikey Pandey clinched the second place.

Gurashish bagged the first position in solo singing competition while Taman stood second. Simran and Mehak and Nidhi and Lohita stood first in the rangoli-making competition while Amandeep and Aditi bagged the second position. In Kavyanjali competition, Ankur Sharma stood first and Pallavjot Kaur stood second. Pallavjot and Dheeraj Goyal bagged the first position in ‘Spin the Yarn’ competition while Gaurav and Nitin stood second. In the solo dance competition, Khushjot Kaur got the first position while Rajat Bhushan stood second. 

Bathinda, August 30
The three-day second inter-company National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) swimming-cum-rescue competitions began today in lake No. 3 of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant.

The competition includes swimming events at the Municipal Corporation swimming pool: 300m (free style), 50m back stroke, 50x4 relay race medley, 50m breast stroke and 50x4 relay race free style.

As many as 18 jawans of the NDRF are participating in the swimming event.

The rescue competitions at the lake, wherein 16 jawans are participating, include 1,500m marathon using inflatable boats, preparation of boat, rowing, capsize and upturn of boat, start and speed control, parking of boat and victim evacuation by deep diver.

The jawans carry the boat in a bag, open it, inflate it with an air pump, fix the engine, venture into water and also perform activities in deep water.

The Commandant of the 7th NDRF, Jaideep Singh, informed that the yearly event was being organised to check and keep the fitness level of the jawans who could be pressed into any rescue operations anytime across the region.

The competitions are designed to check the use of outboard machine (OBM) or boat's engine safety, use of safety jackets, took kit, puncture kit, foot pump, assembling of boat and measures taken to rescue drowning people.

The Commandant said jawans were given various tasks in deep water, on surface, turning the boat upside down and vice versa in water and other tasks. The best swimmer, deep diver and the team that would accomplish the task of rescuing fastest would be awarded with different prizes, he said. Jawan's control over boat, physical power, handling of boat with engine, manoeuvring and rowing would be examined during the competitions. 

Bathinda, August 30
The CBSE Sahodya inter-school kho-kho tournament concluded today at the Lord Rama Public School. As many as 14 schools of the Sangrur Sahodya Group participated in it.

In the U-14 boys’ category, Sant Ishar Singh Senior Secondary School (Chhahar) clinched the first position. The second and third positions went to Lord Rama Public School (Bathinda) and Bachpan School (Sangrur), respectively.

In the U-14 girls’ category, Sant Ishar Singh Senior Secondary School (Chhahar) clinched the first position while Sant Attar Singh Akademy (Mastuana) bagged the second prize. The third place went to Bachpan School (Sangrur). In the U-17 boys’ category, Sant Ishar Singh Senior Secondary School (Chhahar) clinched the first position and Lord Rama Public School (Bathinda) bagged the second position.

School president Advocate Rajan Garg honoured the teams bagging first, second and third positions and awarded them medals, trophies and certificates. Overall trophy went to Sant Ishar Singh Senior Secondary School (Chhahar) and the runners-up overall trophy went to Lord Rama Public School (Bathinda).

Principal of the school, Suraj Setia, congratulated all players and thanked the DPEs and coaches of all participating schools for their cooperation for conducting the event.