Offering crores of rupees to Bollywood actors is a sheer wastage of money and the same should be spent on conducting repairs of roads, ending stray cattle menace, providing clean drinking water and sewerage connections.

— Gurbax singh

Though the state government spends crores on organising the World Cup Kabaddi it fails to provide basic facilities, including diet, to sportspersons who undergo a lot of hard work to play for the country and win laurels at international event.

— Satnam neeta

A 45-year-old cyclist lost his life last week after falling into a pothole in Paras Ram Nagar and the pit is yet to be filled. The authorities concerned say they don’t have funds for the purpose. If the government spends half the amount it incurs on the world cup to fill potholes, the lives of many commuters could be saved. 

— Rajinder Goldy

Instead of holding the so-called World Cup Kabaddi, the Punjab Government should hold games in rural and urban areas throughout the year. The sports department should be strengthened enough to spot and nurture young talent.

— Pardeep Gola

The Paras Ram Nagar underbridge is full of potholes and had been a cause of many accidents. The traffic too moves at a snail’s pace due to narrow lanes in the area trans railway lines. The traffic chaos at the entrance of the railway station is a nightmare. Are the authorities concerned listening? 

— Bhupinder

Open manholes dot the streets of Paras Ram Nagar risking the lives of commuters. There are areas where there is no streetlight. Instead of wasting money on games at one go, the government should use it to provide basic amenities to the citizens of the state. 

— Veerpal

Spending money to the tune of crores ahead of elections will only serve the purpose of gaining political mileage. Why not spend it judiciously to raise basic infrastructure in the city?

— Kulwant Rai

The government should show a similar concern for education, medical facilities and road infrastructure as it is being done to hold the World Cup Kabaddi just before the general elections. 

— Harbhagwandas

A small stretch of road near the railway under bridge is under construction for the past two years. It has proved fatal to one person while many commuters have sustained injuries using the stretch. However, the government authorities did not initiate any action to expedite the work. On the other hand, the government is all set to incur a wasteful expenditure running into crores by organising the world cup. 

— Som Nath

The World Cup Kabaddi is a mere gimmick to befool the residents of Punjab. Every year, crores of rupees are given to Bollywood actors, singers and others to entertain the audience at the opening and closing ceremonies of the so-called international event. What matters the most to the common man is basic amenities. The government should stop playing games with its own people.

— Karan

Bathinda, November 21
The father of a young kabaddi player, who was electrocuted last month, today threatened to hold a hunger strike on the inauguration function of the World Cup Kabaddi in Bathinda.

Talwinder Singh of Bhawanigarh was electrocuted when he tried to cross the divider on the 100 feet road here with the support of pole through which electric current was passing allegedly due to the negligence of the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), or Powercom officials.

Jaspal Singh, the bereaved father, lamented that neither any action has been initiated against any of the "erring" officials of the MCB or the Powercom.

He said Talwinder was a budding kabaddi player and died due to the alleged negligence of the authorities.

Jaspal Singh and his family members said apart from launching a protest against the state government they would also hold hunger strike on the day of the inauguration of the World Kabaddi Cup in Bathinda. 

Bathinda, November 21
The court of Sessions Judge Tajwinder Singh today awarded life imprisonment to a man for murdering his brother-in-law.

According to the case details, Raj Kumar (20), a resident of Devria district of Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by the police on the charge of murdering Guddu Parshad, a plumber by profession, at an under-construction house in the Model Town Phase-III in April last year.

In their complaint to the police, the victim’s family members had stated that two years after his wife’s death, Raj Kumar had expressed his desire to marry his sister-in-law. Guddu, a father of four, did not agree to the proposition as his sister was young and Raj Kumar was unemployed.

The refusal, however, did not go down well with Raj Kumar. On the fateful day, he offered drinks to Guddu and asked him to show the under-construction house where he (victim) was working.

At the site, Raj Kumar stabbed Guddu in his head, neck and stomach leaving him dead on the spot. The then Cantonment SHO (station house officer) Kuldeep Singh investigated the matter and stated that the accused had no remorse for the crime he had committed.

The court today sentenced Raj Kumar to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for life and a fine of Rs10, 000. In case of default on payment of fine, the convict would have to further undergo RI for a period of six months. 

Bathinda, November 21
Members of the SSA/ RMSA/Central Sponsored Scheme Employees Union were today intercepted by police officials while they were on their way to stage a silent protest outside the residence of the Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sarup Chand Singla. It was their 32nd day of pen-down strike.

As many as 60 employees and their family members took out a candle light march towards the residence of the CPS in Aggarwal Colony.

"We had planned peacefully sit outside the residence of the CPS in protest against the state government. Police officials stopped us near the roundabout near the CPS's residence and restricted our movement. A close aide of the CPS came and met us and took our memorandum of demands," said Deepak Bansal, a protester.

The employees have been protesting against the state government for making extravagant expenditure on entertainment ceremonies during the World Cup Kabaddi while ignoring the schemes under which scores of employees were working.

The staff has been on a pen-down strike for the past 32 days and today also staged a dharna outside the office of the District Education Officer. They alleged that there was a probability that the grants released by the Central Government had been embezzled.

They alleged that in several blocks, the grants meant for the uniforms and salaries were not being distributed properly. They demanded that their salaries be hiked according to the new pay commission, salaries be released with arrears and their attendance be marked for all the days they have been protesting.

Bathinda, November 21
Punjab Human Value Cell and Department of Applied Sciences & Humanities organised an inter-departmental quiz contest on the theme of human values and professional ethics recently on the campus of Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University, here.

Head of the Department of Applied Sciences and Humanities Dr Gursharan Singh and head of the Department of Management Studies Prof Veerpal Kaur took the initiative of conducting the contest wherein students of different departments participated.

Dr Aruna Gupta, Vivek Kaundal, Dr Rajeev Kumar Varshney and Prof Mandeep Singh conceived and conducted this quiz. They said the questions covered all the four levels of our living-self, family, society and nature.

A total of six teams from various departments participated in the contest. While the team from the mechanical engineering department stood first, teams of mechanical engineering (Group MA) and computer science engineering bagged the second and third positions, respectively.

Campus Director Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal appreciated the efforts made by the students and teachers and said such competitions should be organised regularly as these won’t let us forget the basic tenets of our life and keep us reminding the valuable features of our value system which can transform our students into responsible citizens. 

Bathinda, November 21
Two persons received injuries in two separate road accidents that took place on Barnala Road. Jaskaran, a resident of Gehri Bhagi village and working as a security guard in the office of a newspaper, fractured his leg severely after the bike he was riding was badly crushed by a bus. The accident occurred in the evening on Bibiwala road.

In another accident that took place near one of the entrance gates of the cantonment area, a contractor, a resident of Bhucho Khurd, received injuries. The contractor was driving a jeep which collided with a stationary truck on the Barnala road. Investigating officer from Cantt police station, Sandhura Singh said the truck collided with another truck late last night and since then it was there on the road. The truck was removed from the road after today's accident. 

Bathinda, November 21
The Mansa police have arrested two persons and recovered 2 kg opium and 52 kg of poppy husk from their possession in separate cases.

BS Khhatra, SSP, said in the first instance, a patrolling party stopped a motorcyclist Kuldeep Singh near Jattan Kalan for checking and recovered 2 kg of opium from him. During the interrogation, the accused confessed that he had bought the intoxicant from an unidentified person in Haryana for Rs 1.20 lakh and was to sell it.

In the second case, a scooterist Reesa Singh was stopped by the police for checking and 52 kg of poppy husk was recovered from him. The accused revealed that he had bought the husk for Rs 800 per kg and would have sold it to addicts for Rs 1500 per kg.

Cases under the NDPS Act have been registered against the duo and further investigations are on to stop the flow of drugs into the state from neighbouring states, added the SSP.