Bathinda, September 13
On the one hand, the police has started arresting leaders of farmers’ unions who were booked for leading the violence took place in Chandigarh on September 8, while on the other, farmers are readying themselves to intensify their protest.

Farmers have started distributing pamphlets narrating the Chandigarh incident and mentioning the details about their demands and future plans along with an appeal to join the protest.

Farmers have also sought donations to fund a direct fight with the government. The last paragraph of the handbills states: “For the treatment of injured colleagues, repair of damaged vehicles and pursuing the legal cases in courts, all are requested to put their possible share in collecting funds. If all goes well with the funds collection, it will give a jolt to government, which plans to suppress our move on economic ground.”

After the government postponed the unbundling of the PSEB, farmers deferred the ‘Rail-Road Roko’ protest, which was slated for September 15. But now, a fresh programme has been announced for organising victory rallies at all district headquarters on the day.

Further, to give a boost to their move, they have started holding village-level rallies. A door-to-door campaign has also been launched throughout the Malwa belt.

Issuing statements, farmer leaders have been claiming that during the September 8 protest, they lost three colleagues, one at Chandigarh and two while returning to villages.

All are being motivated to assemble for paying them homage in large numbers. As of the slated programme, the Bhog ceremonies of Bogh Singh of Ramanvaas village and Ajaib Singh of Behman Jassa Singh village would take place on September 17, while that of Jagsir Singh of Chanarthal village would be on September 18.

Issuing the handbills, Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of BKU (EKTA), and Lachman Singh Sevewala, general secretary of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, alleged that the Chandigarh and Punjab Police had been conducting secret raids to arrest all of them to foil their further moves.

Terming the alleged atrocities of the police as not new to them, they added, “We will continue bearing ‘lathis’ and bullets till the state government passes a resolution favouring farmers to end the ongoing controversy of the PSEB privatisation.”

Bathinda, September 13
Around 40 principals and teachers of private schools affiliated to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) today met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in connection with an order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) about the minimum grade to be given to a teacher.

Educationists conducted a meeting in Bathinda before leaving for Badal village to meet the CM. On learning about the HC order, the CM asked them to meet him in Chandigarh on September 15 to find out a solution. After meeting the CM, the teachers went to Lambi to conduct another meeting.

Dr Ravinder Singh Mann, principal of Dashmesh Senior Secondary School, Bathinda, told TNS that the fee being charged by private schools affiliated to the PSEB were between Rs 50 and Rs 400 and it would not be possible for them to pay Rs 5,400 to a teacher.

Comrade Labh Singh from Gurdaspur had filed a case in the HC about private schools paying lesser salaries to teachers as compared to schools under other boards. In this regard, the HC sent a copy of the decision taken on August 27 to the chairman of the PSEB who further directed all private schools in the state to abide by the instructions.

Dr Dalbeer Singh, chairman of the PSEB, said, “We have passed a public order in this regard. Private schools affiliated to PSEB have been sent registered letters to follow the new norm of increase in grade pay.”

Dr Mann stated that it was not right to compare private schools in the state with those affiliated to other boards. “Like public and convent schools, we cannot charge Rs 1,000 as a fee from a student. Due to this, we are unable to pay a minimum grade of Rs 5400. At times, there are only 10 students in a class but we have to provide them with a teacher.”

He added that after the teachers start getting revised grades, the minimum scale would rise to Rs 14,000 and it would become impossible to appoint a teacher on that scale.

The government had put other expenses on schools like taxes of schools buses have been upped by Rs 10,000 making it Rs 20,000 per annum, which is too much according to the school principals. They said the HC order would leave private schools returning the affiliation to the PSEB.

There are nearly 3,200 private schools in Punjab that cater to around 14 lakh students.

Bathinda, September 13
The 45th centre in Punjab for Universal Concept Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS) was inaugurated at Swami Vivekananda Girls’ College in Bathinda today by Shinjini Tewari, chairperson of Hospital Welfare Section, Bathinda, and Ashok Goyal, chief executive, Vardhman Polytex, Bathinda.

On the occasion, Satveer Singh Dhaka, the managing director for UCMAS in Punjab, director Subhash and state moderator Sanjeev Saini informed that the first centre for UCMAS was started in 1999.

Students from several countries were honing their skills through the course.

In Punjab around 5,000 students have already been benefited by this course.

Dhaka said that the UCMAS was certified by the Limca Book of Records, the Malaysia Book of Records, the World Association Abacus, the Mental Arithmetic (WAAMA) China, ISO 9001-2000 and more.

Principal of the college Raj Gupta informed that the programme would be carried under Pratibha Educational Society. The classes would commence from September 20 in groups of 15-20 students every Sunday.

Bathinda, September 13
Demanding better connectivity particularly in terms of immediate resumption of the services of the Bathinda-Dhuri 2 BD and 3 BD trains, the train passengers living in Rampura Phul and its adjoining areas said that termination of these trains had come as a great inconvenience to them.

Chairman of the Daily Passengers Association, Rampura Phul, Jasvir Singh Jassi, said that railways' claims to provide amenities and proper services to its passengers had been taking severe beating here after its decision to suspend the abovementioned trains. He said that the railways citing lack of passengers as a reason for suspending the trains was in fact unfounded.

Jassi said that the decision of the railways had compelled thousands of passengers living in the area to opt buses as mode of transportation, which was not only costly but also posing problems to several passengers who are used to travelling by trains.

Jassi suggested that the 2 HSB, which runs between Sriganganagar and Bathinda, could run as the 2 BD between Bathinda and Dhuri and the 1 BD, which runs between Dhuri and Bathinda, could run as the 3 SHB between Bathinda and Sriganganagar.

The association also demanded that the frequency of the 4035-4036 Dholpur Express, which runs on three days between Delhi and Pathankot, should be increased by making it daily. In addition, it should be extended up to Jammu Tawi. The association also sought that the 4036 Pathankot-Delhi Express be linked with the 4887-4887A trains, which run between Haridwar and Barmer, at Dhuri station.

The railways passengers demanded rescheduling of trains, including the 1 BD, the 4526 Inter-City Express and the 4 UB, Bathinda-Ambala Cantt.

Members of the association, including secretary Darshan Kumar Gopal and cashier Balram Kapil, said that in this regard, they had made several written requests to senior railway officials, including the general manager of the Northern Railway and the divisional railway manager, Ambala, but all their efforts proved futile so far.

Bathinda, September 13
Direct admission to MBA and MCA courses without entrance test is being conducted at the Punjabi University campus, Maur near Bathinda, till September 14. The eligibility condition for MBA is 50 per cent marks in graduation and for MCA, it is graduation with mathematics at 10+2 level.

According to Dr D.K. Madaan, principal of the Maur campus, the decision for direct admission was taken by the Punjabi University, Patiala, to cater to the career needs of the students in this backward area wishing to pursue professional courses. For further details, the students could visit www.punjabiuniversity.ac.in, a website of the Punjabi University, Patiala (Neighbourhood Campuses).

The university had opened this neighbourhood campus in July 2009 on the request of citizens of Maur Mandi. The University has started new professional courses of BBA-MBA, BCA, PGDCA, and M.Sc.(IT). 

Bathinda, September 13
Two persons were killed while three others sustained severe injuries in a car-truck collision near Shekhu village of this district late this evening.

According to information, the victims, followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda were returning in an SUV after performing 11-day free service at the Dera in Sirsa. Near Shekhu village, the vehicle collided with a truck bearing number PB-37-8629. The impact was so forceful that the SUV was almost fully damaged. Driver of the truck managed to flee from the spot.

On receiving the information about the mishap, volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva, an NGO, rushed to the spot and shifted the victims to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. Doctors at the hospital declared two of them as brought dead while the condition of other three was stated to be critical.

The bodies of the deceased have been kept in the mortuary at the hospital while the injured are undergoing treatment there.

According to the Sahara volunteers, the deceased were identified as Gurjeet Singh (25) of National Colony and Balkar Singh (35) of Mehta village.

The injured have been identified as Jagdev Singh of Kothe Amarpura, Nirmal Singh of Shergarh and Rakesh Kumar of Minocha colony.

When contacted, Rama police station officials said that they only had information about the accident while the details would be recorded only after reaching the Civil Hospital.

Bathinda, September 13
The Thermal police has booked 17 persons for carving out four ‘illegal’ colonies in the vicinity of Bathinda city.

The cases were registered after the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authorities (PUDA) officials of Bathinda, lodged written complaints with the police against the so-called realtors.

According to details, in one case, police booked Gulzara Singh, Gurdev Kaur, Amarjeet Kaur, Ashok Kumar, Satguru Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Rohit, Hargobind Singh and Jeevan Kumar Garg, all of the Gillpatti village for selling the illegal colony after issuing 17 registries to different persons.

In second case, Jarnail Singh, Balwinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh and Karnail Singh also of Gillpatti village were booked for converting 27 Kanal nine Marla chunk of agricultural land into a residential colony without getting any license from the PUDA.

In the third case, the additional chief administrator (ACA) PUDA lodged a written complaint against Mander Singh and Dharam Dass of Gillpatti for selling out a five Kanal six Marla piece of land by dividing them into small plots leaving a passage to approach.

The fourth case stands for illegal sale of eight Kanal land, which was sold by Dalbagh Singh and Dalraj Singh of Sivviyan by issuing three registries.

All cases have been registered under section 36 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulations Act, 1995.

No one was, however, was arrested till filing the report.

It may be mentioned that the menace of illegal colonies is not new for Bathinda. Earlier, the PUDA and the BDA had installed warning boards at various places in and around the city wherever an illegal colony either marked with some boundary wall or any other method was noticed.

The warning, which the boards carries, reads: This colony has been declared illegal and anyone purchasing a plot here would be responsible for all risks.

Despite the warning, neither the colonisers seem ready to give up such illegal practice nor the buyer refrain themselves from investing in these illegal properties. 

Bathinda, September 13
An engine of an empty goods train caught fire near the Lehra Mohabbat railway station this morning.

No casualty was reported in the mishap that caused a loss of nearly lakh of rupees to the Railway, railway officials said. Following the information about the mishap, senior railway officials soon reached the site and started a probe in the incident to ascertain the cause of accident besides loss.

According to the railway sources, the driver of the 42-bogie empty goods train, which was going to Gidderbaha from Ambala, noticed smoke billowing from the engine around half a kilometre before the Lehra Mohabbat station at around 7 am. The driver stopped the train and informed the railway officials about the accident.

Two fire brigades were pressed into service to douse the fire, which was controlled soon.

There was no disruption in the train traffic on the section, railway officials confirmed, adding that only the 4712 train was detained at the Lehra Mohabbat station for about 45 minutes. — TNS

Hanumangarh/Abohar, September 13
Only those, who are capable of buying space in the print media and time slots in the electronic media, are enjoying freedom of expression, said Dr Sanjeev Bhanawat, head of the department of Journalism and Mass Communications in the Jaipur University.

Dr Bhanawat was joined in discussing the freedom of the press and its social responsibilities during the plenary session of the National Media Conference at the Shantivan at Abu Road by professor Pradeep Mathur, director, Mass Communication of the Jaipur based National University, K Srinivasan, chief executive officer Prime Point Chennai, N Seetharama Raju, veteran journalist from Hyderabad, professor Kamal Dixit national coordinator of the Media Initiative for Values and Madhukar Diwedi editor of Bhopal Daily Mahamedha.

All of them strongly criticised the electronic media for assaulting the rich Indian cultural heritage by producing and telecasting reality shows, besides, other programmes centred on horror and violence. Not only they but BK Mruthyunjaya executive secretary of the host NGO Brahmakumaris, who presided over the session, also exhorted the media persons to go in for introspection and promote positivism within the ambit of spiritualism to restore the glory of the noble profession.

Social concerns should be preferred than commercial interests to inculcate values and fairness, they asserted. 

Children with their models during an art exhibition organised at Attam Valabha School in Fazilka. A Tribune photograph

Interestingly, Dr Rajinder Girdhar, principal of the host college had participated in Asiad-82 as bhangra dancer. Besides him, the entire musical show was the hard work put in by the noted composer Pawan Sharma. He was assisted by none else but his daughter. 
— Raj Sadosh

Book on awakening released 

Tej Gyan Foundation organised a book release function to unveil their latest book titled, "The Magic of Awakening- Answers on Life and Living" at MLM Senior Secondary School. Dr Kamaljit Singh Sidhu, Assistant Director, Youth Services, participated as the chief guest.

Sarita Sharma, program administrator for Tej Gyan Foundation said that this year was being celebrated as a global year of awakening by the foundation. She stated that for the last 12 years, their foundation has been working for the purpose of creating an evolved society and at the same time spread awareness for raising the level of consciousness in the society.

There were 111 answers to questions on spirituality and common myths in the book, adding that these answers provide great wisdom on every aspect of life entailing all types of day-to-day problems, she said.
 — Anirudh Gupta

Inculcating scientific temper among kids

Keeping in view the importance of science in the coming times, the Attam Valabha School is trying to develop scientific temper among tiny tots in science subject by organising quiz programmes and science fairs on different occasions.

In this series, a science fair-cum-exhibition of science models was organised by the students of the primary wing in the school premises. The students aged below 10 years displayed different science models on the subject of eclipse, electricity, solar energy, displaying time of different countries on watches, hydro-electricity prepared by them, which attracted the visitors.

The students were also asked different questions related to the subjects of science in the quiz competition. Ramesh Chuchra, Arun Kumar Loona and Jagdip Singh Grover acted as judges. The chief guest of the programme, executive engineer PSEB, Kuldeep Verma, chairman of the managing committee Raman Watts, and principal Sangeeta Tinna gave away the prizes to the winners.
— Praful Chander Nagpal

Abohar, September 13
Samardeep Kaur was adjudged as the best folk singer during the four-day 'Talent Hunt Festival', concluded at the DAV College here on Saturday night.

Interestingly, Ishan Setia and Honey Utreja shared first position while performing in the one act plays.

Legislator Sunil Jakhar gave away the prizes to the winners.

He complimented the principal Dr B.B. Sharma for befittingly kick-starting the golden jubilee celebrations of the institute.

Toppers in different competitions were: Saloni (on-the-spot painting, cartooning), Jagmeet Singh (still life, drawing from life), Deepak Rai (collage making), Ravi Kumar (clay modelling), Sheetal (poster making), Vadini (rangoli), Monika (landscaping), Sheenu (fresh flower arrangement), Shimpy (dry-flower arrangement), Rachna (knitting), Parveen (mehandi), Alisha (poem), Rishu Kalia (geet singing), Malkeet Singh (instrumental music), Charanjit Kaur (vaar singing), Robin (gazal singing), Ashok Kumar (debate, short story writing) and Himanshu Sharma (essay writing).

Convener Professor B S Bhullar said that the winners would get a chance to show their talent in the zonal youth festival. 

Bathinda, September 13
The Bar Association Talwandi Sabo organised Van Mahotsav at under construction building of the new courts complex on Saturday.

The district and session judge, Kuldip Singh, chaired the occasion, while B.K. Sharma and Mohan Garg, judges of Talwandi Sabo sub-division and Bhupinder Singh Jaurkian, president of the association were honoured at the function.

To mark the day, members of the association planted the saplings of trees.