Bathinda, December 16
Close to four months after the Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, had announced grants and three months after the Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda, Kamal Kishore Yadav, passed orders to begin expansion under the police protection, the development work at the Government Elementary School in Dhobiana Basti has finally begun.

The District Education Officer (elementary), Dr Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta, visited the construction site today and reviewed the work. She stated that Rs 36 lakh will be spent on constructing three classrooms, an office for the head teachers and a bathroom. She added that while a grant of Rs 21 lakh had been released under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh grant were announced by the MP and the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sarup Chand Singla, respectively. She said that the grants by the MP and the CPS will be used to construct a boundary wall for the school.

It is pertinent to mention here that the infrastructural upgrade of the school will come as a boon to its 450 students and staff members who until now had only two rooms, one office and no toilet or potable water facility. Rooms of a nearby dharamshala were being used to conduct three classes of the school.

The work is also the result of constant pressure by a former municipal councillor of the area, Manjit Singh. He had complained to the DC that a few followers of the adjacent gurdwara were causing problems for the school management and stopping it from building the boundary wall for the school and upgrading its infrastructure.

In September, Suraj Kumar, a student of the school was seriously injured after he came out of the class room to play in the open. The gate of the gurdwara, on which he was swinging, unhinged and fell on him.

The area residents had staged a protest asking the district administration to ensure safety of the students by building boundary wall of the school.

Last month, SDM, Damanjeet Singh Mann, had also visited the school to look into why the work had been hanging fire. Directed by the Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda, to visit the school and resolve the matter, he told the gurdwara supporters that the land belonged to the Municipal Corporation and no one could lay claim to it. 

Bathinda, December 16
Aiming to make women self-reliant and financially independent, the state government has implemented the Women Empowerment Scheme. Elaborating it, Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda, Kamal Kishore Yadav, stated that the Finance Minister of Punjab, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, had spoken about the scheme while he presented the budget for the state for the financial year 2013-14.

He added that under the guidance of the Financial Commissioner, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Dairy Development, Government of Punjab, Dr G Vajralingam, outline of the scheme has been prepared.

The DC added that under the scheme, women will be trained for free for 15 days and after their loan case will be finalised, they would also be given 35 to 50 per cent subsidy to help them start a business of their own.

He stated that under the scheme, a candidate will have to set up a unit of 20 cattle with a modern cattle shed, milking machine, bulk milk coolers etc.

He added that only those women who are married, are in the age group of 25 to 40 years, have studied at least till Class X, are not engaged in any government job, don’t belong to families owning more than five acres of land and don’t have a bank default case on their or their family’s name will be able to avail of this scheme.

The DC further said a screening panel has been constituted to select the candidates for the scheme and that the interested women may file their candidature with the Deputy Director (dairy) Bathinda by December 24.

Bathinda, December 16
The revamped Mini Zoo and Deer Safari in the Bir Talab area may have a toy train or a few battery-operated vehicles to move around in the 115 acres of the Deer Safari area.

The forest department officials have sent a proposal to the state government proposing that a toy train or battery-operated vehicles, which are environment friendly and produce less noise, be introduced at the safari.

“As per the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), private vehicles are not allowed inside the safari. Constant honking and loud noises of engine disturb animals in their near-real environment provided at the safari,” said the Divisional Forest Officer, Bathinda division, Sanjeev Tiwari.

Tiwari sent a recommendation for a toy train stating that the existing cement track in the safari can be widened to suit to the needs of the toy train wherein visitors would be confined to a train and watch the animals. An estimate cost of the project is Rs 25 lakh with a track running up to seven kms.

He added that the proposal also mentions inclusion of battery-operated vehicles that can be used for navigation inside the safari territory. “The state government may approve either both the projects or one of them,” he added.

The safai has been divided into three sections each housing spotted deer, black bucks and sambhar.

The revamped zoo and the safari with additional enclosures and new animal species would be inaugurated by the MP Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal on December 18.

Seven new enclosures have come up on the 145 acres of the project, which was marked as a reserve forest (Bir) by the Maharaja of Patiala. It was handed over to the forest department in 1975.

While few enclosures already have designated animals, the zoo will get more animals under the animal exchange program that will be run with the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park at Chhatbir.

The mini zoo already has a male porcupine and ducks in the respective enclosures. Next to be added to the enclosures will be a female porcupine, bar headed geese, parrot doves, monkeys, emu and partridges. It will seek a pair of bear, emus and porcupine from the Chhatbir zoo.

An interpretation centre for the visitors, an inspection bungalow for visiting officials and a veterinary hospital-cum-dispensary is also underway.

The interpretation centre will have latest audio visual techniques to educate visitors about wildlife, while vet hospital will be equipped with staff, medicines and equipments to treat sick animals.

Bathinda, December 16
Chetak Corps today commemorated the 42nd anniversary of Vijay Diwas with a wreath laying ceremony at the Yodha Yaadgar War Memorial in the Bathinda Army Cantonment.

Lt Gen NS Ghei, GOC, Chetak Corps, and other senior serving officers of the Army placed wreaths in remembrance of those valiant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

Maj Gen (retd) JS Herr, Sub Maj (retd) Honorary Capt Makhan Singh and Hav (retd) Sukhdev Singh laid wreaths on behalf of all veterans and Veer Naris, who were present in large numbers from adjoining areas of Bathinda. On this solemn occasion, rich tributes were paid to the soldiers who took part in the 1971 war and brought laurels and glory to the country.

Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on December 16 to mark Indian military’s victory over Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war of 1971.

The end of the war had also resulted in unilateral and unconditional surrender of the Pakistan Army and subsequent liberation of East Pakistan as Bangladesh. This was the first instance after World War II that a huge army of 93,000 uniformed personnel surrendered enmasse in one of the shortest war of 13 days duration. — TNS

Bathinda, December 16
People from all walks of life today came together to observe Nirbhaya Diwas in the memory of the victim of the Delhi gang rape case. Members of the Bathinda Vikas Manch, Bathinda Jal Sewa, Vahe Guru Welfare Society, Asra Welfare Society, Triveni Sankirtan Mandal, Basant Vihar Sanstha, Trinetra Welfare Society, Jain Navyug Mandal and other NGOs and social welfare societies assembled at the Fire Brigade Chowk to express their solidarity with the victim.

This was an attempt to rekindle the memory of the horrendous case in the public and remind the society that it needs to wake up and fight crimes being committed against women. Apart from making the women of our society stronger and self-reliant, we also need to teach our sons to respect women and take them as their equal, said Rakesh Narula of the Bathinda Vikas Manch who had initiated the candle light vigil.

During the vigil, people demanded for stricter rules for the accused in cases of crime against women. They also expressed the need for the administration, police and the judiciary to come together and make every nook and corner of the country safe for the women.

Bathinda, December 16
A one-day camp will be organised at the central excise and service tax range, Central Revenue Building, here on December 18.

Assistant Commissioner, Central Excise Division, Sangrur, Manjot Kaur, will preside over the function. Superintendent of Central Excise and Service Tax Veer Parkash said during the camp applications would be received from assessees who had not paid service tax, not filed service tax returns or stopped filing service tax returns during the period October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012.

In a press statement issued here today official spokesperson said the assessee would have the option to pay due service tax in two equal instalments without interest and penalty. Last date of the scheme is December 31. He also said any other problem of the assessees regarding service tax would be solved during the camp. — TNS

Bathinda, December 16
Guru Gobind Singh Refinery today held a health awareness camp at Government Primary School, Giana village.

The awareness camp was held in collaboration with the District Red Cross Society. First aid trainer from the Red Cross Society Naresh Pathania trained students about the first aid training in the wake of an emergency, health awareness and personal hygiene.

Refinery officials Waheguru Pal Singh and coordinator Vikrant Puri said the refinery had held such camps in 15 schools of the villages around its premises.

Bathinda, December 16
The two-day art exhibition, organised by the Punjab Arts Council, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, in collaboration with the Sardar Sobha Singh Memorial Chittarkar Society, Bathinda, concluded on Sunday.

While the exhibition, organised at Teachers’ Home, was inaugurated by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla, president of the Punjab Lalit Akademi, Harvinder Singh Khalsa, was the chief guest on the second and last day of the exhibition.

As many as 100 artists displayed more than 120 works of art at the exhibition. Organiser of the event and member of the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Amarjit Singh Painter, expressed his joy over the fact that a large number of city residents had turned up to see the exhibition.

He said members of the Akademi had held a meeting recently during which it was decided that next year onwards events would be organised every month to bring people closer to various art forms and develop a taste for art.

Painter also said all the works showcased at the exhibition were made by artists from the Bathinda district. He further said the district should be proud that it had a wealth of 100 artists who were working in the field.

Several works on display at the show took up the issue of social ills such as female foeticide. While one of the paintings showed an expectant mother wondering how she would save her daughter from the society although she had managed to save her from being killed in the womb. Another work of art showed an egg as a woman in the midst of the ups and downs of life. 

Bathinda, December 16
Four people, including a two-year-old baby boy, were killed in two separate road mishaps here today.

In first incident, two persons were killed when their car rammed into a bus near Kuti village while the injured were rushed to a hospital where they are undergoing treatment.

Sources said the deceased had been identified as Iqbal Singh and Sarabjit Singh, both residents of Jassi Baghwali village, were going to attend a court hearing in Sirsa. When they reached near Kuti village, their car rammed into a bus, which was not visible owing to dense fog.

In the meanwhile, a trailer and a Zen car also rammed into the bus due to poor visibility. Members of the Sangat Sahara Welfare Club reached the spot and extricated bodies from the mangled remains of car. It took the NGO members almost two hours to get the bodies out of the damaged cars.

The victims’ bodies were handed over to their families after conducting the postmortem examination. The police have registered a case against the driver of the bus who fled from the spot. The bus belonged to a private company and was on the way to Dabwali.

In the other incident, two people were killed when a car collided with a motorcycle on the Malout Road today evening.

Sources said that Sukhraj Singh, a resident of Karamgarh Satra village, was going to his home on a motorcycle with his wife, Amardeep Kaur, and a two-year-old son, Shahbaz Singh.

When they reached near Balluana village, a car hit them, killed Sukhraj on the spot and injured his wife and son. Sources added that the tyre of the car (going from Ganganagar to Chandigarh) had punctured suddenly after which its driver lost control and rammed into the motorcycle. Sukhraj was working at a private school in Karamgarh Satra village.

A passerby rushed the victims to the Gidderbaha Civil Hospital from where the two-year-old child was referred to the Bathinda Civil Hospital where it was declared brought dead.

Sukhraj’s wife, Amandeep, is stated to be serious and is undergoing treatment at the Bathinda Civil Hospital. The occupants of the car, Kamaljit and Kulwant also sustained injuries. 

Bathinda, December 16
The police have claimed to crack the murder case of a 22-year-old plumber, who was brutally murdered on December 8 at Mata Jivi Nagar. Addressing mediapersons here today, SSP, Bathinda, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, revealed that Beant Singh’s relative had murdered him.

The accused has been identified as Sarabjit Kumar, a resident of Gajiana village in Moga. The police have also recovered an Activa Honda as well as a sharp-edged weapon used in the crime.

Bhullar said the deceased had been going to his aunt’s house for the past four years. But on December 8 morning, he did not return to his home and his mother Jaswinder Kaur started looking for him. When she went to her sister’s house (Beant’s aunt) she found Beant’s body lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

After investigation, the police found that Beant’s relative, Sarabjit, had the murdered him.

Sarabjit, son of Beant’s another aunt, had lent Rs 30,000 to Beant’s father in 2005. The victim’s father had paid him Rs 24,000 and Rs 6,000 were pending. On the night of December 8, he reached at Beant’s place to take the pending amount in an inebriated state.

“At the house of victim’s aunt, Sarabjit had a cup of tea with Beant. However, the casual chit-chat soon turned into a heated argument. Since Beant’s uncle (his aunt’s husband) had recently returned from the USA, Sarabjit thought of killing Beant and walking away with valuables stashed at the home,” he said.

He attacked Beant with a sharp-edged weapon, an improvised axe, killing him on the spot and took away an Activa Honda parked outside the house. Since he could not start the two-wheeler at once, he had to drag it at some distance. The accused looked for some cash at the crime spot but could not find any.

SSP Bhullar said DSP (D) Ranjit Singh, DSP Harmik Deol, and DSP, Des Raj, had also helped in cracking the case.