Ferozepur, October 26
The 31st Punjab Police Range Games started here today amidst lot of fervour and enthusiasm. The games were inaugurated by SSP Surinderpal Singh Parmar.

In this three day event, hundreds of policemen from Muktsar, Moga and Ferozepur districts will compete in various sports and athletic events.

Earlier, in an impressive ceremony, Parmar declared the meet open and took salute from the contingents of sportsmen from three districts. Gurvinderpal Singh ASI administered the oath to all participants to participate in the meet as true sportsmen, and to respect and abide the rules of the games.

In his address, Parmar said that the Punjab Police has produced extraordinary sports personalities who have done proud to the nation. He said the history of Punjab Police was replete with actions of heroism and bravery, and hundreds of its brave men sacrificed their lives for the sake of peace and brotherhood in the state.

Parmar said Punjab Police has envisaged a policy to encourage its men who have shown exemplary performance in the field of sports. Surjit Singh SP Headquarters welcomed all the athletes. He said the police was training budding hockey players of the district with held of Baba Shershahwali Trust.

On the occasion, H S Pannu SP Detective, Rahgubir Singh DSP, B S Boparai DSO, Ashok Handa DPRO besides police officials from Ferozpur, Moga and Muktsar were present. 

Abohar, October 26
The Sadar Thana police here have nabbed three members of an inter-state gang that was allegedly considered responsible for a number of incidents involving snatching of vehicles at pistol point in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

DSP Tarun Ratan Sharma revealed during a press conference here on Monday that the police led by SHO Ratan Singh intercepted a Scorpio van during a special naka on the state highway here and questioned its occupants. It was found that the van owned by Inderpal Bishnoi of Rajasthan had allegedly been snatched at pistol point from driver Ranjeet Singh at a petrol filling station in Sriganganagar, 40 km from Abohar, on August 29 last year. A case under section 394/34 of the IPC was registered at Sriganganagar police station on August 30.

The police have arrested Rajinder Singh of village Aasal located near Patti, Prabhjot Singh of ward 15, near DAV School, Patti both in Tarn Taran district and Gursewak Singh of village Ghumiara located on the outskirts of Malout town in Muktsar district. One .312 bore pistol was also recovered from Prabhjot Singh.

The police claimed that the accused confessed during preliminary interrogation that they had earlier snatched Indica, Indigo and Maruti-800 cars in Talwandi Chaudharian (Kapurthala), Malout-Bathinda road and civil lines, Ludhiana at pistol point. They reportedly confessed having looted a petrol pump besides scores of mobiles as well as the weapon used for such crimes. All of them are drug addicts and none got education beyond matriculation. Interrogation is to be continued during the remand. 

Muktsar, October 26
The BEd Teachers Front, which held a massive demonstration at the Punjab Chief Minister's hometown Lambi on Sunday, met the principal secretary to the CM Darbara Singh Guru and apprised them of their problems.

Sandeep Sharma, a spokesman of the Front, claimed that a seven-member delegation of the Front met the principal secretary at Chandigarh and he in turn spoke to the education secretary and the finance secretary.

Later, Guru assured the delegation that he would set up a meeting with the CM on Wednesday where the final modalities will be worked out.

The BEd teachers are demanding basic pay-scales as envisaged by the 5th Pay Commission. Ranbir Bhandari, a leader of the Front added that if on Wednesday the talks with the CM failed, the Front would be intensifying their agitation till the government heeds to their demands.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Teachers Forum (DTF) has extended support to the agitating teachers. In a statement Ram Swaran Singh claimed that the government should listen to the grievances of the teachers which were totally ‘genuine’ in nature.

He added that teaching fellows and education service providers were the backbone of school education in the state. “Their pay scales should immediately be increased as per the recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission otherwise the teachers will have to adopt a confrontationist attitude against the government, he said.”

Abohar, October 26
Lauding role of the DAV institutions in imparting quality education legislator Sunil Jakhar regretted that there has been a mushroom growth of ‘teaching shops’ in the private sector during the recent period.The UPA government is considering some reforms but stringent measures are required to check the menace, he said.

While inaugurating the ‘Panjab University Zonal Youth and Heritage Festival’ at the DAV College of Education here on Monday by lighting the lamp

Dr SM Kant, director, PU Youth Welfare Department announced that the PU has for the first time got second position in the national youth festival this year.

He complimented the college principal Dr Venita Singh for making elaborate arrangements. On the first day, about 400 students participated in different competitions, principals of 10 colleges were also present. 

Muktsar, October 26
The irony is inescapable. They are two villages located in the same district but both the hamlets are poles apart. Bhullar village gives the district a bumper paddy crop almost every year while its poor cousin-Ratta Khera- a village devastated by the scourge of waterlogging contributes almost nothing to Muktsar district's kitty.

While residents of Bhullar wear opulence on their sleeves, Ratta Khera villagers are barely able to afford two square meals a day.

Villagers of Ratta Khera have been unable to sow paddy, wheat or even cotton crops for the last so many years because of the acute problem of waterlogging in their fields.

Their sources of livelihood have virtually dried up forcing many household to take up brewing illicit liquor as a profession. For many other families, selling poppy husk, a favourite intoxicant among rustics in this district, is yet another dreadful occupation, which they have to take per force.

Said Jarnail Singh, “I cannot remember when I sowed paddy in my fields the last time. Vast tracts of my land have been under water and leave alone paddy sowing even cotton and wheat crops is also out of bounds for me. For me survival has become difficult. I am making preparations to send both my children to some foreign land because I do not want them to spend the prime of their youth in abject penury.”

“The problem of Ratta Khera villagers is really acute. Changing crop patterns, aridity and use of poor quality water for irrigation purposes coupled with seepage of water from the Sirhind feeder and the Rajasthan canal has only compounded their problems. How can we even expect these villagers to cultivate crops? It is really a sad state of affairs in this village,” said Jasneet Kaur, senior lecturer, Social and Preventive medicine in the Adesh College of Nursing here.

A visit to the village revealed that a natural drainage system has not been developed leading to accumulation of water at various places. Compounding the problem is the fact that many of the drains have been clogged with weeds and sediment.

A few drains that are there cannot cope with the problem. The quality of ground water is poor and tubewells draw brackish and sometimes saline water. If the condition of Ratta Khera is wretched, Bhullar village wears a healthy look. With the paddy procurement season almost through, villagers here are wearing a smile on their faces and are laughing all the way to the Bank. Every year, the village is increasing its paddy arrivals in the grain markets of Muktsar. The ghost of Ratta Khera is nowhere to be seen.

Said the wizened septuagenarian Zail Singh,”The problem of waterlogging may be acute in many villages of this district but we are not affected by it in any way. I know that celebrations have died in almost all of Ratta Khera's homes. However, we celebrate every night because our fields give us a good harvest every year and we have no reason to be disappointed. Ratta Khera is a village deep in debt and despair but due to god's benevolence we are well-off.” 

Bathinda, October 26
On the first day of a two-day camp, members of a five-member team of cancer specialists from Delhi conducted mammography on 21 women suspected of suffering from breast cancer in the Talwandi Sabo area of this district today.

Two of those examined were found as doubtful cases of breast cancer. To ascertain whether the suspected patients are really suffering from the disease, a fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) test will be conducted on them.

Talking to TNS today, Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr IB Aggarwal said the mammography was being conducted on women free of cost at the camp. If a woman felt a lump in her breast, bleeding in nipple and pain in the breast, she could avail of this facility at the camp, he added.

Though the camp was earlier planned to examine patients of breast cancer but it was converted into a breast cancer-cum-general medical check-up camp today. Due to this, as many as 198 patients (118 female and 80 male) were examined for breast cancer, ENT, orthopaedics, gynae, skin diseases etc.

Amritsar, October 26
The state government has launched magnetic identification smart cards for those registered under the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESI) scheme.

Named as “pehchaan”, these smart cards will replace the existing paper-based identity cards. New cards will be equipped with a magnetic chip storing the medical history of the bearer as well as his family members covered under the ESI insurance policy. It will entitle the insured person as well as his family members to step into any ESI dispensary, accredited hospitals or branch office of the ESIC across the country.

Launching the card at the ESI Hospital, Amritsar, on Saturday, Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said the card was part of the ESIC’s information technology roll out plan named as “Project Panchdeep”, the country’s largest e-governance scheme.

The project, entrusted to Wipro Technologies, envisaged the development of necessary hardware and software networking for the countrywide implementation by August. The minister said the “pehchan” smart cards would benefit lakhs of workers and their families covered under the scheme.

Additional commissioner and regional director, ESIC, Chandigarh, GC Jena, said, “Under the policy, two cards will be issued at one registration number- one card to the insured person and another to his family. This will enable the family members, too, to avail medical benefits if the insured person is not available.”

Medical superintendent, ESI, Amritsar, VS Mohi said the insurer’s photograph would be imposed on the smart card, besides his medical history. — TNS

Bathinda, October 26
Bharpur Singh, a resident of Mansa, has reportedly been duped of Rs 6.50 lakh by a resident of Talwandi Aklia village (Mansa) on the pretext of sending him and his family to Canada on permanent basis.

The accused neither sent Bharpur and his family to Canada nor returned the money.

In a press note issued here today, Bharpur alleged that in this regard, he had lodged a complaint with the Mansa SSP on June 11 last, who marked an inquiry to a DSP. But despite presenting several proofs about being cheated by the said person, the police did not take any action. He approached the SSP again and demanded an inquiry by any other police officer. On this, the SSP marked the inquiry to the Mansa SP (D). However, he later learnt that the DSP had already closed his file, he claimed.

Bharpur alleged that the accused had duped many other persons also on the pretext of arranging for them work permit of Malaysia.

Bathinda, October 26
With Gauashtami today, stray cattle found many takers in the city. But its delight would be just a day long and they would be on the roads again. The whole day long, people were seen worshipping cows, feeding them and applying vermilion on their forehead.

Take a round of the city and one finds many stray animals on almost every road. Around 350 cows and bulls die in Bathinda every year due to consumption of polythene bags from dustbins, road sides or from the open.

According to Surinder Singla, deputy director, animal husbandry, Bathinda, stray cattle die because of incessant use of polythene bags.

“Cattle consume polythene bags by default. They cannot make out the difference between polythene and something else. Polythene choke their systems and cause several infections,” Dr Singla added.

On an average, three cows die daily at the Shree Balgopal Gaushala, where around 1100 bulls and cows are housed, sources said.

Sources said three operations were conducted on stray cattle in the past for removing polythene bags. Almost 70 kg of polythene was removed from every cow. Apart from polythene bags, coins, nails and bottle caps were also removed using a magnet but none of the three cows survived.

Sources said they tried to spread awareness about what polythene bags do to cattle by putting posters in the city, giving advertisements in newspapers, circulating books but nothing seemed to have helped. There are many local factories that manufacture polythene bags that are less than 8 inches X 12 inches in size and 20 micron in width, which is the standard set by the government.

“Worshipping cows on gauashtami will not do any good, it has to be a constant attempt to save these animals and the environment,” Dr Singla said.