Bathinda, February 5
With dense fog leading to poor visibility, Bathinda in the Malwa belt today turned out to be the coldest with minimum temperature recorded turning out to be the lowest in Punjab, at 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Incidentally, Bathinda has recorded its lowest temperature at a time when the dip in mercury is showing signs of relenting in most parts of the state. There was a dense fog cover in most parts which stayed till around noon after which bright sunshine filtered through.

According to the Met department, temperature at Ludhiana was recorded at 5.1 °C. At Amritsar, it was 3.1 °C, Patiala 7.7 °C, Chandigarh 8 °C, Adampur (Jalandhar) 5 °C, Halwara (Ludhiana) 6.4 °C and Pathankot recorded a minimum temperature of 9.6 °C.

In the Majha and Doaba regions of the state, the minimum temperature rose by one to two degrees Celsius.

Yesterday, strong winds blew in the city followed by a dip in temperature by two degrees Celsius. According to Gurmit Singh Buttar, director, Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station (PAURRS), Bathinda, “On Monday, the minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 2.5 °C, while the maximum temperature was 11.2 °C. On Sunday, the minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 4.5 °C and the maximum at 15 °C. Till date, the coldest day of this month was recorded on February 1, with a temperature of –0.5 degrees Celsius.”

Interestingly, in January, the mercury has gone into negative figures seven times in Bathinda, with the minimum going down to minus 2 degrees Celsius. Minus 2 °C was recorded on the nights of January 22, 24 and 27, -1.5 °C on January 23, -1 °C on January 3 and 21 and –0.5 °C on January 26. 

Bathinda, February 5
The district administration has to review its city’s cleanliness drive as the forest department has put some restriction over the construction of the garbage dumps at the roadsides, terming it as a violation of law as any construction in the green belt can not be permitted without the prior approval of the Union government.

Highly-placed sources in the district administration told the TNS that the forest department had today spoken about some laws supporting restriction on any kind of construction by the roadside on the national highways.

As per the information received, the Municipal Corporation had planned to construct 40 garbage dumps in the city. Out of this, 17 were supposed to be built in the first stage. All the dumps were to be constructed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (B-O-T) basis. The companies are supposed to construct the dumps and then earn some money through the advertisement boards and flexes over the wall of it for three years.

There were five dumps in the pipeline for the Bathinda-Goniana road, Rajindra College, Police Lines, bus stand and the three theatres situated on the Goniana road. The municipal corporation initiated construction work on two of the garbage dumps, one at the Rajindra College and the other at the Police Lines.

Giving details, the block officer of the forest department, Daljit Singh said, “All these dumps were planned to be constructed in the green belt and further construction has been stopped as no one can raise any structure in the green belt.”

As per the Forest Act, 1980, a green belt can not be tampered without the prior approval of the Centre. Besides, the Supreme Court passed a judgement on December 12, 1996, saying that any one tampering with the green belt in an unauthorised way could be imprisoned for six months with fine.

The Forest Act, 1972 also prohibits tampering with the green belt.During the construction of the dumps, the municipal corporation allegedly ignored the above said laws.

When the executive officer of the municipal corporation, Kamal Kant, was contacted, he expressed his ignorance over the issue. On the other hand, the superintending engineer, B.D. Singla, said, “The dumps were being constructed just to give a clean look to the road and the city but the forest department has put some restriction on it.”

On his part, the deputy commissioner, Rahul Tewari said, “The dumps are just meant to cover the existing dumping containers as the garbage comes out of that and spoils the look of the city. We will file our reply to the forest department and will get the approval for the continuance of the project.”

Bathinda, February 5
Taking serious note of the alleged mistake of ignoring red signal at the Kotli village halt on Monday night by the driver of the Delhi-Ferozepur Janta Express, the railway has suspended the driver in question.

According to the sources at the Maur Mandi station, the Janta Express was scheduled to stop at Kotli village, about 4 km from Maur Mandi. But late on Monday evening, the driver had allegedly forgotten to stop the train. When the train stopped at Maur, the irritation of the passengers boarding the train resulted in a verbal duel, which later turned into a case of manhandling of the railway staff. Sources also said that the passengers indulged in vandalism by hurling stones on the engine of the train leading to the damage of the windshields. They were even not allowing the train to move further, sources added.

In an attempt to calm down the passengers, the railway staff requested them to board some other train. A goods train, standing at Maisar Khana, was arranged for the passengers to drop them at the Kotli village.

When the station master at Maur railway station, Ram Saran, was contacted, he said, “The incident took place at 9 pm on Monday when the train missed its halt at the village in question. We requested the passengers to board the goods train, which was going towards Kotli village, but they did not pay any heed to our requests. Moreover, they had not written anything in the complaint book.”

“The driver had not lodged any complaint about the incident and loss of railway property, including the damage to the rail engine. When the police reached the spot, all the passengers ran away as they were reportedly travelling without a ticket,” he added.

“The driver has been suspended and the higher authorities have been informed about the incident,” he added.

The driver, Dev Raj, had reportedly expressed regret and blamed the guard for the mistake. The Janta Express was also in the news for passing along a crossing whose barrier had not been lowered.

Barnala, February 5
Acting on the recommendation of Barnala’s deputy commissioner (DC) R.L. Mehta, the social security and child development department, Punjab, has suspended the child development and project officer (CDPO), Barnala, Chandar Kanta, with immediate effect.

In an inquiry conducted by the DC office, Chandar Kanta was charged with irregularities while discharging her duty.

The deputy commissioner, when contacted, confirmed the suspension of the CDPO.

In December 2007, the DC had recommended strict disciplinary action against the CDPOs responsible for improper recruitment of Anganwari workers and helpers in Barnala district.

The panchayat members of some villages had given a written complaint to the DC, demanding a high-level probe into all the recruitments of the workers and helpers made in September 2007 in the district.

The DC had then marked an inquiry to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Tapa, and additional deputy commissioner (development), Barnala. After the inquiry, the SDM found that the recruitment of Prabhjot Kaur of Mangewal village and Joginder Kaur of Hameede village was made against the norms. So, their appointment should be cancelled. In addition, the merit list of candidates selected in Mehalkalan block needed revision, the SDM felt.

Barnala, February 5
To oppose the privatisation of the ITI, Barnala, the Punjab Radical Students Union and the Punjab Students Union blocked traffic at the ITI Chowk, Barnala, for over an hour here today, causing great inconvenience to commuters. The ITI Chowk is situated at the cross-roads of the Barnala-Ludhina and Barnala-Sangrur highways.

The student leaders were protesting against the transfer of the ITI to the local Trident group.

Addressing the students, the Punjab Radical Students Union leader Nav Kiran said it was shocking that the state government was working against the interests of the students.

On the one hand, the newly appointed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal was holding a students’ rally at Patiala today and on the other, the students were being left at the mercy of the industrialists.

He warned that at no cost would the students tolerate such a move.

Punjab Students Union state president Pardeep Kasba demanded that the state government immediately take back its decision or be ready to face another agitation.

Bathinda, February 5
Sunset, sunrise, underwater, mid-air, jewel and royal Victorian themes are much in vogue for weddings these days, especially for non-resident Indians (NRIs), who are ready to go to Jaipur, Hyderabad and even to favourite Bollywood locales like Mauritius and Malaysia, that too at any cost.

Destination weddings from Punjab are taking the lead over traditional weddings these days.

As per rough estimates by the industry experts, Indian wedding industry is now worth more than Rs 50,000 crore and that of Punjab, it is around Rs 500 crore.

Some time back, even the ‘Economist’ reported that the Asian wedding industry was worth 11 billion US dollars with an annual growth of 25 per cent.

With the top segment of the wedding industry growing at a staggering 25 per cent every year, analysts feel that even the mid-segments are moving up at about 15 to 20 per cent.

Not just this. Many NRIs also specially flew in from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries just to have a wedding at their villages.

A San Jose (US)-based NRI, Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu, feels, “Back in the US, wedding is a one-day affair, whereas in India, it can stretch from three to seven days.”

“There, the stress is on fine dining and tables are demarcated only after the guests have confirmed their names. But here, we can have as many functions as we want to. Every day is a party,” she added.

Due to this, many NRI wedding planners have also entered the field as they feel that wedding budget is not a constraint for most people.

Besides having a major chunk of limousines in the country, for the last couple of years, Punjab has also seen a new trend where the groom comes to the wedding venue in a helicopter.

An official of the Tourism Malaysia said, “India was the ninth largest contributor to arrivals into Malaysia from all over the world in 2005 and twelfth largest in terms of revenue generation for tourism in 2004.”

He added: “In all this, Punjab contributes 22 to 25 per cent of the arrivals from the north of India. We have already organised two Indian weddings in Malaysia and now we are geared up to tap this Rs 70,000 crore wedding industry further. Two inquiries from Punjab are likely to materialise soon.”

The official went on to say, “Five Indian states have been identified for promoting weddings in Malaysia, with Punjab on top of the list. The board is also planning to promote the idea on TV, through high television rating point (TRP) serials where characters get wedded in Malaysia. Talks are already on with some production houses.”

Abohar, February 5
Concerned over the alarming decline  in sex ratio all over the state, the Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College has launched a comprehensive campaign against female foeticide to make the society aware of the menace.

The first phase saw the students visit 25 villages to stage a street play, “Test-tube baby” under the guidance of playwright Neelam Arun Mittu, who had to her credit some popular Doordarshan and AIR plays including “Ek aur Abhimanyu”.

She had recently been honoured with the “Jewel of India” award at New Delhi for her deep passion for academics and literature.

In the morning, when visibility was poor due to dense fog, hundreds of residents including children and elderly women, dressed in their traditional attire, thronged the complex in village Dangarkhera, about 8 km from here, close to the National Highway 10.

Besides the play, Inderjit recited a poem on female foeticide.

Sudhani Jaswal and Ritika warmed up the atmosphere by singing “Rang de Basanti chola”.

Sohan Lal, a former chairman of the market committee, and members of the village panchayat said the team had conveyed the message strongly.

Similar programmes were held in other villages, including Choohriwala Dhanna, Sayyedwala, Khuyiansarwar, Kallarkhera and Rohrianwali.

This was a part of the outreach programme, said Neelam.

Abohar, February 5
The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR, which had been registered at a city police station here against Rajesh Gupta, a social activist of the Nai Abadi locality for alleged power theft.

According to the certified copy of the orders passed by Justice Nawab Singh, received here last evening, Gupta had filed a petition under section 482 of the CrPC for quashing the FIR number 218, dated July 11, 2007, registered under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

It was stated that on June 20, 2007, the sub-divisional engineer of Nai Abadi inspected the premises of the petitioner and found that there was no electric meter and 3Q electric motor was being run by connecting the wire directly and so, the theft of electricity was committed to the tune of Rs 11,355 as assessed by the PSEB.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that as per section 126 of the Electricity Act, 2003, if any person served with the orders of provisional assessment, accepts the assessment and deposits the assessed amount with the licensee within seven days of such an assessment order upon him, then he would not be subjected to any further liability or action by any authority whatsoever.

Indeed, the assessed amount was not deposited within the stipulated period of seven days. Rather, it was deposited on July 12, that was on the second day of the registration of the case. The counsel for the PSEB confirmed that the petitioner had deposited the requisite amount.

The HC, while accepting the petition, quashed the FIR number 218 as well as the consequential proceedings based there on.

Barnala, February 5
The local court of additional sessions judge Archana Puri here today sentenced the four accused in an attempt to murder case to five years of imprisonment. The court also imposed fine on the accused. If the accused failed to deposit the fine they would have to undergo additional imprisonment.

As per the case diary, Surjeet Kaur, wife of Nahur Singh, in her complaint to the police, had stated on July 24, 2002 that four armed men — Tara Singh, Jeet Singh, Mandar Singh and Gurtej Singh — forcibly entered their house at Alkara village and attacked them. Tara Singh shot her husband and the bullet hit his shoulder. His accomplices were also laced with sharp-edged weapons and sticks. As she cried for help, they fled.

The police had registered a case under sections 307, 452, 511 and 34 of the IPC and the Arms Act.

The doctors treating Nahur Singh had to amputate his one arm. After listening to both the counsels, the local court today sentenced the four accused to five years of imprisonment.

Ferozepur, February 5
In order to grant proprietary rights to the farmers tilling government lands for past some time, the applications would be accepted by the state government till February 28, 2008, informed Sukhpal Singh Nannu, chief Parliament secretary (Revenue), while addressing the gatherings at Gatti, Habib Ke, Rajiwala, Nihalewala, Kahne Ke Ahal and Basti Ahmewali villages.

Nannu stated that the historic decision to grant P-rights was announced by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the Republic Day at Ludhiana.

He informed that the chunks of the land left behind by the Muslims, during the partition, and other lands which were being tilled by landless farmers would be allotted to them, subjected to maximum of 10 acres for a case.

Nannu further said the farmers belonging to SC/ST category would have to deposit Rs 12,000 per acre whereas the same would be Rs 15,000 for general category. The process of giving P-rights to farmers was started by the state government, he added.

Nannu said in Ferozepur district alone, there were over 13,000 acres of vacant land available with the government which will be allocated to landless farmers.

He further informed that the government had already received 2,911 applications.

Abohar, February 5
Anju Bala, of Jhamku Devi Senior Secondary School located in the part of the state that borders Rajasthan, topped in 400 and 800 metre races during the 3rd Annual Inter- School Athletic Meet held on Tuesday in Bhag Singh Hayer Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School in Kala Tibba village near here.

Chief guest Pargat Singh hoisted the flag before declaring the meet open. Hundreds of students from some 15 schools participated in the march past and the subsequent events. Principal Parminder Sharma and members of the managing committee welcomed the chief guest by presenting bouquets. He said Harbaksh Kaur Hayer had done a yeomanly job by providing the prime irrigated agricultural land and Rs 1.65 crore in cash to open the institution in a pollution free environment to promote education among girls.

He observed such endeavors needed combined and sincere cooperation from social activists backed by proper planning and result oriented targets.

While referring to the drug menace that was rampant among the Malwa youth, Pargat Singh said the only way to fight drug trafficking lied in involving youngsters in sports more and more besides bringing in social awareness. 

The toppers were:

Kho-Kho: Government Senior Secondary School, Maujgrah, Kabaddi: Bhag Singh Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School Kala Tibba.

100 metre and 200 metre races: Sukhwinder Kaur, Government Middle School, Himmatpura

4x100 relay races: Government High School, Himmatpura, Shot put: Veerpal Kaur, Government Senior Secondary School, Wahabwala

Javelin throw: Government High School, Amarpura

Hammer throw: Navpreet Kaur, Bhag Singh Hayer Khalsa Collegiate School, Kala Tibba

Long jump: Sukhwinder Kaur from Amarpura.

Bathinda, February 5
An accountant of a contractor, Aman Goyal, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that he was intercepted while he was on way to his office and looted off Rs 1.5 lakh. The miscreant also assaulted him with a sharp-edged weapon. The incident took place at Dhobiana road, here today.

The complainant said he was on his way to the office located in Bharat Nagar on his motorcycle carrying the bag of currency. Suddenly, an unidentified person, with his face covered, intercepted him and requested him to help him as he was very poor. “Getting suspicious, I reacted and tried to run away but he assaulted me and snatched the bag,” he added.

The injured has been admitted to the Civil  Hospital and the Kotwali police registered a case under section 392, 323 and 324 of the IPC against the unidentified assailant.