Bathinda, November 22
The General Manager, Northern Railway, Shri Prakash, today said that the 119 kms long railway line between Qazigund and Baramulla in the Kashmir valley will be commissioned by May 2008.

Shri Prakash, who was here in connection with annual inspection of the Bathinda-Dhuri section of the Ambala division, told the TNS that work on laying the rail line between Udhampur in the Jammu division and the Kashmir valley was being done on war footing. The seepage of water in the tunnel near Katra was being tackled by experts.

He said that the rail line between Jammu and Jalandhar was being doubled to remove congestion and the work would be completed during the current financial year and several steps were being taken for upgrading passengers’ amenities on the Bathinda-Dhuri section of the Ambala Division.

Later, the general manager told media persons at the Bathinda railway station that special trains, including holiday special would be introduced in the section considering huge demands of the passengers. Delhi-bound fast trains from Bathinda might also be started in near future, he added.

He said that a new computerised reservation counter would be opened in the Cantonment area in Bathinda Military Station to ease the pressure at the railway station. He also said if there was requirement, extra booking counters might be opened at the Bathinda station.

He said that the railway was ready to serve people’s demands caused by the ongoing industrialisation of the area.

He said that work on construction of the new line between Abohar and Fazlika was in progress. The land acquisition process in this regard had been completed, he added. He also said that doubling of line between Jhankal and Rohtak would be completed in three months.

Earlier the GM with officers of the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG), including electrical, mechanical, operation, signal, RPF and others, reached at the Bathinda station in the morning. The divisional railway manager, Ambala H.K. Jaggi also accompanied the GM. The GM inspected facilities at railway platforms, reservation counters, parking areas and interacted with passengers and representatives of the several organisations to get first hand knowledge of problems being faced by passengers.

Passengers complained about the lack of facilities at the station like amenities for senior citizens, physically challenged, late-running of trains, cleanliness on platforms and in train compartments, sheds at platforms, drinking water etc. Expressing dissatisfaction over the late running of trains, the GM instructed the concerned officials to run trains on time.

Bathinda MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan also made the GM aware about passengers’ problems. She demanded a Delhi-bound fast train from Bathinda. She also complained about lack of cleanliness in the trains. 

Barnala, November 22
To put forth the demand of more trains for Barnala and construction of an overbridge, a delegation met Shri Parkash, general manager, Northern Railway here today. The general manager was in the city in connection with his annual inspection visit.

The delegation comprised of various social organisations of the city. Ujjagr Singh Bihala of the CPI told that there was only one train from Barnala to Delhi at present. But Barnala being an important business hub requires an additional train service for Delhi.

He demanded that ‘Abha Express’ and ‘Punjab Mail’ both ran between Bathinda to Delhi through Jakhal (Haryana) and that one should run through Dhuri instead of Jakhal route in order to benefit Barnala passengers.

The delegation further stated that on an average, the collection from passengers fare only was Rs 75,000 daily while from special trains meant for transporting food grains generated revenue amounting to Rs 25 lakh per month. Drawing the attention towards the traffic woes at Dhanaula railway crossing, as it remains close most of the time, the delegation reiterated the long-pending demand of an overbridge.

Responding to the demands put forth, the general manager assured that he would try his level best to redress the grievances of Barnala  citizens. As far as railway overbridge was concerned Shri Parkash said the Railway had no dearth of funds and was ready to construct the overbridge but the cooperation of state government was needed in that regard. If the later cleared the decks, the railway overbridge could be constructed shortly.

Bathinda, November 22“
Before the de-addiction camp was set up in our village, I had frequent quarrels with my son. But due to the counselling of visiting doctors, I have given up narcotics, due to which I had suffered a lot. As of now, I am leading a peaceful life enjoying each day,” said 62-year-old Gurjant Singh of village Behman Dewana.

The de-addiction centre started at a library in village Behman Dewana, Bathinda has come as relief for drug addicts and their families. The reason for failure of earlier camps is believed to the short duration for which the camp was held. But the de-addiction centre here has now been running for a year and is aiming at helping the addicts kick this dreaded habit.

The DIG, Faridkot range, Jitender Jain, on an experimental basis, adopted the village.

As per the records available at the centre, 304 drug addicts are registered there. The doctors, a team of seven, visit the centre twice a week on rotation basis.

Talking to the psychiatrist, Dr Mehboob Singh Sran, on Wednesday the TNS team found that the family members of drug addicts come to them with the request that they could be saved from disintegration.

“The best possible way to handle the addicts is to provide counselling making them aware about the demerits of drug intake. For this purpose, we use projectors to give a visual display of the life and sufferings of a drug addict. Some medicines are also used to divert them from narcotics.”

“The centre here has been rendering service for the addicts and their families, not just from this village but also from the neighbouring areas. We take the addicts to the doctors and try our level best to prepare them socially and mentally to give up drugs,” said a member of the Sher-e-Punjab Welfare Club in Behman Dewana.

Sharing his feeling of shame and guilt, a 40-year-old man said, “When I was taking poppy husk, I used to forbid my six-year-old daughter from disclosing it to anyone, but when someone asked her about me, she simply said, ‘My father has lost his senses.’ That was the most touching incident of my life and that very day, I made up mind to kick the habbit, he added.

Bathinda, November 22
The two-day annual function of St. Joseph’s Convent, which got off to a spectacular start yesterday, concluded with usual fanfare here this evening. Fun and fervour marked the evening as colourful cultural programme presented by senior school students cast a spell on the audience.

The programme named ‘An evening of euphoria’ fully justified the name, sending people to ecstasies. Starting with ‘Ishwar vandana’, the programme was a unique mix of songs, rhythm dances, folk dances and plays and was display of budding talents at their best.

“We say it with rhythm, rhythm” a dance performed by students of kept the audience spellbound while the English play ‘beauty is a beast’ disseminated the message that inner beauty was more profound than the beauty which meets the eye. 

Captivating Haryanvi folk dance and Punjabi Bhangra gave a regional touch to the cultural extravaganza, which ended with Prize Distribution.

A unique feature of the function was display of website on CBSE developed by Mathematics teacher Dev Anup. The website ‘cbsemath.com’, claimed to be ‘Number One’ site on the subject in the world has an average 5000 clicks per day. The site provides information about papers; self prepared questions, model question papers, preparation for examination and other relevant data.

The Punjab ADGP, Rajan Gupta, chief guest and DIG of police (Faridkot range), Jatindra Jain, guest of honour at the function distributed the prizes and both stressed on the need to make education more enjoyable. 

Bathinda, November 22
A team of the United Nations World Tourism Development Organisation (UNWTDO) is shortly coming here to examine the possibility of developing the three lakes here as a tourist attraction.

The team would visit certain other places in Punjab, but the authorities were also trying to utilize the opportunity to obtain funds from the UNWTDO for development of tourism in Bathinda that has so far remained neglected in this sector.

The chief administrator of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), K.K.Yadav, said that the lakes will be shown to the visiting team for preparing a plan for developing these into a tourist destination.UNWTDO He said that steps to develop these lakes would be taken only after a no-objection certificate was received from the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) that owns the thermal power station which was fed by the lake water.

Yadav said that the effort was to get a share for the town from the UN organization.

It is worth mentioning that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had recently announced here that the lakes would be developed on lines of the world famous Dal Lake of Srinagar.

When contacted, deputy commissioner Rahul Tiwari, said that he was awaiting reply to the letter he had written to the HPSEB chairman Y.S.Ratra seeking permission for development of the lakes into a centre for water sports and tourism. HPSEB had doubts whether such a step would put security of the thermal plant to jeopardy, the D.C. said.

Tiwari said that the private parties could be involved in development of the lakes only when the required clearance was received from the HPSEB.

Meanwhile, continued neglect of these lakes by the authorities has led to the surroundings being used as a vegetable market. The traders dump garbage around the lakes where hardly any locals visit for relaxing.

Entry to one of the lake area has been prohibited by the army that has developed it as a place of recreation for its personnel.

Successive governments in the state had made commitment to float “shikaras” and house boats on the pattern of the Kashmir valley, but the promise has so far not been fulfilled.

Fazilka, November 22
The M.R.Government College, which is among the oldest educational institutes in Fazilka, appears to be a victim of government apathy. As a result, vacancies of lecturers in commerce and science groups remain to be filled up, while the medical and non-medical sections are on the verge of closure.

Due to official indifference, teaching of new subjects has not been introduced in the college for over two decades now.

The total number of students studying different subjects here is estimated at 2000. Accordingly, 64 lecturers are required. However, of the 29 sanctioned posts of lecturers, only 9 are on pay roll. Twenty sanctioned posts of lecturers have been lying vacant.

These vacancies have arisen over the years due to superannuation of lecturers. The bare requirement of teaching faculty is met by making temporary arrangements like appointing lecturers as guest faculty.

This premier teaching institution, established in 1940, was managed by Munshi Ram Aggarwal Charitable Trust. The college was taken over by the Punjab government in 1983 with the aim of improving its functioning as the trust was facing a financial crunch.

The government constructed new structures on 17 acres. The number of students also grew from 700 in 1983 to its present strength of 2000.

The need for more lecturers and staff was felt but ironically, instead of granting sanction to the new posts of lecturers, successive governments failed in filling up the vacancies.

The long-standing demand for introducing new and popular subjects particularly relating to vocational subjects has also not been met.

As per norms, 14 posts of lecturers are required for teaching English, a compulsory subject. But of the six sanctioned posts, four are vacant.

Similarly, 17 lecturers are required for teaching Punjabi, another compulsory subject. But of the two sanctioned posts, one is lying vacant.

The lone post sanctioned for teaching Physical Education is also lying vacant. Nine lecturers are required for teaching this subject. Six lecturers are required for teaching History but both the sanctioned posts are lying vacant.

Another six lecturers are required for teaching Hindi but of the three sanctioned posts, one is lying vacant. Of the two sanctioned posts each for Geography, Economics and Mathematics, one post in each subject is lying vacant.

Since both of the posts of teachers in commerce are lying vacant, the teaching of this subject has been abandoned. In science too, two sanctioned posts each in physics and chemistry are lying vacant.

Of the sanctioned posts in zoology and botany, one each is lying vacant.

Due to this, teaching of medical subject in B.Sc Part I and Part II has been discontinued while in the non-medical group, teaching has been discontinued in Part I from the current academic session. Teaching of medical subject in final year and non-medical subject in Part II and final year is being continued with temporary arrangements.

As a result, laboratory equipment worth lakhs is lying unused.

The library of the college houses 40,0000 books but is without a librarian for several years now. And for the last four years, its fourth officiating principal is running the college.

Raj Kishore Kalra, patron, Sikhsha Sudhar Committee, Punjab, an NGO, has demanded that the state government should look into the affairs of the college and ensure appointment of teaching staff so that students do not have to worry about their educational prospects.

Residents of the area also feel that the institution has not kept pace with the changing times and college education for local students has become a difficult proposition.

Bathinda, November 22
The relatives of Sukhmander Singh (35), who has been missing for past three months, have refused to consider the part of skeleton, reportedly recovered by Bathinda police on Wednesday. With this, the district police have been reportedly planning to send the remains to forensic laboratory to ascertain whether these were of the missing boy.

It may be mentioned here that police recovered skeleton in a canal tributary in the village Kauni in the Muktsar district.

According to the kin of Sukhmander, the family complained to the SSP Bathinda on Tuesday of “dilly-dallying” attitude of the police. Taking note of their complaint the SSP ordered DSP (Rural) to immediately inquire into the matter. Sukhpal, brother of the missing man, said he accompanied the police team that recovered the skeleton.

Sukhpal also claimed that the family members today visited the area to get some clue in this matter and owner of a dhaba, situated there, confirmed that Sukhmander had come there with two boys consumed liquor and left the place in inebriated condition on a motorcycle.When they were refused for bed, one of them said that they would spend night at his sister’s house at village Assa Butter.”

DSP (Rural) D.S. Brar and SHO Nahian wala police station, Boota Singh, refused to comment on the matter and said investigations were in progress.

Mansa, November 22
“Protection of women from the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 has not produced desired results, as it is not effective in saving the women from the atrocities of male dominated society,” said Rekha Sharma, district president of the Punjab Istri Sabha.

Section 4 of the Act spoke about giving information to protection officer, regarding any domestic violence, by the aggrieved or any other person, but no protection officer had been appointed in the Mansa district, she lamented.

No time frame had been fixed for appointing the Protection Officer.   Neither any shelter-home had been set up for the protection of the aggrieved women, she told.

Istri Sabha leaders also informed that above Act was silent regarding the appointment and conduct of the Protection Officer and service provider.

When social security officer Gurjinder Singh was approached for information about the implementation of this Act, he could not provide any information. — OC

Barnala, November 22
The local court of CJM Ramesh Kumari awarded three years imprisonment to all four accused and were fined Rs 1,000 each in a case of forgery, however, in case of non-payment of fine they have to undergo additional imprisonment. The convicted are Joginder Singh, Baldev Singh, Arjun Singh and Mahinder Singh.

According to defense counsel, Jatinder Pal Singh Uggoke, complainant Harnek Singh stated before the police that he purchased 6 kanals of land from Baldev Singh.

But when Harnek Singh went to the concerned patwari for obtaining the numbers of the particular land, he found that Baldev Singh deceived him, as a sizeable portion of same piece of land that he purchased from him, was already sold to his own nephew Arjun Singh.

For this very purpose, Mahinder Singh took power of attorney from his brother Baldev Singh and in connivance of patwari Joginder Singh got registered the same piece of land in the name of Arjun Singh.

Harnek Singh produced two witnesses, nambardar Bhagwan Singh and inspector Barmath Singh, before the court. Listening to both the sides, the court awarded three years imprisonment to all four accused.

Mansa, November 22
“Ghar jo bharna ho to rishwat se bhi bhar jaata hai, haan magar iss se duaaoan ka asar jaata hai.’’ Nice poetry. Right? But who is the author? Any guesses? New senior superintendent of police, Mansa, M.F. Farooqui. Surprised? Even a book comprising of his 100 odd poems and ghazals in Urdu is coming soon.

Right from his childhood days, 40-year-old Farooqui, a 1995-batch IPS officer from Allahabad, got this poetic atmosphere, with his father, Mubarak Hussain Farooqui ‘Shad’ and grandfather, Master Tufail Ahmed ‘Hazeen’ being Urdu poets.

But the poet in him came out after he joined his service. “After my selection into IPS and after realising that I have become what I ever wanted to, poet in me came out. I used to write and share my poetry with my friends at the academy. One of my friend, Nayyer Aqil also helped me with my poetry and guided me from time to time,’’ SSP Farooqui tells.

An admirer of Urdu and Persian poet, Allama Iqbal, who once wrote ‘Mita de apni hasti ko agar kuch martaba chahe, ki daana khaak mein milkar gulo gulzaar hota hai’, Farooqui feels sad that Urdu is tagged as a language of muslims. “But the fact is that in urdu poetry, major contribution is of non muslims poets like Labhu Ram Josh, Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi and many others,’’ he informs.

To eradicate the menaces like drug addiction, poverty, illiteracy and other social evils, Farooqui is keen on organising cultural and sports events at his new place of posting. “If you actually want to educate a person, culture and sports are the best medium to do so. To channelise energy of our youth towards the right direction, we need to show them a right way. Theatre is also one of the best media to do so because people actually connect themselves to it.’’

He is also planning to modernise the police machinery at Mansa. “To inculcate a sense of security amongst city residents, we need to give latest equipments to our police persons. Besides, people should do self-policing as well. Only then we can give a fair policing to our city residents,’’ he informs.

Mansa, November 22  
The water from the Boha-Hakamwala Canal distributary entered in around 150 houses today. This was the second breach of the canal distributary in the last 30 days. The information about the breach was given through the loudspeakers.

After this, some people reached the spot and started efforts to help the affected ones.

The villagers of Boha told that the breach in this canal distributary had taken place nearly eight times in the last five years.  The victims blamed that this was injustice to start a canal distributary near their houses and asked for special arrangements to improve the situation.