Bathinda, September 13
Nearly 19.500 vacancies of computer teachers and a salary of Rs 6,000 per month. This is what a fake letter allegedly issued by the Sarva Computer Saksharta Abhiyaan promises to a couple of government primary schools in the district.

The letter, which may easily be confused for having being released under the Sarva Saksharta Mission, states that under the Sarva Computer Saksharta Abhiyaan 2013-14, all the gram panchayats in the district were to hold computer training classes through internet. It further states that to make the project a success, as many as 19,500 computer teachers were to be recruited. The letter also invests the responsibility of collecting applications of interested candidates on the principals of government primary schools.

The job offer may seem enticing to many but for the fact that it is fake.

“We have not issued any such letter and we request all the principals of the schools to be wary of such letters and make sure that they check with the department before processing the requests,” said District Education Officer (Elementary education) Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta.

Gurpreet Singh, who is the in-charge of the E-Punjab portal in the district, seconded the DEO’s statement. “We issue all the notices pertaining to training and recruitment of computer teachers in the district. We haven’t issued any letter. A similar letter was sent by another firm a couple of months ago as well,” he said.

“These are fake firms, which have devised a way of minting money by asking candidates to send demand drafts to a particular account and after the candidates do so, the company will disappear,” he added.

Interestingly, the letter does ask the candidates to send a demand draft of Rs 650, payable to a particular address in Delhi. This includes Rs 150 as application fee and Rs 500 as training fee. The letter states that the chosen candidates will undergo a two-day training camp after which they will be absorbed as computer trainers.

The principals of primary schools have been asked to get the forms, which are attached with the letter, filled by two female and two male candidates.

“Many would fall into the trap and send demand drafts waiting to get an answer but these firms close down as soon as they set shop. The same company will reappear in some other part of the country with another name and initiate the same process again,” Singh added.

We have not issued any such letter and we request all the principals of the schools to be wary of such letters and make sure that they check with the department before processing the requests.
— AMARjit Kaur, DEO (elementary)

Bathinda, September 13
High drama prevailed after two buses carrying students of the Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (AIMSR) and the Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI) collided near three cinemas on the GT Road on Friday morning. Students of both the institutes had to spend more than two hours at the Thermal police station till the two groups reached a compromise following intervention of the police.

It is learnt that BFGI students were travelling in a PRTC bus, which was carrying only students, while Adesh students were in their college vehicle.

As per Kotwali SHO Karamjit Singh, who reached the spot within a few minutes after the incident, the bus of the Adesh Group hit the PRTC bus while overtaking it and damaged its rear view mirror. The Adesh bus stopped near Rose Garden to pick up staff and other students when the PRTC bus driver blocked its path and demanded compensation for breaking the mirror. An altercation ensued over the issue and the students in the PRTC bus and some others entered into heated arguments. A windowpane of the Adesh bus, which was carrying girl students also, was broken in the melee and a girl sitting nearby received a minor injury.

"Both the drivers were found to be at fault but the PRTC driver and its bus occupants were said to have indulged into fight and blown the issue out of proportion," the SHO said.

Two PCR cops, who arrived at the spot first, informed the SHO that the PRTC driver and bus occupants had beaten the driver of the AIMSR bus despite their (cops) intervention.

Before the police took both the parties to the Thermal police station, drivers and occupants in both the vehicles abused and beat up each other near the Rose Garden.

The officials of AIMSR alleged that the girl students in their bus were misbehaved with and one of the girl students had sustained injuries. Senior officials of the Group said the incident was unfortunate but both the parties reached a compromise and apologised in writing. They demanded that the Traffic police must check the PRTC buses, which are always overloaded with students.

A PRTC employee, Harbhajan Singh, admitted that PRTC buses were overloaded at times as students refuse to listen to the bus driver and conductor and board the bus saying they have bus passes.

Bathinda, September 13
In an advertisement for a match-making portal, actress Anjana Sukhani’s father sees a prospective groom in every eligible guy. The actress said that was the case in her real life as well.

“My parents keep showing me pictures of guys and want me to settle down. Marriage will come my way when it is destined to happen,” said the actress on her visit to Bathinda on Friday. She was in the city to promote her first Punjabi film, ‘Young Malang’.

Also present during the promotional tour were her co-stars Bali Riar, Vinay Pal Buttar, Anita Kailey, Balwinder Bicky and film’s producer Rahulinder Singh Sidhu.

When asked if she would marry someone from the film industry, she said, “I wouldn’t want to marry an actor as the professional life here is very erratic. One may not come back home for two months at a stretch. That would make the situation a little difficult to handle.”

Choosing to talk about her first Punjabi film, she said, “I am glad I said yes to this offer. Although I am born and brought up in Jaipur and currently based in Mumbai, working in regional cinema is not new to me. Apart from working in Bollywood films like ‘Golmaal Returns’, ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ and ‘Maximum’, I have been doing a lot of Kannada and Tamil films.”

She thanked her stars for the character that she plays in the film. “In ‘Young Malang’, I play the role of a girl who belongs to Rajasthan. Although she speaks in Punjabi, minor glitches may be overlooked. I dubbed for the film myself and am working on my Punjabi,” she said.

When told that the reigning Punjabi actress Neeru Bajwa wonders why girls from Punjab are not roped in for Punjabi films, she said, “I agree with what she says but that’s true not only for Punjabi films but for all the regional cinemas. Bollywood actresses are getting a lot of work in the regional cinema. After all, in India, everyone has freedom to work anywhere in the country.”

My parents keep showing me pictures of guys and want me to settle down. Marriage will come my way when it is destined to happen. I wouldn’t want to marry an actor as the professional life here is very erratic. One may not come back home for two months at a stretch. That would make the situation a little difficult to handle.
— Anjana sukhani, actor

Bathinda, September 13
Under the directions of the Election Commission and the orders of the district administration, a seminar was organised by the History Association of Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, here, today under the guidance of the nodal officer, Prof Sukhdev Singh. The theme of the seminar was “Importance of vote and the contribution of voters in a democracy”.

The programme started with the introduction of the topic by Principal Vijay Goyal. Professor Sukhdev asked students to get them enlisted in the voter list at the earliest. Two senior professors from the department of political science discussed the topic in detail.

Prof Kamlesh Rani said political parties that polled only 48 per cent votes had been ruling the country. Besides, all voters did not use their right of franchise, though maximum participation of voters is necessary to make the country’s democracy strong.

Prof Keshwa Nand said voters should have the right to cast negative vote also.

He exhorted the students to take part in the election process so that youth-related problems were redressed.

Earlier, during the day, 120 students had written papers on the topic. The toppers - Gagandeep Kaur (BA-I), Kulvir Kaur (BA-II) and Lovepreet Kaur (MA-II) read out their papers.

The students showed a lot of enthusiasm during the seminar. Prof RC Pasrija thanked the organisers and the students for this constructive effort.

Prof Arun Bala, Prof Gursharan Mann, Prof Jyoti Parkash, Prof Surjit Singh, Prof Jyotsna Singla, Prof Paramdeep Kaur, Prof Balvir Kaur, Prof Harjit Kaur, Prof Nirlep and Prof Satvir Kaur were among those others present on the occasion.

Bathinda, September 13
Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, will be the game changer for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Member of Parliament from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal said this during a sangat darshan programme in the district.

Talking about BJP’s senior leader Lal Krishan Advani’s displeasure over the announcement of Modi’s name, she said it was common for some to be happy with the announcement and some to be sad, but the party had done the right thing by going with the general consensus.

She also expressed satisfaction over the court verdict in the Delhi gang rape case wherein all four convicts had been handed death sentences.

She applauded the fast track court for taking the right decision and also for giving hope to other women who faced similar tragedy in their lives.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla, chairman of the Zila Parishad Gurpreet Singh Maluka and chairman of the Market Committee Gurtez Singh Gikku and president of the Dana Mandi president Satish Baboo were among those present during the programme.

Bathinda, September 13
A one-day seminar on “consultancy capacity building” was organised by Nitcon today.

The objective of the seminar was to aware professionals of various corporate companies, public sector organisations, banks and educational institutions to make them good consultants.

Rattan Singh, MD, Nitcon, Chandigarh, addressed two technical sessions on the subject during the seminar and shared his expertise.

JS Lamba, GM, Nitcon, elaborated the achievements of the company with participants.

Vijay Arora, AGM, Nitcon, welcomed the guests and spoke about the objectives of the seminar.

SK Batra from the State Bank of Patiala, Bathinda, proposed vote of thanks.

The programme was sponsored by the Consultancy Development Centre, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi.

Bathinda, September 13
Principal and staff members of the postgraduate department of English of DAV College, Bathinda, felicitated students of the MA English (second semester), who topped the university merit list in the results declared yesterday.

Dr JS Anand, Principal of the college, honoured Varunpreet Kaur Kang for securing the first position in the university with 74 per cent marks. Other students of the college who made it to the university merit list are Shelza Gupta, who secured 70 per cent marks, and Harpreet Kaur. who stood third in the college with 66.5 per cent marks.

Dr HS Arora, head of the department, Prof Satish Grover, Prof Karampal Kaur and Prof MS Anand were among those others present. — TNS

Bathinda, September 13
Prof Rajeev Kumar Varshney, recently joined back Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University (GZS PTU) campus, Bathinda, after getting commissioned as the Associated NCC Officer (ANO).

He has been given the rank of a lieutenant. He is currently working as the coordinator, Department of Textile Engineering.

Previous to moving to this course, he had been looking after the NCC unit of the campus for the past eight-nine months.

He underwent the pre-commissioned course (PRCN) of three months at the Training Academy of India in Kamptee, Nagpur.

The PRCN is a prerequisite for NCC in charge of any college or school for being commissioned as an ANO.

Under this course, a rigorous Army training is imparted on various aspects like physical training, weapon, drill, social service and community development.

Honouring Dr Varshney, campus director, Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, expressed pride in having the ranks on the shoulder of the officer.

He added that the honour had brought with it a great responsibility of guiding students towards unity, discipline and having a value-based living and conduct and motivating them to serve the country with selflessness.

Bathinda, September 13
Drugs worth Rs 1.5 lakh were seized from a medical shop during a surprise checking by drug inspectors Harjinder Singh and Ravi Gupta.

Dr Singh said the checking was conducted under the supervision of Civil Surgeon Ajay Sahni.

The medical shop, Gagan Medicos, situated in front of the Police Lines was searched and two drugs were found that are banned under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and rules 1945.

He said the sale and purchase records were also examined by them during the checking.

The doctors warned that anyone found selling banned drugs would not be spared and stringent action would be initiated against the wrongdoers.

Bathinda, September 13
The police has arrested three persons, including two women, and seized 7 kg of poppy husk from them.

The accused are identified as Veerpal Kaur, Baljinder Kaur and Sukhmandar Singh.

The police said the accused were arrested with the contraband near Awa Basti. A case under Sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act had been registered against them at the Kotwali police station.

The Nandgarh police also arrested two women with 11 kg of poppy husk from near Bajak village.

Accused Harbans Kaur was carrying 6 kg of poppy husk and Jasvir Kaur was carrying 5 kg of poppy husk. The women, both residents of Jangirana village, are booked under Sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act at the Nandgarh police station.

Bathinda, September 13
In order to create awareness among people, particularly the rural population, about 175 students of the department of physical education of the Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, organised a rally to spread awareness about the importance of education.

Campus Director Narinder Singh and Dean DR Godara flagged off the rally. The students covered a distance of five km from the university to the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib on foot carrying placards and banners to make people aware about the benefits of education.

They also told people about the ills of female foeticide. They were given a warm welcome by Singh Sahib Giani Balwant Singh Ji Nandgarh for the noble cause.

Faculty members KPS Mahi, Kamaljit Singh, Satpal Singh, Surinder Kaur and Sukhdeep Rani accompanied the students.

Chancellor Dr NS Malhi appreciated their efforts and impressed upon them to involve themselves in such social activities so that evils were eradicated from society.