Bathinda, September 2
“The why of nature always disturbs me and it is this why that sets me to explore its answer,” said Shifona Garg while giving the reason for her interest in science. And her curious nature could not be confined only to academics. She gradually found herself taking part in essay contests, speech competitions and in taekwondo.

Needless to say that Shifona, a student of Class X of the St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary School here, made it a habit of coming out with flying colours.

Presently, she is busy preparing for the National Science Seminar-2010 to be held in Bangalore from October 8. The Visvesvarya Industrial and Technological Museum, a part of the National Council of Science Museums, Bangalore, is organising the seminar, in which winners from all the states/union territories would take part.

Shifona qualified for the national-level seminar, as she had topped the State Science Seminar-2010 held for school students at Malout in the last week of August. ‘India and world science: Are we there?’ was the topic of the seminar organised by the National Science Centre, Delhi, in collaboration with the State Council of Educational Research and Training, Punjab.

Shifona said she presented a slide show, delivered a speech and wrote an aptitude test besides facing a question-answer session at the state-level seminar, which saw students from all 20 districts of Punjab take part.

“I prepared for about one month for the contest,” she said, adding that she never takes any challenge lightly.

Shifona says she loves fighting and her kitty of prizes has a gold medal won at the district-level taekwondo competition. “I will represent Bathinda at the state level very soon,” she said.

Her hobbies are oration, public speech, debate and essay.

She loves science! She is a taekwondo champ! How does she manage to carry such odds in one basket? She replied, “Anything is possible with passion.”

Not only this, she is also passionate about social service. “I want to serve society,” she said, adding that she wants to become a cardiologist and also go for the IAS.

“Whatever the field I would be in, my aim would be social service,” Shifona said and thanked her banker parents — father Vijay Garg who works with State Bank of India and her mother Shashi Garg who works with Punjab National Bank — her teachers and others for their constant guidance and support. 

Bathinda, September 2
The Bathinda police zone, comprising six districts of the Malwa region of Punjab, namely Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Moga, Faridkot and Ferozepur, has witnessed a major decline in the crime graph over the past couple of months.

Claiming that there was a drastic decline in the crime report of the first half of the year 2010, the Bathinda police mentioned a difference of 59 murders, 128 cases of burglaries, 466 cases of assault, 39 cases related to attempt to murder, and 38 cases of rape, 251 cases of theft, 25 cases of robbery and 148 cases of cheating, with an overall decline of 2011 cases this year, comparing with the same period in the year 2009.

Further, the cops stated that crime mapping, which was carried out after analyzing the crime data of last five years, identification of untraced and traced gangs by taking into account their modus operandi led them to launch area-specific operations and crime control measures, which helped in busting a total number of 43 criminal gangs in the zone.

Meanwhile, acting in accordance with the directions of the Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, the launch of the anti-drugs drive, War against Drugs, helped in a substantial recovery of narcotics in 2010 compared to the previous year.

Giving details, police officials stated that the planned actions, introduction of drug helpline numbers and strenuous efforts by the teams constituted for the purpose, led them to recover 182 kg of opium, 14,445 kg of poppy husk, 67406 litres of intoxicants, 28 kg of ganja, 96 kg of bhang, about 11 kg of smack, a deadly intoxicant, along with a large quantity of charas and heroin.

Speaking to TNS, the outgoing Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bathinda zone, Rohit Chaudhary said the policies, which he introduced about six months back, showed tremendous results in bringing down the crime graph.

Terming it among his major achievements, the IGP said four cases of kidnapping, comprising one each in Mansa and Faridkot and two in Bathinda were solved within 24 hours that led to a decline in kidnapping by 46 cases compared to last year.

Further, he mentioned that the traffic hazards had also been somewhat controlled with the constitution of traffic advisory committees in the zone.

Besides, a recently held joint meeting of the senior cops, traffic in-charges and presidents of all municipal committees and corporation also helped in checking the menace with the implementation of fresh ideas.

About the improvisation in police-public relationship, the IGP said a number of advisory committees at police stations and at the district level were constituted. Besides, specific directions were issued to SSPs for the redressal of grievances aired in public meetings. In order to institutionalise the system, monthly fixed days for police stations were also decided for holding such meetings regularly.

Replying about the steps taken for the welfare of the police force, he said it was also a major issue to reckon with and in the pursuit of this, the month of August was observed as the Police Welfare Month. 

Fazilka, September 2
A house was burgled in the Radha Swami locality in  the wee hours today in Fazilka. As per the details, Jagdish Phutele and his family members were asleep in the porch of their house.

The thieves allegedly sprayed some drug following which they fell unconscious. They reportedly stole cash worth Rs 90,000 and 250 grams of gold.

Meanwhile, three scooter-borne miscreants allegedly robbed one Harbans Lal Thakral of Rs 40,000 in broad daylight on Wednesday.

As per the information, Thakral, a servant in Mata Chanchal Devi Temple in Adarash Nagar, was carrying cash belonging to the temple.

As he reached the thickly populated Istri Satsang Bhawan Street, three motorcycle-borne unidentified persons snatched the bag and fled.

Another motorcyclist, who was going in the same direction, noticed the incident and asked Thakral to sit on the pillion of his bike. They chased the miscreants.

One of them reportedly alighted from the bike on the way. However, two other persons were nabbed by Thakral and the motorcyclists. They were handed over to the city police station, Fazilka. 

Bathinda, September 2
Heavy downpour that inundated several parts of the city this afternoon failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the devotees even as they paid obeisance in large numbers at the temples to mark the Janmashtami celebrations despite the fact that the roads leading to several temples were under knee-deep water. The devotees even did not hesitate to cross the inundated roads leading to temples by rolling their trousers up to their knees.

Despite the drizzle in the evening, the Janmashtami was celebrated by the devotees with great fervour as a large number of people visited various temples decorated with lights in the city where bhajans dedicated to Lord Krishna were recited by devotees.

Besides Shree Chaitanya Gorria Math (Mandir), Hathi Wala Mandir, Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir and Prachin Shiv Mandir, the devotees also visited various other temples in the city. In the temples, tableaux were also displayed relating to the life of Krishna while the idols of Thakur Ji were placed in cradles that were being pulled with a rope by devotees as part of a religious ceremony.

To mark the Janmashtami, people also observed fast.

Bathinda, September 2
The ever-increasing price of fruits touched a new high today on the occasion of Janmashtami. Guava was sold at Rs 50 per kg and banana came for Rs 50 a dozen. The prices of other fruits also played spoilsport on Janmashtami.

“Prices of almost all the fruits are going north today,” said Harbans Lal, a fruit vender here. “Every fruit is costlier by Rs 5 to Rs 10 on the occasion of Janmashtami,” he added.

Giving the reason of price hike, Harbans said poor supply and high demand pushed the price up. “I had ordered for 800 pieces of banana but managed to get only 400,” he quoted an example to explain the situation of supply-demand. He also said he was selling banana at Rs 30-40 a dozen two to three days ago. “Today, the price is Rs 50 a dozen,” he said.

“Good quality apple was being sold at Rs 60 a kg today while the price of the same quality apple was between Rs 45 and Rs 50 per kg some days ago,” he said.

But what surprised all, including fruit sellers, is the price of guava. “The price range of guava was around Rs 25-30 per kg two to three days ago. Today, it saw a new high and was sold at Rs 50 per kg,” said fruit vendors at Gol Diggi. They revealed that guava sellers who came from nearby villages of Bathinda did a brisk business today.

Santosh Tiwari, a fruit seller at Indra vegetable market at Gol Diggi, also said prices of fruits have adopted increasing trend today due to supply-demand gap. He, however, said the prices would fall in the next two days after Janmashtami.

But, he also said consumers should be prepared for the sudden rise-and-fall in fruit price in the coming months. “The price would be on roller-coaster ride during the forthcoming festival season,” he said.

Bathinda, September 2
Vice-chancellor of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Dr MS Kang today informed that the PAU would release a Mexican variety of wheat during the next sowing season.

Kang was here to attend a two-day national conference on ‘Recent Advances in Agriculture’ organised by the department of agriculture of the Baba Farid Group of Institutions.

Speaking to media, he said the PAU scientists in collaboration with experts of the Karnal Wheat Research Organisation were experimenting on modifying the Mexican variety of wheat to adjust to the local climate.

Replying to a query related to the controversy over the PAU-201 variety of paddy, the VC said the crop was beneficial for farmers. “Though there was some problem due to its brown colour, we are working on refining its quality,” he added.

Kang regretted, “With water level going down, potassium in the soil too has been reduced. To recover the loss, we have been importing potassium in large quantity.”

However, the vice-chancellor expressed satisfaction over the quantum of rainfall this year. He said the rain this season was beneficial for the state, its farmers and the overall ecology.

He stated that fixing June 10 as the starting date for sowing paddy saved much groundwater. However, if it had been June 20, it would have proved more beneficial in conserving the groundwater without affecting the crop and the farmers, he added.

Kang informed that about 30 per cent vegetables and 10-20 per cent of foodgrains get spoiled every year for no valid reason. “To check the problem, we need to take some stringent action,” he added.

Speaking further, the VC congratulated the organising committee and the department of agriculture of the Baba Farid Group of Institutions for taking steps towards the amelioration of the conditions of the agriculture sector.

Director of extension education, PAU, MS Gill and head of the department of agronomy, PAU, Dr US Walia also delivered lectures on the topic.

Bathinda, September 2
The Mazdoor Mukti Morcha (MMM), Punjab, has announced staging of day and night dharna from September 15-17 in front of the offices of the Deputy Commissioners at all the district headquarters of the state.

The over 50-hour-long dharna aims at compelling the government to provide work for entire year under Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Rs 300 as daily wage under the MGNREGS, Rs 1,000 per month as old-age pension, 10 marla plots to houseless poor persons, Rs 2,500 per month as pension to widows and disabled persons and free distribution of food grains to poor as per the order of the Supreme Court.

State general secretary of the MMM Bhagwant Singh Samao told this reporter today that the decision was taken at a meeting of the state executive of the MMM, held under the presidentship of a senior leader of the morcha Comrade Harwinder Singh Sema on Wednesday. Samao said though the Centre had renamed the NREGA as MGNREGA but the poor workers were deprived of full benefit. The government had not been providing even 100 days of work to the job cardholders. “It was being done due to ‘anti-labour’ policy of the state government. Reports about bungling in the funds received under the MGNREGS were also pouring in from various parts of the state,” he alleged.

Samao also accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of not fulfilling the promise made to the houseless poor persons regarding allotment of 10 marla plots, during the previous Assembly elections. He said the Badal government should understand that the poor labourers could not be befooled for long and it should be ready to face a state-wide agitation. Harwinder Singh Sema said to make the over 50-hour-long dharnas at all district headquarters successful, the activists of the MMM started mobilising labourers in the villages today.

Ferozepur, September 2
Guided by the five principles of ‘Sampark, Sewa, Sahyog, Sanskar and Samarpan’, the city chapter of the Bharat Vikas Parishad has carved out a niche for itself by engaging in social service and welfare activities.

Satish Grover, president and Vijay Gupta, secretary of the BVP, said every year, a free eye check-up camp is organised in collaboration with the local civil hospital and other NGOs. The then Governor of Punjab, General (Retd) SF Rodrigues had participated in its camp in 2008 and honoured the BVP for its meristorious work.

Even the Punjab government recently honoured the city branch of the BVP for service to the handicapped and a cash award of Rs 25,000 was given, informed Grover. He said the BVP has also joined hands with ‘The Smile Train’, a US-based NGO for organising free check-up and surgery camp for persons with cleft lips. — OC

Fazilka, September 2
Rich tributes were paid to Dr Rattan Lal Thakral, the founder president of the War Memorial Committee (Fazilka) today here at an especially organised programme.

The committee has been looking after one of the best privately managed war memorial of the 1971 Indo-Pak war heroes. Dr Thakral passed away after protracted illness last week.

Brigadier of the infantry brigade, Mahesh Yadav, former SDM Fazilka BL Sikka, office-bearers of the War Memorial Committee, Amar Chand Bhateja, Mohan Lal Paruthi, Shashi Kant, Umesh Chander Kukkar, Raja Ram Nagpal, Baldev Dhuria, Raj Kishore Kalra and prominent residents of the area paid tributes to Dr Thakral.

While remembering Dr Thakral’s efforts in raising and maintaining the memorial, they recalled that Dr Thakral and other prominent residents had conducted the cremation of 82 soldiers of VI Jat Regiment of the Indian Army after the ceasefire in December 1971. Later, Dr Thakral had constituted the War Memorial Committee and raised a memorial at the site of cremation of the martyrs.

It was with his sustained efforts that the national-level memorial, which was originally raised in half an acre piece of land, has now been expanded in an area of over five acres. A joint prayer was also held for peace of the departed soul.