Bathinda, November 28
Upset over the stray cattle menace and death of over 50 persons in the past due to it, a city resident moved the permanent lok adalat, which today summoned the Municipal Commissioner. An application under Section 22-C of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, was moved by Harjinder Singh, a resident of Gali Khaddar Bhandar Wali.

Harjinder accused the MCB of failing to check the problem. The complainant stated that he received serious injuries after he was hit by two bulls on The Mall Road.

Complainant’s counsel Sanjay Goyal said the application was moved yesterday and after a brief hearing, the lok adalat again heard the case today.

He added that neither the Punjab Government nor the Municipal Corporation Bathinda ever raised the issue of conducting a census or to contemplate the removal of animals from the city roads, which had led to fatal injuries to some pedestrians and motorists in the past a few years.

As per a rough census conducted by a city NGO, there are 3,000 to 3,500 stray animals roaming freely on the city roads and 47 persons lost their lives in the past one year due to it.

He added that the city residents were paying all kind of taxes, including house tax and cow cess, but nothing has been done by the officials to curb the increasing stray cattle menace.

The complainant has made the Municipal Corporation Bathinda , State of Punjab and Civil Hospital a party to the case.

Harjinder stated that the Municipal Corporation was duty bound to provide all basic facilities to the residents and the onus of keeping stray animals away was on the MC. The next hearing into the case is scheduled for December 17.

The Municipal Commissioner could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. ADC (Development) Sonali Giri said modalities to set-up a cattle pound for 2,000 animals were being worked out.

“We are in touch with the panchayat of Jassi Baghwali village that initially agreed to give 15 acres for a gaushala. We have already forwarded the case to the higher authorities and in a week’s time something concrete will be done,” Giri said.

She added that after getting the sanction from the higher authorities, other modalities with city NGOs would discussed.

Notably, the MCB miserably failed to resume the process of shifting stray animals from Bathinda to a gaushala in Faridkot. The MCB had roped in the Faridkot gaushala for the shifting of at least 500 stray animals but after the shifting of 200 animals, some residents of Faridkot raised a hue and cry over the issue and entered in a brawl with MCB workers following which the process was stalled. 

Bathinda, November 28
Following several thefts of vehicles from the Bathinda railway junction, the staff at the railway station has devised a novel way to safeguard their vehicles. Rather than using the space alotted for the parking of vehicles, they have started utilising the space below the stairs leading to an overbridge.

Notably, the railway junction has to two huge parkings – one opposite the ticket reservation counter and another on a piece of land adjacent to the railway station. Though the railway authorities have put up boards prohibiting parking of vehicles at several places, its own employees turned a blind eye to these directions.

As per information, some senior officials of the junction had recently written to the higher authorities, complaining against the illegal parking of vehicles by the staff. Sources in the RPF at the Bathinda junction said no one was allowed to park vehicles on the railway platform and anyone found violating the norms could be booked and sentenced to one-year jail and fine.

The residents said the negligence on the part of the railway authorities could cost the passengers dear. Desraj Chhatriwala and Mohan Lala, leaders of the Bathinda Pashchim Welfare Association, said by parking their vehicles on the platform the railway employees were not only flouting the rules but also troubling the passengers. They further said though the railway authorities had started drives to stop the passengers from flouting the rules and regulations regarding sanitation on the platforms, it should first take notice of its own employees and ask them to mend their ways and set an example by doing so. 

Bathinda, November 28
To create awareness regarding AIDS, a rally will be held by the district administration to mark World AIDS Day on December 1. The rally will start from Fire Brigade Chowk, Bathinda. Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg will flag off the rally at 10 am.

The rally will pass through several areas , including Dhobi Bazar, Hospital Bazat, Railway Station, Gole DIggi and culminate at Fire Brigade Chowk.

A seminar will also be held at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. 

Bathinda, November 28
A workshop on the Beti Bachao Programme was organised on Thursday by the district health authorities. The workshop was held under the guidance of the Bathinda Civil Surgeon.

Earlier, the district Health Department, along with several NGOs in the city, had launched a campaign to spread awareness on the issue of female foeticide.

The Sahara Welfare Club, Naujwan Welfare Society of Bathinda and other organisations had also taken out a candlelight march on November 14, which is celebrated as Children’s Day in the country.

A signature campaign was also carried out against female foeticide by the NGOs.

In view of the steep decline in the child sex-ratio, the implementation of the PNDT Act, 1994, is the top priority of the state government.

Many awareness campaigns have already been undertaken by the district administration in this regard.

Bathinda Civil Surgeon Dr Tejwant Singh Randhawa said, “The workshop was held to spread awareness on the issue of female foeticide and doctors besides the District Family Planning Officer shared their views over the issue.” 

Bathinda, November 28
State hockey championship (Under-15 boys) today kicked off at the hockey astroturf stadium adjacent to Government Rajindra College. The tournament is being conducted under the supervision of the Patiala Hockey Association and the Bathinda Hockey Association.

The tournament was inaugurated by former international athlete and present Income Tax Officer in Bathinda, KPS Brar.

The inaugural function was conducted under the guidance of principal of Malwa College, Darshan Singh. Hockey coach Rajwant Singh Mann was present as a special guest during the ceremony.

Teams from as many as 11 districts – Patiala, Sangrur, Moga, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Saheb, Kapurthala and Bathinda are participating in the tournament.

Although the players seemed very excited about the tournament, the first day of the tournament was marked by one-sided matches, thereby robbing the audience of a chance of watching some thrilling action and nail-biting contests.

The first match of the tournament was played between Bathinda and Muktsar and the hosts won the match. While Muktsar failed to open its account, Bathinda’s Jaideep Singh scored four goals to steer the team towards a thumping 9-0 victory.

Showcasing their prowess and with a score of 7-0 by the half time, Bathinda players left no stone unturned to drub their opponents.

In the second match of the day, Moga beat Mansa by 7-2. Showing their strong hold over the match, Moga players scored four goals by the half time.

The Mansa team tried to make up but could score only two goals by the end of the match, whereas by that time Moga had scored seven goals against their opponents.

Muktsar’s bad run continued in its second match for the day as well. The third match was played between Muktsar and Barnala and was won by Barnala by 9-0. Barnala’s Shavinder Singh scored four goals for the team.

District Sports Officer Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, former district sports officer Rupinder Singh Sidhu, Patiala Hockey Association president Rajwant Singh Mann, senior vice-president of the association SS Mann, general secretary of the Bathinda Hockey Association, Rupinder Singh Brar and several others were present on the first day of the tournament.

Bathinda, November 28
There has not been any case of dengue found positive in Bathinda in the last two weeks. This is primarily seen as a result of fogging and awareness campaign being carried out by the health authorities.

The health authorities have been sensitising the public about the preventive steps that should be taken to avoid the growth of dengue mosquitoes. Samples for blood tests are taken on every Tuesday and Friday.

There have been eleven patients of dengue found positive to date in Bathinda district, whereas the number was 177 in 2013.

The MC claims to have carried out fogging amounting to lakhs of rupees, including Rs 20.4 lakh in the summer season.

Epidemiologist Dr HS Hayer said, “We are continuously carrying out fogging and creating awareness among the public about stagnant water in their localities and at homes, which becomes breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes. About eleven cases have been reported positive this year while two more have undergone test on Tuesday, the reports of which are awaited.”

Talwandi Sabo, November 28
Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering and Technology, a constituent college of Guru Kashi University (GKU), Talwandi Sabo, organised a programme called ‘Research Conclave-2014’ on its campus today.

Dr BS Dhaliwal, Dean, Academics GKU was the chief guest on the occasion, whereas Registrar Satish Goswami was the special guest during the programme.

The conference commenced with the rendering of the holy ‘vandana’ and lighting of the lamp by the guests and session chairpersons of the conference.

Principal of the college, Dr Ashwani Sethi, welcomed all the guests, chairpersons and the speakers.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr Manoj Kumar Goyal, of SLIET Longoval. He covered the important points to be followed for doing good research work and to excel in other fields in life.

Dr BS Dhaliwal said the conference would give opportunities to young scholars to bring up innovative ideas and to improve their presentation skills. It would also enrich the already existing research base at GKU, he added.

Around 40 papers were presented by the scholars covering latest techniques in all the three sessions. These sessions were chaired by learned faculty of the region — Dr RK Bansal, Dr Ashutosh Pathak, Dr Gagan Gupta, Dr Madhuchanda Rakshit and Dr Rajpal Singh.

Vice Chancellor, Dr NS Malhi congratulated the organisers for the mega success in the field of research and development.

He also assured that Guru Kashi University would provide all possible support to the students of the region for higher education and research and development activities.

Prof Harpreet Kaur anchored the whole programme effectively.

Bathinda, November 28
The district administration will hold a camp for differently abled persons of Bathinda district on December 1-2 at Mahant Gurbanta Dass School for Deaf and Dumb Children.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg said the camp would assess the level of disability among the differently abled people and provide them with needed aids free-of-cost.

The Health Department has identified differently abled people in the district who would be brought to the venue in vehicles, he added.

The Deputy Commissioner said apart from the already identified and registered patients, new patients can also come to the venue for on-the-spot registration.

Dr Garg said after gauging the disability, people would be provided with hearing aids, wheel chairs, tricycles, crutches, Braille kits and other things free of cost. The aids would be provided by the Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALMCO).