The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

Insaaf Rally: Others’ buses on service, Orbit doing brisk business
Bathinda, February 26
The day apparently remained much prolific for the ‘Badal’ owned buses as a big fleet of other private buses was on the service of transporting the activists of the SAD-BJP coalition government to participate in the ‘Insaaf Rally’, held at Delhi, today.

Annual Day Function
“Set your targets, devise means to achieve them”
Bathinda, February 26
The local DAV College celebrated its annual day and prize distribution function today. The college magazine was also released on the occasion.

B.Ed students to display teaching skills
Muktsar, February 26
The would be teachers from nearly 40 B.Ed colleges of Panjab University are scheduled to gather at Badal village tomorrow, to outshine each other in their teaching skills.

Abohar’s colleges felicitate students
Abohar, February 26
The local colleges of education emerged victorious among 20 colleges of the educational zone-C of Panjab University in on the spot audio-visual preparation and skill-in-teaching contests held at different places in the district on Saturday and Sunday.

Shailja stands first in mock test
Bathinda, February 26
Shailja Gupta of Sanmati Jain Senior secondary School, district Jagrao stood first in the mock test orgainsed by the Harbhajan Institute to prepare students for the upcoming board examinations on February 3.

Meeting
Bathinda, February 26
The office-bearers and members of the Ramgarhia Association here on Tuesday held a meeting regarding the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections. The president of the association, Jeet Singh, presided over the meeting.

One killed, 4 hurt in road mishap
Bathinda, February 26
One person died and four others were injured in a road mishap at Bathinda-Malout road near Ambuja cement factory here, today late evening.

Gang of robbers busted, 6 held
Abohar, February 26
The police busted a gang which had been committing robberies on highways here and was responsible for killing two persons.

Rs two lakh looted
Fazilka, February 26
A group of gangsters looted Rs 2.05 lakh from an old man, a resident of Rajasthan, who had come to buy a tractor along with his son, on Monday night.

	Mini-secretariat Heard about indoor encroachments? Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 26 Flouting the norms of the mini-secretariat building, a newly-posted senior official of the PWD (B&R) is renovating his office room by extending it to two adjoining rooms on the top floor of the mini-secretariat here. During a visit to the mini-secretariat, the TNS team found that the rooms numbering 416, 417 and 418 of the top floor, which were allotted to divisional accounts officer R.K. Huldu, SDO R.K. Bansal and clerk (salary) Harjit Singh respectively, were being restructured. The partition wall between 416 and 417 was removed and the wall between 417 and 418 was altered. Highly placed sources in the department concerned said as per the set norms, prior permission of the department concerned was necessary to carry out any alteration in the complex. The recently-posted executive engineer (XEN) Manjit Singh has an office measuring (24 X 12 feet) on the top floor, which was earlier used by his predecessor, A.K. Singla. The room is big enough to accommodate more than seven visitors in it. As per the reports, Manjit is renovating his office by merging three offices belonging to subordinates. The provision for a retiring room has also been made in the office under renovation. According to the rules, the officer can have a room with an area measuring 288 square feet. But after the alteration, the room would be more than 400 square feet. It has been informed that the XEN was posted at Mansa as SDO and has been shifted from Fazilka recently. He was posted as XEN at Fazilka. The XEN said, “The room (403), which was allotted to me, is smaller in size as compared to other officers of my rank. The renovation is being carried out in our department and therefore no permission is required.” On his part, the superintending engineer, A.K. Singla said, “There is no danger to structure by removing the partition wall. But it would be better if permission was sought from the deputy commissioner (DC).” DC Rahul Tewari, when contacted, expressed ignorance. However, he assured that he would look into the case.
	St Joseph’s: Court adjourns case till Mar 5 Bhanu P. Lohumi Tribune News service Bathinda, February 26 A local court today adjourned the St Joseph’s Convent Lower KG admission case to March 5 as the Judicial Magistrate (class-I), hearing the case relinquished his charge following his promotion as Additional District and Session Judge, Ferozepur. The District Judge Sabina who heard the case asked both the parties to maintain status quo. Some aggrieved parents had filed the case alleging irregularities in admissions to Lower KG and sought intervention of the court. The parents also alleged that the school authorities violated the directions of the Supreme Court in regard to admissions to LKG and urged the court to order seizure of records to avoid any tampering. The Judicial Magistrate (Class I) Nirmal Singh stayed the admission process and appointed Commissioner for recovery of the records to be submitted to the Court. However, the school authorities did not handover the records and taking suo moto notice of non compliance of court orders the Judicial Magistrate directed the Principal to appear in the in person with relevant record. The Principal was not seen in the court today also and the school authorities filed an application for transfer of case to some other court. Both the case and the application would come up for hearing on March 5. While the school authorities were feeling the heat of pressure mounted by the aggrieved parents, a section of parents came forward to bat for school authorities. The pro school management parents denounced the ‘misinformation’ campaign let loose by some’ vested’ interests and claimed that the school had committed no wrong or irregularity in admissions to LKG.
	Rail Budget ‘Poll Express’ chugs off, misses Malwa Sudhanshu Verma Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 26 The Rail Budget for the year 2008-09, presented in the Parliament today by Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has evoked mixed response among the people of Malwa. While they have hailed the budget, which has several provisions for making journey cheaper, safer and comfortable, they have no qualms in saying that Malwa has not been given the due importance. The president of the Railway Passengers’ Welfare Association, Bathinda, A.K. Garg, termed the budget as “hopeless”. “There is not a single provision for the passengers of Malwa region,” he said. While, the general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, T.R. Singla, said that for the first time, fare had been cut down and it was indeed a welcome step, which would give big relief to the common man. He also said cut in freight would help trade in a big way. Singla, however, said that Bathinda, which would see another thermal plant besides refinery and others plants in near future, certainly deserved importance like doubling of rail line between Bathinda and Jhakhal, which unfortunately failed to find place in Lalu’s plans. He also said super fast trains like Satabadi Express for national capital was also absent in the budget. Social activist and president of the Bathinda Vikas Manch Rakesh Narula said the budget was on the expected lines as Lalu had next general elections in his mind. “In general, it is a good budget, but cannot be termed as satisfactory for those living in Malwa,” he added. Another social activist Madan Mohan Garg said, “As a whole, the budget is satisfactory, but the Malwa has once again been ignored completely. “No new train has been announced for the region, particularly the border areas,” he added. He hailed the minister’s decision of giving concession to woman senior citizens. He also thanked Laloo for making train journey cheaper. “Special emphasis given to safety and security of the passengers was commendable,” he said, adding that residents of this region got nothing to rejoice.
	Insaaf Rally: Others’ buses on service, Orbit doing brisk business Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 26 The day apparently remained much prolific for the ‘Badal’ owned buses as a big fleet of other private buses was on the service of transporting the activists of the SAD-BJP coalition government to participate in the ‘Insaaf Rally’, held at Delhi, today. Though Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, when asked about the involvement of the family owned buses for the rally assured that buses would be used to mobilize the party activists, but the scene was different at Bathinda Bus Stand here, today As per the information received from sources in the bus stand, in regular days, around 19 of Orbit transport are parked in the bus stand during night and all of these buses were parked here even on Monday night, when most of the other private buses were commuting activists of the SAD-BJP. An employee of the entry fee collection point disclosed that most of the buses of Dabwali Transport Company (Orbit) were running as per the schedule on Tuesday. It has also been observed that the buses of the transport, in question, were over board by the passengers as many of the private buses were not plying on the road. Interestingly, as few buses were running on the road, PRTC also got a chance to earn profit as its buses were also found with good number of passengers. Accepting the fact, Lakhveer Singh, in charge, the Dabwali Transport Company, when contacted on phone said, “Many of our own buses were also sent to Delhi, but from Bathinda station the number was very less.
	Annual Day Function “Set your targets, devise means to achieve them” Harbinder Singh Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 26 The local DAV College celebrated its annual day and prize distribution function today. The college magazine was also released on the occasion. The chief guest on the occasion was Jatinder Jain (IPS), DIG, Bathinda zone, and Garima Singh (IRS), joint commissioner, Income Tax, Bathinda, was the guest of honour. Wazir Chand Mangla, chairman of college’s local committee, presided over the function. Principal J.S. Anand after welcoming the guests read the college’s annual report and said besides imparting education the college was determined to conserve the ecology with its Green Bathinda campaign “Ik Rukh, Sau Sukh”. The students presented ghazals, medley of songs and ‘Bhangra’ at the function. The chief guest, the principal and the guest of honour released the college magazine, “Sandeep” and a suspense novel “Firsana”, written by Amandeep Kaur, studying in BA I at the college. The dignitaries gave away the prizes to the meritorious students in the fields of academics, sports, NSS, NCC, personality development and cultural activities. Each prize winner later planted a sapling in the college campus. The chief guest exhorted the students to stay away from drugs as youths were the national energy. Swami Suryadev from Goniana, who was also present, urged them to be positive in life and widen their horizon. Garima’s special messages to the students and the teaching staff were remarkable. She not only congratulated the prize winners but also raised the morale of those who could not win a prize. She related her life’s experiences to the students to encourage them. Garima advised them, “One must have a direction in life. Set your targets and devise a route to achieve them. Read about good people and get inspired.” “Don’t act because you have to, come out with the ways to do things differently, extraordinarily and with positive attitude,” Garima said. The guest of honour told the students that they did not need to bring revolution but must contribute their humble best for their country. “It is not contribution but intention that really matters,” she said. Garima urged the teachers to inspire their students. “Syllabus is not your only responsibility. Encourage, inspire, motivate and instil confidence in your students. If you are able to inspire even five students, your job is done.” The principal and the staff members honoured the chief guest and the guest of honour with shawls and mementos. At the end, the principal expressed the vote of thanks.
	B.Ed students to display teaching skills Tribune News Service Muktsar, February 26 The would be teachers from nearly 40 B.Ed colleges of Panjab University are scheduled to gather at Badal village tomorrow, to outshine each other in their teaching skills. As many as 168 B.Ed students from different institutions would be competing at Panjab University Inter-zonal Skill-Teaching and On-the-spot Teaching Aids competition being organised at Dasmesh Girls College of Education in Badal. Bharatiya Sahitya Academy’s Punjabi wing convener and renowned academician Dr Deepak Manmohan had been invited as the observer of the mega event, the first and only of its kind in the country, which was initiated in 2002, Dasmesh Girls College of Education principal S.S. Sangha here said. The competition is being held categorically in the teaching of different subjects including, Commerce, Math, Economics, History/Geography, Social Studies, Computer Science and Fine Arts, in which the students would be participating from all the three zones of Panjab University — Chandigarh-Hoshiarpur-Ropar, Ludhiana-Moga and Ferozepur-Muktsar. Sangha said that Dasmesh Girls College of Badal had won 14 out of 18 prizes at the recently held Skill-Teaching competition at the zonal level.

Meeting

Bathinda, February 26
The office-bearers and members of the Ramgarhia Association here on Tuesday held a meeting regarding the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections. The president of the association, Jeet Singh, presided over the meeting.

A five-member committee with Sukhwinder Singh as president was also formed on the occasion. Vice-president Prabhdyal Singh, former presidents Jaswant Singh and Malkeet Singh, and secretary Balwant Singh were among those present at the meeting. — TNS

One killed, 4 hurt in road mishap

Bathinda, February 26
One person died and four others were injured in a road mishap at Bathinda-Malout road near Ambuja cement factory here, today late evening.

Sources said Manish Kumar Garg (32), a construction contractor along with his four staff members were inspecting the road widening work, when an oil tanker coming from the Malout side hit them. The driver of the truck managed to flee with the vehicle.

The doctors at the civil hospital said that Manish was brought dead and out of the rest four, two were severely injured. The Superintendent of police (city), Narender Kaushal reached the hospital and alerted the check posts to trace the vehicle. — TNS

Gang of robbers busted, 6 held
Our Correspondent

Abohar, February 26
The police busted a gang which had been committing robberies on highways here and was responsible for killing two persons.

SSP Dinesh Partap Singh informed newsmen here today that a special team led by DSP Parampal Singh was formed to solve the mystery on crimes reported during the last six months. CIA staff in-charge Gurbhej Singh, anti-goonda-staff in-charge Chhinder Singh and Sadar police SHO Harjit Singh were members of the team.

On a tip-off, the police registered a case against Sukhjit Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Binder Singh and Karaj Singh, residents of village Dalmeerkhera, Balraj Singh Azamwala , Raghubir Singh and Tinku Dhippanwali under sections 399, 401, 402 of the IPC and 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act.

SSP said that raids led to arrest of Balraj Singh, Raghubir Singh, Binder Singh and Karaj Singh, whereas Sukhjit Singh and Ramesh Kumar escaped at the first instance but they too were arrested today morning. The police recovered one .12 bore gun, three pistols and some live cartridges besides Rs 50,000 and Rs1.29 lakh cash in two cases, gold ornaments and mobile phones.

According to the police, the culprits, excluding Raghubir Singh, confessed having kidnapped driver Rajinder Kumar from a tractor-trailer loaded with Narma cotton near the Sachkhand Convent School here in the middle of October. They stabbed the driver and threw him in the Gang canal near a ‘ghee’ factory based at village Khippanwali. But he survived and informed the police about the crime. The gang had taken away the tractor-trailer to Gidderbaha and after selling the produce abandoned it near Enakhera village on Malout-Muktsar road. They had strangled Inder Singh, a farmer of village Panjawa Mandal in the Abohar sub-division and Pala Singh, owner of the tractor-trailer from village 1-C near Sriganganagar, and had thrown them in different canals here. Their bodies were recovered on November 5 and November 7 from sub-canals and identified by their relatives. The police had initially rounded up few persons in this case also, but the case could not be solved. The SSP hoped interrogation during the police remand might help in solving some other cases also.