Bathinda, February 15
“Though no decision has been taken for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat yet, but if given the responsibility I will accept it,” said Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, here today.

While talking to TNS, she said the SAD (B) candidate for Bathinda would be from Badal family only, adding that the Bathinda area had been close to her family and they were concerned about its development. “I have been assigned the duty to meet people at their doorsteps in the city so that their grievances could be redressed,” she disclosed.

Harsimrat urged the electorates to make it a point that they exercise their right to vote in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

To a query about protests by ETT teachers for their long pending demands, she replied that it was the state government policy to fulfill the demands of not only ETT teachers but that of the whole teaching community and the Chief Minister himself would look into it.

On ‘Nanhi Chhaan’ campaign, she said she took up the matter (of providing Rs 15,000) with the CM, who acknowledged it as a ‘brilliant’ idea. She was hopeful that modalities to implement the idea would be completed soon.

On the first day of her mass contact campaign here today, Harsimrat urged people to give a chance to the ruling SAD to represent the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat by voting for the party’s candidate.

After talking to a section of people in some wards of the city, she listed a number of demands regarding basic amenities, including sewerage, drinking water, roads and electricity, for which she had instructed the officer concerned to take them up on a priority basis.

Earlier in the morning, the district police took some cautious steps after last month’s bizarre demonstration by some members of the EGS Teachers Union, who broke the police cordon and took control of the dais after Sukhbir had left the place after laying the foundation stone of the new cooperative building in Bathinda.

The police today did not allow any protesting member of the EGS Teachers Union to proceed towards the Kamla Nehru Colony and hold demonstrations where Harsimrat was to visit a congregation.

The members of the union gathered outside the Kamla Nehru Colony to proceed towards the congregation site but the police did not allow them to do so. These teachers started raising slogans against the state government for their long pending demands.

Taking into mind, the situation could go out of hand and take an ugly turn; the police arrested the agitating teachers as a preventing step. They were let off in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Harsimrat addressed various public meetings in the different municipal wards of the city. She was accompanied by Sarup Chand Singla, constituency in-charge of the SAD (B), Santokh Singh Riar, mayor Baljeet Singh Bir Behman, Tarsem Goyal, Narinder Mittal, Chiranji Lal Garg, Dr Om Parkash Sharma, Harmandar Singh Sidhu, Raj Kumar Bhathe wale, Baljeet Singh Sra besides municipal councilors and leaders of the SAD (B) and the BJP.

Ferozepur, February 15
The state government has embarked on an ambitious plan to construct 18 new Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) in the state on which an estimated Rs 250 crore would be incurred, said chief minister Parkash Singh Badal while laying the foundation stone for the ROB upgradation project here on Sunday.

Badal said that the residents of Ferozepur were demanding the reconstruction of this ROB connecting city and cantonment areas for a long time since the existing ROB, which was constructed during the British period, had outlived its utility.

He said that work on the construction of another 23 ROBs in the state would also be completed soon.

While addressing a gathering of SAD-BJP workers at the residence of Sukhpal Singh Nannu, chief parliamentary secretary (revenue), Badal said an amount of Rs 773 lakh would be spent on the construction of both the approaches of this ROB and work on the same would be completed by March 2010.

Badal was accompanied by the Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, MLAs Gurtej Singh and Surjit Kumar Jiyani, besides SAD candidate for the Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency, Sher Singh Ghubaya.

Badal said that an amount of Rs 3,035 crore would be spent on the four and six-laning of existing national highways in the state, for which the Union government had given its consent.

Badal said that for any state to grow, develop and industrialise, it was imperative to have well connected road network, adding that the state government has decided to interconnect 2000 km long outer link roads.

While criticising the Congress, Badal said that the Congress had always played divisive politics to pursue its own vested political interests. The CM said that the Congress had not only ignored the interests of the farmers but also accorded step-motherly treatment to Punjab.

On the contrary, the SAD-BJP government had always fulfilled the promises made with the electorate of the state and worked for their welfare, he said.

While exhorting the workers to gear up for the next general elections, Badal said that SAD-BJP candidates would win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state with a thumping majority.

In his address, Sekhon said that the SAD-BJP government had already fulfilled all the promises, it had made to the residents of cantonment area in the election manifesto.

Later, Nannu demanded that the office of the water supply and sewerage board should not be shifted to Bathinda. Nannu also demanded the construction of an ROB from Mandala to Tarn Taran. 

Bathinda, February 15
The Railway Protection Force (RPF), Bathinda post, handed over the woman, who was found at the Bathinda station on Thursday, to her brother in New Delhi on Saturday, said M.K. Panwar, RPF post commander.

The CJM, Bathinda, on Friday had ordered the RPF to locate the kin of Sunita (42) who was found wandering at the platform and drew attention of others as she was wearing ornaments and speaking incoherently.

The RPF, first, took her to Adampur Mandi where the RPF managed to get the address of her brother, Sunil Agarwal, a Delhi-based advocate.

The estimated cost of the articles, including ornaments, Kisan Vikas Patra, recovered from her possession was around Rs 3.75 lakh, sources said.

The woman reportedly belonged to a rich family and has two teenaged sons.

Bathinda, February 15
On January 24, around 15-20 activists of the Sri Ram Sene group in the name of moral policing beat up young women at a pub in Mangalore.

The incident attracted a lot of criticism from all over the country, especially women. It also made NGOs organise a mass protest, which was followed by a series of campaigns. Women of this city shared their views with The Tribune in this regard.

Shinjini Tewari, wife of Rahul Tewari, deputy commissioner of Bathinda, said, "Whatever happened in Mangalore is not acceptable at all. It is a personal decision whether to drink or not. Everyone is free to live the way they want. Sene activists deserve a tough sentence so that such incidents are not repeated."

Raj Gupta, principal of Swami Vivekanand Girls' College here, felt that such incidents were outrightly wrong and should be condemned. "Drugs and liquor definitely have a bad effect on us and youngsters are using western influences in a wrong way. But violence is not the way to retain one's culture."

"Recently, around six girls staying in a PG accommodation here got drunk and alleged that a doctor had misbehaved with them. This city certainly is not that advanced and such incidents would happen if cosmopolitan culture was to be followed," she added.

Shashi Tyagi, district programme officer, women and child development, Bathinda, said, "Violence should be curtailed. Youngsters have a lot of family support and parents feel that they are modern, which makes children exploit the modernity in a wrong way. Parents must keep a vigil on their children. Groups like Sri Ram Sene are politically motivated and these should be banned to ensure peace in the 
country."

Neelam Bajaj, civil surgeon, Bathinda, however, felt that personal protection is a must and it would be possible only if precautions were taken. "Pub culture is common in a metropolis. However, girls should ensure their personal safety. They should be responsible for themselves."

Fazilka, February 15
One member of a marriage party was killed while 11 others sustained injuries in a road accident near village Bhamba Wattu on Fazilka- Ferozepur road today.

The condition of six of the injured is critical.

According to sources, the incident occurred when a mini-bus carrying about 60 members of a marriage party, with some passengers travelling on roof of the bus, rammed into a truck.

Members of the marriage party of groom Sandeep Singh of village Mohanke Hithar near Guruharsahai were going to the village Hasta Kalan of Fazilka sub-division. When the bus was heading towards Fazilka, a truck suddenly appeared from a link road. The mini-bus rammed into it and turned turtle, source said.

Hansa Singh (52), resident of village Fattuwala of Jalalabad sub-division, who was the uncle of the bridegroom, died on the spot.

The injured have been identified as Rinku and Chhinda, Jagish, Lachhman Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Pawan, Kuldeep, Balkar Singh and Om Parkash, Jarnail Singh, and Sukhwinder Singh.

The six seriously injured have been referred to other towns for treatment 

Bathinda, February 15
A free for all ensued after the inebriated driver of a canter rammed into four vehicles at the Rose Garden roundabout here late this evening even as the police appeared unsure about the jurisdiction of the mishap site.

As per the details available, the vehicle (PB05 N 9361) was coming from Barnala road. Near the Rose Garden, it hit the road divider and rammed into a scooter, two motorcycles and a rickshaw. A crowd immediately surrounded the vehicle. Meanwhile, an Innova stopped there, out of which a group of Nihangs came out and started beating up the tipsy driver.

The irate Nihangs pulled out their swords and damaged the window pane of the canter.

After the Nihangs left, the onlookers and accident victims thrashed the canter driver.

Getting the information, volunteers of an NGO, Sahara Jan Seva, reached the spot but even after half-an-hour, police was yet to arrive.

The accused driver, Jarnail Singh accepted that he was drunk as he was returning from some marriage palace located on Barnala road from where he had to transport the DJ system to Abohar. The owners of the damaged vehicles were furious over the late arrival of the police.

When contacted, Sandeep Singh, in-charge, Civil Lines police post said, "Our men went there but the area is under the jurisdiction of the Kotwali police." On his part, acting SHO, Kotwali, Ajaib Singh said, "We have not received the information as the Civil Lines police is supposed to deal with the matter."

Bathinda, February 15
“Communication skills, soft skills and presentation skills are very important for teachers and principals to become eligible 'professionally' to deal with the children of the 21st century,” says Jaswinder Singh, principal of one of the city's oldest educational institutions, Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School.

A counsellor, English Language Teaching (ELT) expert, who has written two books on spoken English, one of which was released by Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala on January 3, Singh is of the view that training of teachers to update their skills and refresh their knowledge is very important. Deploring the so-called English teaching centres that fleece people, he says that English has always been presented to people as a dry and expensive language which deters people from learning it. It is this that he has tried to remove in his book "Spoken English For Me", he claims.

Singh has earlier had a stint with the Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal. 

Sriganganagar/Abohar, February 15
The second phase of the 225th Raising Day celebrations of the 7th Light Cavalry, the second most decorated armoured regiment, somewhere in the western sector, was marked by a keenly contested exhibition cycle-polo match last evening between the teams of commandants and the colonel of the regiment.

Earlier, Lieutenant-General Chetinder Singh congratulated the Campbell riders for successfully completing the expedition, during the flag-in ceremony. The motorcycle-boat-bicycle expedition, which had been flagged off on February 7 to pay homage to the martyrs, who laid down their lives during the 1965 operations, received a thunderous applause on returning to the regiment. Prominent amongst those present were Lieutenant-General M.S. Shergill (retd), Lieutenant-General Kamaljit Singh (retd), Lieutenant-General Kamal Davar (retd) and Lieutenant-General V.K. Nayar.

Bands from ACC&S 13 Kumaon, 15 Grenadiers, 19 Jat and 20 Jat regiments put up an outstanding band display.

The members of the bands were smartly turned out and immaculately dressed. The response of the audience to the breathtaking show was overwhelming. 

Fazilka, February 15
Famous Punjabi folk singer and actor Gurdas Mann enthralled a large gathering on Valentine’s Day programme at the local SD Senior Secondary school on Saturday evening. The programme was organised by Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sports Club, Fazilka.

Club president Parmjit Singh Warer and spokesperson Pankaj Dhamija disclosed that this Punjabi culture-based programme was organised on Valentine’s Day to motivate the youths to adopt the Indian culture instead of aping the western culture.

Former MP Gurdas Singh Badal, local MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani, chief parliamentary secretary Sher Singh Ghubaya were the distinguished guests at the programme.

The audience enjoyed the satirical plays of the famous Punjabi laughter king Bhajna 
Amli. He made the audience laugh through jokes on politicians and the social set-up.

Gurdas Mann started his programme with a religious song and enthralled the audience with his famous Punjabi folk songs including "Ki Khatya Mein Teri Hir Banke" and "Ishke Da Gidha Penda", "Cycle Mittran Di", "Chhalla", “Roti Hak Di Khaiye Bhanwen Boot Palshan Kariye", Ishak Di Mari Ni Mein Jhalli Ho Gai", "Pir Tere Jan Di Kidan Sahan Mein", among others.

The audience danced as well. At the end, the singer was presented a memento of the famous clock tower of Fazilka.

Some other upcoming sports persons, including Husandeep, Kirandeep, Davinder Kaur, Vasundhara (badminton), Sukhminder Kaur and Shalinder Singh (wrestling), Lakhbir Singh and Sandeep Singh (weightlifting), Om Parkash and Ranjodh Singh, Rurminder Singh, Davinder Singh, Karnail Singh and Ramandeep Singh (athletics) Rajesh Kumar (NCC), Manveer Kaur (archery), Nishant Monga, Hardeep Dhakka and Aman Sachdeva (cricket) were honoured for their achievements in different games.

Gurnam Singh Bhullar, the winner of a reality TV show was also honoured on the occasion. 

Bathinda, February 15
The Government High School, Nehian Wala, district Bathinda, conducted a declamation and painting competition sponsored by the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, under the guidance of the District Education Officer Barjinder Singh Mann. Dr Gurdip Singh Sidhu, district science supervisor, was the chief guest and Harcharan Singh, district guidance counsellor, was the guest of honour.

The chief guest gave away the prizes to the winners of declamation and painting competition. Meritorious students of all the classes of the school were honoured.

Principal Bhupinder Kaur lauded the contribution of eco clubs in schools in controlling the environmental pollution. Master trainer Ashok Bindra and Jasvir Singh shared their thoughts with the students.

The stage was efficiently conducted by Sukhmander Singh. A fair and impartial judgment was given by Rajiv Bhatia, Rakesh Verma and Amarjeet Kaur.

Abohar, February 15
Thirty-one students of different schools, who got top three positions in their respective categories in the district, during the Bhartiya Sanskriti Gyan exams conducted by the Nihalkhera village-based Gaytri Parivar Trust, were honoured during a function held here in the Divine Light Senior Secondary School.

Dr Venita Singh, principal of the DAV College of Education, inaugurated the function. Trustees Bhagwan Dass, Parkash Malethia, Narain Chand besides senior educationists including Vishnu Punia, Hem Raj and Pawan Kumar Gupta were among those present.

SPS Kataria presided over the function.