Bathinda, September 10
On the complaint of the district president of the BJP, the police has booked a city resident for criminal intimidation, house trespass after preparation for assault and wrongful restraint.

The BJP district president, Parminder Goyal, complained to the police that Amrinder Singh, a native of Kamalu village and presently residing in Peerkhanewali Gali, Bathinda, entered his house on Monday and threatened him with dire consequences.

Parminder said earlier too, Amrinder had come to his house seeking party ticket from the ward number 36 in the ensuing elections to the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB).

On Monday, the accused once again entered his premises in the presence of his son and brother-in-law, Parminder said, alleging that the accused used derogatory remarks against his niece and threatened to take her along. Amrinder also took out a revolver and allegedly pointed it at the complainant’s head without any further provocation. The accused also threatened Parminder of dire consequences if the matter was reported to the police. However, he fled from the place after the family members of the BJP district chief raised an alarm.

The investigating officer in the case, Sub-inspector Jarnail Singh said a case under Sections 452 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused who is absconding.

The police said the accused’s father was recently released from jail after completing life imprisonment reportedly for perpetrating a murder in Kamalu village in 1989. The accused’s uncle and aunt with whom he had been residing in Bathinda had provided this information, which was yet to be confirmed, the investigating officer said.

Fact file The BJP district president, Parminder Goyal, complained to the police that Amrinder Singh, a native of Kamalu village and presently residing in Peerkhanewali Gali, Bathinda, entered his house on Monday and threatened him with dire consequences. The accused used derogatory remarks against Parminder’s niece and threatened to take her along. Amrinder also took out a revolver and allegedly pointed it at the complainant’s head without any further provocation. The accused also threatened Parminder of dire consequences if the matter was reported to the police. A case under Sections 452 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused who is absconding.

Bathinda, September 10
Even as three months have passed since a ward attendant at the Civil Hospital was booked in a graft case, the Vigilance Bureau (VB) is still investigating the role of the ENT specialist, Ravinder Singla, whose name was got included in the FIR by the complainant.

Nitish Kumar (24) deployed in the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital was caught red-handed while accepting bribe of Rs 5,000 from two relatives of persons injured in a brawl allegedly to make a medico-legal-report strong enough to nail the opposite party.

Yadvinder and Chamkaur of nearby Kailwander village came for treatment after they were injured in a fight at the village. Their relatives offered graft to the ward attendant to ensure that the hospital reported that their patients had sustained grievous injuries in the brawl.

As per the FIR, the patients' relatives asked Dr Ravinder Singla to make their case strong on which the latter asked them to meet the ward attendant as he was his (doctor's) man.

Meanwhile, the relatives later approached the Vigilance Bureau. A trap was laid and the attendant was caught red-handed while taking bribe of Rs 5,000.

A case was registered at the Vigilance police station, Bathinda. Nitish underwent imprisonment for about a month and was released on bail.

Vigilance DSP Janak Singh said the role of the doctor was still under scanner as the mobile call details of the doctor and the ward attendant were yet to be scrutinised. The doctor, he said, got the anticipatory bail from a local court and has been ordered not to leave the country without permission of the court. He was also directed to join the VB investigations.

The DSP said. "The doctor has joined the investigation but his role is yet to be ascertained. At present, efforts are on to submit challan evidence and proof in the court."

When TNS contacted Dr Ravinder Singla, he refused to speak on the matter. However, his counsel Nand Lal Garg said so far, no substantial evidence has come to the fore against the doctor, who had already prepared the medico-legal-report before he left the hospital the next morning at 8. The doctor, he said, was on night duty and had done his work as per the norms set by the Health Department and the Civil Hospital.

SSP Vigilance, Sukhdev Chahal, said the phone call details of the doctor and the ward attendant were under scanner. "We will initiate strict action against the guilty in case we found a clue against him during the investigations," Chahal said. He added that sometimes, they fail to lay their hands on something that could substantiate the guilt of a person as the same has to be proved in the court.

Around three months ago, Yadvinder and Chamkaur of nearby Kailwander village came to the Civil Hospital for treatment after they were injured in a fight at the village. As per the FIR, their relatives asked Dr Ravinder Singla, an ENT specialist at the Civil Hospital, to make their case strong on which the latter asked them to meet ward attendant Nitish Kumar (24), as he was his (doctor's) man. Meanwhile, the relatives later approached the Vigilance Bureau. A trap was laid and the attendant was caught red-handed while taking bribe of ~5,000. A case under relevant provisions of law was registered at the Vigilance police station, Bathinda.

Bathinda, September 10
The race for the post of chairman, Improvement Trust, Bathinda, has gained momentum with the names a former chairman of the trust, Mohan Lal Garg, and a former office-bearer in the BJP’s district unit, Master Gulzar Singh, doing the rounds.

Sources in the BJP said though the candidate for the post of chairman has almost been finalised, the final notification had to come from the office of the Chief Minister. The notification is expected by Thursday. The candidate having the support of the Sangh Parivar will be appointed to the post.

Interestingly, the aspirants have been meeting the BJP state unit office-bearers levelling allegations against each other and promoting themselves.

The responsibility of the chairman will not be easy for the selected candidate to shoulder as the Improvement Trust is riddled with a number of problems and has borrowed huge loans, which have to be repaid. Many issues pertaining to development works such as getting four acres of land in the city vacated and development of the DAV College pond scheme are pending. 

Bathinda, September 10
Members of the committee formed to protest against the privatisation of education in government schools by holding training camps for resource persons, have announced that they would protest against the camps, which are scheduled to begin on September 10 and will be held till September 18. These camps are being held by a private firm, Learn Today.

The committee members said by giving the task of holding these camps to a private firm, the government had made its intentions clear. The government aimed at privatising education in government schools as well. The teachers were requested to unite and completely boycott the camps, a press statement issued by the committee said.

Through the protest held in the city earlier, the teachers had expressed their displeasure at the camps and had vowed that they would distribute pamphlets among all government school teachers to make them aware about the intentions of the government. 

Bathinda, September 10
Two young boys, who were on a bike, snatched a gold chain from a resident of Panchvati Nagar, street number 7, and fled from the scene today.

The victim, Mahesh Kumar (62), owns a shop in the Cloth Market in the city. The incident occurred at around 6:45 am when the victim was sitting outside his residence.

The investigating officer in the case, Jaidev Singh from Kotwali police station, said Mahesh used to sit outside his house every morning and the accused boys seemed to have been observing him for the past few days. The victim did not even suspect the intentions of the accused when they parked the bike close to him. They snatched the gold chain that the victim was wearing and fled from the spot on their bike before the victim could raise an alarm. The gold chain is stated to be worth more than Rs 60,000.

A case in this connection has been registered against the unidentified accused.

Bathinda, September 10
Public information officers (PIOs) designated under Right To Information (RTI) Act in various departments are getting a number of applications seeking personal information about individuals. However, they are finding it an uphill task to deal with such applications in the backdrop of the Supreme Court of India making it clear that no personal information about an individual can be given under the RTI Act.

"In order to settle personal scores, people are using the RTI Act to seek personal record of persons with an intention to use it as a potent tool for mud-slinging," revealed the PIO of a wing of the district administration.

He pointed out that in absence of any training and orientation, the PIOs were caught in a dilemma and do not have proper guidance or any dedicated cell at the district level to look up to.

Though the cell of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) in the district holds refresher workshops, not all PIOs are able to take benefit from such workshops.

A PIO in the local bodies department agreed that lower-rung officials were not well versed with the RTI Act.

"PIOs lack vision and the power of reasoning because they are not confident enough about their actions. It is through dedicated workshops and training modules that a PIO can be sensitised," the PIO said.

Meanwhile, a former member of the State Information Commission said an individual's information could be given only if it could benefit the general public in a manner.

Bathinda, September 10
PSEB Engineers Association of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant today condemned Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) initiation of disciplinary action against seven officers of GNDTP, Bathinda, after the incident of oil shortage in turbine of unit 3. The action was condemned at the meeting of GNDTP region held today at the officer’s club.

Regional secretary Davinder Goyal said on June 13, the unit number three had developed technical problem due to oil shortage in turbine. “Instead of looking into the core problems, the PSPCL has held an inquiry against seven of our officers including five XENs and two assistant engineers (AEs). Soon disciplinary action is being taken against them,” he said.

The engineers said incidence had occurred due to design failure and casual approach of the company entrusted in charge of executing the project. GNDTP engineers were forced to synchronize unit number 3 despite the fact that there were serious discrepancies keeping in view the requirement of power.

“Management of the company as well as PSPCL was aware of critical punch points. The loss of generation on this account should be recovered from company concerned. GNDTP engineers cannot be held responsible for this fault,” Goyal said.

He added that the engineers were already working under adverse conditions as 46 posts of engineers are lying vacant. The engineers are carrying out the job of operations, maintenance and renovation of units simultaneously in absence of dedicated construction wing required for carrying out renovation activities. They added that critical posts of boiler controller, turbine generator controller and desk controller required for safe operation of units are lying vacant.

“Any action against engineers will demoralise cadre and adversely affect timely completion of renovation of unit number 4,” engineers added. They warned PSPCL management that they will resort to agitation if they are made scapegoat.

Devinder Goyal said work load norms of engineers are highly overloaded and organisation structure needs to be strengthened keeping in view of modern business requirements of Right to Service Act, Standards of Performance, RTI etc. The cadre review initiated by the PSPCL management should be finalised and implemented at the earliest. 

Bathinda, September 10
Bharat Jago Run will be held on September 11 commemorating the Swami Vivekanand’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations being held this year.

In a press statement issued here today district organiser D K Garg stated that on September 11, 1893 Swami Vivekanand had delivered a lecture in Chicago that changed the way world perceives India.

The run will start from Subhash market in Gole Diggi. People from around twenty educational institutes in the age group of 18 to 40 years are expected to be a part of this run for orientation of youth. IG counter intelligence Dr Jatinder Jain will be the chief guest at event.

Bathinda, September 10
The girls’ team of the Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Campus, Bathinda, won the silver medal in the PTU Inter-college chess competition which was held in BGCET, Sangrur, from 6th to 8th September.

As many as 16 teams of different colleges under PTU, Jalandhar, participated in the competition. DAVIET College, Jalandhar, and the host college, BGCET, Sangrur, took away the gold and bronze medals, respectively.

The participants of the team sent by the Giani Zail singh PTU campus were Shivani Gupta (computer science engineering), Smiley Goel (textile engineering), Chetna Goel (computer science engineering), Preeti Kumari (electronics and communication engineering), Indra Joshi (electronics and communication engineering) and Ishani (electrical engineering).

Shivani Gupta won in all the five rounds and made the campus proud by winning silver medal. Campus director, Dr JS Hundal, registrar GS Bath, president (sports) Bhupinder Pal Singh, vice-president (sports) Dilbagh Singh and DPE Gurneet Singh congratulated the winning team and encouraged the members to perform well in the coming years too.

Bathinda, September 10
A museum dedicated to the history of the university, and arts, crafts and material culture of the Malwa region of Punjab has been inaugurated in the university today. A brochure detailing the establishment, objective, purpose and the complete information about the museum was launched on this occasion by Dr Johl in the presence of the vice-chancellor Prof Dr Jai Rup Singh. Savita Goel, a collector from Barnala who has contributed immensely in the establishment of the museum, was also felicitated.

The museum exhibits the history of the Bathinda region and its historical monuments. Many artifacts which were part of the everyday life of recent past and almost extinct are now displayed in the museum.

A book by renowned zoologist, Prof Pushpinder Kaur, former professor, Department of Zoology and dean, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was also released by the chancellor on the occasion. Prof Pushpinder Kaur spoke on the inspiration to write the book and how she conceived the book in Punjabi. Prof HS Bhatia from GNDU and Prof PS Romana from Punjabi University Regional Centre, Bathinda, spoke on the occasion.

The university had initiated complimentary computer literacy classes for the senior citizens with an aim of teaching them the basics of computer in order to enable them to use computers and connect with their kith and kin through cyber space. Forty nine citizens took part in it and were benefited by the programme. These senior citizens were given certificates during the function.

In his address, Dr Johl congratulated the university on its efforts in imparting computer literacy to senior citizens. He also congratulated Prof Pushpinder Kaur on her book. He delved on the importance of being productive and useful, especially in the dusk of life. He also praised the efforts of the university in various fields in such a short period since its inception.

The Central University of Punjab, since its inception in 2009, has made its presence felt in the region and in the country. Several innovative teaching and research programmes have been initiated and it has also been successful in striking a chord with the people of the region. Prof RG Saini, professor in-charge examinations, proposed a formal vote of thanks at the close of the function.

Bathinda, September 10
Under the ongoing campaign for authorization of illegal colonies, the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB) will be holding a meeting with the property dealers tomorrow.

Municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said that the property dealers play an important role in the chain of sale and purchase of land. “We want to educate the property dealers on ways to help the people who own assets in unauthorised colonies. Once explained about the procedure, these dealers will help us in spreading around the word on importance of regularising the property,” he said.

Gupta added that the dealers should know about regularisation of structures, the rates and documents to be used in same. He said once the government was through with holding these camps, it will resort to strictness.

Action will be taken as per the directions of state government. Earlier the punishment for selling plots in illegal colonies was 3 years rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine was imposed. However, this has now been revised to seven years imprisonment and Rs 5 lac fine.

The MCB may resort to demolition of unauthorized structures, will not give power, water supply and sewer connections or disconnect the existing connections.

The corporation has also resorted to using public announcements for popularising the drive and impetus is being laid on voluntary disclosure.

Meanwhile, on the second day of camps held at six locations in they city Rs 10 lacs were collected from 48 applications received. Around 200 to 300 queries were received at these camps, which are expected to rise further.

During a camp held at Prajapat Colony Rs 2.40 lac was collected, Adarsh Nagar camp Rs 1.48 lac was collected, Paras Ram Nagar camp Rs 1.80 lac were collected, camp near Ambuja Cement Rs 1.24 lac were collected, camp in Lal Singh Basti Rs 2.25 lac were recovered and camp held at Mansa Road Rs 75,000 were collected.