Bathinda, November 28
The death of a Dalit brick kiln labourer in the Rampura Phool area has taken a political colour with the ruling Akali Dal and opposition Congress activists giving conflicting versions about the incident.

The labourer, identified as Satwinder Singh alias Raja, died under mysterious circumstances in a kiln in the village Ganga Nathana yesterday and his body was brought by police to the civil hospital here today for postmortem.

The deceased’s wife, Jaswinder Kaur, alleged that Satwinder Singh was mercilessly beaten to death by the owner and another employee of the kiln and was later hanged on a tree to give an impression that he had committed suicide.

She said that Satwinder (25) had started working in the kiln two months ago and was beaten up when he demanded money for purchasing medicine. She lamented that with no other source of income, it would now be difficult for her to bring up her two children—one 18 months old and the other three years.

She also accused the police of trying to dilute the seriousness of the incident by insisting that the case be registered under 306 IPC instead of 302 IPC.

Congress MLAs of the area, Gurpreet Singh and Ajaib Singh Bhatti, alleged that the labourer was beaten to death by the owner of the kiln. They alleged that Satwinder received head injury when he fell down due to beating by the kiln owner and another employee. Other labourers were tightlipped, as they feared harassment by the owner and the police in case they complained, they alleged.

Some supporters of the brick kiln owner claimed that the Congress MLAs were politicising the incident as he belonged to the Akali Dal.

The police post in charge of the area confirmed that initial investigations indicated that the labourer was beaten up by the owner before he (Satwinder) hanged himself to death. The matter was being investigated and further action will be taken only after the postmortem report was received.

Abohar, November 28
Arrival of Narma cotton in the local market till last evening was recorded at 4,03,470 quintal compared to last year’s figure of 5,90,140 quintal, a survey carried by The Tribune indicated.

The area trails much behind in desi cotton. The arrival till last evening was just 13,199 quintals. Disparity in rate for all brands has narrowed down substantially. The rate offered today varies between Rs 2,450-2,500 quintal.

The cotton growers have got relief from the American bollworm that had damaged Narma cotton during the last four-five years, but contrary to expectations, BT cotton also has been considerably damaged by the attack of mealy bug. This has reduced production.

Steep fall in per acre yield again has landed the debt-ridden farmers in fresh trouble. The farmers are worried over reports that mealy bug would hit their wheat crop as has already damaged fruit plants in the region.

Rakesh Rathi, president of the Northern India Cotton Association, said cotton exports by the end of the month were expected to cross 17 lakh bales mark. The shipments to China are supposed to land not later than December 1.

The Indian market may face a fall in prices later. Regarding the fall in cotton production, Rathi said the cotton belt in Muktsar and Malout areas had been ruined by waterlogging that once threatened the border areas in this district too.

Vijay Nagpal, owner of a cotton ginning pressing factory, said capacity utilisation was not satisfactory. The seasonal industry works for four and a half months only, while the owners have to pay flat charges for electricity for half of the year. Each unit is capable of ginning 3,000 bales but is restricted to 1,200 bales due to shortage of cotton.

Moreover, erratic supply of electricity has hit the industry hard. “Power tripping damaged 22 electricity motors in my unit alone this year,” lamented Vijay Nagpal. The ginners regretted failure on the part of the government in providing a friendly industrial environment.

Gurmail Singh, district secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said farmers in this region had been over-burdened with excessive market fee and charges by the commission agents were disproportionate to other markets. However, Pramil Kalani, president of the Commission Agents Association, refuted the allegations. Still others said the farmers had held back produce expecting a higher price even when their past experience was bad.

There were reports of direct purchase by the outsiders from the cotton growers against cash payment. This resulted in the loss of market fee besides non-payment of advances, which the commission agents had made in the past.

Bathinda, November 28
A railway station where no train stops! Sounds strange but it is a fact that Karam Garh, Sardar Garh and Daula Kotebhai are villages on the Bathinda-Malout rail route, which is facing discriminatory behaviour from the railway authorities.

Karam Garh and Sardar Garh villages were provided with a common railway station, with the name ‘Karam Garh Sardar Garh.’ In the late 60s, the villagers unitedly approached the railway authorities with the request that passenger trains should halt at their village station. Accepting the demand, the railway authorities granted them the facility.

The story was the same at village Daula, located at a distance of four kilometers from Sardar Garh village.

During a visit to these villages, the TNS team found that buildings at the village station (waiting room, ticket counter and office) were in bad shape. The railway time-table and board displaying the name of the station were telling a tale of apathy.

Said Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Karam Garh village, “Earlier, there were two trains on the up and two down route which halted at the station. Later, the authorities concerned totally ignored the villagers and banned the stoppage of trains over here. In this regard, we have met with the higher officials, but did not get any favourable response.”

Harmander Singh of the same village added, “It is not the one village, but two villages Karam Garh and Sardar Garh, that were availing of the facility. But as of now, we have to board a bus or tempo to reach Bathinda or Gidderbaha to catch the train for further journey.”

At Daula Kotebhai, the reaction of the villagers was similar as they discussed their problems resulting from the closure of the station.

Balwant Singh, a ticket vendor at Daula railway station, rued, “The authorities seemed to be looking for an issue to stop the halting of trains here. The basic requirement was to have an income of Rs 2,500 per month, but at that time, we were collecting Rs 6,000. But the authorities then passed the order that a minimum of 40 tickets should be sold every day to allow trains to halt there. When they found that the requirement was not being met, they sealed the station.”

The villagers said the words that labourers working in the villages now have to be dropped at either Bathinda or Gidderbaha railway station, so that they can board trains leaving for their hometowns.

They also informed that they have submitted requests to the railways authorities at Delhi, Ambala and Bathinda many times in this regard. The villagers accused the political leaders of the area with just making verbal promises to console them and doing nothing to meet their demands.

An elderly man at village Daula Kotebhai said, “Everyone knows that the area is cancer-prone. So, the patient who has to go to Bikaner for treatment faces a problem as now no train stops here.”

When contacted, ATM railways, Bathinda, Sher Singh said, “It is the policy of the railway department that the station that does not meet the minimum fixed target, is closed.” He parried queries relating to any plan to revive the status of these stations in the near future.

Bathinda, November 28
The three-day polling to elect the railway employees union that began on November 26, came to an end as the last phase of polling concluded peacefully, today.

Polling for the northern railway zone, which comprises Ambala, Muradabad, Lucknow Ferozepur and Delhi circles, was held in Bathinda. Station superintendent D. K. Singh said there are nearly one lakh voters in the north zone while the number of voters in all the 16 zones is over 14 lakh.

Singh also claimed that the Rail Mazdoor Union does not have any hold in this zone and that the fight is between the other three unions. The Uttar Railway Karamchari Union (URKU) is backed by the BJP and the Uttar Railway Mazdoor Union (URMU) is supported by the Congress. The employees are more inclined towards the Northern Railway Mens Union (NRMU) because it is non-political in nature, he added.

108 out of 164 staff members of signal, telecom and operations took part in the polling while 30 votes were cast in Jind. The authorities said that employees could also cast their votes at platform No. 6.

NRMU branch secretary Thakur Singh said that 769 out of 825 votes had been cast at booth 16 while 889 out of the 956 employees exercised their franchise at booth 17.

The leaders of the four unions who were campaigning for their contestants are making tall claims of winning a majority. The results would be declared after the counting of votes on December 3.

Barnala, November 28
Terming the acquisition of farmers’ land for industrial use and entrance of the corporate world in agriculture as a threat to the farming sector, the three-day state level session of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha (JKS) concluded at the Aggarwal Dharmshala here today.

As many as 270 delegates, including women from various districts of the state, participated in the session.

Raghbir Singh, the assistant secretary general of the newly formed executive body of the JKS, informed about the decisions taken at the three-day session.

He said it was unfortunate that the union government was implementing the new agriculture policy under the diktat of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

About two crore farm labourers had been rendered employed due to the ‘anti farmer policies,’ in Punjab alone. About 35 lakh farm labourers and farmers had switched over to other profession, as agriculture was no more a profitable venture for them at this stage, he added.

The entrance of the corporate world in agriculture would be detrimental to the interests of small farmers who could not compete in the global market for want of facilities. So it was decided to fight tooth and nail to oppose the entry of the corporate world in the farming sector, he further said.

Raghbir Singh said the use of machinery and technology was good only in the public sector but if it results in unemployment, then there was no use of technology for small farmers.

Admitting that there were shortcomings in the existing grain markets, Singh said it was better than the entry of big industrial houses in trading of crops.

Meanwhile, Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala of Amritsar has been elected the new state president of JKS in place of Najar Singh Saidpur and Kulwant Singh Sandhu has been re-elected the state general secretary.

After his election, Ajnala said his outfit would fight for the cause of farmers, but at the same time, it would not hesitate to join the common struggle launched by other farmers’ organisations.

Abohar, November 28
P.S. Aulakh, director, regional station of Punjab Agricultural University and P. K. Arora, entomologist, inaugurated an awareness campaign for the management of mealy bug here today.

Aulakh said during the last two years, mealy bug had posed a serious threat to cotton crop. Besides cotton, common weeds like congress grass and yellow shrubs also acted as natural hosts for the insect. Senior scientists at the PAU had developed a strategy to fight mealy bug in cotton and other seasonal crops.

For disseminating the strategy among farmers in the cotton belt, the department has launched an awareness campaign. Emphasis will be on eradication of alternate hosts, prevention of carry over from one place to another, burning of infected cotton sticks and management of pest on wheat and orchards by using insecticides recommended by PAU.

The scientists also cautioned about a possible outbreak of pests during the rabi season and asked the farmers to follow PAU guidelines strictly.

Kamaldeep Singh, Anand Aneja and Tripat Kumar of the plant protection section, Amardeep Singh and Harvinder Singh Grewal, from agriculture extension department and Sukhpreet Singh and Gagandeep Singh of agronomy section in the PAU were also present on the occasion.

Bathinda, November 28
It was a chance meeting with a teacher from the north-east that prompted Dev Anup, a maths teacher at the local St. Joseph’s school in Bathinda, to launch a website for the convenience of his colleagues and students.

The cyber effort has been more than worthwhile. Just 21 months after he launched the site, www. cbsemath.com has achieved the distinction of being the number one CBSE maths portal on the web with over 5,000 hits a day. Even among the CBSE sites, it is ranked third after www.cbseguess.com and the official site of the CBSE – www.cbse.nic.in.

There are hundreds of websites specifically to help students learn mathematics. However, it is the unique interactive format designed to make the students “learn by doing” that makes it the most visited site. After explaining the basics of a particular topic, the questions are listed on the website to be solved by the students themselves. After a fortnight, checklist with detailed solutions is provided for questions from which the students can compare their own effort.

The students and teachers can even ask questions to which a prompt reply is given. Then like other sites, there are guess papers, model papers and mock tests to help students prepare for the final examination.

It also keeps students informed about the changes in syllabus, pattern of question paper, evaluation of answer sheets or any other changes effected by the CBSE from time to time.

The site is a pioneer in CBSE maths services. It has options like ‘ask a CBSE maths question from our experts.’ apart from the paper patterns and links to latest CBSE and NCERT books and CBSE results. Question papers are available in all subjects for CBSE classes VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII.

Indeed, Dev Anup has made full use of his 13 years of teaching experience to come up with a web portal which offers all that a Class X students looks for to learn maths. The response, which he has been receiving from the students, has been the biggest reward he has got for his effort. “I could reach thousands and thousands of students across the world and help them in learning the subject that is the main objective of every well-meaning teacher,” he says.

The idea of creating a web portal struck him when a teacher in north-east told him during a casual interaction that he found it difficult to keep abreast of the changes being effected in the syllabus and the pattern of questions. Most teachers and students in the area were dependent on old NCERT books because updated books are not available on time. And the teacher has come up with a solution.

Mansa, November 28
Although the Central and state governments have banned the use of word ‘Harijan’ in the government’s official papers and functions, some government primary schools in Mansa district continue to use the offending word.

According to information available, government primary schools at Jhuneer, Bareta, Nangal Kalan, Khialan Kalan and Joga were flouting the law in this regard.

The Central government had banned the word through its order in late 80’s. The ban was to be implemented in all official work.

The leaders of the scheduled castes and backward classes teachers union, including state vice-president Lachman Singh, district president Atma Singh Pammar and general secretary Gurdev Singh, said the word was banned in Punjab but some primary schools in Mansa district had written the word on their main gates. They said stamps and other official documents of these schools also bore the derogatory word. The leaders distributed the copies of the Central government’s order.

They demanded that the government takes action against the schools and tell them to remove the offending word from their main gates and official documents.

District education officer (primary) Bhupinder Kaur said a letter would be sent to the state government in this regard.

Abohar, November 28
In a release here, the Samaj Sudhar Sabha, an NGO, said a memorandum had been submitted to district authorities on August 8 expressing concern over the inadequate supply of potable water to the residents of 13 municipal wards located on the other side of the railway station.

Complaints made to the local administration remained unattended. Even ‘dharnas’ and demonstrations failed to wake up the officials of water works and health department, it alleged.

The NGO said laboratory analysis of samples taken by a team from the district headquarters confirmed the supply of contaminated water. The district administration has been urged to act at the earliest. — OC

Abohar, November 28
An unidentified woman who had been admitted to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here on Tuesday succumbed to her injuries, the police confirmed today.

The woman had taken shelter at the Kabir Asram near grain market of Maujgarh village on Monday and was yet to disclose her identity. An unidentified vehicle hit her while she was crossing the national highway in the morning. — OC

Abohar, November 28
The court of upper district and sessions judge Vishnu Dutt Sharma at Nohar in Sriganganagar sentenced Sultan Sharma (30) to life imprisonment while his accomplice Mohan Lal Sharma was awarded seven years of imprisonment in a murder case on Tuesday, sources said today.

According to the prosecution, Sultan allegedly had illicit relations with the wife of one Hari Singh of Kansar village. Since the latter objected to it, Sultan allegedly attacked Hari Singh with sharp-edged weapon killing him on the spot.

Sultan reportedly took the help of one Mohan Lal Sharma of the same village to dump the body.

The police later recovered the body from the Kansar-Raikan road. A case had been registered on January 6 this year.

Bathinda, November 28
Officials at the Central Jail in Bathinda recovered a huge stock of tablets and capsules, allegedly used as intoxicant, from the possession of a convict who had returned from parole, on Tuesday.

Giving details, jail superintendent L. S. Jakhar said the prisoner, Shawinder Singh of Rania in Haryana, has been convicted in a case registered under the NDPS Act and is undergoing imprisonment for 12 years. The convict returned to the jail after parole and was carrying a container made of tin, which was intelligently designed for the purpose.

Security personnel at the jail checked the container and recovered 1,250 grams of Lomotil tablets and a large number of capsules. The jail authority reported the matter to ASP (City) and the in charge of Civil Lines police post. A case has been registered. 

Bathinda, November 28
The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Vijender Jain, has reportedly assured the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that the court would take a suo motu notice of the report published in a section of the media.

A deputation of the IMA Punjab had met the Chief Justice in Chandigarh on November 27 and apprised him about the reported easy availability of sex-selection kits in India.

IMA Punjab president Amrit Sethi said a month back, a deputation of the state IMA met T. R. Sarangal, health secretary, Punjab, and urged him to block Internet sites that claim to have developed specially formulated all-natural nutriceuticals kit that adjust the body condition to influence gender.

Sarangal assured the deputation of approaching the Central authorities for doing the needful, Sethi added. It may be mentioned that the IMA has been waging a struggle and had decided not to conduct ultrasound tests to protest the alleged framing of doctors in PNDT cases. 

Ferozepur, November 28
The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) organised a four-day zonal level workshop on scientific analysis of miracles at the MLM Senior Secondary School here today.

Kulbir Singh Baath, principal scientific officer, PSCST and Rajinder Kant, district science supervisor, jointly inaugurated the workshop. Science teachers and lecturers of Moga, Muktsar and Ferozepur districts are attending the workshop.

In his opening speech, Baath while highlighting the activities of PSCST, said the workshop would help the teachers to clarify their doubts and misconceptions about the miracles, which would be explained to them in a scientific manner.

Rajinder Kant said though people had stepped into the scientific age, still some had faith in superstitions and believed in miracles.

He exhorted the participating teachers to explain the concepts learnt at the workshop to their students so as to spread awareness in society.

Zia Ahmed from the Science and Space Society of India, New Delhi and Jatinder Bhatnagar from the Young Science Society, Gwalior, while conducting the workshop, enlightened the participants about the futility of superstitions and miracles along with its scientific analysis.

Zia Ahmed said such miracles were mere deception and nothing else. But unfortunately, they succeed in luring some people, he pointed out.

Ferozepur, November 28
The Pakistani artistes cast a magical spell on the audience who came to
witness the play, “Jihne Lahore Nahin Dekhiya” staged here by the theatre group, Tehrik-e-Niswan, which was choreographed and directed by Sheema Kirmani, on the premises of the Dev Samaj College for Women here yesterday evening.

The play, which was organised under the aegis of the South Asian Fraternity (SAF), depicted the sordid saga of an aged Hindu women who refused to cross over to India after the partition and preferred to stay in her haveli in Lahore, which was allotted to a migrant Muslim family from Lucknow. The play also highlighted the sufferings of both Hindus and Muslims, across the Radcliff line, demarcating the two nations.

Applauding the play, Commissioner B.S. Sudan said organisations like the SAF could act as a vital link to foster the spirit of brotherhood and harmony between the two nations.

Earlier, girls from the college accorded a warm welcome to the Pakistani artistes in the form of a song. Principal Madhu Prashar highlighted the achievements of the college in academic and extra-curricular activities.

In the end, the commissioner honoured Begum Sheema Kirmani, director of the play and other artistes from Lahore.

Muktsar, November 28
The crowd shouted for 'Challa', and the mega star leaped to his 'dafli' while his musicians discarded the pop instruments to pick up the traditional 'dholki' and 'chimta'. And Gurdas Mann came to his original form with the melody he has been singing for three generations now. The show went decently as the crowds from Muktsar and nearby towns and villages were on their toes, listening to their all time star at the 'charitable' show which was organised by the Indian Red Cross Society here tonight.

'Manke', 'Peed tere jaan di' were the two other popular numbers he sang, finding the night as another opportunity to present 'Roti haq di khaiye, bhawe boot polisha kariye' from his new upcoming album. He, however, missed his two most popular numbers-- 'Dil da mamla' and 'kamli yaar di kamli'. Perhaps, for the sake of his new numbers which he desired to be equally popular with the masses.

Attired in glittering yellow, the star, in his 50s now, remained full of expressions through out the show, as he was accompanied by comedy hero Bhagwant Mann and Satwiner Satti, who added all the glamour needed on the stage.

Surinder Kaur Badal, the wife of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, was seen along with other well-heeled audience in the front, tapping her feet to the tune of traditional Punjabi folk.

Earlier talking to newsmen before the show, Gurdas Mann said that the demise of film maker Manoj Punj has been a big loss to his group as he was "yet to recover from the shock."

"His demise has led to a halt of my venture into film making," he said